Begin Again

Just A Moment

                Elsa woke with a start at the sound of pounding on a wooden door. Listening carefully, she heard the harsh shout of soldiers. At that point, she was sure that her father had sent his men looking for her. Her green eyes glanced over towards Broden who was peacefully asleep with a large tree root supporting his head. Not wanted to disturb his slumber, she crawled forward through the bushes as far as she dared in order to hear the conversation occurring in the house nearby.

She heard a girl shout just as the door was broken in by the armor-clad men. Suddenly, the girl’s shouts grew quiet, and she remained silent for several moments. She finally broke it with a shrill yell that sounded like someone’s name.

Elsa came to the realization that these guards weren’t looking to bring her back to the castle; they were capturing someone. Her gut told her to run in and stop the arrest of the shouting girl’s loved one, but her brain knew better. It would destroy all of her wishes to be free from her father’s reign forever. So, instead of acting like a hero, Elsa decided to continue eavesdropping on what was going on in the small house. She heard what sounded like a guard’s voice- he was probably reading the proclamation of imprisonment. Elsa could almost feel her heart breaking for the girl whose life was being torn away from her. Leaning closer through the shrubs, she heard an old woman begin to shout in a very bitter voice. It was nearly impossible to make out anything the woman was saying. Five minutes later, she heard the metal clanging of the armored soldiers marching back to the castle with their prisoner.

Elsa leaned up against the same tree that Broden was sleeping against and sighed. Her father destroyed so many families and lives throughout the kingdom, and Elsa desperately hoped she could change that some day. As she sat against the tree, she watched the house, wondering what the girl was going to do now. Then, she looked at Broden and tried to figure out if she should wake him or not. The sun was still low in the sky, so they had a little more time before it was necessary to move. After twenty minutes of sitting and waiting, Elsa heard a door close inside the little house- the girl was leaving. She shook Broden awake and prepared to go get new clothes from the house.

“Huh? What?” Broden mumbled as his eyes fluttered open.

“Rise and shine. The house is empty, so let’s go.”

Broden extended his arms and legs to stretch before he sat up. Elsa noticed how muscular his arms were, but quickly glanced away before he caught her staring at him.

“Okay,” he said after yawning. “Are we just going to waltz into the house from the back or do we have a secret plan?”

“Well, I don’t see any neighbors around so I think waltzing in would be fine,” Elsa replied.

Broden shrugged and stood up. He brushed off his pants and started to walk towards the house.

“Excuse me?” Elsa called.

He turned around to see her sitting on the ground.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He took a step back and offered his hand to help her up.

“Thank you sir,” Elsa said.

Broden smiled and rolled his eyes as they both made their way towards the house. Suddenly, Broden stopped in his tracks.

“Go back to the bushes,” he whispered urgently.

“What?” Elsa replied, confusion evident in her voice.

“Do it.”

Elsa walked back to the tree and sat down again; Broden joined her.

“There’s a girl walking up this hill. I thought you said the house was empty.”