Once Bitten

And We Lived Happily Ever Af- Oh, wait... Nope.

            A knock on my door startles me from sleep. I rub my eyes and look in the doorway, where my father stands.

“Get on up, Ash!” He beams. “We have a lot to do today!” I grunt and roll out of bed, not bothering to change into anything new. I only put on the mask, which is cold from the long night. Dad leads me out the door to the large room, where Miranda stands, smiling softly. “I was hoping that you and Miranda could bond… it would mean a lot to me.” Dad says. I feel suddenly mad. He expects me to bond with this chick?! Oh, yeah, I just forbade you to ever see the best family you’ve met in your life, and we’re basically keeping you prisoner, but if you could just bond with my girlfriend..? NO.

“What do I have to do.” I grit my teeth. Miranda clears her throat softly.

“I thought I could show you around… Would you be okay with that..?” She’s so sweet I’m going to puke. I cross my arms and clench my fists. Then nod. Dad grins and holds out his arms.

“Excellent!” He cries, and forces us outside. Miranda looks at me and I can make out a smile underneath her doe mask.

“How about we go to the weapon shop first?” She asks. I nod, and follow her to the elephant lady’s shop. “This is Nala. Nala, this is Ash, Parker’s daughter.” Nala widens her mouth, and grins.

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am! Did you like that machete? Made it me’self, I did! And it’s made from pure steel and ivory!” Nala beams. I nod, and smile.

“It’s amazing… where do you get those materials?” I ask.

“The mines outside of camp. My husband works there, and brings the materials here to me!” Nala is practically glowing. So, there’s how they get the stuff to make everything…

Miranda leads me to the food stock next. A man named Percival works there, and apparently, they get food from an old factory that’s not too far from camp either, or from abandoned camps. The doctor is a sweet woman named Fawn. She gets the medicine from various hospitals. I figured out that every month, they send some people out to town in a Jeep, and they come back with whatever they can get. Everywhere we go, there’s different masks for different people- Antelopes for the people who are fast, lions for the brave, bears for the tough, elephants for the strong, and even some actual animal skulls for the salvagers. I have no idea why I got an owl- Miranda said that Dad had decided if I ever came to them, then I must have made some wise choices to be alive still.

Finally, the night falls, and I turn to Miranda, who’s still smiling. “Look,” I start. “I’m sorry I was a bit of a jerk earlier… I was just upset over the fact that I finally met my dad, and he has a girlfriend. The doctor used to read me stories with evil step-mothers, and so I guess I kinda portrayed you as one… You’re not, and I’m sorry I misjudged you…” My voice falls to a mutter. Miranda chuckles sweetly.

“I understand completely. When your father and I met, I had fallen head over heels in love with him… he always had his mind on you, though. When we found this forest, the trees were so large, he decided he would create a haven. Whenever we found survivors, we took them in, healed them up, and slowly started building this up… we were so young…” Miranda sighs dreamily. “He said that he wanted it to look like a fairytale. If you came back, he said, then he wanted it to feel like you were a princess.”

“… Crap. I misjudged my dad, too.” I grumble. Miranda laughs, and we go inside. Dad is standing near a window, looking out with a dazed expression in his eyes. Miranda goes to him and rests her head on his chest, and he wraps a strong arm around her.

It reminds me of a fairytale gone horribly wrong. The father separated from his newborn. The newborn growing up in a tough, evil world, seeing things no child should see. And as the father builds his kingdom safely, he meets a princess… and when they find his daughter, she’s nothing but cruel and hostile. Now here they are. I swear, if I wasn’t aware of the outside world, I would think I’d fallen into the books the doctor read to me, and met a king and queen… Miranda isn’t the bad one as I had somewhat hoped. I am. A stab of guilt overwhelms me, and for the first time since I came here, I feel like I’m the one who deserves a good whack in the head.

Heh. Too bad fairy tales never last.