PlayerOliver

When you were a kid, you lived with your grandmother in the small town of Silvertree, on the edge of a magical forest. Grandma is a witch, and she taught you how to use your magic to affect the natural world, too. “Magic is a part of you,” she always told you. “Learning how to use it means figuring out who you are.”

Now you’re 19 and on your own. After years of living in the forest while you perfected your witchcraft, you’ve returned to take care of your grandmother’s house and crow-familiar while she’s gone. Figuring out who you are feels more important than ever - not to mention, figuring out what Silvertree is. A lot is just as you remembered: the friendly generous next-door neighbors with a kid just your age, the proud town council, the quaint little shops with quirky punny names, the gentle shadowy forest full of magic.

Stone in the shoe

"Yeah—I mean, I'm not saying I'm, like, all that memorable," Tobias says, pulling his shoulders up to his ears. "But…anyway. Good to know I'm not totally forgettable after, like, ten years."


"It has been a long time, hasn't it?" you say in genuine disbelief.


"I know, right?" Suddenly he's laughing, and you see a spark of excitement in him for the first time. "Like, eleven years. It kinda doesn't seem it, though, like…now I'm eighteen somehow? What even happened?"


"No idea," you say, laughing too. You share a look—a smile, like real old friends. But, somehow, the moment fades. The feeling of standing so close to someone but feeling so strangely distant was one you hadn't anticipated.


You nod, wishing you could think of something else to add.


"Yeah. It's…not something I expected."


With that, you kind of fall back to just watching each other, neither knowing what to say. Tobias scratches his neck and looks down at his worn-out sneakers. You hadn't expected to feel so…awkward, seeing him again.


You realize the silence is going on a little too long for your liking. You're not too good at navigating moments like this yet, but you figure that just saying something would probably help.


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