Heather Raglin Quartetti's Entry for Darci's Flash Fic! :-D

Darci Cole is having a terrific giveaway at her BLOG because she reached 100 GFC followers. Woohoo! In order to enter you need to write a 300-500 word short story based on the prompt. The number 100 must be included. Here’s my entry:

I hadn’t gotten up so early in days. One hundred days to be exact. But when Papa left he was very specific.
“Go to the forest, Tally. One hundred days from today. Wait at the clearing by our tree.” Then he got on the plane.
I don’t know why he couldn’t just say November 13.
But maybe I do.
The road was deserted. Hardly anyone used it even in the middle of the day… certainly not at sunrise. Mom wouldn’t even be up before I returned.
The air clung to my skin like dew. Nearby a flock of birds took flight. I held my breath, then exhaled, a white cloud in front of my face.
When I arrived at the gnarled tree that looked like an old woman scrunching up her face I left the road and entered the meadow. Our tree was just ahead. It rose out of the thick fog like it had no trunk, just a scramble of limbs.
“He said you would come.” Someone stepped out from behind the tree.
My breath caught. I knew that voice, but it couldn’t be. “Cassius?”
I was just a few feet from him. I reached out and touched his arm. “You’re real. How did Papa know? Where have you been?” I wanted to punch his arm, pound his chest. “How are you here?”
Cassius placed his hands on my shoulders. “We had to make them think I was dead so they’d leave me alone.” His hands caressed my face. “So I could be with you.”
I fell to my knees and squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them he was still there. “Papa knew.”
Cassius nodded. “He’s always known the secrets of the council. They banned him from meetings, but that doesn’t mean he won’t find out what he wants to know.”
Of course. Everyone loves Papa. Except the council.
I shook my head. “Why are you back?”
“Because now they want you. I learned their secrets…at least some of them. Each year on November 13 they take one girl. The one with the strongest will.” He stopped, giving me a chance to break down because last year was the year they took Jovie. My cousin. My best friend. “But you’re not going back home.”
Cassius stood and reached his hand out to me. If I took it, I’d leave home forever. There would be no coming back. If I went home I could see my mother, but if Cassius was right it would be the last time. I’d only get to tell her good-bye before they took me.
I pictured Papa in his fisherman’s hat, standing with his bag on the runway. He’d said he would stop the old traditions. That he was going somewhere to start new ones.
I looked back toward the road, now fully lit by the morning sun. I reached out and put my hand in Cassius’. And we walked away from the road together.