Two Years Later:
A girl peeped from the small gap in the window as the young prince sat there alone. He would come here everyday and stare at the water. Ella always wondered why the prince would stare at the dark water. She had even walked close to the surface to see if there was something interesting in the water but there was nothing.
Ella placed her small chin on the back of her hand and stared hard at her prince. This was her hidden cove. The back of this cabin had been hers ever since she discovered it a few weeks ago! And since this prince also belonged here, she was sure he was also here. Because whoever saved the princess would get the prince. And that night when she had run here in the middle of the night scared from the monster under her bed, he had been here sitting in the same place. And seeing him the monster had not even come close.
Ella then turned her bright eyes to the painting easel on the side. But she had never seen her prince paint anything. The lake was so beautiful. Did he not want to paint it? Did he not know how to paint and that was why he was not painting but only keeping it with him. Ella narrowed her eyes thoughtfully sure that this was the answer. He was so old and he did not know how to paint so he would be embarrassed about being a lousy painter. Maybe she should teach him how to paint! Her mommy said that she was good at painting.. But he was so handsome. What if he did not like her? All the children in her class always teased her for being a round bun? What if this prince also broke her heart? Ella pouted her small lips looking like a puckered fish and thought, maybe she should paint him something. If she gave him a gift then he would like her right? Deep in thought, she suddenly remembered what her mommy had said, "If someone likes you because of the gifts you give then you are not supposed to like them. Because that is not real liking. "
As little Ella stared at her handsome prince, wondering how to woo him, she missed seeing the beady eyes of a rat that was staring at her...
Matt stared at the clear water that reflected the starry night but was oblivious to it's beauty. The slight ripples, the chirping of the crickets and the sounds of night which would have made him itch to paint or photograph all of this in the past were now just part of the background noise. This noise was not able to drown out the voices inside him. Tonight he had come to say goodbye to this place. He had stayed in this small quiet village hoping to find some peace in spite of knowing he would not find it here. He scratched his slightly stubbled face and rubbed his eyes. It was almost time to return. He had promised his brothers that he would gather the remains of himself and return to them in two years at most. The two years were up and he had already received calls from all his sisters in laws asking him about his return.
And even as he prepared to go back, he knew that seeing his family would be torture that he was not strong enough to bear yet. Another week. Maybe he could postpone going back another seven days. There was something here that made him want to keep coming here. Something that pulled him. Something that he had never felt anywhere else as he had travelled over the country.
A wry smile graced his thin lips as he wondered what nonsense his heart was spouting to keep him from going back. All that pulled him was gone from this world with his wife. The only reason that he was still here, what had kept him going was revenge. Revenge for the death of his Jianan and their little baby. Picking up a pebble from the lakeside, he was about to throw it into the pond when, "AAAAAAAAAAAA" a loud screech sounded through the night making him turn back.
His eyes narrowed as he watched a little, "was that a girl?" flurry of pink raced out of the small cottage behind her and raced at full speed towards him. Before he could gather his senses, Matt Long bent down and accurately caught the little girl who had thrown herself into his arms, her little head, full of wavy brown hair, banging against his nose, making him see stars...
Ella's head ached as she wondered what she had hit. Looking up with her big tear filled eyes she stared up at her prince and then poked him hard on the cheek with her finger, "Prince? Save me please?" and promptly fell unconscious in the arms of her befuddled prince.