The night started like any other. Children were complaining about going to bed too early, shops were locking their doors, and people began to scatter into their own homes, eager for the next morning. The earth smelled of old bread rolls and candle wax as bakers throw out the bread from yesterday by only the light of the shimmering flame. The clops of horse hooves echoed through the alleys as late night workers rushed home to their families and friends. Then, as the last bit of light fled behind the last door to be closed, all was silent, all was right, everything perfectly normal.
Of course, when does a story ever start with everything perfectly calm without something horrible happening soon after? That is the case now, in the little household near the river. This was no ordinary house by the river. It was THE house by the river. This house by the river just so happened to house the Anderson family, THE Anderson family. In the Anderson family, was the daughter, Elizabeth Anderson. THE Elizabeth Anderson.
The Anderson family was the wealthiest family on this side of the river. They owned three and a half businesses, not to mention the fact that they knew all the right people. Elizabeth Anderson was the eldest daughter out of six children, third out of them all. Thirty men had courted her over the course of that month; some of them were even single. Still, she turned down each and every one of them, much to her family's dismay. She didn't want to marry any of them, for she knew the man of her dreams was not among them. She knew he was out there, waiting for her too. All she had to do was go looking.
Still, how can one look when you are not able too? Elizabeth Anderson was sick. Not with the flu, and most definitely not a cold, but sick with love, for, in the shadows of the night, she had seen, you guessed it, THE man. The man that would take her away from the Anderson family that lived on the house by the river, the man that would be the cure to Elizabeth's sickness.
Elizabeth thought about this man hour after hour, and it only went that far, for she had only seen him two hours ago. She did not even know the man's name, for the man had fled to the caves of the shadows. She had only caught a glimpse of his face. He had brown, neat hair that almost covered his vision, piercing green eyes, and, "How can I forget?" she muttered. He had glasses. The glassed were the most noticeable feature, the way they almost crafted his face.
She knew it was he, the man she had been waiting for. The one man who she will wed, the one who had taken her breathe away. It didn't matter if he was the richest man on the other side of the river, or the poorest. Nothing mattered, as long as Elizabeth saw the man again, if only for a second. Even one second would cause her to fall ill yet again.
"Amazing…" she muttered to herself, "Simply astounding."
Still, the horrible thing has yet to happen, and it is not happening to Ms. Anderson, oh no. It's happening to the man who has also been thinking about Elizabeth hour after hour. The man who just so happened to be sitting in the park now, pondering.
This man was named Will. He was a quiet man, generally kept to himself, never disobeyed rules, turned in all his paperwork. Over all, he was the perfect working man. With perfection, though, come deep flaws. Flaws that may have yet to see the light or flaws that are just peeking out from behind the perfection. These flaws run deep, such as that one when, one day, you cannot help but tap your quill while thinking, or the feeling you get when you look at a woman. Still, there are flaws that run deeper, and tend to cause much more trouble than the pen you have. This is the case with Will.
Will's flaws dealt with the fascination of humans.
Still, this may be a bit confusing to you all. Let's go back a few hours, and see what our Will was doing then. As it just so happens, he was by the house by the river.