First Impressions
By: Khi Vega
Chapter One
I suppose I'll start by telling you my name. It's Delilah and I live alone in a cottage my father built in the middle of a forest on the outskirts of town. The town that was nearby is called Becan.
It was a small town and thus, it was easy to spread gossip.
And while some people may call me odd or a hermit, I'd like to disagree.
I chose to live in the forest on my own. It was not a decision I was forced into but I could most certainly live with other people if I wished it. My reason is quite simple. After my father died last spring, I became the last in my family.
My mother had long since passed away from an illness that took her when I was a child. I had no brothers or sisters and for ten years my father and I kept each other company until he too left me.
I will admit that it was mainly my sadness that kept me there in the beginning. I had no wish to go into town. But as the days and weeks and months passed and my grief subsided, I had no desire to go back into town to live so I stayed in the forest.
I lived among the animals and spoke with the squirrels that chatted back happily and there I lived, quite alone.
One bright clear morning, as I awoke to the chirping of my friend birds, I walked outside and into a small slightly shaded garden that I had cultivated on the east side of the cottage. After a little while, I looked up and saw a black shadow cross the field in the distance.
What was it? There were hardly any visitors in the forest. I couldn't help but be curious. I put my hand to my forehead to shade my eyes and looked toward the stranger.
The figure drew closer and I saw that it was a man on horseback. Indeed, I had dreamt previously that night that a prince would come to sweep me off my feet and onto his noble steed.
Anyway, this man was really very attractive… from what I could tell. He had just the perfect hair: long, black and somewhat in his eyes and not to mention a masculine body as well as a face. It was long and chiseled and he had vivid green eyes which were staring in my direction.
I ran over to him and he called me "fair lady."
At that moment I tripped on my face and was launched into a fit of giggles...hideous giggles.
"Uh I have to do something..." the prince said, searching for a reason to leave me ...or was he...what was he doing exactly? After all, who could leave such a gorgeous damsel in distress alone to rot with the animals? And... all alone?
"In what direction in Nastaran Kingdom?" he asked, his eyes smiling at me, making it hard to breathe.
"Th-th-there..." I stammered, pointing my finger in the direction over the mountains.
At that moment his smile broadened and he thanked me, and headed off into the mountains.
I decided to follow him a ways to see who he was and what he wanted. And besides, I had nothing better to do.
Well I, as I followed him, got lost in my own woods. You'd think after the many years I'd spent in it, I wouldn't have lost my way, but I did. The man had stopped to get a drink of water in the river and because I wasn't thirsty, I went off on my own, promising myself I'd come back before he'd gone.
Unfortunately, I wandered a little too far and as I was crossing a bridge of stones to get across the river which I think was the same one he'd been at, I slipped on the slick rocks and fell in.
What a clumsy fool I am! Well I paddled helplessly in the water and as the current pushed me farther and farther away, my dress caught on a stick below the water. Oh no! I cried for help and flailed my arms wildly to get attention as the water pulled me under.
Just then the handsome man showed up and reached in and snatched me from the water. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" I breathed heavily with great relief.
He looked at me curiously. "Didn't we just meet?"
"Uh…I-I..er…" NOW WHAT!
A small grin curved his ample lips. "Were you following me?"
"I…No! Why would I do that?" At a loss for words I mumbled pathetically, "There is no reason for me to follow you."
His smile remained and he said smoothly, "You're not a good liar. But would you like to join me anyway? I get lonely on these long journeys. Please, will you accompany me?"
The rest of the day seemed to blur by. We eventually stopped in a field of flowers. And there we slept until morning.
