"Let me help you," Jillian says, moving nearer to me, his hands reaching towards my waist to pull me down from the steps I'm standing on.

"No, I'm fine!" I quickly answer, wishing he would leave me alone.

I had been doing my chores all day, and Jillian had been following me around everywhere, offering to help even though I was perfectly capable of managing to do all these things by myself.

"Are you sure?" He asks, hesitantly.

"Yes," Lifting my arm up, I start picking the rest of the berries that were still on the bush, taking care not to lose my balance and fall on the thorns. Ever since the Pyre Night, where my skin started glowing, my clumsiness had gradually improved. I still fell over, still managed to break plates and accidentally trip others over, but not as often as before. Gina says it's because there is always someone there to catch me now, and taking into account the people who constantly surround me, I wouldn't be surprised if that was true.

"I'll just stay here, just in case then," He says annoyingly.

I don't want him there, but I don't say anything.

Not bothering to answer, I continue picking the blackberries, making sure to pick the ones that are ripe for the blackberry pie Mummy and I are going to make tomorrow morning to celebrate my eleventh birthday.

It had been almost a year since the strange night where I had shown my light, literally.

Remembering my tenth birthday, I am overwhelmed with sadness. I will never have a normal birthday again, with the people I love surrounding me and only those who actually cared for me wishing me well. Now, I had hundreds of people preparing themselves to present themselves in front of me as if I was a Queen myself, believing the prophecy.

They didn't care about me, they cared about what I was.

I didn't like feeling envious of people, but ever since the last Pyre Night, almost all my wishes were for my life to be ordinary like the children in the village, like my brothers and sisters. Of course, I was happy and appreciated the help some of my new followers gave us, camping just outside our house to keep away creepy men, or hunting for the family, or even making cakes for occasions such as birthdays.

We now had lots of support, and our family was living one of it's best moments economically, but at what price? We could no longer have a quiet day of dancing around the garden, or running through the fields at night. We didn't have any privacy, and for that, I felt responsible.

Everything good that was happening was because of me, but so was everything bad.

