A gleam of darkness, a ray of hope

Reality

Laughter....... it's all I could hear. I watched as a smile swept across my son's face when I entered through the door way of my mansion in Storybrook. God how I missed his three year old smile. I could feel his warmth surround me as I held him in my arms and stroked his rich brown hair. I was wrapped in his sent of innocence, "Mamma...Joey said you be home earlier."

My smile turned into a frown when the words escaped his lips, but I managed to put on a fake smirk for the love of my boy. "I know baby, Mamma got busy at work and had to finish up before I could come home and see you." I touched his nose with mine and I heard his laughter continued when I put him down and shouted at him with a grin on my top lip, and my hands out like a claw,"Oh but where did mommy go? Now no one can protect little Henry from the Tickle Monster!" I reached for him but he quickly ducked and ran off enjoying the moment with his hands high in the air.

I caught up to him when he ran around the white granite counter tops. But I put the tickle monster away when I noticed what had happened. Around me I saw nothing familiar, because I saw nothing at all. Everything was black and the only thing I had with me was my precious baby boy cradled in my arms sucking on his thumb. Fear ran through my veins as horrid thoughts devoured my subconscious. But that thought left when I noticed I was still standing but holding onto nothing.

"HENRY!" No he can't leave me! Not after we spent so long building a life! "HENRY!"
I hit the ground hard. My body jolted up and felt a sharp pain around my ankles. I had scooted away from the wall and was at the edge of the circumference of the chains bounding me inside the hell hole. I looked down at the sweat covering my body, my eyes still wide and my hands gripping the metal of the poles. I heard the rustling of my neighbor, "Regina, all you alright?" I guess he could hear the exhausting sound of my breathing.

"Fine," I thought about the way I said it, I thought about the dream, more like a nightmare, I thought about where I was, who I was with. Who I was? "Just a nightmare I guess." I called to him.

But he didn't give up,"May I ask what this nightmare was about?" What could it hurt telling him. I didn't because of the fact he might talk about it with me and I don't necessarily like conversation with slight strangers. Instead I said,"Family matters."

He wouldn't get the hint I tossed to stop talking and carried on,"Oh I see...... What family?" I sarcastically smirked to where he could see my eyes in the dim lit dungeon, he immediately took it back when I replied.

"That's personal and I am not about to share my dreams with a stranger." that's when my smirk disappeared and the only thing I was left with was a 'stop taking' glare.

"Why is it our conversations always end in me apparently pushing to hard then you getting mad and saying 'it's personal'? But you see m'lady, were going to be down her for some time, I'm guessing, and wouldn't it be nicer to know at least one other person before we get our heads cut off my the angry lady upstairs?" His remark made me laugh and I agreed. "Okay, but let's start with simple questions. I'll ask first."

"Fire away."

I took the first shot by asking,"So thief, since from what I can see the only features you have are the ones created by this lantern........what color of hair do you have?"

"Seriously? Out of all questions that's what you ask?"

"Well sorry if I want to at least picture the person I will be sharing my life with." I said it stern to give him a look into who I am.

"Last time I saw it, it was brown. But I don't know it could have changed." I could tell he tried to lighten the mood with his joke.

"Haha, very funny. But that's not plausible......nothing ever changes in this stupid forest." I stated the fact as I picked at my rugged, filthy fingernails.

We soon fell into a deep silent and I felt the humidity of the cages clutch to my body. I watched as my legs would take longer than usual to spilt as the moisture and sweat appeared to be noticed on my neck. My head tilted back and hit against the cool brick, and I thought, as I could feel my eyes bare heavy and come aware of my exhaustion, about who this man really was, inside. Why he did what he did. And why it was actually important to him.
These were all questions I could ask myself in the mourning, or what ever time of day it would be.

Instead I fixated on hazelnut. Hazelnut hair. And an all to familiar gaze of a hazelnut, pure glass set of soulful, uplifting widows to Henry's soul. I memorized each moment as if my life depended on it, which in some way it did. Without the thought of hope or seeing them again I would have been gone a long time ago, yet I hold on to that dream and find comfort in its wings as they lift me out of horrid reality I am facing and show me the positive affect of just glancing into my sons eyes could do.

Now I have nothing to do but sit and wait for that day to come, and even wonder if it will.