Nobody knew where she came from. Nobody knew what had happened in her life that made her come here, to this small town called Appaloosa Plains. It was in the middle of nowhere and not very well known to strangers.
You could see she did not belong here. A huge butterfly decorated most of her back that was so generously revealed to the public. Nobody here had permanent ink on their skin, it was no good. One or two farmers had seen something like this during their trips to the bigger towns around, where they sold their groceries. Some young woman, preferably those who would do anything for a little cash, were also covered in designs and patterns. And here was this woman, carrying it on her back.
Her clothes were partly ripped and did not look like they had been cleaned during the past few weeks. The belt was more perforated than originally indicated, maybe a desperate try to make it even tighter.
She was thin. Very thin. Her legs were only as thick as most of the people's upper arms. On her right ankle there was another of these tattoos, as they were called in town. This one was a small heart, with a banner drawn through it. Nobody could read what it said; possibly there was someone's name on it. Someone she loved, or someone who abandoned her and made her come here.
The first time somebody saw her was on a cloudy Sunday morning, shortly after seven. The old woman had been in her yard, feeding the hens and collecting eggs, when she suddenly saw someone standing not too far away. The exotic appearance drew her nearer, until she could spot the young woman a little better. Without announcing herself, she just watched as the young woman stood on her - assumably own - lawn, staring at the wideness of the land. There was nothing to see, yet she did not move an inch for a long time. When the old woman slowly backed off to get back to her hens, the young girl turned around and eyed her counterpart with her bright, radiant eyes.
"I don't belong here, I know that," she said with an astonishingly melodical voice. "But this property is all I have. If I want to live, it is going to be right here. And there is nothing I want more than live." The old woman swallowed. Those blue eyes had caught her and what the young woman said had touched her deep in her soul. She stretched her hand out, slowly but steadily, as if not to startle the girl, and introduced herself. The girl returned the handshake and then stood silent for a moment. When her mouth opened again, she was hard to hear. "I'm Anna," she said. "Anna Vocis." Then she hastily turned around again and faced the property that was now definitely known to be hers. The old lady understood. Slowly, she went back inside her house, completely forgetting about the hens and the breakfast eggs, telling her husband all about this mysterious young woman.
This woman, however, kept staring at the beautiful nature that surrounded her new home. Was she going to be happy here? Was she going to survive in this foreign town that had its rules and its hierarchy? She simply had to try. This was all she had and all she was.
