THE ELF WAS BREAKING a chunk of fungus from a tree trunk when he heard the Human cry out. Hidden in dappled shadows, Byggvir had come to the edge of the construction site to look for food. Once it would have taken magick to bring an Elf so close to Human civilization. But the borders that separated the worlds were continuing to grow more porous, and in many places there were no longer boundaries at all.
After thirty years the Elves were returning to Alfheim. Many spent their days foraging in the woods, gathering food for the kitchen staff to prepare. Byggvir had no idea that he had left Elfin territory. When he heard the Human speak, he froze in shock and disbelief. He peered into the clearing and saw him on the mound of dirt. Then he saw the sunlight flash on the diamond wedding shoe lodged in the boy's heel. Byggvir turned and ran. As he clambered over heaps of dry leaves and fallen branches, chunks of fungus spilled from his basket. But that didn't matter any more. The only thing that truly mattered was that the wedding shoe had been found.
Matt closed the bathroom door behind him and turned the lock. He hoped his mother didn't question why he was getting into the shower without being nagged. He stood in the tub as the water steamed up around him and watched a thin trail of red spread from the bottom of his foot, then circle down the drain. When he got out of the shower he patted the wound to make sure it was dry. Then he rooted around in a box of stuff that was meant to go in the bathroom cabinet, and found a tube of antibiotic cream. He smeared some on his heel and put an oversized bandage on it. After pulling on a fresh pair of socks, Matt hid the little shoe in the back of his dresser drawer. Then he hobbled down the hall to Becky's room. "Remember what I said about telling Mom?" Matt asked in a hushed voice. "I'll help you with your dolls, but you'd better not say anything about me hurting my foot out there in the field!"
Becky just smiled, and slipped a CD into her little pink boom box. Then the pair of them spent the rest of the afternoon taking dolls out of cardboard boxes, getting them into fresh outfits, and standing them on a shelf that stretched all the way from the closet to the window.