My eyes snapped open.
The only thing I was aware of in my hazy mind was the great flood of sunlight I seemed to be soaking in. Lying on my back and looking straight up, I noted how the sky seemed extra blue that day, an added sparkle twinkling vibrantly. Cotton like clouds dotted the endlessly reaching heavens, and, as my head cleared, I began feeling the wind sweeping over me like a blanket.
Did I just mention wind?
This was strange, I thought to myself, there wasn’t supposed to be wind here, was there? Something was wrong. It danced around to edge of my waking mind, but I couldn’t quite grab hold of what it was.
Tiredness dripped off me as I sat up, suddenly feeling strangely rejuvenated. I had been doing something previous to this, hadn’t I? I hoped it had not been important, because try as I might, I just could not manage to remember anything from before the moment I woke up here.
It was curious. I felt as though I had awoken from some sort of eternal dream, though I did not know what I had been dreaming of. I knew my name was Neyra Clemons, but other than that, I couldn’t recall anything.
Despite my apparent amnesia, I felt like my body and mind were light, as if a huge weight had just been lifted from my shoulders. I had no idea what said weight had been, but I also had no desire to remember. Perhaps that was what I found strangest about this place, the fact that I didn’t want to know anything.
I suppose I should have been more than worried, waking up in a strange forest with no memories of how I came to be there, but I was not. An unusual calm and peace filled me, completely annihilating any discomforting feelings welling up inside of me. And anyway, who was I to say I had never set foot in this strange world before? Perhaps I had been here several times, and it was my memory that actually failed me.
I hastily stood to my feet. Spinning around, I took my surroundings in. I was in a clearing among a large forest, which stretched farther than my eyes could see. Every colour radiated far brighter than I thought possible, each shade seeming to glow and sing on its own, joining in a harmonious dance that never seemed to end. The very ground beneath my feet appeared to cry out as well, and in my mind it felt as though the trees were more alive than I was.
The strongest sensation I discerned was from the air. There was something about it that stroke far into the recesses of my being, coursing through my entire body with each breath. It was light, unburdened by anything. For reasons I couldn’t understand, it made me feel alive, as if it was no longer just air I breathed in, but life itself.
With nothing to weigh down on my heart, I felt overwhelmingly free. Any lingering desire to remember the dream that had escaped me vanished with the breeze, leaving nothing on my mind. The only thing I could focus on was the fact I felt so overjoyed I was afraid I would not be able to remain grounded, but instead my lightheart would fly me into the sky.
I was so absolutely enraptured in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to dance or sing, to shout out an expression of how marvellous I felt. If I did nothing, I knew I would collapse under this bliss, my heart exploding under the pressure. I needed with everything in me for the world to hear my joy, my soul demanded it.
I lifted my head and shouted into the sky, arms wide open. Hearing myself only made me giggle, which soon turned into rolling attacks of laughter. Spinning myself around as if dancing with an invisible partner, I only laughed more, content to remain forever in my state of ecstasy.
Somewhere along the way my legs gave out, and I tumbled down onto the ground. Lying there, I looked back up at the endless sky. My exhilaration seemed to settle down, leaving me feeling full of unexplainable contentment. For a long moment I remained there, as still as I could, looking out onto the great expansion above me. Taking slow, deliberate breaths, and closing my eyes, I tasted freedom.
This was what it meant to be alive.
After a moment, I began hearing a melody play through my head, as if the wind itself was singing to me. I listened to it, burying each note deep within my heart. I knew, without any doubt whatsoever, it was the song of this world. The harmony was as alive as I was, and the tune was filled with magic. Somehow, I knew this song, even though I had never heard it before. Then again, it was so very familiar, I came to wonder if indeed I had listened to it sometime ago.
