"You were desperate, and when you learned that there was a door, you opened it. But I'm the one who walked through it." Sarissa whispered as she breathed in deeply. "It gave us everything… Time, strength, a way to be enough."
And after a moment of silence, in which she observed the field of wildflowers, dancing in the spring breeze, she added.
"But it also gave us a cage."
For a long moment, there was only silence, the wind, and the smell of flowers. And then, slowly, she opened her eyes.
She was back in the room.
The Professor's study.
Miles sat before her, frozen mid-breath, a hand still half-raised toward her shoulder.
Cheshire perched between her crossed legs, his tail still, watching her with wide, waiting eyes.
She exhaled.
The knife was not in her lap, the Story was dead, and she was still alive.
She leaned forward, resting her head in her hands, and she felt the tears rolling down her face even before she noticed her vision becoming blurry.
