Once upon a time there lived a young woman, Lady Alana and her daughter, Nicole. They were a very happy family and had everything they could ever wish for. A nice big house, servants, money money money, and a lot of popularity. But there was one thing they didn't have that they most dearly wanted, and it wasn't a nice big house, servants, money money money, or a lot of popularity. They both wanted freedom. Freedom from the people, the money, the riches and everything else they had. They would both often daydream of what they could be spending their life doing if they didn't have, A nice big house, servants, money money money, and a lot of popularity. Their dreams were of small houses out in the country or by the sea, of walking to small markets where everyone was friendly instead of large fields full of people calling out large prices for things like celery. Walking along moonlit roads at dusk without being followed by the guards, freedom! What they always dreamed of but knew they would never get. Though Alana and her daughter lived a sad life there were some good things about being rich and popular. They always had the best company. Good food to eat, and anything they wanted, whenever they wanted. One day Lady Alana was sitting on the elegant couch in the elegant library that was heavily laden down with books that are suppose to be for show when in came a servant carrying a tray made out of the purest gold, Alana and her daughter like to treat their servants as equals so Lady Alana gesturing to the servant to take the chair across from hers says,
"Hello Maya, how can I help, and please do help yourself to the brownies you so kindly carried up here." The servant stiffly sits on the edge of the chair, her back straight as a pencil.
"Um, no thank you M'lady I was just bringing you this," And out of her waist pocket Maya pulls a small box tied with a blue ribbon. Blue the symbol of wisdom in the county of Huey where they live. Alana takes the box from Maya and holding it away from her face opens it, (she has had bad experience with parcels jumping out at her in the past). But there is nothing to be afraid of with this package, inside is a small diamond necklace and a note, Lady Alana knows that you must always read the note before examining the gift so she pulls it out,
"M'lady, would you like me to read the letter to you?" questions Maya.
"No!" cries Alana, "I know how to read just fine by myself thanks!" Seeing that she has startled and hurt the poor womens feelings she sighs, "I am sorry for lashing out, but i can read the letter on my own, thanks for asking though." Maya nodded, her head still startled but does not urge any further. Lady Alana unfolds the note which is written on heavy parchment with swirly letters, obviously not dictated and written by the same person meaning that whoever it is from must have enough money to have servants. The letter says,
Dear Lady Alana & Lady Nicole,
I have recently heard that you have both taken up a class on future telling, I would like to warn you that fortune telling, although useful in many occasions, does not always make one happy. You might see things that deeply distress you, or that you really enjoy, or that have the same effect or different on others, clearly i think that fortune telling is not fit for a lady of such high authority like yourself or your daughter. I very much hope that you consider my advice. Know that I hold you deep in my heart.
Your soothsayer, Oscar Kusankilani
Lady Alana looks at the letter as if what is written on it has taken her by surprise,
"M'lady if there is anything I can do for you? Maybe get you a cool cloth for your head perhaps? I could get out some-" starts Maya but is cut off by Alana.
"No, no there is only one thing i need… my daughter!" Maya quickly stands and rushes out of the room calling behind,
"Yes m'lady, straight away m'lady!" After Maya has left Lady Alana sighs, and thinks aloud,
"What in the world is going on?" Just then, in rushes Nicole,
. . .
"Hello M'lady!" Says Nicole with a deep curtsy and a smirk on her face, Alana sighs again and looks at her daughter, when her daughter sees that she is not in the mood for jokes she slumps in the chair that Maya had just left, and says, "What is it mother because you just interrupted my reading club discussion and i am not very happy about it!" Lady Alana looks away from her daughter and around at the library, she has never really taken in it's unique beauty, always wishing it were not hers, wishing it were someone else's that would love it more than she ever would. Love the one of a kind shelves made out of dark mahogany, the books neatly lined on those shelves were dusty and old. At the far back of the room there was a large grand piano obviously never touched also with a thick layer of dust resting on every viable part. As Lady Alana sat taking all this new found beauty in Nicole pulled a random large book off the shelf behind her, blew away the dust which landed on the untouched brownies, and opened it at random. She snorted shoved the big book back on the shelf while at the same time saying,
"Just a textbook on the materials of a modern home building," Lady Alana attention snapped back to her daughter when she heard her voice,
"What did you say my dear?"
"I was just stating the fact that the book was about modern home building."
"Oh, ok yes these books were always on the most boring of topics weren't they?" And then realizing that she had called her daughter here for a reason she came back to focus, "So sorry about that, let's see why are you here? Oh yes I had something to tell you." She handed the note to her daughter and pointed at the diamond necklace that she had thrown off to one side of the table, still in the box, "Read the letter, it came with this necklace, which i suppose i could give to Maya for being such a good helper around the house, i mean mansion." Nicole picked up the piece of paper that her mom had handed to her and began to read, But as you have already the note previously i will not bore you to read it again, so after she finished the letter she looked at her mom and said,
"But we did not sign up for any such class!" Her mother nods in agreement,
"I know… i think someone is trying to set us up."
