Seren waited, nearly holding their breath in wait.

“So what does it say?” They whispered. Too excited to speak at full volume. Mr. Asche read the words over and over. Able to read them but struggling to comprehend them. Seren’s dad reached and took the book from Mr. Asche’s hands.

“It says,” Seren’s dad adjusted the book to read the words. “Good aptitude, gifted student. A beautiful and expansive imagination. Suited best for a creative or artistic career.”

“Wow! That teacher was so wrong!” Seren said loudly. A patch of snow fell from the roof of the schoolhouse. Breaking a board to land inside the building, covering some of Seren’s footprints. Seren’s dad stared up at the roof worriedly. Seren giggled and looked up at Mr. Asche who leveled a sharp glare at them.

“What?” They asked innocently. “You don’t do a creative or artistic career. You work with numbers. We did it all morning, it made my brain go foggy at points.”

“I don’t think it’s wrong, Seren.” Their dad said. Ushering them away from the edges of the roof. “I think he just grew up. It happens when you become an adult.” Seren wrinkled their nose and grimaced.

“Gross. That’s not gonna happen to me.” Seren crossed their arms defiantly, making their dad laugh. Mr. Asche stared into the schoolhouse, the drifts of snow revealed the tiniest glimpses into the past. He turned to look at Seren, arguing about maturing with their dad. The scene brought back long buried memories.

“What’s that?” Seren pointed, hopping through the steep snow when they realized they weren’t winning the argument. Once Seren was out of earshot, their dad turned to Mr. Asche and opened the book again.

“A student I’ll miss having in my class. I hope the academy doesn’t ruin him.” Their dad read quieter. Mr. Asche snatched the book from Seren’s dad’s hand. He tossed it carelessly into the schoolhouse and followed the trail Seren left behind. Seren’s dad followed while shaking his head.

“Oh, you found the old mineshaft.” Mr. Asche said as he caught up to Seren. They were looking into the boarded up doorway, hidden by the snow.

“Get away from that!” Their dad barked. Startling Seren into backing away from the opening.

“Why’s there a mineshaft in the middle of the town?” Seren asked.

“This was a mining town. The mine existed and then the town built up around it.” Mr. Asche said. “My father worked this mine until it closed.”

“Why did it close?” Seren asked.

“It was a gold mine. With the fae’s obsession of gold the economy had to switch from gold to other precious metals. The mine just fell out of demand and the town really fell to pieces when the mine collapsed.” Mr. Asche explained.

“I vaguely remember that,” Seren’s dad said solemnly. “Twenty people were stuck in the mine and only seven were recovered alive.”

“Yeah, it’s more of a mass grave than a mine anymore.” Mr. Asche said, his eyes distant. Seren looked sideways at the two adults and slid to the mine opening and looked between the boards into the dark.

“Seren. Get away from the entrance.” Their dad said again. Seren frowned but backed away from the opening.

“Did you know anyone that got stuck?” Seren asked as they trekked back down the snow path they made.

“Seren,” their dad scolded. Seren looked back confused.

“What?” They asked innocently.

“That’s not polite to ask,” their dad whispered. Seren stared confused between their dad and Mr. Asche who was still staring off into the mine vacantly. They shrugged and started to move on through the snow.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“My father was in the collapse.” Mr. Asche said, Seren stopped in the snow and looked back blankly.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Seren’s dad said quietly. “And I’m sure Seren is sorry they brought it up.”

“Did he die?” Seren asked. An inquisitive but confused look on their face.

“Seren!”

“Yes,”

“Eric!” Seren’s dad moved between the two to interrupt the conversation.

“Serenity is curious about the facts, you can’t change them. No matter what you want or do.” Mr. Asche said.

“Some facts don’t need to be said.” Seren’s dad said sternly.

“Why?” Mr. Asche shrugged and began making his way through the snow. “Knowing the facts are more important than feelings.”

“Wait a minute, that’s not true.” Seren objected, moving around him and walking backwards to create a new path. “When that lawyer came around you lied to him, you didn’t tell him the facts. Why?”

“Why was there a lawyer?!” Their dad ran up and asked accusingly.

“A client is no longer with us,” Mr. Asche said curtly. “Serenity collected from them the day before.”

“Yeah! The lawyer was looking for the thing that I took! And you lied!” Seren accused. “You said I didn’t take it!”

“Did you steal it? Why was the guy looking for it?” Their dad asked, switching between glaring at Seren and glaring at Mr. Asche.

“They took their own life. Lost their wife and was too far in debt to get out of it.” Mr. Asche said with no feeling whatsoever. Seren swallowed hard and stopped moving. Stopping Mr. Asche from moving forward.

“I… think I did steal it.” Seren admitted. “I think it was really important to them. And I took it.” Seren looked down at the snow that was clinging to their pants, feeling the cold on their skin sinking to their bones.

“You did your job. I’m honestly amazed it took this long for you to see the ugly side of it.” Mr. Asche said. “It’s not all being cursed at or doors slamming in your face. It’s doing what you have to do to get what you're owed. You’re free to leave if you don’t like it.”

“Well I can’t right now. Else I’d leave you here by yourself.” Seren drew their long hair over their shoulder and idly braided it, staring at the snow. Seren’s dad kept a steady glare on Mr. Asche as he passed Seren and made his way through the snow. Seren couldn’t meet their dad’s eyes as his glare turned to them.

“So where did you live?” Seren loudly called, running up behind and launching into the snow alongside Mr. Asche. He looked at the crumbling buildings and narrowed his eyes.

“That one, I think.” He said, pointing across the untouched snow to the next row of slanted snow covered buildings that resembled snow capped mountains.

“Cool!” Seren’s voice echoed through the buildings and caused snow to drop from the roofs. Without bothering to look, Seren plunged forward toward the indicated structures.

“You are a terrible influence on my child.” Their dad snapped at Mr. Asche who scoffed at him.

“At least I’m teaching them to be realistic. A sense of a job well done and good business practices.” Mr. Asche said, following Seren’s path. “What exactly were you trying to teach? That the good die young? That they should look forward to being happy and cared for in death, life is for nothing but suffering?”

“I’m doing my best with what I have. It’s not exactly what I expected when I settled down.” Seren’s dad grabbed Mr. Asche’s arm and spun him around. “You think this was what I wanted their childhood to be like?”

“Childhood is a time to learn how to be a productive adult.” Mr. Asche said coldly. “And you don’t become productive with dreams and good will.”

“No, I imagine that’s what you were told as a kid.” Seren’s dad said irritably. “Taught with hard rules and cold concrete walls. Maybe what you need is to take a second while we’re here and think about how you were raised and if that’s how you want your kids to be raised.”

“I don’t have kids. I don’t want kids. I’ll never have kids.” Mr. Asche said, towering over Seren’s dad threateningly but he didn’t flinch. The two stared at each other in silence before it was broken by Seren;

“Which one is it?” They called from the other side of the street. Mr. Asche turned slowly to continue following the snow trail. Looking at the houses and digging deep into his memories for any sense of familiarity.

“Give me a second,” He said. Seren nodded and peeked into the houses, empty with nothing but bits of trash laying here and there. Long forgotten. They wondered if they would see something that would indicate which house was the one they were looking for, then wondering what that would look like. Many of the houses collapsed in on themselves, with large snow drifts and rotten timbers blocking the insides.

One house still stood and it stood with snow drifts and debris on both sides which kept the roof steady enough that the inside stayed mostly untouched. Seren stepped out of the deep snow and into the light dusting of snow inside the house. Waiting for the adults to catch up and steer them in the right direction.