Finding my voice as I lay still on the ground, I began humming along, watching as the colours of the melody swirled in front of my closed eyes. Tears began dripping down to the earth as emotion flooded over me. I felt so absolutely perfect in that moment, how could I not get emotional? I couldn’t recall a time when I felt as amazing as I did now, and the tears I cried were those of intense joy. A lifetime of pain rolled off my shoulders, and the relief it brought was incredible.
I began singing louder, my voice crescendoing in the silence engulfing me. I was lost in the song. Everything around me faded away until all that remained was me and the music. It twirled and spun around me, vibrant colours and shades like smoke inviting me to play with them.
Pushing my arms out as far as they could stretch, I felt the notes surrounding me. They were like the flame over a candle. Each one brought a different sensation to my fingertips, and I tasted their essence with my entire being.
It was only then that I realized I had stood up. I opened my eyes to see the world as it was, but I only saw more magic spilling out from underneath me. With my head raised to the sky, and my arms stretched out wide, I laughed, caught up in the unimaginable delight.
I sang louder, pouring my whole soul into the song. Watching each note as they left my lips, I saw them echo around in the air before rushing away to the heavens. The scene mystified me, and I became enraptured in the world that was my song.
Singing alone was far from enough for me, so I began to dance. Twirling around with a grace and delicacy I never knew I had, the air carried my steps. The wind wrapped its arms so tightly around me, it was impossible to distinguish one from the other. I felt as though I was flying, unchained and unbound from any laws the earth had.
I was free.
I lost all senses of myself and the world around me, becoming completely enchanted in this dance with the wind. It spun me around and lifted me up as if we had been caught up in some sort of fairy tale romance. I could never feel more loved, beautiful, or complete than I had in those moments.
Looking back, I now realize that if I was in a normal state of mind, I would have wondered why I felt that way. I knew that I belonged here, wherever here was, but I wasn’t quite sure what that even meant. If this really was the place I was somehow made for, why hadn’t I been here before? And, if I had, how come I couldn’t remember the experience? Something unusual was undoubtedly happening, I was just too enchanted to notice it, content enough to dance my life away.
How long I remained there like that, I’ll never know. I was told later it had only been a few minutes, but to me, it felt like a lifetime. I’ve often thought that maybe time had travelled differently for me that moment than it had for the others. Perhaps I’ll never fully understand. All I know is that, to me, my joy went on for hours. Each second wrote itself past my deepest memories and far into the depths of my heart. I’ll never forget that time.
Eventually though, the song riding on the wind did end, reaching a dramatic note before fading into the air. Shocked, I stepped back, suddenly thrust into the strange forest I had found myself in. I tried to recall the melody in my head so I could sing it again, breaking the now looming silence, but the more I tried to grab hold of it, the more it slipped away. Within seconds, I had absolutely no recollection of what the song had been.
Sadness tempted it’s way into my mind, but I shut it out. Surely in this world, full of so much life, these things were common. I would find my song again.
“Excuse me, miss.” The voice shot clearly through the air, seeming almost to echo in the stillness.
I spun around to see a short, stout little man hobbling towards me, his legs scurrying through the woods and into the clearing where I stood. The first thing I noticed about him was his rather odd appearance. He strangely resembled a gnome from the storybooks. He had a full, carrot coloured beard, plump nose, and a fairly rosy complexion. He even wore a little green cap and suspenders. The sight of him made me smile to myself.
“Miss?”
“Yes? Are you calling me?”
“There’s no one else around here for me to be calling to, miss. Therefore you can conclude that I am probably talking to you.” He smiled warmly, chuckling to himself. There was a slight hint of an accent in his speech, though, still not remembering anything, I couldn’t identify it.
“I guess I never thought about that.”
“Yes, well,” the man laughed. “I must ask you to follow me quickly.”
“Why? Where do you want me to go?” Curiosity began to weave itself into my mind. What a strange place, I thought to myself, full of gnomes and talking wind. The thought never occurred to me that I may have been in some sort of dangerous situation. The only thing on my mind was discovering more magic in this enchanting world. Yet, somehow I knew, as if it was written into my existence, that nothing harmful could touch me here.
