She doesn’t believe in magic; it’s all deceit and illusion, like his promises. But when tiny fingers grasp hers, a mysterious force flows through her. What sorcery is this? she wonders. Two deep blue eyes gaze into hers. We don’t need him, they seem to say. You can do this.

Lesley also has short fiction published online at 101 Words, Paragraph Planet, and Wensum Lit, as well as a number of competition anthologies. She grew up in the North East and now lives in Hampshire.