Home by Shayna Krishnasamy

became difficult?
    Pressing her cheek into her knee, she reviewed her options. She’d been south several times and knew the path petered out within half a day’s walk in that direction. She was none too eager to go scrambling through the underbrush, though she knew it might be inevitable. The northern route was less clear, which made her anxious, but optimistic as well. For, the unknown was full of possibilities, and the possible was more hopeful than the impossible. Still, if she chose incorrectly, they could waste days in aimless wandering.
    Idly, Shallah stroked Liam’s arm through the blanket. Her instincts pointed them north, she couldn’t explain why. It was something about Liam that made her feel it so strongly.
    “Who knows what we might find,” she said aloud, and the boy stirred in his sleep.“North,” she whispered to herself, glad to have the matter decided. She would leave her concerns for the next day.
    Pulling the blanket over her, Shallah placed her head beside Liam’s and snuggled close. As she fell into sleep, already dreaming perhaps, she kissed Liam on the head and said softly into his ear, “Lead me to him.”
    To Shallah, Minnow Lake was like an old friend, one seldom seen and often missed. She remembered vividly the first time she’d come upon it. It was a few months after she’d begun her rambles at night, and she’d yelped with surprise when her feet had sunk into the cool water, her legs suddenly submerged up to her ankles. The village well was the only source of water she’d ever known, save for a good rainstorm. Since then, she’d stumbled upon many others – streams and brooks, ponds and ravines – but back then she’d been wholly ignorant of their existence. She had never encountered a lake before.
    She’d splashed in the lake for hours that night.
    At first she’d thought herself awfully clever to have discovered this magnificent field of water before anyone else. She’d been shamed out of that conceit soon enough. Only a day later, while she was perched in the branches of her favourite spruce, Kimbery Klink had emerged out of the trees in a terrible fury, leading her son Hacon and his friend Balduin Goss by the ears. Both boys were soaking wet.
    Even high up in the tree Shallah had overheard every word of Kimbery’s tirade. She’d not taken much care to lower her voice.
    “Bathing, were you? Having a little swim? You’re a curse on me, boy. A curse! Just wait until I tell your father. And you! Don’t think you’ll be getting off easy. I’ll be having a long talk with your mother. Dim-witted, the both of you. Minnow Lake! Did you even think of the dangers? Did you think of anything at all? I’ll be damned if I let you out of my sight again. Swimming, having a good time! Well, your good times have come to an end, boys. Minnow Lake! Never before in my life …”
    That was the first time Shallah had heard the name Minnow Lake.
    She returned to the lake every once in a while, usually when she was feeling particularly lonely, or missing her father most poignantly. It always welcomed her with open arms. She often cried there, a weakness she almost never allowed herself. Somehow it seemed safer to cry in the water, where her tears could be absorbed in an instant. She never stayed long, for to linger would break the spell of the place, but each time she left she felt a little stronger. The lake healed her, soothing her wounded heart. It made her feel less alone.
    Upon awakening, Minnow Lake was the first thought on Shallah’s mind, and she greeted the day with a smile. The morning was fresh with a slight hint of a breeze, another good day for travel. Liam was already up and about, scuffling in the bushes at her feet, full of that boundless energy that only children enjoy. Shallah left him to his play for a moment or two, happy to rest in the warm cocoon of blankets. She’d had a wonderful dream and its images lingered in her mind delightfully. Dreams always brought her