002

In Which Esmerelda tells a tale

Esmerelda fidgeted with her hands in her lap.

"I could say, this all began fifteen years ago. When Chloe and I were children."

"Queen Chloe..." the young priest crossed himself. "May she rest in peace"

"Yes, I miss her every day." Esmerelda sighed and began her tale.

My sister, Chloe and I went out looking for adventure. I was fourteen, she was twelve. We didn't really know what we sought. But whatever it was, it was out of the town. We both had an interest in some mysterious magic, and it was my idea to go out and find it.

I had hoped, in the deepest darkest pocket of my heart to find the one they called Old Nan. She was a mysterious old woman, as old as time itself. She is always cooking in a giant cauldron, almost as tall as she is. Her house is covered with twigs like a bird nest, and she spends her days making spells and tending to familiars. At night she flies in the cauldron, to seek out and punish wrongdoers. I saw stories about her in some old books that used to belong to our mother. Chloe thought I was crazy. It was a fairy tale. But I believed.

She could be cross if we found her, so we would have to find a way to make her like us. For some reason, this didn't seem to be a problem for me. We, well I mean I-felt called to the deepest part of the forest. Chloe didn't really care. It was wintertime. So we bundled up in our heaviest coats. We took a sack with some food and supplies and we set out.

It was beautiful at first. We belonged to the woods. Two little nature sprites, enjoying the crisp air, and the trees. We ran and we climbed. The air made our fingers and our noses numb but we didn't care. We were wild and free. We played all day. We found a huge fallen tree, that we decided was our "castle". We sat at dusk and ate our provisions and fantasized about a life away from the hammering of father's shoe shop equipment.

I realize now, that it was not her fantasy. It was mine. She was dutiful. She was hard working. Some of the most lovely shoes in father's shop were hers. But she was so young. She just wanted to do, whatever I was doing. That is the way it was back then. And I led her here.

After a time, we got bored and decided to go home. But we had gotten ourselves turned around and were quite lost.

"I'm scared Essie". Chloe began to cry.

"Don't worry. I'll get us home. I just need to move in the right direction." I was brave on the outside for my little sister, but I was scared too.

We walked and walked until our feet hurt. The cold that was so refreshing, hours ago was hurting our noses, ears and fingers. It was dark now, and we couldn't see anymore to walk any further. The wind began to blow so hard that it became difficult to walk. The snow blew fierce circles around us, taking our hats and scarves. We couldn't see. I couldn't remember a time I was ever so scared. We were going to freeze to death in those woods. It seemed hopeless.

Just when I was about to give up, I heard a noise. It sounded like a crackling fire.

"Come on, Chloe. This way! I hear something!" I pulled her toward the sound.

It appeared as if out of nowhere. A tiny cottage, with a roaring fire pit in front of it. We ran up to the gated fence. It was a small stone house, with a roof made of hay. And on the other side, there was no snow. How could that be? We opened the gate and stepped inside. We were confused and amazed by the sudden blast of cozy warmth. The other side of the fence, held summer!

"This is it! It is old Nan's house!"

"Are you crazy? Old Nan is tale for children. She isn't real. We don't know who lives here." My heart soared. I hoped it really was Old Nan. But I lied and agreed with her. She might not follow me, if I did not. No matter who lived here, we needed help.

We crept up to the edge of the fence. We stood on snow, the ice blasted our faces. There was a hard line, where the snow immediately turned to grass. I looked up, and saw a spectacle in the moonlight. Lush grass, trees in full bloom. Covered in leaves! How could it be? I took her hand, and we went thought the gate. We were hit with a warmth that was like sitting by a fireplace. It was summer behind her fence. Soon we were too hot in all of our winter clothes.

Without a word, we began to shamelessly shed them all off. Soon we were in our petticoats. Ordinarily this would cause us embarrassment, but we were so relieved that we didn't really care.

We looked around. There was the blazing fire pit, a little fenced in coop that held some chickens that ran around. A plentiful garden full of every herb and vegetable. We were so hungry, that we stopped at an apple tree. The apples were perfect and juicy. We ate, and ran and played in the giant warm courtyard. We smelled some fragrant roses, that grew wild everywhere.

Soon we came to our senses, and we wondered who lived in this place.

We saw a stony path, leading to a small door. I took my sister's hand and pulled her up to it. Could this really be the place? I knocked on the door.....

There was a squeal of door hinges. I looked down, and saw a grey head, nearly half my height. Huge blue-grey eyes, surrounded by wrinkles looked up into mine.

"Who the HELL are you!"

"I-I'm sorry ma'am, we don't want to disturb you-we just..."

"Go away, trespassers!" And the door slammed in our faces.

Anger rose in me. I raised my hand to knock again. Before I could, we heard an overwhelming rumbling sound and the earth shook. The house sprouted chicken legs and rose fifty feet up in the air. It turned around so the door faced away from us. I could hardly believe it.....