“I don’t know either,” I said and then opened the tent door and secured it to the walls and then sat down with the tent threshold between me and the jackelope. “My name is Flora Rose,” I said.

“Not sure I have a name,” the jackalope said.

“That’s sad,” I said. “Everyone deserves at least a name. Do you want one?”

The jackalope just shrugged.

“There’s power in a name,” I said.

“So?”

“So. Are you among those who have forgotten Flora Rose?” I asked.

“Maybe,” the jackalope said. “Maybe not. Does it really matter?”

Does it matter? Does. It. Matter. I took some calming and cleansing breaths and then said, “It matters to me.”

“Okay,” the jackalope said. “You may give me a name.”

“How about Ant?”

“Okay,” the jackalope said, “you may call me Ant.”

“Hi. Flora Rose,” I said, this time by way of greeting and not introduction.

“Ant,” Ant said.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“I’m here to talk to you.”

“About what?”

Ant shrugged again. “Sometimes I know. Sometimes I have no idea. Tonight, I just know I need to be here, now.”

“What would happen if you were somewhere else?”

“I don’t know. Never questioned where I was supposed to be before. I just go. Now I’m here. Why are you here?”

“Like you, I don’t know,” I said.

“Anything to do with the faerie ring that used to be back that way?” Ant asked and looked in the direction we both knew the castle had once stood.

“I think so, yes,” I said. “Do you know anything about it?”

“Not really.”

“Not really?”

“No. Other than it’s not there anymore,” Ant said. “It was there last night and the night before and every night I can remember, but now it’s gone and you’re here with that,” he threw his head to indicate Ethan’s tent, “and I’m here talking to you.”

“That seems confusing,” I said.

“Thank you,” Ant said, “I was just saying that and it felt like I was talking to myself.”

I looked past Ant.

“Not here,” he said. “Somewhere else. No one wanted to talk about the faerie circle and one of the others said it didn’t matter. But they don’t get sent to talk to people or to be in certain places. Not like me. They get to eat greens and run about and make merry. But not me. I get sent here and there and everywhere and now I’m here and you’re there and they are somewhere else.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I nodded and thought about what Ant said and decided I didn’t really understand any of it and then decided it was time to change how I was approaching things.

“What happened next? Do I talk? Do you talk? Do we talk to each other?”

“I don’t know,” Ant said and noticed a small bit of green a little to his left and moved just enough to eat.

“You are not very helpful,” I said.

“I’m not meant to be helpful,” Ant said. “Or I’m supposed to be very helpful but that’s not correct either.”

I could feel my eyes go wide in what I’m assuming was disbelief and frustration and then I returned my gaze to Ant and my face to something closer to neutral or ambivalent.

“You don’t know why you’re here. I don’t know why you’re here. You go where you’re supposed to be,” I said, “and you’re supposed to be here. You know who isn’t supposed to be here?”

“Him,” Ant said, again indicating Ethan’s tent.

“Me,” I said. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Ant said. “You’re where you’re supposed to be. Mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Mostly,” Ant said. “The castle, where the castle once stood is where you seem to be most connected, right now. Not here.”

“Why the castle?”

“I don’t know,” Ant said. “Never been there myself. It’s not exactly a welcoming place and I don’t prefer to swim or become unnecessarily wet. There are no easy ways from the bank to the island or back.”

The island? I wondered about that for a moment and then remembered the castle and keep had been built on a bit of rock, an island, that was in the middle of the river.

“I need to go to the castle,” I said.

“It’s a lot better than here,” Ant said.

“What’s wrong with here?”

Ant looked over his shoulder at Ethan’s tent and then back at me.

“Is he really that bad?”

“He’s not that good,” Ant said, not answering my question and at the same time doing I don’t know what.

“How long has,” I indicated Ethan’s tent, “been here?”

“Just before you,” Ant said. “He showed up. The faerie ring maybe went back to where it came from. Then you were here. In that order.”

I didn’t know whether or not I was getting anywhere or if Ant was being helpful or simply not committing to anything, but it seemed like I had an idea of what to do next.

“When the sun is up I go to the castle,” I said.

“Don’t get wet,” Ant said.

I gave him a questioning look. “Wet?”

“It’s cold and going on winter. Some say it will snow soon and early. The water won’t help with what you need to do.”

“What do I need to do?”

Ant looked up at the sky and even though I wasn’t able to see what he could see, I instinctively knew he was looking at the sky and the first indicators of dawn. It was still the false dawn, but still the change in the sky seemed to affect Ant.

“You’re about to leave,” I said.

He nodded.

“What do I need to do at the castle?” I asked, trying to delay his departure.

“I don’t know,” Ant said. “Maybe another time if I am supposed to be where you are supposed to be at the same time.”

“Cold doesn’t affect me,” I said.

“I think you mean cold didn’t used to affect you,” Ant said and then he hopped off and within a few leaps disappeared completely.

I looked at where he’d gone for a few more minutes and then felt fatigue. Though I didn’t know it was fatigue, just another new and unpleasant feeling I had to deal with. Like the hunger food didn’t feed, I now needed something else my powers didn’t compensate for.

Returning to my cot I realized there was a sleeping bag on it, though why I knew it was a sleeping bag was beyond me. After I spent some time figuring out the zippers and how to get inside, I was really tired and ready to fall asleep regardless of where I was or how comfortable or warm.

With the bag around me and zipped, I could feel the interior warm up with my body heat and thought about my mental self and how nice it would be to have someone that totally hot squished in with me and then I thought about Ethan and how nice it would be to have him squished inside with me. I then started to really think about Ant and the weird conversation and how it had come about and with those thoughts I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Sleep didn’t seem to last long enough as I woke up, it felt like I’d just closed my eyes, to Ethan telling me it was light outside and we had things to do before it got dark again, not the least of which was foraging for food.

I opened my eyes and rubbed the sleep from them and then slowly unzipped the bag and felt the rush of cold air push out all the warm air and I considered, for just a moment, killing someone because cold was clearly not as comfortable as warm and now I was cold. And very, very awake.