I felt a warm breeze run along my neck and play with my blonde hair. My simple blue dress hung at my knees and I smiled as I walked across a little creek, the water running along my bare feet. The sun and the leaves made playful shadows on the ground. Birds jumped from branch to branch.

I smiled and pulled a flower from a nearby tree and put it behind my ear. As I did, however, wave nostalgia stabbed my heart. I pulled the flower out from behind my ear and dropped it on the forest floor. Before I could help myself a hard, painful memory ran through my head.

Two little children run along the same trail. They both have matching golden hair, tied back away from their faces. The boy had light blue eyes and the girl had dark brown. They were obviously brother and sister. The boy wore brown riding pants and a simple white baggy shirt. The girl wore a fancy red dress. A red cape ran down the princes back with a royal seal on it. The princess ran along beside him, tripping every few feet on her long dress. When they both arrived at the creek, the boy pranced across it easily, showing off his long gangly legs. The girl however hesitated, and looked behind her.

Behind them, coming around a corner, was a man and woman, walking hand and hand. The woman had light brown hair and blue eyes like her children. Her dress was a bright blue, matching the sky. Her stomach was round from pregnancy. Her husband had blond hair and brown eyes, like his daughter. The father laughed and ran up behind the girl, tossing her easily across the stream. She laughed like crazy.

Once the father helped his pregnant wife across the creek he pulled an apple out of a nearby tree and began tossing it back and forth with his son. The girl ran behind him longing to play with them. "Play with me!" She yelled. But they didn't say anything. "Play with me, please!" She yelled again. She was screaming at the top of my lungs but they barely reacted. She fell back and pulled on her mother's dress. 'Why can't they hear me' she thought. Her mother looked at her with a very confused look. Finally, a look of understanding crossed her face. She said something to her husband and they turned around. The husband yelled back to his wife and he came back and swung the girl onto his shoulders and continued on their way. What the girl didn't see were the worried and terrified faces of her parents.

That had been nine years ago when I was five. It was two months after that when mother died. Dad was four months after that. It was around that time when my hearing and my voice were lost for good. So by the time I was six, it was only my deaf self and my brother alone in a huge castle. Our servants still worked for us, but we barely used them.

I was fourteen when it happened so Adam was sixteen. By that time we'd arranged a somewhat comfortable relationship. He could speak to me in a language using his hands so I understood what he wanted and he understood me. One thing I knew for sure, despite my constant confusion and frustration, he loved me more than life itself and he would do anything to help me.

As I walked through the well worn forest path, I longed for the simple times when people could hear me, when mother talked to me in a voice slightly louder than normal, and when father laughed with me all the time. Suddenly, a loud thunder clap sounded from the West Mountains. My eyes widened as the rain fell from the sky. Wind pulled my hair around my face. I gasped and ran down the path towards the back entrance to the castle.

By the time I reached it, my hair hung in wet tassels down my back and my dress was torn at the edges. I ran in the doors and slammed them behind me. The servants turned and looked at me. I smiled at them and they smiled back. I made the sign for Adam (They all knew it) and they pointed to the entrance hall.

After I left, I heard them close the door. I knew they pitied me, a lot. They didn't want to talk in front of me. I walked into the entrance hall and found Adam at the door talking to someone. I walked behind him but he didn't see me. He was talking to some old lady. Adam stature looked angry but the lady looked sad. I was good at reading emotions.

All of a sudden, the woman said something harsh and Adam slammed the door. I turned and ran before he could see me. I went up to my room and sat on the bed, not knowing what to think. I looked out my window, wetting my hair even more, to see the woman stalking furiously away. However, she turned and faced the building. Her mouth moved widely and her arms waved around. A huge vibrating boom came from around her and bright blue light flashed from her hands. It cocooned the palace like a bubble. For a second, nothing happened, nothing moved and no one breathed. Then, as if it was a bubble, it popped.

I felt the force of the pop sending me flying backwards and felt myself hit the wall. I gasped and grabbed my head. I looked around my room but nothing seemed to have changed. The room was completely unchanged. I walked over to my closet and closed the door with a click. And that's when it hit me. A click. I heard a click. I brought my hands together and I heard the noise. I snapped my fingers and I heard it. I kicked the wall and I heard it. I giggled slightly with joy and I heard it. I gulped slightly and opened my throat. Slowly, carefully, I let air pass through my lungs and spoke. "Hey." I laughed with joy and I jumped around, overwhelmed. The woman, she was a witch or something. She had given me my voice back. I had a whole new life.

I got up and ran downstairs. "Adam! Adam, come here! I can talk! I can speak, Adam!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I nearly fell down the stairs. "Adam?" He didn't answer. No one answered, not even the servants. I walked into the entrance hall and saw no one. I gulped and scanned the hall but no one was there. I walked down on the carpet, eager to hear something again.

I suddenly heard something. A creak of the floor. I turned toward the west wing and walked toward Adams study. As I got closer, the curtains were slashed and door was pulled down. "Adam?" I cried terrified. All of a sudden, a huge figure exploded out of the shadows. It was large with dark brown fur and huge claws. Its teeth and eyes shined in candle light.

"Rose?" It voice was thick, deep. Horribly scary. I pushed myself against the wall with fear and surprise. How did it know my name? I gasped and turned, desperate to reach the door way. "Rose, your voice!" I screamed as it crawled closer. I turned quickly and ran, falling over my dress, up to my room. I ran into my closet and slammed the door, paralyzed in fear. Adam was gone and I was stuck in a palace with a horrible devilish monster. Welcome to my new life.