Breaking the Chains

Chapter Three

Chapter 3

Celestia

            “But I want to be the princess this time!” a child’s voice floated over to where she was sleeping waking her up.

            “Too bad! It’s my turn!” another little girl’s voice responded.

            She opened her eyes and saw that she was lying in a bed of flowers. The sky was clear and the bright sunlight made her squint her eyes. She was in a meadow, full of green and flowers from all the color spectrums. It was a place full of life, chirping birds and the sound of nature filled her ears.

            “Nah-uh! You were the princess last time, and the time before that! You’re always the princess, I want to be one too!”

            She turned towards where the voices were coming from and saw two little girls that looked exactly like each other. Actually, they looked like a younger version of her.

            “I don’t want to be the ugly witch!” one of them whined. She was wearing a pink dress and the other had a matching blue one.

            “Um, excuse me?” she asked.

            “Oh, hi pretty lady,” said the girl wearing pink, “Cely, say hi!” she elbowed the girl in blue.

            “Ow! Um, h-hi,” Cely shyly looked up at her.

            The other girl nodded, satisfied, “What brings you here, pretty lady?” she asked.

            “I think I’m dreaming,” she said.

            “Well yeah, but why are you dreaming about your past?”

            She widened her eyes at the girl’s words, “What do you mean, I don’t remember this.”

            “What~ you forgot about me?” the girl in the pink dress looked hurt, “Cely, you’re mean when you get older,” she said, turning to the younger version of herself.

            “I’m sorry, Aly,” Cely apologized.

            “What’s going on? Who are you?” she was confused.

            “This is the safe zone, and I’m you,” Cely answered.

            “Safe zone? Wait, are you me too?” she asked Aly.

            Aly looked sad, “You really forgot me.”

            “Um, what are you being saved from?” she decided to change the subject.

            “Out there,” Cely pointed to the forest surrounding the meadow.

            A cold chill washed over her as she looked into the forest. The surrounding forest held a stark contrast to the sunny, peaceful meadow. The trees were bare with tall, skinny trunks and long branches. A heavy mist made it impossible to see further out, but it was dark. The sounds of the serene meadow faded away, replaced with branches snapping and heavy breathing. She felt as if she was being watched on all sides, but she couldn’t see through the fog. All in all, it looked dead.

            “What’s out there?” she asked.

            The girls shrunk away and a look of terror crossed their faces, “The bad things are out there, but they can’t come here,” said Aly.