Lady Amara was very right, someone was trying to set her and her daughter up, and it was just her luck that she did not know how very very right she was.
. . .
A week later Lady Amara woke Nicole as she was sleeping,
"Wake up! Wake up Nicole I have something I need you to do for me before everyone else wakes up!" Nicole , rolled over and opened her eyes she moaned,
"Huh? Why did you wake me up so early?" And as she was about to roll back over and go right to sleep her mother pulled out the diamond necklace. As the diamond caught in the light streaming through the necklace Nicole sighed, "I know what you want me to do, i will do it," So she got up out of bed and before the sun had fully rose she was on her way down the steep hill that the castle sat on, she took a small foot path through the woods that surrounded the castle gates because it was rarely often used and had a red clock pulled over her head. As she walks off into the woods she hears strange sounds coming out of the forest, but she is not scared this is the sort of adventure that she hoped would happen if she didn't live the life she does, so she sets off with no fear in her step!
Nicole had been walking for at least half an hour when she heard a noise that sounded like something in between a purr and a growl. Nicole blinked, adventure was still new to her and she was starting to doubt that she was really ready for it. Nicole pulled her red cloak farther around herself and quickened her pace. She suddenly felt cold and started to shiver, things she had not considered before leaving the house started flying through her head. What if I am not disguised enough! What else lives in this forest? Who can I trust? My mom? My servants? She also started thinking like someone who is rich and still wants more. My mother treats those servants like friends! We will have to put a stop to that. And I wonder if they have moved me up in school! I can't think what would happen if someone of such high quality as me was not moved up in standard! But as Nicole went the thoughts did not stop, they kept coming and coming until Nicole came to a small clearing in the woods and stopped. Huh? She did not remember anything from before and all she could think about was getting out of the woods and to the market as soon as possible. Before Nicole could take another step she stopped and thought, Which way is out? This was such a troubling thought that Nicole stopped to think about it and as she stood thinking a low growl awfully like the one she had heard before but now it was so close and she could hear it just behind her. She slowly turned around and…Before she knew what had happened she was lying on the stones that were beneath her feet just seconds ago and on top of her was a great hairy animal with big white teeth and large ears, it was a wolf! Nicole gained but not before she heard a few faint footsteps pitter pattering through the woods toward her and the wolf. And not before she heard a small voice say.
"Now that is a good boy Asher but let's not hurt her! Get off and empty her pockets, come on Asher be a good boy bring it to mummy!" And that was all. The next thing Nicole knew she was being awakened by someone with small...hooves? "Now, dear wake up your alright i got you wake up!" It was a very soothing voice but at the same time dreadful she knew it was the same voice she had heard before she fainted and now she realized what it was. It was the spoken wolf tamer that lived in the woods, she sat up banging her head on a pan that was hanging above her.
"Ouch!"
"Oh yes that must hurt, my bad must move that!" Said the same soothing voice. Nicole looked around herself. She was in a very odd looking hut of some sort. The walls were made out of sticks that had been wond neatly in hay, the roof door and windows were all made of brick. Around the inside of the house there were pictures of...pigs? That is when she saw that there was more than just one "thing" in the house, there were three things, and they were all pigs. They were sitting around a table with a fire blazing in the middle.
"Hello" Said one of the pigs, this one was wearing a yellow hat with one green stripe.
"Get me out of here! I want to go home!" Screamed Nicole but the pigs just stared at her.
"Sorry no can do buster, what is your name by the way? I'm Al," The pig with the yellow hat pointed at himself, "And that there is Alberta, she is the smart one, built her first house out of brick, I picked sticks," He says and pointes at a smaller pig sitting next to him. Just by the look of her you can tell she is smarter she is wearing a sweater, long pants and a winter hat. While the other two look like they could be on their way to the beach. " And that one there is Albert, he is dumb" And as if in answer Albert grunts. Something must not have registered in Nicola's brain when she first heard and saw the pigs but now that she was fully awake and in a manner of speaking "introduced" something seemed to click.
"YOU CAN TALK!" Nicola stared in shock at the three civilized pigs in front of her.
"Well of course we can talk! What did you think we would do? Grunt like a common hogs?" Al said defensively. Although she was still in shock Nicola continued,
"Well, well, whatever! Where am I anyways? Can I just, just, go where i was headed when i left the castle!?!
"Of course not," Said Al in a much calmer tone than he had used just moments before, "Don't you have any idea why we brought you here? Do you think we would capture you for-" But his sentence was cut off by a deafening crash from outside the little hut. For a minute there was silence as the pigs inside the hut started at each other with distinct worry etched on their snouts. Then all at once as if they were practising for a song they said,
"He has found us," and "To the secret landing," Nothing more or less than that. And after another moment of silence they started bustling around the tiny house picking up anything they saw and stuffing it in their pockets while at the same time yelling instructions at Nicole. "Get under the bed!"
"Stay there!"
