Ezra

3. Sleeping Beauty and the Fire Bird

Vanessa opened her eyes slowly.

Her head was ringing and everything seemed blurry to her. She tried to move, but her hands were weak. It felt like she was trapped in her own body. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move at all.

After a while, her vision cleared and she could see the things around her. There was a bowl of water, some glass bottles, a mortar and a brewing stand. Was she at a doctor?

She lay there for a few minutes, unable to move and too tired to care. She just appreciated the rest. It was quiet. There was a window next to the bed she was on and a cool wind wafted through. Her hearing came back to her eventually, and she started to hear what outside sounded like. She could hear chirping, the sound of wind whoosing through forest trees. She even appreciated the occasional bird that would bless her with a song, or even in one case, was bold enough to perch on the windowsil.

Once again, she had no idea where she was, and this time atleast, she didn't mind.

Hours passed. She began to grow bored of the forest outside. Not in the sick-of-something way, but content-with-what-you-have kind of way. It wasn't too bad though. Whoever put her in here made her lie on her belly instead of her back, so even though she couldn't move she was still comfortable. After being here for so long, she concluded that she must've been asleep for a long time if no one came to check on her regularly.

Counting time seemed kind of depressing to her, so she decided to instead measure her time in bed with the birds that landed on the windowsil. After her third bird, she heard the door creak open and little fleeting footsteps move across the wooden floor. She couldn't see who it was becase of the way her head was tilted. She couldn't even move her head that much, so she decided to stay put until the person came to her.

A couple of seconds later, the figure came closer. Vanessa closed her eyes tightly and took a breath. She decided to open them again and got startled by the face of a boy that was inches away from her own.

She looked at him akwardly while the little boy looked at her expectantly, as if he wanted her to do something.

She cleared her throat to say something but as soon as she did, the boy bolted out of the room, screaming.

"Sleeping Beauty's awake!" he shouted. "SHE'S AWAKE!! MOOOOOMMM!!!"

A second later, she heard another voice. It was a little girl's voice.

"Really?! Wait, you didn't kiss her did you?"

"What?! EWW, No. She woke up on her own. I told you she wasn't a princess!"

"She is! You must've kissed her awake, there's no way she could've woken up on her own. I'm telling mom!"

"Hey, stop it! I didn't kiss her, I thought she was dead!"

"MOOOOOOOOOOOM! Mason kissed Sleeping Beauty!" she screamed!

"I DIDN"T! Marge is lying!" he screamed back.

Another voice joined them. It was their mother. Even from where she was, Vanessa could her the annoyance in her voice.

"Both of you stop yelling. She just woke up, and she doesn't need all this. Now, both of you go and get Ezra. And stick to the path this time. No shortcuts ok! Go straight there and back."

After she heard the patter of little feet become more distant, the woman entered the room.

"Hello there, are you awake?" she asked in a gentle voice.

Vanessa gathered what strength she had and turned over to meet her gaze. She tried to talk but the only thing that left her mouth waa a hoarse yell.

"Don't try to talk yet dear, you've been in a coma for a few months. Take your time."