𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 ✍︎ 𝙰𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝙱𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚢

𝚆𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙻𝙻 ✍︎ 13

So on they went. It was actually a pretty nice journey. Oak trees slowly replaced the evergreens they had been seeing so much and vast fields of tall grass surrounded them, making the travel interesting.

"It's so beautiful here!" Alex commented, after walking for about two hours.

"Where is everything?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, we've been walking for hours and I don't see a palace," Conner agreed.

"The Charming Kingdom is a very big place," Alex said. "It's going to take a while to get to the palace."

And it did. In fact, soon, it was getting dark and they still weren't even in a village or even to civilisation yet. The moon was soon the only source of light.

"We have to stop," said a panting Anna. "Come on, it's dark and if we continue we won't get anywhere."

Alex and Conner had to agree.

They walked a short distance off the path and found a grassy area among a few trees that they assumed (and hoped) was safe, and they decided to spend the night there. Conner tried making a fire by rubbing two sticks together but, as Anna had expected and told him when he started, it didn't work.

"Now I really wish I had signed up for Boy Scouts," he said bitterly, chucking the two sticks away.

It was their first night sleeping outside. Both kept waking up every hour or so to make sure they were still safe. Basically, to make sure they weren't inside the stomach of something.

"What was that?" Anna was dully aware of Alex shaking her, halfway through the night.

"An owl," Anna's voice was thick and yawny.

"Or a very inquisitive dove," Conner said, voice sounding much the same.

"Either way, I think we're safe," Anna rolled back over, closing her eyes again.

Try and get some sleep, she told herself.

You can worry in the morning.

✍︎✍︎✍︎

In the morning, the sunrise woke them. They didn't really waste any time; getting to their feet immediately and returning to the path.

"We're running out of food," Alex sighed, after eating one of their last apples.

"We can stock up when we get to civilization," Anna sighed, biting into the last apple.

"I'm so tired of rolls and apples," Conner sighed, for he had eaten his last one that morning. "I'm starting to think I should've asked Froggy to pack us some flies," he perked up. "Gosh, I would kill for a cheeseburger! Maybe that's why everything in this place eats each other; they just haven't discovered fast food yet."

Anna grinned. Her brother could be crazy sometimes, but his theories didn't go entirely without merit.

The three of them found a pond and splashed some water on their faces. "We look so tired," Alex said, looking at their reflections in the water.

Anna was just about to reply when she heard a galloping sound behind her. She turned round to see a small cart of firewood getting slowly pulled up the path, steered by man in a big, floppy green hat.

"Excuse me?" Anna asked, running up to the guy. All at once, she didn't care about anything but this. "Excuse me? How much further to Cinderella's palace?"

"You traveling by foot?" The man asked.

"Unfortunately," Conner spoke up, he and Alex having ran to catch up with Anna.