The Twilight Twenty-Five

thetwilight25 dot com

Prompt: 10

Pen Name: Glitterb1234

Pairing/Character(s): Esme+Carlisle

Rating: K

Word Count: 469

Photo prompts can be found here:

thetwilight25 dot com/round-eight/prompts

Esme shivered miserably as she stumbled through the woods, clutching the bucket like a life preserver. It was almost half her size, and she knew she was going to struggle to get it back full of water. Which was exactly why her stepmother had sent her out of course; sending her off at night was merely an extra cruelty. If her father knew what his second wife was doing to his beloved daughter, she was sure he wouldn't hesitate to banish the witchy woman from his life forever. But he was so often away from home, and she was an excellent actress. Esme suffered in silence for fear of being beaten or worse, and her most terrifying nightmare involved her father being killed and leaving her to her stepmother's care; she knew she would not survive such as upbringing.

An owl hooted somewhere nearby, and Esme shook harder, remembering all the stories her grandmother used to tell of the woodland spirits who preyed on people lost in the woods at night.

Suddenly, a man came walking out of the trees ahead of her. He seemed to almost radiate light and hope, and instead of being scared Esme felt inexplicably drawn to him.

"Hello there," he said, his voice and smile kind and warm. "Whatever is a little girl like you doing in the woods alone at this time of night?"

"F-fetching water sir." Esme replied, realising only then that her teeth were chattering.

The beautiful man frowned, blonde eyebrows arching down over strange golden eyes. "Well, we can't have that. You must go home at once."

Esme shook her head. "Stepmother will beat me if I come back without it sir. She'll tell Father I haven't been helping her and he'll be angry."

Her distress clearly touched the man; he smiled at her, sadly this time, and held out one hand. "Alright little one, never fear. We shall walk together to the well, and I shall help you back home."

He held out his hand, and Esme took it without even stopping to think.

As they walked, he told her his name was Carlisle, and she told him all her sorry story. She felt he could keep her secret, that he would never tell a another living soul and she didn't even have to ask him not to.

True to his word, he walked her to the well, drew the water for her, and led her back home, carrying the bucket for her so that she didn't struggle. She left him at the edge of the trees, and he stayed until her stepmother had hustled her back inside, asking tersely what had taken so long.

That night as Esme slept, she had the feeling of someone watching over her, and she knew she would not be so lonely again.