"Look, it's happening again," she said to herself in a low voice, "the sky's crying again."
A girl stood in the forest, all alone surrounded by tall trees, on a narrow path going either deeper into the calm forest or to the edge of the buzzing city. The girl, no older than 15, was in the forest to get her mind off some things, to be free for just a bit.
The rain had just started , but the girl made no effort to get under a tree or put on the hood of her dark grey hoodie over her long, jet black locks. Instead, she looked up at the dull sky with her greyish eyes that had a bit of blue spark in them. The rain kept on coming down till it was pouring heavily from the clouds, occasionally a quiet thunder could be heard from a distance.
'Something has changed,' she thought to herself whilst looking upwards. 'It's a lot more.. quiet.'
For the past few days, it has been raining a lot with thunder much louder than this. Today, it all seemed so far away, the thunder, the lightning and the happy moments spent walking around the forest. What was this feeling? It seemed so weird, but comforting in some way.
The girl lowered her head and looked in the direction of the path and continued walking, soaking wet from head to toe, though she did not feel cold or uncomfortable. With slow steps, the girl walked and walked not wanting to look back or think about the school, training and what the world has come to.
She had so much to do at home and anywhere else, but for a moment or two, the girl just wanted to be a bit selfish and ignore all that, to keep to herself and breath in the smell of rain and damp trees, the fresh air.
Another rumbling of the thunder could be heard, the music to her ears she would gladly listen to for the rest of her days.
Making her way deeper and deeper into the forest, the girl came upon another path, leading somewhere she has not yet been to.
"What's this?" The girl questioned, because this was the first time she has seen another path that lead her to another part of the forest, and the girl has been coming to this forest since she was a little girl.
Where could it lead? She thought as her eyes scanned the path, but the rain had made it a bit hard for her to see. Having gone the same way all her life, the girl chose to go and see for herself instead of fearing the unknown.
As she changed her course, her eyes landed on the bushes just a few feet away from her. It was a tail that disappeared into the tall bushes. Maybe it was her colorful imagination acting up again.
As a child, when she came to this forest the first time, she got lost and wandered aimlessly around, trying to find a way out. And as a way of calming down she imagined, that there were magical creatures all around, who helper her up and find a way out, at least that's what the doctors told her. Maybe that wasn't her imagination after all.
From the small, magical fairies in dandelions to the village full of elves of all kind. Dwarfs with weird hats and round glasses and grffins with lions strenght and eagles heart. There were dragons of all shapes and sizes and colors of all kind, as well as unicorns, pegasus and alicorns. Somewhere deeper there were even lions and tigers with natural grace and leadership. Somewhere else there were the biggest trees with all kinds of birds, from night owls to fiery pheonix. There were even mermaids in the lake where the forest ends and small cute animals, who made us believe they are the only ones in the forest. There were much more, but it wouldn't be possible to name all of them. But her best friends were the big wolves with magical eyes. They were bigger than the average wolf, almost thrice the size of an average one and much bigger than the girl her age.
They were the protectors of all the other creatures, so they protected her too, seeing that the girl wasn't strong enough to protect herself. The Alpha of the pack took care of her the most, even the girl didn't know why.
The Aplha allowed the girl to ride on his back, because he could see the exhaustion in the little girls form and spirit. He helped her get to the edge of the forest, but seeing the girl in deep sleep, The Alpha went to the packs den, curled up and let her sleep close to him. He could have left her to his packs caretakers, and gone back to watch for any danger, but he didn't, he felt the need to protect her. After some time even Alpha fell asleep.
The next few days they both had become really close, the Alpha took her to meet everybody else, they went swimming with the mermaids and he even let her come to some patrols. In those days she even learned some of Alphas gestures, because they couldn't speak the same language, so she asked elves for help and they happily agreed. Alpha didn't want anyone to hurt her, so she only slept with him in the den with the other wolves. They had so much fun together, but Alpha knew that the little girl was not like them and she had a life back at her home, so the fun had finally come to a close.
In the morning he took the girl back, now she was up and full of energy, so he didn't have to carry her anymore. They walked side by side, the girl had a slight skip in her step and she was picking up chestnuts, occasionally showing her finds to the Alpha, who spared her a glance, but even for that, the girl was happy and smiled brightly. At some point it started to pour rain, thunder and lightning sounding in the distance. The girl looked at the sky, her eyes full of blue spark in them, then she started to run around and jumping in the small puddles.
