Work Text:
Outside of the Shimmer there was what appeared to be a flower sculpture. The sculpture looked like a bear-like creature at rest. The sculpture was mostly made out of branches. Flowers made up the sculpture’s eyes and teeth. A few flowers appeared on the rest of the bear-like creature’s torso. A few pink flowers grew where the heart of the bear was.
Once that sculpture was Anya Thorensen and Josie Radek. Both women were a part of the twenty-fourth expedition into the Shimmer. They were supposed to be there to examine why the Shimmer was expanding so rapidly and why it claimed the lives of most of the expedition teams before them. Then one of their teammates, Cassie, was killed by a mutated bear. Josie realized that the Shimmer was determined to destroy everyone in their team. Anya was angered at the perceived indifference of the other team members. And those team members wanted to press ahead to the lighthouse no matter what the Shimmer was doing. So Josie and Anya fled for Area X, leaving their team members at their camp while they were sleeping.
Anya and Josie made it to their canoe, only for Josie to stop short of grabbing an oar. “We’re too late,” Josie said to Anya. “It’s going to consume us.”
“No, it’s not too late,” Anya said. “We can make it—“
A flash of light grew around Anya and Josie. Anya covered up Josie with her arms.
Lena, one of Anya and Josie’s team members, walked by the flower sculpture before she returned to Area X. Lena wasn’t sure she was herself or not. But there was something about the sculpture that seemed familiar. Lena wrote about the floral sculpture in a notebook before rowing back to Area X to share to her colleagues.