Forest-Wardens

        She was sitting beside the small boy's bed when he opened his shadowy eyes. The first thing he noticed was her hair: it was golden and glowing faintly. He couldn't remember if hair normally did that or not, but it hurt him to look at her; she, like sunlight, burned his eyes in the darkness. In the dim room, in his numb thoughts, the girl's hair looked like a halo, and he imagined he saw her unfold wings and fly away, but then he blinked and she was still there.         The first things the girl noticed were his eyes. They were dark and clouded with pain,