The town's cobblestone streets thrummed with excitement, filled with vendors shouting their products and kids weaving through the stalls. The intense aroma of sizzling meat blended with the sugary fragrance of newly baked pastries, while the sound of a blacksmith's hammer echoed from a location close by.
It was meant to feel secure, perhaps even soothing. However, it did not.
I lowered my head, my gaze shifting to each shadow, every unfamiliar face that stayed too close. My heightened senses were in full throttle, detecting the slightest whisper of a cartwheel or the soft murmur of nearby conversations.
"Mom, see!" Chloe's voice echoed next to me, her little hand pulling at my coat.
I looked down to observe her indicating a vibrant array of glass ornaments on a vendor's table. The sun hit the glass, dispersing rainbows over the cobblestones.
"Lovely!" Chloe gasped, her emerald eyes full of amazement.