Alpha looked at the girl, feeling happiness seeing someone young enjoying every minute of their life. It was hard for him in the childhood, but he didn't want the same for her. He only wanted her to feel happiness and joy, and all the other countless good emotions. He knew that she will cry and be sad, but he hoped that by protecting her, those emotions won't be present for long.
After a while, they reached the edge of the forest. Alpha stopped just before he reached the edge, the girl stopping shortly after. She turned around, her smile soon faltering, the girl had to leave and go back to her life, leaving her new friend behind. She looked at the edge of the forest again and then back at Alpha, feeling as if this would be the last time she would see him.
He nodded his head, as if signalling her to go home, to where she belonged.
The girl looked to the ground and took a few steps closer, then she hugged his leg. Alpha was surprised to say the least, but then he lowered his head and nudged her her neck. She let go of his leg and hugged his neck, Alpha nuzzling his head in the little girls neck. Then she let go and smiled a small smile, and finally left the forest.
After a few days she returned, but the forest was empty, as if she hadn't seen any of them and it was all just a dream. The girl even tried getting lost again with her eyes closed, but it didn't work, because somehow she always ended up on the right path. Some part of her still believed that it was the work of the fairies and elves, but the other parts of her weren't so positive and just denied everything.
The other parts were there, because of the visits to the doctors and therapists. She was taken to them, because she was missing for a week and a half and after a few days she didn't act like herself, because she went to look for Alpha and the others, but found nothing, then she started drawing them and telling her parents about them all. Her parents were freaked out by that of course and after all the doctors, she started going to therapy and was under her parents gaze every minute.
After a a while when she was older, her parents became less paranoid, but some of it was still there as one would expect, so the girl was forbidden to go into the forest. You can't really blame them though. But as a teen, you don't really want to obey anything, that meant that the girl went to the forest secretly, everytime believing she would find them again.
That brings us here.
She stopped again and looked carefully at the bushes, her grey eyes scanning every inch of it. If there even was anything, it had been her imagination, because the movement stopped as soon as she noticed something.
With a sigh, she started walking again, her loosley tied boots squishing the damp grass and mud beneath her soles, thinking, where she might end up at. Maybe it was a different path to the lake or the big trees?
As she was walking, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. A few times she looked behind her to be sure she wasn't being followed, and every time it proved that she was the only one on this deserted path to somewhere she has never been to before.
'How much longer will this path go?' She thought impatiantly and that surprised her a bit, because she was the most patient person and she liked going through the forest for a long time. What had changed? Maybe there was something waiting for her on the other end of the path, well, as they say, only one way to find out.
After some time she reached a darker area of the forest, where the trees where leaning on each other, making it look like a dark tunnel and the rain could hardly get through the leaves and branches. The tunnel was long, but soon enough she reached the end and what was built on the other side completely left her in awe.
It was a magical and ancient looking castle, with one big tower that looked twisted, but those twists were only windows. It had two towers with lights at the top. Where she stood, in front of her was a bridge made from wood and gold, which was now grown with grass, like the whole castle was almost hidden in the vines and leaves. I could see that behind the castle was another bridge that lead to a smaller building, but still beautiful. Under the first bridge was a river that looked so strong it could pull you under in seconds time, but the other bridge was much higher, because it has a river under it too, but at the and was a waterfall. It was all built on rocks and it looked magically stunning.
The castle looked like something out of a fairytale.
The girl didn't waste another second and went over the bridge and to her surprise the bridge was in a pretty good condition, as it looked like it had been built years ago. When she reached the entrance, she heard the birds chirping and she looked up to see all kinds of birds. Their songs sounded welcoming, as if they had been waiting for her to come.
She smiled, her eyes closing for a second at the sounds. The rain had softened too and it was only dripping a few drops now. After a second or two, the girl finally went in, pushing the big doors open with all her strength.
Closing the door behind, she felt warmth engulf her and as she turned around, her eyes widened at the scene. She had thought that inside of the castle would look old and in need of a clean up, but to her amazement, the castle looked clean and as if it still had people living here. There were chandeliers with candles on the ceiling and a grand staircase with a royal red carpet that lead to the second floor. On the right there was a hallway that lead to another big doors. But on the left there was a room with couches and a fireplace, that was filled with flames. And there were even bookshelfs from the floor to the ceiling filled with all kinds of books. The whole wall was filled with books. Maybe I could read some if I'm allowed, She thought to herself.
When the girl decided to go down th hallway to the other room with the big doors, she was stooped by the sounds of twinkling bells. Her eyes widened, recognizing the sound she has heard in her dreams since the day at the forest. 'The fairies!'