City of Starlight

Chapter 20 - The Tempest

(3rd POV) *Flashback, 11 years ago, Wonderland

The rain beat down relentlessly upon the rickety cottage that lay on the perimeter of the village. At dusk, the baskets of linen, cloth and other spun goods had been moved inside for shelter against the incoming thunderstorm. Just as predicted, it started raining as soon as the blanket of night unfurled over Wonderland. 

Tucked under their old blankets, the three spinsters were fast asleep, their snores drowned by the clap of thunder outside. In the adjacent room however, a young girl of five years clenched her small fists tightly around the edge of her blanket and bit down hard on her tongue to stop herself from whimpering. Her hair, already matted from the sweat and thick humidity that hung in the air, clung to her neck and shoulders, accompanying the fear that coursed through her chest each time a bolt of lightning sent flashes of light through the window. 

The young girl tried to cover her vision with her blanket but each time she peeked out, the shadows from the dark corner of her room loomed over her like monsters. She swallowed, but she knew that she couldn't disturb the spinsters unless she wanted one of them to lash out onto her. She couldn't understand why they had suddenly treated her differently. After eavesdropping on their conversations, she knew that they were worried about the new Queen of Hearts, but the young girl couldn't understand why it had anything to do with how she suddenly had to take care of all the household chores in addition to helping the spinsters with their craft. 

Her thoughts did nothing to soothe her and after choking back a sob, she gritted her teeth and she climbed out of bed. Carefully, she approached the window where she could spot the monsters before they got to her. When she glanced out, she nearly fell back in fright upon seeing faint yellow dots amongst the leaves of a tree in the courtyard. Hang on. When did the spinsters plant a tree there? 

After she blinked several times in confusion, she noticed that the rain had died down to a gentle sprinkle and the roll of thunder was but a mere sound in the distance. Whilst she was still shaking with fear, curiosity got the best of the child and she padded outside in nothing but her nightgown. She held up the lantern in her hand and against the warm light of the candle inside, the gleam of the crimson fruit flashed back into her vision. There were small little insects, with yellow glowing bodies amongst the ripe apples; so whimsical and pretty that she didn't want to disturb them. However, when she stretched her hand out slowly, they left the shadows behind the leaves and fluttered towards her fingertips.

The gentle breeze spraying tiny mists of water onto the girl's cold cheeks carried a warm echo. The young girl stilled upon hearing the sound but strangely felt comforted by the voices of a man and a woman. They called her name softly when she tried to answer, the voices suddenly disappeared. 

The next day, the apple tree and fireflies were no where to be seen, and with a face pink with embarrassment from the spinsters' dismissive words, Daniella silently returned to the task that she had been assigned to complete. Both afraid that she had hallucinated the images, and scared that magic might have been at play, she tried her best to forget what happened.  

Even when she would finally meet the source of the female voice five years later, the memory had already faded away, only residing in the threads of time and true love's magic. 

..............................

(Regina's POV) *Present day

As I paced the space before the apple tree, the sounds of distant thunder accompanied my clicking heeled footsteps. Over the years, I've tried countless times to convince myself that the weather could not possibly compliment the thoughts in my head, but have been proven wrong on several occasions; including tonight. I gritted my teeth at the sound of the incoming thunderstorm that rolled across the skies.