EIGHTY-FOUR | HALF MAN, HALF WOLF

Lily

Slim fingers knotted together. Lily paused, the pads of her fingertips brushing over naked skin where once a garnet ring had sat. Still she missed the feel of it, the metal warm from her body heat, the red stone glinting in the summer sun.

That sun was long lost now, as well. Autumn was settling in, the leaves as red as the garnet had been; some drifted slowly to the grass, twirling downwards, back and forth, with a sad air to them that she couldn’t quite place. A leaf couldn’t be sad – could it?

She bit her lip and turned away from the window. The kitchen felt too still and too quiet. Lily turned her eyes away from her father, latching them onto the flowers at the table’s centre. Her heart warmed momentarily, thoughts of her mother easing the tension she could feel rising rapidly between them. It formed an invisible wall, thickening with every second that passed in silence.

Her dad knew what she was going to say. It had settled into every crease of his face, from the crinkles a