Her eyes searched the impenetrable black of night. He would come, she knew he would. He was the only thing that she could hope for now. She had lived on the edge of this forest for her whole life. Raised for fifteen years in the same house, at the edge of town, at the edge of the woods. She had never seen him, ever. but because of the incident (as her Grandmother called it, she refused to think of it as an "incident"), she would talk to him every night. He had become her closest friend, and, she hoped, maybe something more. She never knew why the things that happened to her did, only that people were getting scared, including herself.
The "incident" started when she was only 7 years old. She had been living with her Mother, Father, and Grandmother. Her Mother was heavy with child and could not do much, and her father was always away, so it was left to her and Grandmother. She enjoyed her time with Grandmother, they would make dolls and play with them, she would run around outside while Grandmother watched, and at night they would curl up together and Grandmother would tell her stories of faraway places and magical things. She loved Grandmother's stories most of all. She would lie in bed awake thinking of dragons, princes, magic curses and true love that could break all curses.
One day while she was running around out side, a letter came to their home. No one knew who it was from, but it had her name on it and nothing else. None of the servants had seen it before, and the post didn't come 'til tomorrow. Ah! Finally, it was her chance for mystery and adventure! but as young as she was she did not understand that the adults feared the envelope, for it would be the beginning of something they had hoped would never happen. The envelope and its unknown contents were taken away and she was not allowed to open it. Much later that night, she snuck down to where she knew they had hidden it. Once she had found it, she let the excitement control her imagination. It could be an invitation to a ball! Or a cry for help from a city under siege! Or a threat from a powerful magician! The possibilities were endless, and so she tore open the envelope and poured its contents into her hand. It was sand. Sand? Why in the would would someone send her sand? And what was she supposed to do with it? She put it in her desk drawer and went to bed thoroughly disappointed.
As she slept, she heard a voice in her dreams. The voice was one of a boy, a voice she had never heard before. "Hello?" said the voice "Hello? Are you there?" She sat up with a gasp. Was someone in her room? "Hi," she answered "who are you?" "Aha! Finally! I was beginning to think that you had thrown the sand away." said the voice. She now noticed that the voice was coming from her desk drawer where she had put the sand. "I am the boy of the forest" the voice said with bravado.
"Is that your name?" she asked
"Of course not!" he said "You asked who I was not my name silly!"
"Well then what is your name?" she asked him
" I can't tell you!" he said back
"Why not?"
"Because I am under a spell! I need your help! I am trapped in the forest, never to come out. I have been watching you and how you love adventure and I hoped that you would help me." He was pleading now. "Of course I'll help you!" she said brimming with excitement "Just tell me what I must do!"
Sorry this turned out longer than I thought. I'll finish it next week.
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