The Keeper

That was the name the village gave her. She probably was called something else earlier in her life but that name was forgotten in the decades she lived here.

Even though I have been in the town for a year and the fact that she walks around the settlement daily, I never met her face-to-face but from the gossip that floated through this small forest surrounded place gave me sufficient information about her. She was old. She has seen the grandparents that lived here when they were kids. She lived just outside this settlement in a cabin. But my favorite facts were the ones about her before she came to this small village.

Apparently she was part of a time called "The Heroes Saga". It was a time where there was a mad scientist bent on ruling the world to make an amusement park in his likeness. A blue hedgehog and his friends, one of them being The Keeper, always stopped him. The doctor almost killed the hedgehog in the last battle but the explosion that was meant for the hero backfired and instead killed the doctor. After that, few people tried to follow in his footsteps but the heroes quickly put an end to them. After that, those heroes, all grown up then, went their own ways. The Keeper came here in her mid-30s and lived here ever since.

The young children would leave their guardians to go visit her for a story. That was the main reason why she was called The Keeper. She kept legends alive and passed them on to the younger generations.

It was the autumn of my second year when I finally met The Keeper. The kids were at school and I loved to walk in the multi colored forest. The wind in the mid afternoon that made the falling leaves swirl around also was bitter. I shivered in regret. The sun made me think that it wasn't going to be as cold as this. Burrowing my nose into the only thing I brought, my scarf, I automatically looked down.

The sound of the river told me where I was. The sudden wall told me that I wasn't alone. Looking up, I saw a hooded person. I automatically knew it was The Keeper.

I just gaped at her, even though there was really nothing to see, until the wind picked again. I shivered again while her hood was thrown back. She looked majestic with the leaves spinning around her person. I could see why everyone was so captivated by her. The eeriest thing was that I felt that she was an old friend. But how? This was the first time I had ever seen her.

Right?

"You're cold." She observed me, her head tilted to the side. Her voice was surprising clear and strong, unlike the shaky voices I heard other elders speak in. "This weather could be very tricky." She looked back to the river. "I guess that you were admiring nature too?" I nodded. We stood listening to the water for a moment before she spoke again.

"You don't remember me."

"Sorry?" Her gaze returned to me.

"I could see it in your eyes. There's no recognition. Not a spark."

"I…um…" I tried to reply.

She pivoted abruptly. "Come along. There's no use in freezing out here. I have cocoa." She turned her neck towards me again. "Close your mouth. You've had it open ever since you seen me."

Eventually, we reached her house. I could tell she kept a garden even though there wasn't much in it right now. Also standing out in the clearing was the huge coffee colored porch with an ebony rocking chair on the right side. I assumed it was a place for the children. The Keeper ignored all this and climbed up the porch steps and flung open the front door with ease. A blast of warm air came straight at me. I sighed in comfort and that earned me a chuckle from her.

"Wait here." She told me before entering her kitchen. I took that chance to look around. The first things that I saw were the framed photos on a wall. There was one that caught my eye.

It was a group photo. Probably a birthday party because there was a cake right in the middle. I instantly recognized the younger version of The Keeper. She was towards the right of the group. She was holding someone's arm. The person whose arm she was holding made my heart stop and my limbs go numb.

That guy looked liked me.

Suddenly, I felt something break in my head. Names and places rushed and flooded my mind. I stumbled to a chair and leaned against it. When the torrent was over and I could open my eyes again, the first thing, or rather person, I saw was The Keeper. No. She wasn't The Keeper to me any more. She was…

"Cream." The words came out as a whisper. Her aged face wrinkled as a huge grin came onto her features.

"Shadow. You remember me after all."