“Yeah – so maybe we should all give up on love and get on witheverything else,’ she sighed. She turned her head towards me andsquinted through the glare of the sun. ‘Why don’t we?”

“What are we going to do, Ayden?" she whispered, glaring up at me."I don't know," I confessed. "But how about we burn that bridge when we get there?""I thought it was 'cross' that bridge?"I lightly poked her in the eye and she laughed. "No. We're burning bridges. Crossing is so overrated." I smiled and touched the corner of her eyes, captivated by the iridescent blues."I think I like the sound of that," she whispered."Yeah?""Yeah.”

“Without moving her head, she turned her dark eyes toward me and answered, “Jenna, you are different from all the others who seek me. You come to me with an unselfish heart.” She paused and turned her head to match her eyes. “You seek to save someone and give up your own happiness in return.”Save someone and give up my own happiness in return,I repeated again in my head, trying to understand what she meant.“Ah, Jenna,” she continued. “Don’t let your mind worry you. Not everyone has happy endings.”

“Elizabeth lifted her head and glared at him. “I don’t want you to take me home. You’re fired.”“So you told me. I’m taking you home anyway. You can fire me again when we get there.”“Okay.” Her head dropped to his shoulder, and she was blissfully quiet on the ride home.”

“She waves her big spoon. “You can get me that orb-weaver spider from the corner over there.”“Yes, ma’am.”“Don’t you kill it! I need it alive.”“Can I have a jar to catch it with?”“No. Use your hands.”“Why?”“The recipe says so.”Jason arches an eyebrow. “Can I see that?”“Who is the witch here? Me.” She swats him on the arm with her wooden spoon.“Okay, okay.” With a sigh, he heads toward a dark corner.She turns on me and raises her spoon.”

“We are all proprietary toward cities we love. 'Ah, you should have seen her when I loved her!' we say, reciting glories since faded or defiled, trusting her to no one else; that others should know and love her in her present fallen state (for she must fall without our vigilant love) is a species of betrayal.”