The Story That Chose Me

Chapter 3 ~ Of Dolls and Introductions

Standing tall on the top floor of his manor, The Caretaker watched the scene playing underneath him. Little to anyone’s knowledge, he had seen everything that had taken place since this girl’s arrival here. Story had worked up it’s magic and allowed him to witness each scene as if he was in it himself. It truly was a marvellous thing.

It was his job to look after Story, and in its weakened state, sometimes it allowed rather disagreeable people into it. He had to determine whether or not this new girl truly belonged here. Having studied her for quite some time now, he was pretty sure what his answer was going to be. Still, something bothered him about it all.

He frowned.

To be honest, he wasn’t quite sure what he even thought of her. Everyone reacted to their Moment differently, but watching her twirl and spin, she had captivated him by her beauty and magic in a way none of the others ever had. Something strange tugged at his heart, and he believed this girl to be the cause.

The memory of her song flooded back to him. The delicacy in her voice, the gentleness in her body as she danced, and the freedom she expressed so joyfully, was breathtaking. For a moment he let her remain there, overtaking all other thoughts until it was just her. Like a doll he held captive in his mind, she spun around, singing a melody that brought warmth and solace to the far corners of his heart.

Becoming all too aware of what he was doing, The Caretaker shut his eyes tightly. Trying to shake such things from his mind, he wondered what was happening to him. Story often had a way of getting into your head, so perhaps that’s what was going on. At least, that’s what he told himself. In all honesty, these strange emotions frightened him.  

Bothered by everything, aggravation chiseling away at his patience. He didn’t like feeling this way, didn’t want it. He felt sick, the thoughts violently grabbing at his mind like a parasite. Annoyance became mixed with the blood in his veins, annoyance that had everything to do with this stranger.

It was then he decided he wouldn’t like this new girl.

He tensed. Something was off that day. It wasn’t the girl that had started this chaos in his head, it was something else. Something had been eating away at him since he got back. Whatever it was would be the one to blame, not some stranger he hardly knew.

Sighing, he ruffled the back of his black hair and crossed his arms. He should have been above all this negativity. Being able to handle surprising emotions was something he knew he should have been able to do. It was wrong to take it out on her, and the fact that he was only made him angrier at himself.

Still, something plagued and unnerving him, something greater than his overall disturbance of his own thoughts. It was putting him in a worse mood than he was already in.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes as an attempt to clear his head, he resigned himself to duty. Although he planned to meet this girl afterwards, he’d much prefer to get the introductions over with. Thankfully, she would receive her job later this afternoon and be out of his hair by the evening. He could forget all these troubling feelings then.

With his boots hardly making any noise, he marched out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The large doors swung open, pulling me inside their open mouth as if to consume me.

I stepped through the barrier they created, the entrance becoming a portal to take me to a far off fairy tale. Any grasp on reality threatening to sneak its way into my thoughts quickly surrendered to my imagination, which seemed to feed off the magic blowing around in the air. For the first time since arriving here, I was speechless.