In a Forest, Under a Tree Where Many Plans Were Made

Chapter Twelve

🌲Everyones Story Starts Somewhere🌲

The walk back to Sharells was long and silent, until Summer spoke.

"You mustn't tell Sharell. Please Jack, whatever you may think, Ivy is telling the truth! And if you tell Sharell, she might end up dead. Please, tell no one." she asked of him pleadingly.

"I won't. But I did find her stories, especially the one of her young man Charlie, a little... Far fetched. Sharell wouldn't drive anyone to insanity."

Summer just shook her had sadly, the way Ivy had.

A mad girl ran across the street, screaming. clothes in tatters and greasy hair streaming behind her. Her nails were sharp and uneven, and she seemed to have raked them down her face a number of times, leaving bloody scars.

But behind the screaming, madness, the greasy hair and scarred face, she was beautiful. Simply gorge-ous, anyone could see that. How did that beautiful woman get out here, on the streets, with people altering their paths to avoid her screaming?

She asked a passerby what the woman's name was.

"Umm... Well, she went to my school, but I was a year younger... But everyone knew her, she was really pretty back in the day. Umm, I think her name was Freya. Fitting, right? The goddess of beauty? Not much use now though, totally past it." Summer thanked the person, and the helpful citizen walked of sadly shaking his head.

"Freya... I'll ask Sharell." She muttered. "Then Ivy, to get the real story.". Or at least, she thought that last part. She wasn't quite conscious to whether or not she said it out loud though.

Then she remembered: Ivy didn't want to see her. She had told her to leave her alone. Shouldn't Summer respect her wish? As she couldn't help but feel Ivy's end was near.

She and Jack finally reached 'home'. Sharell was in the lounge room, reading a murder mystery book. Quite fitting, Summer thought. Did Sharell think that this whole... Evil streak of hers, was a game, something to pass the time? Was she so caught up in these sort of box-office counter-bought romance/dective/murder stories she thought them to a part of life, and who better to play the leading role?

For it is the sad truth that many people are so caught up in their own world that they forget others have THEIR own worlds too, that may clash. A romantic world versus a slightly darker world were love is irrelevant, thus the fights break out. And there are those who have no fantasy land to retreat back into, those who must always be in the limelight, yet where no one can see. Pity those people without an imagination.

"Oh hello!" Chirped Sharell. "I've made lunch, it's on the table. Come in, come in."

She led them to a dining room. Sharell's house was very elaborate, the biggest in Radnok. She got it through deceit, lying and stealing. But don't we all get money this way?

Jack and Summer ate in silence, only occasionally adding to conversation which Sharell kept up pretty much on her own. She obviously became increasingly frustrated when Jack held Summers hand under the table, something Jack wouldn't've noticed before, but after his 'enlightening' chat with Ivy, noticed clearly.

He took this into account, and found himself believing her more and more.

"Hey Sharell," said Summer, "Did you know someone called Freya? Only there was this mad girl on the street by that name, and I thought you might've known her before she lost it."

Sharell put on her 'sad' facade.

"Oooh, yes, Freya. She used to be a very good friend of mine. She was beautiful, prettiest person you'd ever meet. But some loser was jealous and said she was ugly. Freya certainly wasn't used to criticism, and as it went on... Well, I guess you can see what happened."