>Music should be played during this chapter ;)
Also check out the picture it relates to the book quite well! :))
*****
Heather sat on the swing, rocking gently back and forth. Her little feet didn't quite reach the ground, her still slightly chubby hands grasped the chains of the swing as she sang the song her grandmother had stamped onto her mind since she was a toddler.
"My mommy said that I never should,
Play with the Gypsies in the wood,
If I did then she would say,
Naughty little girl to disobey."
As she sung, an icy cold breeze suddenly picked up and ruffled her long dirty blonde hair, brushing it across her face. She sniffed and brushed it away, her grey eyed gaze wandering over to the woods that lined the back of her house.
The trees were tall and dark, leaning forward menacingly, as though they were reaching out to snatch Heather up as soon as she took a step towards them.
She looked away, back towards the safety of her large two storied home.
She would turn eight in two more weeks, her Mummy had marked it on her calender for her so she could count down. She wasn't sure if she was excited or not though, because she would have to start school. On the visiting trips, the school had seemed awfully big and there had been some not very nice girls there, who had tugged Heathers hair and made fun of her name.
Her gaze drifted back towards the forest. She wondered if being five would make the woods seem less scary. Somehow she didn't think so.
Out of nowhere, a beautiful blue butterfly landed on the chain of the swing and fluttered its wings gently before pressing them together in a restful way. Heather clapped her hands in delight, her thoughts instantly diverted. It was so pretty, its wings a light blue with delicate white edging and its thin body was fluffy and white. Heather had never seen a butterfly this color before and so she stretched out a gentle finger towards it, carefully so it wouldn't get scared. She was greatly disappointed when it fluttered away, landing on a white daisy a little way in front of her.
"Wait," she cried, jumping down from her position on the swing. "Come back!" Carefully she crept forward, but every time she grew close enough to touch it, it flew a little further in front of her.
Eventually Heather pounced and caught at it with her hands, giggling in delight when she felt the wings flutter against her palms. Carefully she cracked her hands open and peeked in before opening them wide and lifting them up in the air. The butterfly lay flat on her palms, fluttering feebly.
"Oh no," Heather whispered, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She hadn't meant to hurt it.
She looked wildly around for someone that might be able to help, suddenly realizing that she was crouching at the edge of the forest all by herself. To Heather's seven year old brain, there seemed to be a very solid line where light merged into dark, just in front of her, where the denseness of the trees sucked all light from the surrounding air. She felt her heart beat faster as she looked up at the massive clawed and twisting trunks looming over her and suddenly she felt very very small, like the injured butterfly in her palms.
"I can fix it."
Heather let out a small scream and jumped up at the musical voice. As she turned around, she came face to face with a curious boy. He was very strange looking, and he regarded Heather with a look that suggested he thought she was very strange to him too.
He was a good head taller than Heather, with a lean build that was by no means skinny. Heather thought he looked like he would be very graceful, like her dance teacher Miss Hannah.
He had to be a couple of years older than her, Heather decided, at least eight or nine. However, his eccentric features held absolutely no age. She wasn't exactly sure how old he was, but she did feel slightly envious, wishing that she was as big as him.
As she observed the boy's height and his build she realized his physique wasn't what was strange about the young boy.
Maybe it was the fact that his hair, which was on the longer side, and shaggy, was the brightest shades of blue that Heather had ever seen, and moved about as though it were alive, even though there was no wind.
Maybe it was his piercing eyes, which were such a light icy chlorine that they were almost white. They were so intense, that Heather felt as though her feet had been nailed to the ground as he stared at her with them, making her unable to move.
Maybe it was the clothes that he wore, the fancy kind that Heather had only seen in old fashioned story books, but had never seen on a real person before. The material was silvery and flowed down the boy's body and instead of shoes he had what looked like soft pieces of leather wrapped around his feet.
Maybe it was all three.
Heather took a step back, feeling nervous. "Are you a gypsy?" she questioned with wide eyes. He hadn't look like what she thought a gypsy would look like, but she had to make sure, just incase. "My Grandma says not to talk to them."
The boy laughed, a soothing sound that streamed from his mouth, reminding Heather of running water. Because she was so attentive on the boy, she noticed he never anwered her question, he simply repeated what he had stated before.
"I can fix it."
He has a beautiful voice, Heather thought. Soft and velvety, like the coat her Grandma had brought her for Christmas. The boy held out his hands, an invitation. Heather only paused for a second before taking a step forward over the line of light and dark. Instantly she felt uncomfortable but she ignored the feeling and slipped the butterfly gently into the boys hands, quickly taking a step back into the light. She felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her little shoulders and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
The boy regarded her curiously, ignoring the wavering life she hand just deposited into his hands. When he didn't look away fro several minutes, she looked pointedly to the butterfly as though reminding him of what he had said he would do. He looked down at his hands in surprise before turning his icy gaze back to Heather, his bright blue hair moving a second behind his motions, as though gravity did not affect it.
"What will you give me?"
She pulled her cupped hand towards her chest. "Pardon?"
Suddenly, the boys face and eyes hardened coldly, and he tilted his head a little to the side, observing her through narrowed eyes. After a moment of analyzing her, the boy's face softened once again and he whispered, "You heard me."
