I was still ranting when Hannah appeared at the end of the drive. She began picking her way up the path carefully, looking radiant in a cornflower blue dress I had bought her. I watched as her smile froze in place as she studied my appearance. She stopped on the first porch step, hesitating. Thanks to the wicked winds pelting me, I looked a mess, blown and disheveled. My hopes of looking perfect for Hannah were long gone. “Fe? Who are you yelling at?”

“Oh, Hannah, my darling. Thank goodness.” I had never been more grateful to see her perfect face in my life. I was immediately reassured. Even if I was stuck, we could be stuck together. We could spend an eternity together, just us and our love.

I told her about the travelers I had run off, and the old woman who had shown up. I told her about the curse, showing her what happened when I tried to step out the door. While I talked, her face grew more and more somber.

“So you really can’t leave?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Apparently not. I haven’t searched for a loophole yet. But don’t you see? This is really a blessing in disguise! A thousand lifetimes spent with each other, with no interruptions. Just us, forever.”

Hannah looked at me for a moment, then slowly swung her head from side to side. “No. I’m not coming in there.”

My heart sank as I watched her face fall. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Fe, you’ve been fun and all, but I’m not wasting the rest of my life in a house in the woods with you. That’s insane.” This wasn’t my Hannah. I wasn’t hearing clearly.
“You don’t mean that.” She lifted a slim shoulder, not half as bothered as she should be.
“I’m sorry, Fe. This is goodbye. This curse is none of my business. You were the one who ran them off, after all.”
My mouth dropped open, the veil finally lifting. My heart was crushed as it fell. “Excuse me?”
“Goodbye. Thank you for everything.” She turned and stepped off the porch, taking the same path as the old woman. Scrambling from window to window, I banged on the glass as she refused to look back and acknowledge me. I was a toy that had grown old. Like my family’s home, outdated. Unwanted. She would find a new sucker now, and I would remain in the house she begged me for until I rotted.