Ashley had only one person she considered a friend.
A friend she once hoped to meet again.
Sadly, she did.
And that friend ended up belonging to a world—an organization—with beliefs completely opposed to her own.
It was why she eventually decided that the past should remain in the past.
Not only because she was now part of Dominion.
But because if she stopped touching those memories, if she stopped thinking about them, they could remain exactly as they were.
Untarnished.
Just like the moment she heard her friend speak for the first time.
*****
"Come on! Hurry!"
Young Ashley waved at the boy following behind her before weaving through the crowd.
"Faster!" she shouted.
As street children, they had learned how to survive on the streets. And because they constantly moved from one place to another, they had seen many things.
Festivals were one of them.
