"Well come on!" she says in a language that feels older than English, giggling as she took his hands and started running. Dawn was about to break and the grass and leaves were wet beneath their feet. He laughed and ran with her, following nothing more than a silhouette through the forest because the canopy of leaves hid her from the brightening sky.
They had spent the night out here, and it was cold and dark away from the warmth of the house and from the eyes of the village. But it was terribly exciting. Low-lying branches and leaves swatted at his arms and face as they ran, and as they got to the edge of the forest, she let go and ran a few steps out into the open field.
The first rays of morning sun hit her hair, and she was a girl turned goddess bathing in the sunlight.
"Are you coming? You're going to be late for breakfast!"
He breathed a sigh and hesitated. The sun. He feared the sun. He never used to fear the sun and had spent hours upon hours basking in it. But now he was afraid he would burn. This was a time when he would not have burned, but could he risk it?
"I'm going without you!" she teased as she turned away from him and ran into the house.
"Wait," he called out, reaching out for her. The sunlight swallowed his arm and he jolted up awake from his nightmare.