The town was dressed in lights that night. Paper lanterns swayed in the breeze, and the scent of sweet bread, marigolds, and woodsmoke curled through the alleys. Music echoed from the gathering square, old songs and old rhythms. The festive season had arrived.
Emily, radiant in a flowing blue dress, came running down the hill, laughter on her lips, eyes aglow and pulled by the music like the tide pulls the moon. She twirled into the crowd like she belonged to the moment. Like she was born from it.
She didn't see the boy in the shadows.
Lucas stood just outside the golden light, beneath a tree where the lanterns barely reached. These kinds of events weren't for him. But something or someone had brought him here.
And then, he saw her. The girl with stars in her steps. The girl whose smile cracked something opens inside him. He didn't know her name. But in that one glance he knew, that he would remember this moment forever.
She danced, while he stood still in awe.
Two stories, beginning quietly, beneath a canopy of lights and fate.