I heard a laugh.
A woman's laugh.
Warm. Soft. Familiar in a way that sent a shiver down my spine.
I turned, looking around, but the forest around me was different.
Lighter , greener, as if touched by another world.
Sunlight spilled through the leaves in gold beams, and everything smelled of flowers and fresh water.
The laugh echoed again.
I knew that laugh.
I shouldn't have, but I did.
My feet moved before my mind did, carrying me deeper into the forest. The sound pulled me like a thread, tugging me forward.
There were voices now.
A woman's voice, light and musical.
A man's voice, deeper, warm, laughing along with her.
I froze behind a tree.
They were close.
So close that if I breathed too loudly, they would hear me. I peeked out carefully, heart thundering.
The woman was sitting by a lake, water so still it looked like glass, her feet dangling above the surface. Her hair was the first thing I noticed.
Curly.
Wild.
Vibrant red.
Exactly like mine.
