"There once was a young girl who adored nature more than anything else. All its adorable, intriguing, and, sometimes, revolting, but still quite lovely, creatures. She would play with them all day long, then, when night came, she would watch her little friends crawl and fly back to the forest. The girl wished to go with them, but she wasn't allowed to do so. Her mother would go mad if she learned her daughter violated the rules.
" the woods are hazardous. NEVER get near them. If you dare approach them, the creatures of the night will take you away." The young girl stood there, stuck in the clear separation between the forest and the village, between two worlds that tolerated each other but would never really coexist because they were too distrustful towards one another. After a moment, the girl turned her back to the forest and began walking away with her head down when suddenly, she heard the faint sound of chimes and stopped abruptly. The young girl turned around carefully and stared at the woods intensely as if she could distinguish something hiding in the shadows. She stepped towards it, but a hand seized her arm and forcefully held her back. It was her mother. She was furious. Without a word, the mother dragged her daughter home. It was already very late. Darkness had already taken over the entire town and everyone was fast asleep, well, everyone except the child. Her mom locked her up in a room from which she would never escape. The young girl would never return to the woods, or, at least, that's what the woman believed. The small girl was extremely clever, but maybe not bright enough to know that what she was about to do was terribly perilous. She found a way out of her prison and fled without hesitation. Her frail legs carried her to the forest, then, she was taken by the shadows, never to be seen again. "
"Mother! You've read this story to me a thousand times before, argued Sasha. Couldn't you tell me about a more interesting one this time? Just this once? Why not one of Merlin's stories?"
"Sasha Faydove, you know it is mandatory for us, parents, to tell this story every night so that children learn this important lesson: Never wander in the woods, especially at night, she insisted. Also, today has been a long day, declared her adoptive mother as she painfully rubbed her head."
Sasha sulked and pouted but her mother resisted. Sasha hates it when her adoptive mother calls her by her full name. Sasha Faydove.
"Now, get some rest, will you Sasha, suggested the middle age woman as she covered the young girl with an old blanket and caressed her beautiful brown hair. You're still very young, unlike me, and very short. You won't grow if you don't get a goodnight of sleep. "
"Yes Mom, replied Sasha as her caretaker left the room. The young girl laid down on her timeworn wood bed and closed her eyes."
She wondered what the child from the story saw that evening in the forest, what the villagers were terrified of.
That night, Sasha decided that she would try to get to the woods when the sky would be black as coal and when all would be sleeping peacefully. Sasha needed to see for herself what everyone was so reluctant to glance at. Her friend, Anna, lived in the town right across the forest, so she hoped she could stay with her for a bit. It's been a while since Sasha left for a short nighttime adventure. She hasn't tried since the last time when she got caught by the guards and brought back to her raging caretaker.
When the sky was black as coal and all lights were extinguished, the little girl got up as silently as possible. She started packing all her goods (which is not much by the way) in her crusty, insect-infested saddlebag. When done, she tried coming up with an escape plan. She couldn't just walk out the front door, so, there was only one other way out: her tiny bedroom window.
Fortunately, Sasha was just the right size and went through it without any difficulty. She almost slipped when her feet touched the muddy ground. The young girl walked carefully between the houses, flinching at every sound. The air was moist and suffocating, but little Sasha was persistent. In a couple minutes, she had reached the gate. The small girl just had to exit the village and run as fast as she could to the forest, but, at this instant, she detected a threat. Her eyes widened as she noticed two guards supervising the path she had to take. she didn't want to get caught this time, so Sasha laid in the moist grass and crawled in their direction. She was almost there when suddenly, one of the guards turned around very quickly and stared directly at her, but something wasn't right. She couldn't see his eyes. His orbits seemed empty, just like a black hole. This realization made Sasha shiver in terror. Sasha ran and ran as fast as her short legs could. The night was abnormally inky. Too dark, too silent. Something didn't feel right, just like a smile with too many teeth. As she entered the forest, she hid behind a tree and took a glimpse at the guards behind her. Sasha covered her mouth in horror. The guards, no, the things were changing; their skin was peeling off as if it was merely a disguise and a thick dark substance was oozing from their empty eye sockets, a truly frightening spectacle. The girl escaped even deeper into the forest as the two monsters let out a bloodcurdling, hair-raising screech. She kept tumbling on roots, and finally, her legs gave up. Sasha fell face-first into the mud, then, when she finally got up again, she saw the monsters approaching her and fell back down. When the creatures tried to catch her, she backed away and the ground split open beneath her. Sasha closed her eyes.
If only I had stayed back home...
If only I cared to listen...
If only I wasn't so stupid!
Then.... maybe...
(this is a drawing I made of Sasha :D it's not her official look yet but it's better than no picture at all. I have almost every important character drawn out because I hopped I could make a comic out of it but for now, i'm not ready yet.)
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