It truly is harsh, where you have to pack as lightly as you can, but still want to hang onto everything that you hold dear to you, so that you can burn down the place you call home and then run away with your family.

This truly sets how difficult the life they had, being on the run and trying to protect the kids. The last bits with how they would even burn away the remaining things that held some bit of themselves if it meant to protect Leif and Nanna was touching, but really sad. And to think, in the end, Raquesis didn't make it through in the end, since she was turned to stone.

Unless she was able to be freed from her petrification later on. In which case, she was able to be reunited with her family. Though its been so many years, so it would be awkward. But hey, least Finn still looks relatively young even after the timeskip, so that's good. XD

Ah... Two adults, having to take care of three kids. On the run... it really is sad. Very good piece! Everything they keep... it's not something they can get back.

It's funny that Ammie said she saw me in it, because even though I read over it, it hit close enough to home that it was hard to come back to. But I think she's right in her assessment that it's a somewhat universal premise in some ways. It definitely does a good job of telling the story, here, even if it is a bit of a punch to the gut. And sometimes those are the kinds of stories that have to be told, anyway.

I like the heart of this - and even though you say you just ran it by Raphi I can sort of see her in it too. Although maybe that just says something about how universal it is. I can sense maybe where you find some dissatisfaction with it - the mechanical sense of flow, the unusually dramatic exchange of dialogue with Finn - but it didn't keep me from believing in the premise and the heart of the tale. So, as a whole, I liked it.