Len

Avery clutched the briar’s soil in her small, worn hands. “This is special,” she said to herself in a hushed voice. The soil was speckled with blue and white glowing crystals. Somehow she knew it was a rarity, and carefully placed handfuls in her pouch. Avery looked up from where she had fallen. She was weak with hunger, and hurt from the fall, but still excited about her discovery. The sun was close to rising, and a morning-lit haze had already begun to heat the horizon, making the blue and purple sky seem to be mournful of its passing....