It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
Marceline thought as she watched the crimson flames devour the crumbling building she once called home. Her mind wandered as she let her eyes follow the swirling plumes of grey smoke that rose and disappeared into the hazy night sky.
As soon as she graduated high-school, she decided to moved as far away as possible from her small-town childhood home to the big city of Portland, Oregon to attend college. For Marceline, it was a chance to start a new life, away from the rumors and gossip of her childhood. She wanted to explore the world outside the confines of the quaint forest town where she grew up. After a few tours, she finally found a cheap studio apartment that worked with her budget and moved out the same day.
A few years passed, and she had made a life for herself in the city. Everything was going fine until the summer after her graduation. On a particularly warm day, one of her neighbors had apparently suffered a sudden bout of madness and intentionally set their apartment on fire. Two hours later, she and the rest of the apartment's residents stood outside on the street, watching the building crumble to ash. Her neighbor sobbed uncontrollably, mumbling about how 'it wasn't his fault', and how 'he didn't know what came over him' as the police escorted him away.
With a sigh, she ran a soot-coated hand through her tousled raven locks and began thinking about her options. She had just spent the last of her savings on the deposit, and she had been so busy with trying to finish school she hadn't had a chance to find a stable job yet. She knew she had to visit home one day, but she didn't expect it to be because her place caught fire. She thought she had already hit rock bottom when her parents divorced, but life just really liked proving her wrong.
At this point she couldn't afford a hotel and she didn't know anyone in the city she could stay with. Left with no other choice, she let out a tortured groan of defeat. Digging into the back pocket of her black skinny jeans, she pulled out her phone and dialed her father for the first time in four years.
It was time to go home.
YOU ARE READING
Prince of Gold and Pine
FantasyCursed by a fae sorceress, Marceline is thrust into a world of ancient magic, shimmering gold castles, and scheming faeries. To get home, Marceline must join the faeries of Alderpine in their battle to protect the forest from a growing dark power an...
