London. What better place to find adventure ready behind the corner of every street right? Elizabeth tapped her pencil against the window as her mind struggled with her archenemy, writer's block. Elizabeth sighed and closed her eyes, imagining herself stabbing her pencil through the terrible monster that blocked her mind.
Her publishing company told her it would be best for her to "take a vacation", and isn't it funny that her Aunt Wendy just sent her a letter just begging her to come and visit. So she decided to take up the offer and go for a visit.
Now here she was, on a bus, her pencil in hand and her brand new notebook still naked.
"Damn this writer's block!" she cursed under her breath.
She looked out the window as the bus turned onto the street of her Aunt's house. It passed three houses and then stopped at the fourth. A woman and her family stood outside with smiles, waiting, it seemed like, just for her.
You see when her company told her to take a break they had actually fired her. They dumped her and her things and told her not to come back until she had a complete story. They made fun of her because storytelling came so easy in her family. Her father, Michel Darling, was head writer of the company, and he banished his daughter. He was a creative genius, and so was her mother. Her mother was an artist, musician, and an opera singer. They were never satisfied with her works. She had nowhere to turn to know, or it seems now, all her life she had nowhere to turn to.
The bus jolted to a stop and the cabin assistant stepped down and unloaded her bigger luggage off of the side of the bus. Elizabeth sighed and collected her things. She stopped by the bus driver.
"Thanks for the lovely trip. I really loved your jokes." She said with a smile.
"Ah, ain't a problem Miss! Have a good stay." He said taking his cap off.
Elizabeth thanked the cabin assistant and gave him three pounds as a tip. Uncle David came up to her. He extended his hand.
"Hullo Lizzy! I haven't seen you since you were just a wee babe." David said with a strong Irish accent.
"Hello Uncle David. I trust you've been well all of these, what, seventeen years?" Elizabeth stated politely.
"Come now Lizzy, there's no need to be proper here in my household!" Aunt Wendy said with a happy smile as she spread her arms for a hug.
Elizabeth was shocked. Not once had her mother or father acted like this. She never knew the true love of a mother. Her eyes watered. She felt right at home.
"Oh Aunt Wendy!" Elizabeth cried as she dropped her bag and ran into the woman's warm and open arms.
"No wonder mother and father ever let us visit Uncle Michel and Aunt Mary. Look what they've done their own daughter! Got her crying to an aunt she hasn't seen in seventeen years!" Jane whispered to her brother and her brother only nodded in agreement as he eyed his emotional cousin.
"Let's get you inside. David will you take her things? Now honestly Lizzy why are you crying? Really now, everything will all be made well. Watch your step. Children go on ahead and set the table. We've prepared a nice home cooked meal for you. Inside there you go, get you out of that dreaded evening heat."
Elizabeth stepped into the cool house and was guided up the stairs by Aunt Wendy with Uncle David close at their heels. Wendy led her niece into the nursery and Uncle David put her things down on her bed.
"I do hope you don't mind sleeping with the children. It's the only other bed in the house I'm afraid." Wendy said folding her hands.
"No, this is fine." Elizabeth sniffled.
"David I think I hear the kids yelling why don't you go see what they're up to?" Wendy said.
"I don't here them yelling. Oh wait! Right gotcha! I'll just go check and see what they're up to." David said as he scurried out of the room now knowing that he wasn't wanted. Wendy led Elizabeth to the bed and sat her down.
"Lizzy what on Earth is wrong? Why are you so unhappy? When I first laid eyes on you I could tell you were going to be brilliant, beautiful, and strong. Why aren't you that girl that you are?" Wendy asked.
"I am none of those things." Elizabeth said now with hate.
"Elizabeth! How can you say such things?" Wendy said standing up.
"My mother would tell me that every morning and every night. She'd say ' Good morning daughter, you'll never be as great as me.' or 'You'll never be a beautiful as me so why sleep? Well goodnight dear.' For eighteen years of my life I've slowly become what she would tell me. It's as if she was casting a spell over me." Elizabeth said hanging her head down lower.
Little did she know her mother had cast an evil spell on her. The kind only a jealous mother would cast. One made of fear and hatred. It caused her daughter only to see what her mother told her. So every time she would look in the mirror she really would see a horridly ugly person there, when truth be told she was amazingly, stunningly beautiful.
"That's not true!" She pulled her up off of the bed and rushed her over to the vanity mirror. "You are the most beautiful girl in the world!" Wendy cried as she shook her shoulders as Elizabeth looked at the horrid picture in the mirror.
"Don't humor me. I'm ugly." Elizabeth stated in a plain voice to her but in a beautiful but sad tone to Wendy.
"Who is it going to take to convince you are truly wonderful?" Wendy sighed looking at the sad beautiful girl in the mirror.
"I don't need convincing the truth is the truth. What I need is an adventure for a book." Elizabeth sighed.
There was a shiver up Wendy's spine. She knew what was about to happen.
"Oh trust me, you'll find an even greater adventure without having to pay money and do research." Wendy smirked mischievously.
'What on Earth?' Elizabeth thought to herself.
"Come lets get food in your belly and lets get you to bed." Wendy said as she led her out of the room.
When Elizabeth returned to the room finally after having some good laughs with her aunt and uncle she found her cousins already fast asleep. Elizabeth's was too hot, tired, and full of food to even dig through one of the two suitcases she had brought to find pajamas. Instead she shuffled over to her knapsack and took it with her to her bed. She reached her hand into it but her eyelids where fluttering fighting the heavy weight that was being put on them. She gave a huge yawn and was knocked out.
Wendy silently came in and opened the window and left the room. A cool breeze kissed Elizabeth's cheek and announced the arrival of a strange boy, well, man really. A couple of other boys bumped into he back of this stranger and turned around and gave a sharp Shhhh. He then flew in and crept to the bedside. He never saw such a beautiful girl. His heart fluttered and his belly did this weird flip/flop.
"Quickly boys. Grab the stuff and lets get out of here." He commanded.
The boys got the things off of the bed and the stranger scooped Elizabeth in his arms. There was a small light, which was a fairy that had her arms crossed and a sour look of disgust on her face, but as the stranger walked past her she was shocked to see how ill the girl was. She flew in front of the stranger franticly trying to tell the stranger how sick the girl was.
"Stop that Tink. She looks perfectly healthy." The stranger said.
But the fairy knew only too well that of course she would seem fine, her illness was in her heart, and she knew if they weren't careful she could die.
But far away into the night they went. Just as Jane screamed and Wendy came rushing in.
"She's gone! Mother she's gone!"
"Yes, I know dear. What a grand adventure she'll have." Wendy said distantly.