Prologue: By the Waterside
Willow.
Weeping willow.
The weeping willow.
Kill the weeping willow.
One by one, she added words to the garbled sentence. Carving imprints in the soft bark, she found that her nails had caught several splinters, and the raw flesh under them was throbbing from the pain.
Still, she ignored the calling for help, and meticulously whittled the scratchy bark into the alphabets.
Abruptly, she stopped and sighed. This wasn't right. Finally examining her fingers, she yanked each sliver of wood out of the fleshy tissue which had never tasted the sun before. Pain. She felt the pain. And maybe, that was what she was looking for.
She picked up a pebble next to her, where the pink lace trimmings of her cotton sundress lapped up the lake's water hungrily. Its surface was smooth. So smooth that her finger seemed to slide over the glassy exterior. She scooped some water into her hands and trickled it over the pebble. It ran off, the way oil does on your teeth. Grasping it firmly, she flung it out to the body of water. If you looked carefully, vengeance could be detected beneath her expressionless façade.
The stone created ripples, like a piece of crepe paper was crinkled up. And far far away, the ripples rode to the other end of the titanic lake.
She felt the gritty sand beneath her toughened palms, and smiled cynically. How funny, that something so insignificant could cause pain. Ah, pain. What was pain? To her, it was love. Love was pain. Had she been the pearl and the world her oyster, humanity would be devoid of love. But nothing was up to her. Nothing was ever up to her.
"Dei! Dei come back! It's time for lunch!"
"Coming, give me a minute."
"Why do you need a minute, child? What can you do with a minute? Sit and stare at your stupid tree again. Do something better! Time is my money!"
"Yes Aunt Lana. I'm coming. In a minute."
"You stubborn girl. Take after your father. I'm counting! 1…2…3…4…I'm tired. You count yourself and you tell me."
"Yes Aunt Lana."
She scrubbed her nails in the cool water, relishing the stinging twinge when the water washed the tip of her fingers. She smirked sardonically as the colorless liquid quickly took on a diluted red shade, and finally, she drew her icy fingertips out of the water and sucked them.
Then, she threw a grain of dirt in the water for the last time, and watched as the net of water caught it, and gently lowered it to the sand below. And she left.
All that was left was the scraped bark, the little fragments of wood, a weeping willow and a pale shade of red dancing in the water.
Everything was normal.
"Jody, what was the point in coming here? You know there isn't anything but old trees and maybe a fox or two. And I'm sure Mother wouldn't want me carrying home a dead animal." An impatient, muffled voice floated up from the willows.
"Wait, you'll see in a moment. I told you I'd show you something interesting didn't I? And when did I give you reason not to trust me?" another person answered the first placidly.
Silence. Then a long sigh was released and the sound of leaves restlessly brushing against each other started up again.
Finally, two boys stepped into the clearing, and the crunch of gravel beneath them was the only sound as they gazed around the environs, one with docile contentment and the other with thrilled awe.
"Jody where did you find this place?! It's amazing! Look what we can do, we can build a small treehouse here, and get Mother and Father and Aunt Elma and Uncle here! We can play our flutes as loud as we want and we can hold gatherings! Think of it Jody! We can blindfold our friends from school and bring them here to smoke! They'd have to pay money to get here! We can make money Jody!" the other boy rambled on excitedly.
"No! I didn't bring you here to let you turn this place into your…your playground or for you to have a business scheme! Don't you appreciate nature at all? Look at the lake, it's so peaceful, and the willows! I've never seen so many willows! And we can relax here!" Jody retorted indignantly.
"Yes yes, all that's just fine, but Jody the money! Think of the money! We can buy our own bows and arrows now; we don't have to have Mother and Father threaten us to take them away when we misbehave! Wouldn't that be wonderful?!" He waved Jody's concerns away indifferently.
"I can't believe you! Don't you ever come back here again!" Jody muttered furiously, and frog-marched the other boy out of the serene ambience.
Amid protests from the young entrepreneur, the willows were left, once again, to bask in their glory in solitude.
Five years later…
Corbet sat at the edge of the water, allowing the fresh water to taint his trousers. He sat in thought, mind wandering through the nooks and crannies of his imagination to probe the answer out of himself. His father was the head of Kyrria's army, and he had been summoned for a mission of capturing a convict who had escaped from gaol.
Corbet knew it was a dangerous task, and his father was getting old, too weary for these things. Still, the King Charmont insisted on sending him one last time, but was kind enough to send much help along.
He was worried about his father. Although aid was ready at hand, this operation would kill his father, let alone tire him out. The ogres chase should have been the last of
his father's career, but they wouldn't leave him alone.
Not that his mother cared at all. Oh no, she was too worried about how the family seemed to gel together on the outside, rather than being troubled about what the interior really was.
Could he fight the urge to stand up for his father and tell the King to assign someone else the duty? Could he go in place of his father?
Suddenly, a rustle shook him out of his grim thoughts. His head snapped around to scan the willows. Who could it be? Jody? Had he come to scare Corbet off his "island" again? An animal? It seemed possible, but then he spotted a dark figure lurking in the corner of the trees. No, it wasn't an animal, and it wasn't Jody. It was the girl who always appeared. She fled again, and he gave chase yet another time. Darting around trees and avoiding shrubs, he kept the girl in sight until she finally dashed further into the forest. He decided not to give chase, but leaning against a weeping willow like many times before, his forehead filled with moisture and his heart beating vigorously, he vowed to find her.
Maybe she would give him an answer.
A/N: My first Ella Enchanted fanfiction and I hope you like it!