2024 Story Collection

Hope & Her Child II

He looks around the grand room in awe, completely consumed by its beauty. He'd never been able to imagine something so incredible. Could this be real? He wonders, but it is far too fantastical. This is a story told by those still holding hopes and dreams. He'd never been one to image such things.

"Close your mouth or eat the apple," she taps the bottom of his chin with her finger. He closes his mouth and feels his cheeks warming with embarrassment. She chuckles at his reaction.

He takes a bite of the apple. The flavor explodes and his eyes widen at the taste. He'd never tasted such a crisp apple. The crunch it made as he took a second bite. It is so fresh. He can't understand how something so small could hold so much flavor.

All the apples he'd eaten were rotting and usually had worms that had burrowed their way in. They were still sweet, but he had never quite understood the draw to them. Not until now.

He thought to himself, I could die now. I could die and be completely satisfied.

"You can't die just yet. I need your help." The tall woman replies, seemingly able to read his thoughts. He looks up at her in shock.

"Do not wish for death, boy, or you may just get what you desire." He realizes then that this woman is not human. He'd been wondering, but now he knew.

The look in her eyes held something eternal. Something old, older that the young body before him. She had a deep sadness that seemed to mirror his own. She knew what pain was, he realized at that moment.

It should scare him. That this being can do so much-could ruin him in a moment, but for some reason he felt he could trust her. After all, it was humans that had wronged him. She had been nothing but kind.

"Is this all real?" He asks, mouth still filled with the tasty apple. He is sure it must be, but still can't believe such luck had befallen him in the shape of this woman.

"Of course it's real." She says, and walks over to the balcony, swinging the doors open and stepping out. The moonlight reflects off her pale skin. Her long black hair blowing gently in the breeze. He follows her.

"Chew with your mouth closed." She tells him without looking. He immediately does as he's told. "I'll have to teach you some manners. Good thing you seem to be a quick learner." He notices a small smile on her lips.

"I suppose I should show you around," she gestures for him to follow her back inside the grand hall.

She walks over to the set of doors to the left of the balcony and swings them open without even touching them. Inside is a room filled with a range of blue, orange, and yellow. Even the furniture. It is so colorful he can't help but smile. It's been a while, he realizes.

"This is your room," she says, gently pushing him inside the huge room. He slowly walks over to the bed and touches it as if not believing it to be real. The blankets that cover it are warm and soft, softer that anything he'd ever felt. Would it really be okay for him to sleep in such a place?

There is a bookshelf in the corner filled with books and a wooden desk next to it, with a chair. He notices the desk has paper, pens, and ink on top of it. He'd seen people through windows that could write. Could scribble down symbols that others could look at and decipher. He'd always wanted to learn to read and write, but never imagined he'd get the opportunity. Maybe I could learn?

There is a wardrobe to the right of the bed he walks over to. He opens it. It is filled with clothes. Not just one or two, but higher than he can count. Not that that is very high, but there are so many. He couldn't fathom wearing all this clothing in a lifetime. The pants all match jackets in color and intricate design and the shirt are more simple. There are also shoes and fur coats. It's all too much!

He gently closes the doors and walks over to the door across from the bed. It has a gold swirling handle. He turns it and inside is a strange room.

"That is what some call a bathroom." He jumps at her voice. He was so consumed by what he was looking at, he forgot she was there. He turns to see her standing beside him.

"This is a bathtub." She says as she steps over to a large tub in the center of the room. She snaps her right hand and water begins to fill the tub. "Right hand is cold water," she snaps her left hand and steam begins to radiate off the water as it finishes filling up the tub, "left hand for hot water."

"Hot water?" His eyes widen. "You don't have to boil it?" She smiles and messes up his greasy, dirt filled hair.

"No," she smiles. "Isn't it wonderful?" He nods.

She then explains the sink and toilet to him, which just confuses him more. But she is patient with him and explains till he understands.

"Always wash your hands before leaving this room," she says and leads him out of the room. His room.

She points to the doors across the grand hall from his room. "That is my room."

She then walks to the last set of doors next to his room and opens them. Inside is a large kitchen. He walks in and spins, looking at all the pans that hang from a fixture above a counter and drawers filled with all sort of utensils. He sees a door on the far wall and opens it. Inside are bag and containers of all different things, on shelves are jars of herbs and spices.

He closes that door and turns to a metal door next to it and tries to open it but can't. Once again, she helps him. She shows him how to open the door. And when he does, a cold wind comes through only, it isn't wind. There are no windows, yet inside are all sort of food. Fruits, vegetables, meat. Anything one could want or imagine, maybe even more. She walks over to the back of the cold room and opens another door.

"This is the freezer," she pulls the door open and inside is a small space with more food covered in a layer of frost.

"Is this magic?" He asks in wonder. She chuckles.

"A mix of magic and man's engineering," she closes the doors behind them, "always keep these closed when you're not using them." She warns.

She walks over to the far side of the room.

"You can teach yourself to cook." She points to a shelf of books on the wall near a table. "Read those, they'll help."

But I can't read. It's an embarrassed whisper of a thought, but she hears.

"I know. That is why I gave you materials in your room to teach you. That shelf is filled with books that are enchanted so they'll be easy to navigate and learn from."

"Thank you," he says and means it.

"Don't thank me yet," she says with a smirk. "I'm not done yet."

To be continued...

January 8, 2024