Chapter 3: A place to stay,
A/N: For any of those who do not know, I don't own any of the characters.
Snow ran for a while, but once she was deep enough into the forest she got tired and slowed down a little. She walked at a slow pace, absent mindedly pushing tree branches out of her way and walking through tall grass. She occasionally would walk through some shade to cool herself from the midday sun, but she kept moving forward.
She wasn't scared. She had heard of hunters who came from the woods, and their many tales of the hunt. She knew there were no animals that would cause her any harm while she was there, as long as she left them alone. The trees occasionally grabbed at her clothing, but she would simply pull it away out of their grasp. If anything, she was nervous. She hadn't thought this through.
She had lived in the palace her entire life. Of course, she was a servant so that gave her a little credibility, but she had no idea where she was going. She was lost. "Maybe I should've asked the huntsman for directions?" she wondered as she walked deeper and deeper.
She didn't know if she'd find a town before sunset, or if she even could with the queen after her. She started considering what to do if she had to camp out. She had never slept outside before. She was worried that maybe all the carnivorous animals came out at night. Where would she sleep? She supposed she could sleep in a tree. Sleeping in a tree might be a little unorthodox, but if she could climb to a high branch she could stay out of the reach of predators. Of course, no one was around to see if her skirt hiked up.
What if it rained? Then she might have to sleep in a hollow tree after all. If it rained she couldn't make a fire. She at least knew how to do that. When she was working in the palace kitchen she had to often light the palace stove. She also knew how to find food. Working in the kitchen and the garden provided her with the knowledge of what berries were safe to eat and what foods would be best to lure rabbits into traps.
If she had the heart or stomach to kill one was the question. After seeing the chefs in the kitchen butcher so many animals, she was sure she knew how. However, the process had made her want to become vegetarian. Seeing the occasional dead rabbit in the garden trap had almost made her vomit.
She decided to save hunting for a last resort endeavor. Right now she had to try to find a town, and her natural compass wasn't helping her much. She sat down for a moment to process her situation. She realized that she could never go home; to the place she lived her entire life. The queen wanted her dead. It was no surprise that the queen didn't like her, but she never knew the queen would go as far as to kill her. It defiantly not against her nature.
She decided to pick herself up and keep moving forward, sitting around wasn't going to accomplish anything. She noticed another clearing up ahead, and she walked towards it through the bushes and the trees. Once she made it through she saw a small cottage.
"Maybe someone is home and can direct me to the nearest town?" she thought to herself, and she went over to knock on the door. She knocked once, there was no answer. She knocked again, even harder, and this time the door opened. She knew she really shouldn't enter someone's home unannounced, but she was curious what was inside, and went in.
Once inside, she noticed the area wasn't particularly clean. She went upstairs and examined the bedroom, and she found seven small beds. "Children, perhaps? Maybe, orphans? Like me... maybe they might let me hide out with them for awhile?" she thought, "I should probably leave, I would be giving off a bad impression if I broke into their house."
But before she could go she found herself starting to drift to sleep. She was really tired from travelling all day without stopping after the stress of almost being killed by a hunter. As she grew more and more tired, she found the beds becoming softer and softer, and the gravity getting stronger and stronger. She knew she shouldn't intrude, but she figured a quick nap couldn't hurt, and it was getting late. Maybe, just maybe, she could rest there...just for a little while.
A/N: Wow that was really short. Don't worry; I'll right more in the next chapter. Sorry I took so long to update, I'm just really busy now that I'm in grade twelve.