Let's Fail to Ride a Horse

Abrial returned much later in the night.

Shin Minyeo wasn't in the house when she returned, and neither was that sparrow Cham-sae. She went straight to the bed, pulled the thin summer blanket over her head, and closed her eyes.

"Feelings for Finley, my ass," she muttered scornfully. "She must live a really secluded life out here to say crazy things like that."

And she drifted off into sleep.

The days began to weave together in a rhythmic haze.

Abrial would always wake up late in the mornings, a surprising development. Back at the house, she hadn't slept well into the day for years, always woken by nightmares and cold pools of sweaty panic.