Enjoy!

The faint scent of apples and spice was filling my lungs. I inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of my mom's room. I awoke and assumed it was sometime in late morning, due to the light coming in through the window. Laying there, I took in my surroundings. My mom's giant, comfy, bed. The well placed arrangement of all the furniture. The room flowed flawlessly but it dawned on me then, my mom's room was elegant, but lacked… personality. Everything seemed flawless. Too perfect. I mean, I guess it makes sense, this is the mayor's house, but looking around, I realized you wouldn't know who lived here if it weren't for say, the one small picture of us on mom's dresser.

At the same time, I felt a sense of comfort being in this room, but why? I loved my mom, sure, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd sought comfort from her. She was a good mom, but, well, we just weren't that kind of family. But this room... Something about it just had this calming effect. Like I never wanted to leave. I felt as if all my worries washed away as I burrowed deeper into the blankets.

About this time, my stomach let out a growl. As comfy as I was, I realized I was starving. Heaving a sigh, I turned and saw a glass of water on the end table as well as a note that read:

Went to the office, but will come home at lunch to check on you. Call if you need anything. -Mom

Assessing how I felt, I realized I was doing much better. My head hurt way less, and I felt… almost content. I couldn't remember the last time I had cuddled into my mom's bed. As I took in the room, and breathed in the smell of my mom, I felt my stress drift away. I still felt exhausted, almost like I'd run a track race, but overall, compared to earlier that morning, I felt more human. I guess the stress of the last few days had really hit me this morning.

My stomach grumbled again, so I sat up and climb out of bed to head to the kitchen.

I was sitting at the counter, staring at my plain oatmeal, when I heard the front door open and close.

"Madelyn?" Came mom's vice from the entry way.

"Kitchen," I called back. I had been starving when I woke up, but looking at my oatmeal made me nauseous. I looked up as mom walked in, placing her purse on the counter across from me.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, as she walked up to me and felt for a fever. "Alright," I mumbled, with a shrug. "You're still warm," mom stated as she walked out of the room. She returned a few minutes later with the thermometer and held it in front of my mouth, expectantly. I rolled my eyes, but opened my mouth cooperatively.

The tiny beep indicated the thermometer was done, but before I could look at it, mom grabbed it up and said "100.9 (38.28c)," while pursuing her lips in thought.

"See, I'm totally fine," I tried to joke. Mom gave me an unimpressed look, and walked to the coffee maker. "Rough morning?" I asked, as she added coffee grounds to the filter. She only drank coffee after 10am if she's stressed.

She didn't answer, but turned to me, "have you eaten?"

I looked down at my oatmeal. "I made this," I said with another shrug. "But if I'm being honest, the idea of eating it is making me feel sick."

"How about some tea and toast?" She asked, as she started to fill the water kettle. "Or coffee and toast?" I questioned, somewhat hopeful. Mom just gave me a hard look, and turned to grab the bread out of the cupboard.

"Fine, tea would be nice, but no toast. I'm not hungry." I said weakly. Mom didn't answer again, but placed a piece of bread in the toaster and pushed the lever down. Then she turned and pulled out two mugs, and the tea for me.

Once everything was ready, mom pulled up the stool next to me, and sat down. I nibbled at my toast, but mostly sought comfort in my warm tea. I looked over to mom; she was staring absentmindedly at her coffee when a question popped into my head.

"Mom?" I said clearing my throat. "When did you become mayor?" I tried to ask nonchalantly, while picking up my toast to nibble at it again.

My mom shook her head, and looked at me, "What?" She said, sounding confused.

"What year were you elected as Mayor?" I asked again, busying myself with a sip of tea to avoid eye contact.

I realized I honestly couldn't remember when she'd taken office, or a time when she wasn't mayor for that fact.

"Madelyn, why are you asking this?" Mom sounded almost defensive. I finally looked at her, her eyes pierced into mine and I could see… Worry. No, fear, in them.

"Well, I..." I started to say, as her cell phone rang. She got up and answered it, so I stared into my tea.

"Yeah, fine. I'll head over now." She said, to whomever was on the other end. Hanging up, she started to put her cellphone in her purse. "I have to get back to the office. Eat your toast, please. I will see you tonight."

I was disappointed that she hadn't answered me, but another idea popped into my head, "May I have my laptop?" I tried to ask innocently.

Mom turned to look at me, "You're still grounded." She stated as an explanation.

"I know, but I figured since I'm home today, I'd work on my history paper." I explained, praying that my true intentions weren't showing on my face. Lying instantly made me feel even more nauseous, but the conversation with Henry popped in my head, and I remembered everything Henry and I had discussed. Operation Cobra. I'd promised to help. Plus, mom had looked weird when I asked about her becoming mayor.

I noticed mom was trying to read my face, so I tried my best to put on a mask of innocence. Finally, she let out a small sigh, "Alright, but only for homework. Got it?" She questioned, sternly.

"Yes ma'am."

Mom turned out of the room and I heard her in the study. She came back a moment later, handed me my laptop, and headed out.

Guilt flooded my body, but I was determined. I wanted answers, and sometimes that means lying in order to get them.

I saw that mom had left her coffee mug on the counter, and that there was at least two cups still in the pot. Shrugging to myself, I got up, refilled her mug, grabbed my laptop, and headed upstairs. It was time to do some research.

Walking into my room, I saw that my bedding had been stripped. Mom must have thrown my stuff in the wash, I realized. I looked at my desk chair, but it didn't look comfy, so I turned around, and headed to my mom's room. I figured since she told me to sleep in her bed earlier, couldn't hurt to hangout in there a bit longer.

I nestled into the blankets and opened my laptop. Upon hitting the power button, I realized I must not have powered it down before giving it to my mom, because the battery was dead. Heaving a sigh, I got up to retrieve my power cord.

Once I plugged everything in, and got re-situated, I started up my laptop. My hands were clammy as I opened the internet and went to Google. I wiggled my fingers over the keyboard as I tried to figure out what to type.

Regina Mills

It took a lot of will power, but I finally hit enter.

No results

Not specific enough I decided.

Regina Mills, Mayor, Storybrooke Maine

My stomach gave a lurch as I hit enter this time.

It felt like the processing symbol had been turning on the screen for hours, when really it was seconds. All of a sudden, the internet crashed and an error page popped up. "Are you serious?!" I yelled, as I balled my hands into fists and tried not to chuck my laptop across the room. A fair number or swear words entered my head and may or may not have escaped my mouth.

No matter what I did I couldn't get the Wifi to come back. I ran downstairs and checked all the connections, restarted everything. Nothing. I had to take a couple calming breaths.

Coincidence. This was a coincidence.

A small voice in my head tried to lecture me, telling me, this is what I deserved for breaking the rules and sneaking around. My head was pounding again, and honestly I wanted to cry. My stupid dream from earlier still burned in my head. "My dear, you do know your mother is the Evil Queen, correct?" Played over and over in my ears. I know the dream was probably just a result of everything that had been going on, but it felt so real. As if I have lived through it. I could still feel how the heat from the burnt village seared my skin. And the god awful smell. A shutter ran down my spine.

I tried to shake the dream from my head. Well, nothing needed to be figured out today. Sleep, I need more sleep I decided. My head hurt, I didn't feel good, and well, I felt defeated. I hadn't done much, I knew that, but what more could I do while sick? I was grasping for an excuse to myself and laying in my mom's bed sounded comforting. So, I climb the stairs back to my mother's room and cuddled into her blankets. The ever comfy blankets that smelled like apples and made all the stress of life melt away.