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Ava couldn’t control her laughter, head floating from the weed. “Why the hell would it be a womb?”

“It’s the first thing that popped into my brain!” Eleanor tossed a napkin at her.

“Okay.” Ava clapped her hands together. “We’re on a farm.” She paused. “It grows stuff.”

“Duh.”

“Hush, I’m thinking out loud.” She smiled. “Seeds?”

Eleanor shrugged. “That makes sense. Where are your seeds?”

“In the office,” she answered as she stood and grabbed her wine.

Eleanor followed Ava inside to the cozy office, turning on the desk lamp.

It was a big enough room for them to start at opposite ends of the space and they began to pull out the labeled drawers along the back wall.

They checked the envelopes, picking up each one and searching for writing on the front and back, shaking the seeds and even feeling with their fingers to see if anything felt strange within the packet.

Ava felt nothing different and didn’t see any notes or other strange items resembling clues.

“Anything?” she asked.

Eleanor shrugged. “Nothing that seemed off.”

They headed back outside and sat down. Ava ate a bite of salami as she remained deep in thought while Eleanor munched on her own food.

“I’ve looked this house up and down,” Ava fretted. “I have no idea where it could be.”

Eleanor pondered out loud. “There must be something we’re missing. What else could it—” She paused, seemingly on to something.

“What?” Ava said through a mouthful of cheese.

“The greenhouse!”

“I never saw anything strange when Henry and I cleaned it out… but it’s worth a shot.”

The women rose from their seats, each pulling their respective blankets around them tightly. Luna awoke from her spot on the couch, happily trotting after them. Entering the greenhouse, Ava flipped on the lights Henry had installed for her and they looked around, unsure where to start.

Ava pointed at one of the potting tables. “That’s where the make out session happened,” she giggled, head buzzing.

“I think I need to make out in a greenhouse too.” Eleanor sighed.

“We should have brought the joint in here.” Ava couldn’t stop laughing. “Then it really would be a green house.”

“Wow,” Eleanor said. “Get a little stoned and you’re suddenly spouting dad jokes.”

They laughed together. “Well.” Ava looked around. “I guess we need to explore.”

The greenhouse was mostly empty, save for some seed starting trays, garden tools and a few random bags of soil propped against the wall. It was much cleaner since she and Henry had discarded all the old trash and fixed the wobbly shelving.

Ava picked a spot toward the back left corner and started her search. Bending down and looking at the bottom of the wooden shelves, she ran her fingers along the seams and crevices of the wood. She got on her hands and knees and looked in between the floorboards and then stood to inspect the wall.

As she looked, she heard Eleanor humming a familiar tune. “Why are you humming the theme song from Indiana Jones?”

Eleanor looked at her from the other side of the greenhouse. “Because I feel like an archaeologist right now.” She giggled.

“I hope there are no booby traps in here,” she replied, hands on her hips.

“Yeah, because then Henry would be sad if your boobs got damaged.” Eleanor snickered.

“Who’s the king of dad jokes now?”

They continued their search but after twenty minutes, they had found nothing.

“Let’s ask Luna,” Eleanor announced.

“I’m high, but I’m not that high,” answered Ava.

“I am.” Eleanor shrugged and looked down at the cat. “Where’s the map, Luna?” Luna tilted her head, listening while Ava suppressed a smile. Eleanor tried again, kneeling and looking directly at the feline. “Show us the map, kitty cat.”

“This won’t work,” whispered Ava.

“Shhhh… she’s thinking.”

They remained quiet, the only sounds from the crickets chirping their nighttime song and the fall breeze rustling the leaves outside. Luna turned to look at Ava, tilting her head the other way. Huffing a feline sigh, she turned and walked through the open door outside.

The women followed as the cat padded around the yard to the back of the greenhouse and stopped, pawing at the ground. Eleanor retrieved a shovel and handed it to Ava. “You’re stronger than me,” she said.

Ava laughed as she started to dig in the spot Luna had indicated. “Only because I’ve spent weeks hauling heavy bags of soil.”

She was quite strong, though. Before she moved out to the farm, she had been regularly attending weightlifting classes.

The barbell had been another way for her to cope with her anxiety and grief, giving her something to channel her frustrations and boost her confidence.

She also loved the feeling of being physically strong.

