5/18/2025, 12:52 AM
return to natałtsa. her instincts screamed it to her like a dying pup cries for mother. ketłina came down with sand in her coat and salt in her nose, jaw sore from holding the critter clutched in mouth.
a hare, bloodied at the neck but otherwise untouched. the pale woman padded close, did not halt until her sister could feel her breath. looked briefly at the pile of bones, the sea, and finally at her. the hare falls at the dark woman's feet.
she sniffed the air once. salt, rot, pine. settled to sit. didn’t touch the charm, for the sake of its purity.
a hare, bloodied at the neck but otherwise untouched. the pale woman padded close, did not halt until her sister could feel her breath. looked briefly at the pile of bones, the sea, and finally at her. the hare falls at the dark woman's feet.
the tides will take it clean.a pause.
eat.
she sniffed the air once. salt, rot, pine. settled to sit. didn’t touch the charm, for the sake of its purity.