"We will be with you shortly!" And after it seemed everything had been collected from inside the house Alberta lit a match and set fire to the hay wall,
"What are you doing!" Shouted Nicola, "Are you cra-" But Albert had clapped a meaty hoof over her mouth and Nicole fell silent from the pain of it alone. Once Alberta had set fire to the wall and checked that it was spreading correctly Al and her dove under the bed to escape the smoke. Finally able to speak Nicole choked out a single word, "What?"
"We will explain later," Alberta said in the sweetest voice Nicole had ever heard anyone use.
"But the bed will not protect us from the fire!" Nicole went on despite the pigs motions to keep
quite.
"This is one of my smarter ideas" Said Alberta calmly, fiddling with a cord attached to the underside of the bed. To calm for a situation like this thought Nicole
"Smart!" said Nicole, "Diving under a wood bed in a burning house is smart?" Shouts Nicole accusingly. Alberta hesitates, then as if making up her mind says,
"This bed is not made of brick." Nicole falls silent at this pondering but she does not speak. Peeking out from under the bed she can see that more than half of the wall has been consumed by flames and they are spreading fast. Nicole starts to scream for help, hoping someone outside will be able to help. But before a sound can escape her lips, something big, and brick slides in front of her face she turns to look at the pigs but the underside of the bed becomes concealed in darkness when the same thing happened behind her as had just happened in front of her face. "This way!" Said a sweet voice that was obviously Alberta's Nicole followed the voice into the dark, she continued to follow Alberta until she had caught up with her, "I will explain everything when we get where I can breathe properly again. Nicole nodded even though she knew Alberta probably could not tell. Nicole could faintly see the outlines of Al and Albert just ahead of her. How far did this tunel go? Where did it come from? Question after question ran around her head she only hoped Alberta would be able to answer all her questions, and soon. After an hour of walking Nicole's legs felt like they would break but luckily she could see a pinprick of light in the distance, "Almost there!" whispered Alberta from just ahead of her. After twenty minutes more the pinprick became a light, and the light became a room of light and Nicole could see the room looked like a mini hotel room. There were bunks lining the walls, a kitchen, and more. Anything you could want to have in your house. Nicole questioningly pointed at the pigs bags of belongings,
"If everything you need is here why did you bring all that stuff?"
"Personal belongings" Said Alberta shortly "And now I need to rest, I will tell you everything when I wake up. In the meantime, make yourself feel at home," And Alberta collapsed into the closest bed. Nicole decided that she was tired and taking a good long nap was not that bad an idea even if she felt like she might burst from all the questions inside. Al and Albert had already picked lower bunes for themselves so Nicole decided to take a high bunk instead. Nicole began to climb up the ladder of the bunk above Alberta, but when she got to the top someone was already there.
. . .
Nicole let out a scream that could have woken the dead. The person in the bed beside her had been trying to climb into was not a person at all but a bear, with dark, matted fur, next to the big bear slept a younger bear with the same dark matted fur as the bigger bear. And even though Nicole thought it could not get much worse now she spotted a third bear bigger than the other two sleeping on the other side of the little bear. Luckily none of the bears seemed bothered by the noise, they slept on without making a noise. The pigs on the other hand had not been sleeping so soundly,
"What is it now?" Said Al
"There, there, there is a bear, well three bears in this bed!" Nicole stuttered. Albert snorted
"Well what did you think there would be?" His voice was deep but sharp. Of all the things that had happened in the past twenty four hours she had not thought anything would surprise her anymore, but obviously she had been wrong.
"Are there...other animals in the other top bunks?" Asked Nicole hesitantly
"Well, of course! This is the Pacific Pick Hiding Vault!" Started Albert
"Specific" interrupted Alberta, Albert waved a hand to blow away the correction and continued,
"Where did you think we would be? In a rabbit hole?" Alberta and Al rolled there eyes as there brother laughed at his own dumb joke again.
"We will explain everything after we get a rest" yawned Alberta and she lay back down, "Oh and don't forget to turn the light off when you find an empty bed," Nicole shuddered, she didn't feel like sleeping with all the animals that might be hiding in the beds around her but she knew that if she didn't she would be too tired to listen to all the pigs had to tell her, so she turned off the light and climbed into the bed closest to the door so she could make a run for it if she had to. And she fell into a deep sleep. In her dream she saw her mother crying in bed wishing she knew where her daughter was, missing her daughter, worrying like crazy about her daughter. Then the dream changed into a nightmare, her mother grew long hairy arms and legs then the rest of her body turned into a big wolf. The wolf came charging towards what seemed to be her in the corner of the room. Nicole woke up, she was panting and sweaty praying that what she had just seen was far away from reality. The wolf had been what had attacked her in the woods. Nicole had once heard a story of a big bad wolf that roamed all woods, he ran fast enough to get to any place on Earth in just a matter of seconds. Nicole knew that had to have been what attacked her, nothing else was as big and scary. She just hoped that her mother was safe, and that wherever Nicole was at the moment-that she was safe too. But Nicole didn't feel too safe because as she opened her eyes she was staring up at three oversized animals leaning over her bead.