“The Caretaker has summoned you. It is his job to look after you for the time being, and he requested that I escort you to him, miss. Shall we be on our way?”
“Caretaker?”
“Yes, he’s the one who lives in the manor just up the road here. He is anxiously awaiting your arrival, so I think it best if we hurry.” He began showing signs of nervousness, so small in fact, that I wasn’t quite sure if it had just been in my imagination. Whether or not it was real was irrelevant though, as it became clear to me that he was very avid about me coming with him. I got the feeling that he was also quite stubborn, and he would refuse to go back from wherever he came without me.
Knowing this, I smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’ll come with you.”
The man grinned brightly, his face lighting up like a firefly. “Right this way, miss.” Spinning hastily around, he hobbled away, trying to sprint as fast as his short little legs could take him.
I was rather thrilled to be following him. I felt like a child, so full of wonderment and intrigue, where the only thing stopping my imagination was the boundaries of my own mind. No matter what happened, I knew it was going to be amazing, full of magic, love, and adventure.
I scurried after him, easily keeping up with his somewhat quick pace. As the man took me out of the clearing and deeper into the woods, I found myself so distracted by the things around me, I almost forgot to keep following behind.
Finding it once again difficult to contain my excitement, I started humming a melody playing in my head, only to stop when I heard faint noises coming from the trees and plants, as if they were trying to speak to me. More than once I got caught up in their strange words, so much so that my escort had to shout out to me repeatedly to wake me from my daze. When I went to apologize to him for this, he simply shook his head and muttered something about the fact that this happened a lot, which only added to my curiosity.
Just like before, it seemed as though our journey lasted for a very long while. It was only when I stopped and thought about it that I realized I had only been walking for fifteen minutes or so. The landscape didn’t change much in that time, but I didn’t believe the whole place was one giant forest, and I couldn’t wait to explore the rest of it. The thought of it, however exciting, also proved to be slightly overwhelming. The sudden negative emotion surprised me, but saying nothing, I continued on.
Most of our steps were made in silence. I managed to make the effort to ask a few questions in the beginning, but he answered none of them. He shrugged most of them off and told me that the Caretaker would explain everything after we arrived. I gave up after the first couple of times I tried probing for information, having resigned myself to simply doing what he had instructed before.
I found this situation strangely less awkward than I believed I normally would. Even the lack of conversation seemed perfectly acceptable. There wasn’t much to say anyway, so I was content to spend my moments listening to the forest and humming to myself, completely aware that the gnomish man in front of me was hearing everything that left my mouth.
In a short while, he stopped, looking off into the distance ahead of him as if something marvelous sat there. Moving my attention from him to whatever he seemed to be staring at, I realized that there was indeed something there. Although I couldn’t see well through the clearing in the trees, I was sure I saw a large manor, or at least the roof of one.
“Is that where The Caretaker lives?” I questioned, stopping beside the man.
“Oh yes, miss. He certainly does. We will reach there in no time at all.”
“‘Kay, cool, thank you.”
“It’s no trouble. Now if you will, please stay rather close behind me. It is a large place, and people tend to get lost here fairly easily.” His voice trailed off, as if he was becoming lost in his thoughts. I was about to question his curious comment when I looked up and saw a slight hint of bewilderment plaguing his face. Within no more than a few seconds, he shook the expression off and continued on his way, making sure I was still marching behind him.
“Yeah, of course.” Mumbling to myself more than talking to him, I wondered what had caused such a sudden and dramatic change, if even just for a moment. Indeed, it would have been quite unnoticeable to one less perceptive than me, but oftentimes it's the small differences that count the most.
Something must be up with guests coming here, I concluded. He mentioned something about others before this, so perhaps they had some sort of challenge with visitors. Could it have something to do with them getting lost? If there were others that this man had led to The Caretaker, then did all people meet with him? Were they all in the same situation I happened to be in as well?
