This tale follows a girl named Ophelia and how her story was kept hidden for years. On her 16th birthday, everything changed when she discovered that she had powers beyond her world. She was taken back into the fairytale realm and brought to the sch...
Ophelia hears multiple knocks on the glass pane. She groans, not wanting to wake up and blind herself from the sunlight. The knocks continue, followed by the noise of the frame closing. She finally rolls over, facing the window. She opens her eyes, glancing over at it. A piece of paper was trapped between the window and the sill. She sits up and smiles, knowing fully well who the note is from.
Ophelia threw the blanket off her legs and stood up. She felt the warm parts of the wooden floor that had been hit by the sun as she walked. As she reached the window, Ophelia noticed that the note was written in her favourite colour of ink and sealed with a heart-shaped sticker. She carefully opened it and read the sweet message inside, feeling her heart flutter with joy.
"Dear My Sweet Ophelia,
Happy Birthday! Meet me at our spot at the bookstore at noon. I have a surprise waiting for you. I love you so much, and I can't wait to see you later.
-Leonora x"
Ophelia held the note to her chest and closed her eyes. She smiled and felt her heart fill with warmth as she thought about how lucky she was to have Leonora in her life. Ophelia knew that seeing her later would be the highlight of her day.
She puts the note on her bedside table and walks over to her dresser. She pulls out a white dress and a tanned corset from the very bottom of the drawer. She stands and holds it up to get a better view. She smiles as she remembers the last time she saw the dress. It once belonged to her mother, Farrah.
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This is one of the very few things that she has from her mother. She runs her fingers over the fabric, feeling the softness of it. It's a precious reminder, and she treasures it dearly. Ophelia takes her time getting ready, making sure every detail is just right before heading out. Once she's finally ready, she grabs her bookbag and heads out of her room.
She rushes down the stairs, holding up her hand near the wall for support. She smells the immediate scent of her father's cooking. Ophelia's father, Thomas, always made sure to cook her favourite breakfast on special occasions, and today was no exception. As she enters the kitchen, she sees him standing at the stove with some flour on his face, transferring the last pancake onto the plate.
As her father turns to her with two plates, he pauses to admire how beautiful his little girl has become. "Morning birthday girl. My, don't you look pretty?" He says it with a wholesome smile. He puts the two plates down on the table and walks back to the kitchen to get the drinks.
Ophelia sits down in her chair, adjusting her dress so it lays nicely. Her father puts the cups down and sits beside her. They dig into the delicious food that her father had prepared.
"You look just like your mother." He says it with a certain sadness in his eyes. Ophelia gives him a slight smile, her cheeks full of food. She swallows some milk to get it all down.
"Can you finally tell me what happened back then?" Ophelia asks, putting the cup down.
"Ophelia, I don't thi-."
"Pop. Don't I have the right to know? I'm already 16." Ophelia interrupted, almost getting frustrated. Ophelia was only 6 years old when her mother went missing. All she could remember was being in her father's arms and seeing her house and the surrounding forest engulfed in blue flames; then a blinding gold light blocked her vision, and then, poof, they were in Gavaldon.
Ophelia had been searching for answers about her mother's disappearance for years, and now that she was 16, she felt like she deserved to know the truth. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story than what her father had told her before.
Her father slightly smiles, finally deciding to give in. "You're right." He takes a deep breath. He gets up and goes into his room. After a few minutes, he stumbles out, holding a box covered in dust. He places it in front of Ophelia and sits back down.
Ophelia opened the box, revealing a messy looking journal. She brushed her hands, removing some of the dust that had transferred to them. She reached for the journal and gently took it out of the box. "What is it?", she asks.
"It was your mother's. She would write almost everything in that journal." He replied. "Unfortunately, I don't know where the key is." He said, as Ophelia observed the metal keyhole and all its other features.
Ophelia looks at him, still waiting for a proper explanation of what happened that night. He looked at her back, knowing what she was asking. "How about this? You go enjoy your birthday with Leonora, and when you get home, I'll have dinner waiting for you, and then I'll tell you everything."
Ophelia scrunched her face. "You promise?"
Thomas holds both of Ophelia's hands in his and smiles. "I promise."
Ophelia gets up, already full from her breakfast, and kisses her father on the head before heading to the door. She grabs the wagon of shoes, and she hears her father quickly get up.
"No, I'll do it for today. You go enjoy your birthday." He offered.
Ophelia smiles at the sweet offer. "Pop, it's fine. Just because it's my birthday doesn't mean I can't help you out. I know that your knee has been bothering you lately. Plus, I have some time to kill till I meet up with Leonora."
"Ophelia I ins-"
"Goodbye Pop". Without another word, she headed out the door, pulling the wagon of shoes her father had made. As she walked on the path, the autumn wind lightly played with her brown hair. She moved one strand behind her ear and made her way into town, ready to make her deliveries.