Heather looked at this boy, he was indeed very curious. She clasped her little hands in front of her, smoothing down the front of her white dress. Did he like her dress? He kept looking at it, that was for sure. "What do you want?"
The boy looked thoughtful for a moment. "I want ... your friendship. Be my friend and I will fix your butterfly so it will live to see many more days."
"Okay," Heather said promptly, and after a few hesitant moments pointed to the damaged insect in the boys hands,"now fix it."
The boy laughed, shaking his head from side to side. His hair flowed with the wind, almost as if his hair was part of the wind. "No, no. You have to seal it with something, so I will know you will stick to your promise."
Heather frowned before her eyes lit up. Quickly she took as step forward and ever so gently kissed the boy on the cheek before she pulled back, thinking nothing more of the action. His cheek was slightly cold, and yet made her lips warm.
"Sealed with a kiss," she told him happily. As she had seen in all the princess story books kissing mas mandatory with this beautiful boy. She was thankful no wicked step-sisters were around to ruin the moment. "I promise to be your friend. Now fix my butterfly."
The boy was still standing frozen, a slight pinkish blush forming ever-so-slightly over his cheeks. He reached a white hand up to touch the spot that Heather had kissed, his eyes still glued to hers. Smiling with a newly found delight, his hair waved forward over his face with livliness, the blue tendrils stretching out to Heather as if they wanted to touch her. And his lanky body was leaning foward, stretching towards the source of his contentment.
Suddenly, the boy snapped back, and his gaze broke swiftly away from Heather, who, by then, was blushing a delicate pink as well. A kiss wasn't that big of a deal was it? Why, she kissed her Mommy and Daddy on the cheek all the time.
Strange words were now flowing from the boys mouth as he concentrated on the butterfly in front of him, Heather watched in amazement as his body began to glow white, as if he was lit from the inside. All of the light seemed to be rushing through his body towards his palms where the butterfly lay.
"Oh ra, re ya vanwa ilya amin. A i'val ndu a' amin tuulo' a aid, a' i' onna e' ar' ta n'alaqueal a' coia, tabeleg, ta n'alaquel ta coia."
As he spoke the words, blue lines swooped down from his hair line, expanding and etching themselves into his face, framing his chin and outline his nose, finally the intricate patterns swooped under and around his eyes and his whole eyes began to glow with a white light that made Heather stumble back a few steps in fright.
Never in her life had she thought this is what he had meant by "fixing it".
She was just starting to wonder what she had gotten herself into when the boy uttered a last few words in his strange language and stepped towards her, the glow fading from his body, as did the tattoos around his face. He held his hands out to her which were the only parts of his body still glowing slightly, and with all fear forgotten, Heather moved forward, just as he opened his hands.
A butterfly flew out from beneath his fingers but it certainly wasn't the same butterfly Heather had given to him. It was much bigger, at least twice the size, and when, to Heathers delight, it fluttered over to rest on her out stretched finger, she could see that the same patterns that had covered the boys face had now been transferred to the butterflies wings.
"It is not harmed," he assured quickly, coming up to stand beside her, "I just made it stronger, ta beleg," he whispered the last part quietly.
"Ta beleg." Heather repeated the foreign word then reached up to kiss him softly on the cheek again. "Thank-you." She saw him flush more wildly in her peripheral vision, before turning her attention back to her butterfly.
Carefully, so as not to disturb it or frighten it, she stepped further away from the forest and out into the open again, lifting her hands up to the sky. Gently, she blew on the butterflies wings, encouraging it to fly. It fluttered its wings reluctantly, before floating gently off her hand and circling her head twice before making for the open sky. Heather shielded her eyes against the suns glare as she watched it, half happy, half sad, until the creature grew so small that she could see it no longer.
"What will you do now?"
At the sound of his musical voice, Heather turned back to where the boy was standing between the darkness off the forest and the light streaming from her backyard. Heather realized that when she had seen the boy first, he had been standing on the dark side. Heather shuddered and looked up at the sky again, and then back towards her house. As the boy shyly gazed at her, starting to step away from the dark, scary forest towards her, the first line of her grandmother's song ran quietly through her mind.
My mother said that I never should ...
She shivered slightly again. Would her Mommy tell her off if she brought him home for tea? Heather didn't think she would, Mommy would probably be happy that Heather had made a friend. Especially a friend as nice as this boy who had helped her. Running back to his side, she linked her dainty fingers through his, tugging him out of the darkness.
"Come on," she finally said, linking her fingers with the boys. His hands were ice cold, just like his eyes. "I'm taking you back to my house to play."
A grin spread across the boys face as Heather towed him up towards the house, leading the way. His smile only broke when he looked back towards the forest and directed a glare towards the shadow that had crept forward slightly out of the darkness.
He whispered a few words under his breath.
"Why?" Heather wondered.
The smirked at her, flashing a set of white teeth. She noticed his smile held no gaps, whereas she had recently lost a tooth in the front. "Nothing," he said.
And when boy looked over his shoulder again, everything was back to where it should be, doing what it was supposed to be doing.
Which was what?
He wasn't so sure that he knew anymore.