The thing that I found most puzzling was the fact that a lot of the questions spinning around in my mind were to do with problems. In a world as great and wonderful as this, how could there be anything bad here? If there was some sort of evil, where was it? And just how awful could it possibly be?
I was so distracted by my own thoughts that I barely noticed the manor disappearing behind a large hill. By the time I remembered it, we were far out of the forest and about to step onto a large stone pathway, which seemed to sparkle gold in the sun. Large lamp posts stood on either side, emitting a mystifying blue light despite the fact it was the middle of the day. The whole place was alive with magic.
I skipped down the walkway, feeling every bit like royalty. Closing my eyes, I imagined myself in a beautiful ball gown, a princess taking an afternoon stroll. The lamp posts became servants who bowed as I passed them, smiling up at me with warm faces. Grinning back, I curtsied to them, greeting each by name. There were cooks and knights, seamstresses and entertainers, all coming out just to welcome me home.
Feeling extremely honored it be greeted thusly, I thought that I might as well do something in return for their kindness. The only thing I could think of was to sing them a song. Opening my mouth and pushing all else away, I tied a melody to the air leaving my lips. I reached into the depth of my heart and found any strong emotion inside of me, grabbing and pouring them into each note I sang. Words soon began forming over the waves of music, becoming deep poetry echoing over the sound of the breeze.
Once I had my song established I was able to come back to reality. Looking around as melodies poured out of me, I watched the faces of the people I passed. Beautiful smiles graced their faces, and their eyes lit up like candles. Some found their own version of the music and joined in, and others began to dance among the flowering field the notes created. I laughed, overjoyed to see everyone so blessed and finding their own moments of bliss.
I continued on this way until I came to the exact center of the path. As I neared the climax of the event, a young prince walked up to greet me, his hand reaching out as I neared. I stopped singing as I gracefully pressed our fingers together. With a smile full of love, he spun me around into his arms.
I giggled joyfully as he leaned over and whispered into my ear.“Welcome home, Princess.” Letting me go, he began walking me the rest of the way, nodding his head respectfully at each person we passed, until we finally reached the castle.
There we remained, together, the prince and the princess.
“Miss?” Shattering my dream like a mirror, the man’s voice resounded through the air. “Miss?”
“Oh, yes? Sorry about that. Were you calling me?”
“Indeed I was. You must have been daydreaming.”
“Sorry.” I shrugged sheepishly.
“It’s no trouble at all, miss. Happens all the time. Rather easy to do in a place like this, I must say.” He smiled at me, laughing heartily, which made his face grow more rosy than it already was. “Now, I didn’t mean to disturb you, I fully understand how important daydreams are and all that, but I thought it would be rather considerate of me to inform you that we’ve arrived.”
“I suppose that would be the polite thing to do, thank you.” Turning my attention from him to the area around me, I gasped, completely in awe over the house that stood in front of my feet.
The manor resembled one of the large mansions in a Victorian era movie. It was quite tall, with a row of windows for each floor level. Large circular towers were placed on either end, complete with pointed roofs, which only added to the castle affect. A large door was placed in the exact center, making the building almost completely symmetrical. Large gardens and carefully maintained fields circled around the base, as if they were an ocean’s waves lapping onto the sand coloured bricks.
“How are you liking the house so far, miss?”
“It’s absolutely breathtaking. I mean, I would love to spend all my days just exploring the grounds. The Caretaker must be an extravagant person to live in such a place.” I sighed. “It makes me feel like I’ve been summoned to a ball.”
“In a matter of speaking, I suppose you have been. Now, if I can take you inside, there are a few people I’d like to introduce you to.”
“That Caretaker guy?”
“Certainly you will meet him, but there are a few things to take care of even before that, miss.” The man hobbled up to the big, hand carved doors, pushing them open for me.
“Alright then. Thank you.” Smiling politely at him, I entered the house.
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