Last year, my birthday had been celebrated in the barn. The only people who had come were my brothers and sisters, my parents, and my only friend from town, Jane. This year, there are dozens of people staying in town, getting ready to come to my birthday and give me gifts.

~~~~~

Stirring my porridge, I moan, "I really don't want to spend my day sitting outside... Why can't Gina or Dayne just dress up as me?" I plead, "As my present?".

Sighing, Mummy sits next to me, "You know you look nothing alike, especially with your glowing skin. And you have to do this so that everyone will leave our farm alone!"

The deal was that, in exchange for me granting my presence to all the people that were staying in the inns in town, the townsfolk would protect me from any dangers I might have to face. This was beneficial for both parties, since this meant the people from town now had another way of earning money by using me as an attraction, and my family didn't have to ask for help from the authorities, as my father had often suggested. Luckily, this arrangement had made him less persistent in wanting to involve the authorities, meaning I don't have to be scared of being taken away all the time.

"But-"

"No buts, my little acorn," Mummy chides, standing back up and walking towards the casserole on the stove.

Gina bumps her leg against mine, "If I could, I would help you," she whispers.

"We'll play board games and drink hot chocolate after everyone has gone, okay? I promise!" Mummy tells me, not looking back.

I wish we hadn't had to make the deal with the townsfolk, but each time it seemed more dangerous as more and more men travelled from further away trying to become the father of the chosen one. I was starting to hope I would never have children, if only to go against everyone else's yearnings. The men were now standing outside our front door, banging on our windows and yelling for me to come out. It was getting so bad that we had to accept the arrangements the citizens from town had proposed.

Daddy pops his head into the house, "Are you ready?"

I want to say no, but I know that the best thing to do right now is get on with it.

"Yes,"

Standing up, I leave my ceramic bowl in the old sink before grabbing my coat and heading outside and into the barn. It's a chilly day, and so there is a blanket waiting for me on the metal chair. The sun had risen about half an hour ago, and between going to bed late and being nervous for today, I hadn't had much sleep.

"I'm going to start calling people in," The man who owns the new inn in town tells me.

Nodding, I wait.

As the day goes on, dozens of people walk through the barn doors, all of them bearing gifts such as blankets for the nearing shwalm, the coldest season of the year, or dresses that look big enough to fit two of me inside them. But all in all, it wasn't as bad as I had expected.

Having a break midafternoon for a late lunch, I look outside to see how many people are left. What I see disappoints me. A queue of about the same number of people as I had already seen stood outside. When they notice me, some of them wave at me, my fake smile seeming to fool them well enough as they continue to chatter amongst them.

"How many people are left?" I ask Donny, whose name I had learnt after a few of my followers had thanked him for being able to visit me.

Looking down at his list, he shakes his head, "Around a hundred I'd say? Maybe some have given up and left,".

Groaning softly, I whisper to Daddy who had come to give me lunch, "Can we make the break longer? That way we can play board games and maybe more people will leave!"

Getting excited, I assume Daddy will say yes, that his carefree side will resurface after a year of slowly dissipating itself. I'm so sure he will say okay that I get up and start skipping towards the back exit, a bright, genuine smile on my face.

"Moira!" Daddy whisper yells, "As much as I'd love to play with you, this comes first. We made a deal, we have to fulfill our end of the bargain,".

My smile immediately vanishes. He never used to be like this. He used to be the person who would always suggest skipping the boring things, the person who would lay down in the middle of the field so that Mummy wouldn't see him in order to skip his cooking duties.

Tears are building up behind my eyes, the waterworks I tried to keep hidden at all times threatening to come out.

"It's just a few more hours," Daddy says softly, holding onto my shoulders and turning me around so that I face him, "Just a few more hours, and then we will do whatever you want. Including playing that horrendous game Rich made up last year,".

Trying to smile, I nod, the tears no longer a risk as I walked slowly towards the metal seat that stood in the middle of the barn. It had been made by the blacksmith, but has so many small details on it that it almost seems carved out of wood by a very impressive artist. There are flowers, from roses to lilies, fruits such as apples and pears, and even fire.

The griffin from the day I had started glowing, prominently placed above my head as I sit down, it's wings spread out as it poses, the scene seeming unnatural, unlike the wooden griffin from last year. It is a masterpiece, one made for people to admire, not for some eleven year old child to sit on.

"Donny! I'm ready," I say firmly, the beginning of a mask appearing as I place a small smile on my face, my hands crossed over my legs and I sit with my back straight.

I am the Mother of our Future, and so I must act like it, I repeat to myself, chanting it hundreds, if not thousands of times as I greet people, the pile of presents behind me growing in number.

As the end of the queue nears, I realise that nobody who actually lives in town came, it was all new people, people who had never known me when I was normal. Everyone who had previously known me hadn't bothered to come and see me, not even Jane had come.

Pushing my sadness away, I get up from my seat, my legs almost giving way under me after not being used in so long. "Daddy, can we play now?" I ask, excited.

Looking at me with pressed lips, Daddy kneels down, "I'm sorry Momo... Everyone has gone to bed, it's really late. Maybe we can play tomorrow? I'm sure Mummy would love to do that! And the hot chocolate! We mustn't forget that, right? You can have it for breakfast!"

My face falls. I had just spent the whole day sitting down meeting strangers with the promise of being able to spend time with my family afterwards, and now nobody had even bothered to wait up for me.

"Okay," I say curtly as I walk past him and towards the house, tears sliding down my cheeks by the time I open the door.

Nobody had even stayed up to say goodnight.

Running up the stairs, I throw myself onto my bed, not even bothering to take off my clothes as I hide myself under the covers, my silent sobs dissolving under the vibrating light my skin emits, each sob making it duller and less bright.

They hadn't stayed up. They hadn't kept their part of the bargain.

And with these thoughts, I slowly drift into unconsciousness, my hand clutching my long brown braid, keeping it from floating around my face as I breath unevenly, my sobs slowly subsiding.

How is your year going so far? New Year was kind of bittersweet for me. Although I did spend it with friends, it doesn't feel like a new year because I've always spent it with family. But I had fun! Let me know what you did in the comments!