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Stone in the shoe

When you were a kid, you lived with your grandmother in the small town of Silvertree, on the edge of a magical forest. Grandma is a witch, and she taught you how to use your magic to affect the natural world, too. “Magic is a part of you,” she always told you. “Learning how to use it means figuring out who you are.” Now you’re 19 and on your own. After years of living in the forest while you perfected your witchcraft, you’ve returned to take care of your grandmother’s house and crow-familiar while she’s gone. Figuring out who you are feels more important than ever - not to mention, figuring out what Silvertree is. A lot is just as you remembered: the friendly generous next-door neighbors with a kid just your age, the proud town council, the quaint little shops with quirky punny names, the gentle shadowy forest full of magic.

PlayerOliver · Kỳ huyễn
Không đủ số lượng người đọc
443 Chs

81

The archives look quite different to when you last saw them. While before it looked a little like a library that had been somewhat neglected over the years, now it's almost like a gallery, with vibrant paintings depicting constellations and forests and even herself, and sculptures of trees in all kinds of different materials filling the space. Although the exhibition isn't finished yet, just seeing so many pieces of art on the walls and set up on pedestals brings you immediately into the world of Selene Corvina; one that, until recently, you knew almost nothing about at all.

It's a little difficult not to look in awe at some of the art, knowing your relationship to the person who made them. Despite seeing her photographs and even reading about her life in her own words, having so many things she created here in front of you really brings home the fact that she was a real, living person, and not just a name in a book. And you can't help but think that there must be so much else you could never know about her, no matter how many exhibitions you see.

Thinking back to the diary that's locked away safely in your attic, you wonder for a moment what might have been hidden behind those coded phrases. Even though what you saw in her diary was in its own right, there's still so much that's missing; so much you can't even guess at. But, of course,

Of course, the other thing you notice as you and Robin move between shelves and display tables is just how much fuller the rest of the archives look compared to when you were last here. There are surfaces that have been filled with old newspapers showing a timeline of Silvertree's history through their headlines, stills from old film reels that have been blown up and framed on the walls, and even a beautifully preserved set of coffee cups which were supposedly used at Skippy's when it first opened over a century ago. It's clear that, while the exhibition is currently center-stage, the rest of the archives are being brought back to life around it.

As you finish circling the vast room, you see that Robin is beaming with pride and excitement at the sight of what the archives have become. By the time you reach the doors again, he seems to be struggling to hold back tears.

"I can't believe this is all actually happening," he says, his voice slightly choked as he looks out at the room. "I can't believe I actually helped—and you did too! I never really thought it could work, but…here it all is. I know this kind of thing isn't that important to a lot of people, but I think we still need to make sure all of this history is here. Otherwise—what's that thing people say about history? God, I don't even know. Wow. It's probably pretty ironic that I can't even remember."

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