Ava had never been thin, and it didn’t bother her like it used to.

When she was younger, she was always too tall and too wide, towering over her peers and taking up too much space.

But using her strength in the gym made her fall in love with her thick thighs and broad shoulders.

Her body was one of the few things she wasn’t insecure about anymore.

She dug down for almost five minutes, starting to feel defeated there was nothing there. The hole was getting deep, probably close to a foot now, and she hadn’t uncovered any hint of a clue or foreign object. As she was about to take a break, the tip of her shovel hit something hard.

“I found something.”

Eleanor had collected two hand spades and knelt as she handed one to Ava while Luna watched from a few feet away. The two of them ended up on their hands and knees, scooping dirt with tools and fingers, excitement hovering around them like an electric charge, anxious to unearth their find.

Finally, Ava’s fingers were able to grip what felt like a tube.

“I think I can get it out of here.”

She pulled it out with a groan and laid it on the ground, light from inside the greenhouse casting an eerie glow.

The moment Ava pried it from its home in the earth, she was overcome with a feeling of dread.

The crickets were silent and the wind stopped, as if the forest was on alert, anticipating what was to come.

Silent, she and Eleanor stared at each other, eyes wide. Even Luna had perked up, ears listening for danger.

“Let’s bring it inside where there’s better light,” Ava suggested.

“Good idea.”

Though the crickets had resumed their song, and the breeze once again whipped their hair, there was a nervous energy in the air. Eleanor pulled her blanket closer and followed Ava inside.

They sat at the kitchen table, a reminder of the night they discovered the book, and looked at each other.

“What if you get sick again?” asked Eleanor.

Luna leapt onto the table and pawed at the metal cylinder as if indicating it was safe to open. “Then I guess I get sick again?” Ava shrugged, trying to hide her nerves.

Heart racing, she ran her fingers along the sides and found the top, prying it open. As she slid out a rolled-up piece of parchment, she was relieved no supernatural sensations washed over her this time.

With shaking hands, she unrolled it, revealing a faded map of the farm.

There was the house, the flower field and forest beyond.

A winding dotted line representing a path led deep into the forest from the side of the house, twisting and turning through the woods.

Along the path were several landmarks. Stones or oddly shaped trees to mark the way.

The path ended far into the woods, deeper than Ava had ever dared venture, opening into what looked like a clearing.

There it was. The portal.

Eleanor was looking over Ava’s shoulder and gasped. “There it is.”

“Yeah,” Ava replied, throat dry, unable to look away .

Eleanor pointed at the picture. An archway covered in symbols with a black abyss in the center lined in blue that seemed to leap from the paper.

“It’s true,” Eleanor whispered. “Like in the book.”

Ava set the map down and paced the room, the new information immediately sobering her.

“I—I don’t.” She ran her shaky hands through her hair.

“This can’t be real.” Eleanor watched her silently.

“I’m just going crazy,” she rambled. “I haven’t been sleeping…

. And—I just—I miss my mom… and this is my subconscious brain trying to make sense of things… . And?—”

Eleanor cut her off as she approached. “Stop. You’re not crazy. I’ve seen it all too, remember?” Ava looked at her and swallowed. “Your mom’s magic. The creature. The book and now the map,” Eleanor encouraged. “If this was some elaborate prank then kudos to whoever pulled it off.”

Ava sighed, sitting down at the table and placed her head in her hands. “What now?” she whispered.

“We go check it out.”

Ava’s gaze snapped to her friend. “We?”

Eleanor sat down beside her. “Sure. Indiana Jones, remember? Let’s explore.”

“What if it’s dangerous?”

“Then we plan.” Eleanor grasped her hand. “This is supposedly your home, Ava. Aren’t you a little curious?”

Ava bit her lip. “Well, yeah. But… we can’t just go through a random portal…”

“Why not?” Eleanor asked. “I’ll come over tomorrow evening and we’ll plan. We’ll just go through it and look around and then come right back.”

“I don’t know…” She closed her eyes. “What do I tell Henry?”

“Invent an excuse why you can’t hang out tomorrow. We’ll be back before he even realizes you’re gone. ”

Ava narrowed her eyes at her friend. “I think this weed made you brave.” She laughed softly.

“Probably… but let’s do it before we chicken out.”