Of Fairies and Noontime

Noon

Hadley fell through the darkness, vines pulling her all the way, further and further down the empty pit that seemed to have no beginning or end. Hadley couldn't hear or see anything.

The vines seemed to have gripped her ankles tighter as they maneuvered their way down the dark shaft. Hadley never knew what it was like to fall this far without even knowing if there was an end.

She kept slipping through the deep hole. She couldn't tell whether her eyes were closed or open since it was pitch black the whole way down. Her heart started tensing up and beating quicker. She seemed to feel each of her individual hairs as her braid untied itself and her curly brown mop was revealed.

She wanted it to end. There wasn't even a distant light or anything. She couldn't see anything.

I hate my curious self, she kept repeating in her head. I hate it. I hate it.

Out of nowhere, she started wishing she was someone else; someone who would make her parents love her, who wouldn't get into mischief left and right, who would stay out of creepy, never ending holes in trees. Someone, anyone, that wasn't her.

Unbeknownst to Hadley, she fell asleep on their journey downward. She was out for who knows how long as she and Bartholomew were dragged down to the deep and starving belly of the tree. She had visions in her sleep about a giant army of vines being at the bottom of the hole, squeezing her tight to get all of her delicious nutrients out. She imagined a huge, open plant mouth with sharp teeth, ready to feast on her remains.

None of these terrifying visions woke her up. What did was a great thud on a wooden floor.

Hadley slowly opened her eyes as she was coming to reality. She saw big bright blurs of someplace. Someplace new and fresh that was definitely not her prison of a house, and was definitely not her backyard.

She rubbed her eyes, staying in her laid-down position. Her body ached all over, so she didn't exactly feel like moving all that much.

Her eyes surveyed the room from her low perspective; windows surrounded by little twigs, lamps with different colored fireflies inside, a wooden bed with what looked to be a leaf blanket on top. She looked at the floor a little closer. She shook her head and got onto her knees, feeling shaky and exhausted. The floor looked like a giant stump, and the room looked like it was made from nature.

She stopped for a second. How could she be standing on a stump that was larger than she was?

She looked up. There wasn't even a trace of the hole she'd come through. The roof was made of a ton of bright green leaves bundled together and held up by a stick foundation. But, the thing was, it was still intact.

There was a small clock on the wall. Hadley walked up to it to read the time.

It was noon.

She felt sick to her stomach. Her family always ate lunch right at noon. How was she going to explain her situation to her parents? And, more importantly, how in the world was she going to get out of this place?

Her head was spinning. What was going on?

She then remembered Bartholomew. She looked in her dress pocket, and there was not a trace of him anywhere. She began looking around the room, frantically trying to find him.

Then, she heard the door open and shut behind her. She reluctantly turned around.

She couldn't hold in her screams.

Those things weren't real. There was no way she was looking at this thing in real life. This had to be a dream.

She wasn't surprised when the thing screamed back at her.