A NEW CINDERELLA STORY

Strangers

"Oh my gosh!" a male concerned voice exclaims; I swing my head around to see a young boy about my age. He has shoulder length brown curly hair, "I am so sorry! Are okay? I'll take you to town, you need medical help, I'm so sorry, so so-"

"It's fine, we're okay. We don't need any help," I rush to say, I look around trying to find out where the road went, "Except maybe some help to the closest town, we are a little lost." His mouth turned from an O to a relieved smile, but his eyes gave betrayal, they showed that his smile was fake, he was still worried. Though what for? Me and Stella, or himself?

"Deal, I'm just so sor-" He starts.

"Stop! We're fine, you have nothing to be sorry for, so just stop," I almost yell.

"Sorry, I have a problem when it comes men my age helping me." This time it's her time to laugh, her laugh sounds lie it's painful to make. I pull a pair of miniature plyers from my satchel. I concentrate on my arm, and carefully insert the plyers into the hole that the bullet left, and I pull gasping in pain, as the bullet comes out. It's my best, but it will do. I notice the boy walking towards me. "No! I don't need any help, I got it," I yell at him. He backs off, with the most surprised look on his face. I pull out a cloth and wrap my arm, fashioning an almost sling.

"I'm Brandon, I live out here with my older sister, Alma. I'll take you back to my cabin to get her, then we'll head to town," He pledged, his eyes seemed to soften a bit, but I don't believe his whole pretty boy story. I think he's hiding something, what is unknown, but something.

"Sounds great! I'm Stella and this is Isabelle," Stella announces. I lean over and start to pick her up, I can hear her gasp in pain so I start to set her back down, "No, I'm fine, you can continue, the sooner the better." I pick her back up quickly, one of my arms beneath her knees, and the other beneath her neck. Stella reaches her arms around my neck. I wince in pain

"I could carry her," Brandon offers, walking over to me.

"NO!" I shout, I will not let him treat me and my sister like "damsels in distress," again that requires being helpless, we, I, am not helpless.

"Okay," he says throwing his hands in the air. We start walking through the woods.

"You know, you can accept help, every once in awhile," Stella laughs, she starts to shake her head when she gasps, and bites her lip, obviously fighting off the urge to cry.

"And, you can cry, every once in awhile," I retort. I look down to see her smiling.

"You both should know that you are terrible whisperers," Brandon cuts in, "I would be able to hear you from a mile away." I fight the urge to laugh or smile. We walk in silence for the next few minutes. I now realize that we are wondering through the woods with a complete stranger, that shot me, to his so called cabin, where his sister waits for us. Well, today has been very eventful. First, I woke up in a tree to soldier voices, then, I found out that I was in my enemy's' territory, then, I watched a fully armed battalion march by, while being held hostage in a tree. After that, I found out that my long lost sister was in this prison camp that was fifty miles from where I lived, then, she decided to run with me. Next, Stella fell out of a tree, after, I got shot. Finally, we are roaming through the woods with the boy who shot me! So yeah, it's been a long, long, day.

"Here we are," Brandon announces, interrupts. "Here", is a log cabin, and it's beautiful. My mouth must be hanging open, because he takes one look at me and says, "It's quite a sight, isn't it?"

"Yeah," is the only thing that I could muster up. Stella is completely asleep. He takes us to the front door, which almost seems invisible, the only thing indicating it as a door is the small cracks at both sides, and the top and bottom. He swings open the door, and shuts it behind him.

"Brandon, is that you?!?" A feminine voice calls; she sounds like she's about eighteen.

"Yeah Alma. It's me and plus two," Brandon replies.

"Visitors?" the voice replies as its owner appears, I assume she's Alma. Brandon nods. She has the same cocoa brown, curly hair, but hers was down to her waist, she has piercing blue eyes, unlike any I've ever seen. I can hear her gasp as she takes in the sight of us. "What happened to you? And names would be nice."

"This is Stella and Isabelle," Brandon says pointing to each of us as he says our names, "I-"

"Brandon shot me in the arm, and Stella fell out of a tree," I interrupt, I am not going to have a self-absorbed boy answer for me! Well, Alma soaks in our information.

"BRANDON! YOU SHOT HER IN THE ARM?!?" Alma screams, Brandon meekly nods. She seems to calm down a little before continuing, "Sorry about that. My idiot brother here, cannot learn to shoot a real deer for the life of him. Well, I guess we'll take you into town, it's the least we can do. And let me carry your sister."

"Okay, and thank you," I say as Alma carefully takes Stella in her arms. Brandon's whole face screams, "what just happened". Just like that, we are on the way to the closest town with strangers.