Martha

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The ground was cool and springy underneath me. A light breeze rustled through the trees. I slowly opened my eyes to see a landscape very similar to my home state's, Washington*: Douglass Fir and Cedar trees stood tall overhead. The ground was wet and mossy and needle-covered. A chickadee chirped from a nearby bush. My grandparents were nowhere in sight.
I was a little confused as to how I got from some islands in the middle of the Pacific to the Pacific Northwest in a matter of seconds, but I knew it must've been some kind of portal. I'd always known magic was real, unlike my parents, so I didn't freak out as much as I might've, although I was still a little scared.
Then I noticed a figure in a hood, about 40 feet from me. They were sitting on a log examining something - something green and blue - my phone!
I pulled myself off of the ground and stumbled over, only one thing on my mind. "Excuse me? That's mine!" I said to the hooded stranger.
"Oh, sorry," they said, their hood falling back, revealing them to be a teenage girl not much older than myself. She handed me my phone, but slowly and reluctantly as if it was a very strange artifact she wasn't quite done looking at.
Quickly pocketing my phone, I asked, "Where are we?"
The girl gazed at me quizzically. "The Enchanted Forest, a' course. Where else, Ronda? And why're ya wearin' that weird outfit?"
"You know my name? The Enchanted Forest?!" I backed away a little, suddenly warier of this odd girl. I noticed she was wearing a large, patched together old fashioned dress. I glanced at her face. She was looking at me like I had just materialized in from of her. Kind of like my grandma looked when she was confused...
Oh no, I thought. I tore out of the forest clearing as fast as I could, leaping over fallen logs and bushes, not caring how scratched I got, and not looking back.
I could still hear the thumping of Martha's boots in the moss behind me, and she wasn't getting any farther away. I panted every breath and my legs were starting to ache. I was slowing down. I'd always been a good sprinter but couldn't run for very long.
I just had to make it a little farther! I gasped for air as I hurdled through the underbrush, using the last of my energy.
"Stop, come back!" I heard Martha call some distance behind me. She'd given up. I ran a little farther, then collapsed onto the wet ground, every bone in my body aching.
After lying there a few minutes, I sat up and leaned against an old cedar tree. My heart still beat like it was trying to escape my chest.
I hoped I hadn't already disrupted time in this place that was most likely about 60 years ago. When I'd realized that the girl was my younger grandma, it'd occurred to me that my very existence counted on the fact that my grandparents' past stayed exactly the same. Maybe I'd already altered time enough to keep them from meeting - keep them from having my mom - keep me from being born!
I knew what I needed to do. I needed to make absolutely certain that my grandparents fell in love.




*I Know where OUAT is supposed to take place, but it looks like the PNW, so Ronda would guess that was where she was.

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