Mother?

• Havana Huynh, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

Mother disappeared 4 years ago so I’m venturing off on an adventure to collect ingredients for a special dessert that I’ll share with my uncle down south. Venturing towards my first destination I overhear some valkyrie talking about something down south, I didn't catch much because flying into me is a small raven, scared and lost. Running up the road is a petite girl, she has freckles and short black hair. It's the silkiest hair I've ever seen. Stopping next to me she reaches her hand up and grabs the raven, she apologises and tells me that she is just a witch in training and was hoping to find some ingredients for a brew here before her raven took off. After assuring her that everything’s fine I question if she wishes to venture together as we reach similar destinations.
Entering the next town, there are more rumours going around, this time I hear a merperson talking about their concerns about dark magic being performed down south. Grabbing our next set of ingredients we run into a young centar seemingly lost and scared, attempting to comfort them with a spell a crowd starts to form. The whispering intensifies and they all seem to be staring in my direction, their expressions changing, from first worry then consideration finally they all start to nod in agreement to something. Everyone left us to retrieve something from their homes. Once returning we receive things such as spell enhancers and protective gear before letting us continue on our journey.
Every village after that took us in and cared for us as if we were their own, everyone would whisper, something about my uncle and …my mother? Every Once in a while the earth would shake and split creating ravines and everytime someone would go out of their way just to ensure our safety, but why? Why would they ensure our safety over their own? It’s becoming increasingly hard to travel after all that has happened and some inconvenient kidnapping and battle we’re closing in on the final bit of our journey.
Arriving there we’re met with an extravagant castle, lush and green, overgrown with vegetation but something was off, there was a certain smell lurking in the air and weird stains covering the white roses, everybody else seems distracted by the beautiful scenery. I decide to investigate the strange smell and attempt to find my uncle. Once reaching the source of the smell I find myself face to face with my mother sitting on top of a strange red goop stuffed into a trash can. It seems fresh and flies were buzzing all around it. Noticing my presence she rushes over and gives me a hug attempting to drive me away and back towards my party. After some talking I find out my mother was a hero and that’s why everyone was acting so strange, it doesn’t explain the goop either although some things in that bin looked familiar, like something my uncle would own.