I gave in to the weight around me. I’d become the Lady of the Lake without Excalibur, the damsel in distress without the prince to save her, Dorothy without her slippers or Alice without her “drink me” potion. Fantastic dreams weaved into amazing tales of triumph over obstacles. I was not triumphant over anything. I was a coward.

I’m a weaver. I’m what is connecting this world to the world you come from. My purpose is to show you your choices.

Can I go home now? Please?” He grinned slightly. “No. Not until you acknowledge your pain and move passed it.”“This is crap, Oliver. I don’t want to face anything. I don’t need to be fixed.

Novaleigh, you have fallen out of focus. Lost sight of who you are and what you truly want to be.

Gavin turned to leave, and I was right behind him so I could close the door when he walked out, but he stopped short and turned back around. I bumped straight into him, our faces close, too close, at this point. “I’ve missed you,” Gavin whispered.

All I could think of was the phrase my dad’s father used to say to him when I was a kid, “Don't let your alligator mouth overload your hummingbird ass,” and I think I’d done just that.

There, before me, was a pond surrounded by large patches of tall grass and spindly trees that swayed gently with the cool breeze. In the middle of the water was a man hunched over, bound to two tree stumps. He was moaning and in pain. I could feel it from where I stood. I moved towards him but stopped when a deep voice spoke in the darkness. “Do not touch him.

Without the journey and crucial moment of understanding, I would still be questioning everything before me. I know now that I must trust what comes next, for there is a plan greater than the one I can see at work.

This is no dream, Novi. Everything you are experiencing is real and until you accept that, you will not be able to go home.”“Yeah, okay. Sure. Twin queens, talking otters, Autumn Fae, houses suspended in midair. Yep, totally real. Got it.