Odelle transfixed her eyes upon her white ceiling. Well, mostly white. Tea coloured dampness spread over certain patches in ever growing, upside down puddles. She didn't mind, it felt more homey when her room wasn't 'perfect'.

Odelle's fine mousy brown hair fell about her eyes in strings, as she sat up among a crinkle of sheets. With disgust she pulled a strand off her chin, where it had been superglued with saliva.

She murmured a faint

'Ew...'

And took a sip from the water on her bedside.

Odelle knew she wouldn't go back to sleep, not now that she'd woken up. She never did, but didn't mind really. She was one for adventure, and what better a time to start exploring than the first day of the summer holidays? So, with a sudden tingle of excitement, she hastily made her bed, (then gave up halfway and decided she didn't care nor could be bothered.) and hitching on her cotton tights, denim shorts and loose, slightly moth eaten brown jumper, she made her way down the stairs, her booted feet making hollow taps down the wooden staircase. She quietly closed the front door and stepped out onto the cobbled street, quietly closing the door behind her. Only when the door clicked it's metallic click did Odelle come to her senses. Where was she going to go? That's when her heart sank a little. But the bright streets of Paris weren't giving up on her, their narrow alleys slanted with the glow of dawn it seemed (at that moment) only Odelle could see. And with that last thought, she ran.

The pre-carved path that had apparently been waiting in Odelle's mind took her far out toward Cendre Forest. It was so called because of it's dark but beautiful landscape. In winter, the trees, which loomed like withered hands, snatching at each other, reminded Odelle of a book she'd once read about a girl called Alyona, who had run far too deep into the sea of trees, and lost herself among tangles of branches and twisted roots.

It was far past the branches that winter would bring the wood though, and instead the summer brought streams of watery sunlight, which danced across Odelle's rosy cheeks as she crossed the damp earth.

You might have thought her parents were concerned about her whereabouts at this point, but between her many brothers (Not to mention Fabian, her youngest brother, who thought himself a dog) her parents wouldn't acknowledge her absence until later that morning, when she stepped through the door.

Odelle had always been drawn to the forest, (She couldn't place why) And her parents simply nodded and waved her away when she told them where she'd been. Well, her father anyway. Her mother wasn't as keen on her disappearing off into Cendre's depths.

Her mother screeched

"Where have you been?"

Odelle jumped what felt like a foot into the air.

"Maman... Just the forest, isn't that where I always am?"

Her voice softened immediately, and she continued to pour boiling water into two coffee cups.

"I suppose I should have seen it coming. But you must be careful Odelle..."

"Careful of what Maman?"

She paused, the last words echoing around the round kitchen walls.

"There are just..."

Pause

"I used to go there. All the time in fact. I went if it rained, snowed, was so hot it would burn the very tips of your hair...

Until I... Had a bad experience."

Odelle's heart skipped a beat, and she let out a shallow breath she realised she must have been holding for the time her Mother had been talking.

"I'm sorry Maman. I-"

"It's not your fault. It was nothing, honestly, just... be careful, never talk to strangers..."

Odelle became quite frightened in the span it took for her Mother to say that next sentence.

"I won't Maman, I promise... but won't you tell me what happened? I'm sorry, I'm just curious... I'll.."

Her Mother smiled her kind smile once again and sat down to face Odelle.

"I will tell you, but now is not the time."

Her Mother took her hands and released Odelle to go back to her room on the top floor.

A beautiful house, Odelle's family owned. Modest, but beautiful in all its own ways. It had narrow, natural wooded staircases leading from floor to floor, (three in total, for the four floors.) It had long, velvet curtains lining every long, Parisian window standing at each end of each floor. Her house was on a corner, so was rounded, which Odelle loved. It was so much more intestesting than the stiffer, squarer buildings you would find, the further into Paris you went. But Odelle's most adored feature of their rather large apartment was by far her bedroom. It wasn't the elegant bedside or the antique school desk she had received for her last birthday, it was the balcony. Well, she called it a balcony. If it were a proper balcony, you'd find it hard to say it was normal, as it was pretty much at the peak of the apartment's roof. Her parents were oblivious to the occasional nightly dissapearance of their daughter. Odelle would stand atop her desktop, reach for the window set into the rounded ceiling, and slide it open to reveal a small prism of sunset. Then she would haul herself up by her elbows above the ceiling and find herself grasping for two of the rusted iron stakes that were arranged in a crooked square. A plank of weak looking wood was set upon the back row of corroding points, which Odelle spent many a night perched upon. The sun would set in slanted triangles of light, not orange, but a pale pink, fairytale like, over Montmatre.

She wouldn't usually have sat up there in broad daylight, but she had a strange urge to hear the quiet and feel the wind and watch Paris pass her by.

Honk-Hooonk

An angry driver.

Clip-Clip-Clip-Clip

A smart heeled business lady, striding down the next street toward her car.

TickTickTick-TickTick-Tick

A man slowing on his rickety red bike.

Click-Clop

Two feet landing on the floor.

Knock-Knock

Two knocks at the apartment door.

Her Mother's voice sounded, along with the clack of a key in a lock.

A minute later the door closed. Another, and Odelle nearly jumped out of her skin as she acknowledged the voice directly beneath her.

"There's a letter for you my dear"

It was her Mother.

Odelle's first thought was to attempt explaining why she was atop the roof, eavesdropping on every detail of every person below her's lives at that very moment. But her Mother's kind expression told her to do otherwise.

I'm her Mother's hand, a powder blue letter lay delicately among her pale, dry fingers, and short fingernails. It was sealed with an uneven puddle of shimmering silver wax, that seemed to almost radiate sunshine.

She stared at it for at least ten seconds before smiling back at her Mother and graciously plucking it from her hold.

"Thanks..."

Odelle started, as innocent as she could look as she glanced feebly into her Mother's knowing eyes.

"I'll leave you to open it, Odelle."

Was her Mother's only response.

Gently, her Mother shut the door behind her.

And as soon as the door had clicked, the envelope opened before Odelle's very shallow breathing, her hazel eyes intense enough to burn a hole in the curled writing on the parchment.

Authors Note:

I'm sorry this chapter was so short! Thankyou so much for reading my fanfic so far, I really appreciate it. Please keep reading, it will only get more action packed in the next chapter. (And hopefully longer!)

Thankyou!

ImmyMoon