Moonlit Bonds: A Love Beyond Shadows

The once lush greenery and adorning flowers were covered in a blanket of fresh white cold powder. Winter was here, and one of the roughest seasons for the village. It was especially rough if you lived in the slums part of the village. Never knowing where the next meal might be, or if it'll even come at all. Being looked down on or scoffed at while moving through the village square was more bearable than having to beg for a simple coin. Iris, the oldest of three, had the unfortunate mess of taking care of the family forced upon her. Her two younger brothers, Ivor and Ivan, wouldn't work even if their life depended on it, and their father was too depressed to try anymore. Work, sleep, work were what consisted of her day, hardly finding the luxury of eating between, even when she could afford something as simple as bread. The village lumber mill wasn't typically a place for a lady, but she was overlooked as boyish. She would've been deemed ladylike if it wasn't for her frail-looking figure, and sharp features from her years being poor. Five in the morning is when she sets out, every day. Bundled in what little winter clothes she could get her hands on, even having snatched Ivan's bigger coat while they still slept peacefully, but even it didn't stop the nipping of the cold. The lumber mill was always eerily quiet at this time, Iris being early every day. The axe stuck in the snow, the same place she had left it the night before, and a new pile of logs greeted her. The village always went through their firewood quickly, especially the wealthy side. Her thin gloved hands get to work as she pries the half frozen axe from the solid ground before chopping logs into fine duets. The only sounds were the snowy breeze and the sound of the axes blade splitting through the cold wood. She would have to wait for the two other workers to arrive before taking a small break, as she could already feel the blisters itching on the skin of her hands. Six hours, six hours of swinging that axe down as her shoulders screamed for a moment of rest, while her elbows ached deep to the bone before the other two workers arrived. Their laughing voices were heard as they walked up the small path to the mill, carefree and lively. She almost envied that, an almost twisted part of her wishing she could have just a taste of what freedom felt like, leave her family behind. Those thoughts she quickly shook from her head. Her family would crumble if she wasn't there to put what food she could on the table. She rubbed her numb hands together as the two workers walked past her to section the wood she had split into piles for different families in the village, depending on the amount paid for. Her ears couldn't help but tune into whatever conversation seemed to have them in such an amused mood, given the winter weather. The older one's voice was deep and gruff, James was his name if she remembered correctly. "Amelia said she heard a wolf howl during the night, which I told her she must be deluded! Wolves never come out this far." Iris couldn't help but roll her eyes as she took her much needed break as she sat on the stump. Everyone knew wolves stayed far away from this territory.