Tainga

You’ve just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As you look around, your gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. You duck and step into a tattered tent, illuminated by a series of candles suspended in the air. At the back of the tent, an old hag raises her head, “What brings you to this dingy town? she begins, then pauses to study your face—”Ah, it’s you. I’ve been expecting you. Sit,” she gestures at a cushion, “Tell me your story.”

((How do you respond?))

Auris chuckled lightly, her lips parting as she lowered herself onto the cushioned pillows, sinking to her knees. "What's there to say?" She starts, her tongue flicking across her lips as she lets out a tired sigh, her gray eyes meeting the gaze of the elderly woman before her. The old woman's smile seems knowing, mischief dancing in her wrinkled eyes. "It all started on a farm, with my father," Auris reminisces, her jaw clenching as memories flood back, briefly diverting her gaze. "I've been there my whole life; my mother was absent. According to my father, she passed away when I was born and whisked me away to the fields where we lived in seclusion." She chuckles, meeting the elderly woman's gaze again. "But you know, the world beckoned! Even as a child, it whispered promises of adventures and tales waiting to be lived. My father struggled to keep me from darting into the forest when I should have been harvesting potatoes!" She laughed, and leaned back. Letting her palm keep her steady as she felt the grass beneath her fingertips. "I told myself that when I would turn 18... I would go and explore the world." Auris let out a breath, a bitter laugh. "But the old man of course had to get sick. And I couldn't leave him now could I?" She muttered beneath her breath as she glanced away before shaking her head. Her brows rose, and I shook her finger as she shifted her position to lean forward. "He died four years later. The moment he died I left. I went out into those very woods that he kept me from and you know what I have found?" Auris asked incredulously, her smile widening further and she laughed as the memories flashing before her eyes.