ABANDON ALL HOPE

A doe-eyed girl living in the shy corner of the kingdom, in a small hush village of jam-colored roofs and sweet spring flowers peeking through cracks and windowsills. Where sun-yolked chicks and their wild goose mothers patter the stone paths down the shops o’ plenty of friendly-eyed villagers.

There, the villagers smile when they see the peeping yellow dots follow the wrong person—a young boy of blond, canary-eyed and full-cheeked. They greet the boy, who is too busy rushing back to the bakery to notice the trail of chicks behind him. He makes a beeline towards his home—the Yarrow Bakery—where just outside, a young man with white-flour hair is also returning, carrying cracked spring wood piles over his shoulders easily like a sack of flour, hoping to throw them into the ovens later, to watch the fire lick the woody skin.

The man turns when he hears the peeps and panting of his companion, a soft smile invading his face. “You’re late, Yanqing.”

The canary-blond boy smiles sheepishly, “Sorry, Master. You know how those old men and their beer-bellies are with their tales. Had to wait a minute or two for them to finish their stories before handing me the goods.”

Jingyuan laughs heartily. “No matter, their tales are interesting. I don’t blame them for wanting to talk your ear off.” He stops a moment, “Have you seen Kou anywhere?”

“Sister?” Yanqing hums, “No, she already left the bakery when I awoke at the crack of dawn. I thought she accompanied you.”

Jingyuan lets out a fond sigh. “That girl, always so fixated on the forests—“

“Wrong, I was helping Granny Isador hang the clothes down over on her place near the brooks.”

From behind, the pale-bread haired girl appear like wispy magic. She drops to her knees, gathering the salt and pepper chicklings into her open palms, grinning. “I would never leave my dearest brothers to handle the bakery alone. Not when they cannot get the heat of the ovens correctly.”

Yanqing pouts, “we are learning, the sugar cookies last time didn’t taste burnt at all! Also, return those chicks, they don’t belong to us.”

After the chicks were returned, the three kin enter the bakery, the soft whistle of the bell signal the door opening then closing.

“Hey, have you heard about the old tales of those folks delivering the cargos?” Yanqing leans in to whisper. The girl merely hums.

“They say the village kids playing near the forests’ edge yesterday spotted that old living legend, the man with long antlers on his head!”

She scrunches her face, “I think you should let me to get the supplies next time, you’re easily influenced.”

“You really don’t care about the dangers or folktales of the forests, do you?” Yanqing frowns, “either way, since you’re the only one who dares to enter the forests to get the herbs and berries, I suggest you be careful. If he spots you, he might eat you up.”

The doe-eyed girl sets the ingredients on the long table, smiling at her young companion.

“Alright, i’ll be careful. But again, those are just stories Yanqing. There’s no such thing as old magic in those forests.”