To Love A Nutcracker

Chapter 17

Charlotte ate a simple breakfast of one apple and ten blackberries while the others filled the satchel with as much apples and berries it could hold. Charlotte offered to help them but they insisted that it was more important for her to eat and that she would have nourishment further along the way. They said that they didn't need to eat as long as they had these toy bodies. But the fact that Alastor wasn't hungry confused her very much because when they had met the Inventor, and he had offered them a snack, Alastor had pretty much wolfed everything down. She was sure that he must've been starving by now. Yet he wasn't. Why?

"Would you like something to drink my dear?" Alastor asked her. "Some water maybe? Is there any water around here?"

"I think the creek still remains." Vagatha said. "The water there is always fresh and safe to drink. I'll go see if it's still there and bring back some."

"No I can do it." Charlotte said. "You've already done enough. Tell me where I can find it?"

"It's just over that next hill." Vagatha pointed.

Charlotte went in the direction of Vagatha's finger, going over the hill and finding a small creek with fresh water. She bent down at the creek's end, cupped her hands in the cool water, and brought the liquid to her lips. The water was very freshening, just like the apples and the blackberries. The fruit had the perfect amount of sweetness and tart, tempting her to make a pig out of herself and eat every last apple and berry there was here. But no matter how delicious they tasted, she would not be a greedy glutton like those mice.

It made her heart sick to think of them all just destroying everything in this valley without even a thought for anything or anyone that lived there. Letting their greed turn a lovely and thriving land into something ugly and barren. It was cruel and unfair and sad.

"I wish I could have seen what this place looked like before." She thought. "I bet it was beautiful. As beautiful as the flower fairies. Oh, they were gorgeous. Their looks and their dancing. I wish I could dance as lovely as they do."

Just like at the Christmas party, Charlotte became swept up in a fantasy where she was a ballerina on stage. She lifted up her arms and her feet rose to her toes, then she closed her eyes, and hummed a tune that she knew from an opera, and finally she began to dance. Guided by pure passion alone, Charlotte danced elegantly by the creek. Twirling, skipping, and leaping without a single care. The sense of freedom and joy was clear from the beaming smile on her face, in that moment she was so happy in her daydream that she didn't the amazing change happening around her.

...

"What's taking her so long?" Anthony said. "Is she trying to drink up the entire creek?"

"We have been walking for a day and a half." Niffty said. "She's probably about to die of dehydration by now."

"I'll go see what's keeping her." Alastor said, pulling a canteen from his bag. "And while I'm at it, I'll get some water for the road."

He went up over the hill in the same direction Charlotte had gone, and what he saw captivated him.

As if by magic, magnificent green banks displaying beautiful flowers had appeared. The most colorful and fragrant collection of tulips, marigolds, daisies, bluebells, lilacs, and roses that had ever been seen and it was not long before the blossoms attracted the attention of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It was the perfect image of spring time. But as astonishing as it was to see this patch of the valley revived from out of nowhere, it wasn't what had the nutcracker so transfixed.

No, it was the young maiden who danced before him. As if in trance, he watched Charlotte dance gracefully across the grass like a ballerina. The sunlight framed her gentle face and her blond hair billowed behind her in the breeze as she moved. She looked like an angel. Alastor sighed heavily at the sight of her.