Forbidden Fairytale

o n e

The anniversary of her mother's death always hit her hard. Four years and yet the pain remained as heart wrenching as the day she'd found her mother.

Bailey held a bundle of dimly coloured primroses within her hands. It was especially difficult to find them since she had to trudge through the damp meadow - the brunette couldn't count the amount of times she'd stumbled into the mud, ruining her perfectly clean dress. But primroses had always been her mother's favourite.

"You have no idea how much I wish you were here." The young girl mumbled to herself, her voice heavy with grief.

Bailey traced her hand across the engraved name, her mind flooding with memories of the times she and her mother would chase the villages chicken, or the nights they'd spent trying to bake enough bread for the orders the next day. A tear trickled down her soft cheek, as painful as it was, she treasured every memory.

With a heavy sigh, she lifted herself from the gravestone placing the flowers neatly above the grave. The young adult prayed no-one would come by and snatch them up this time. How cruel could you be to steal flowers from a dead woman's grave?

The never-ending walk back to the heart of the village had caused the brunette's legs to ache. She was exhausted, with the lack of sleep and the fifteen more orders she had to get in, she wasn't sure if she'd make it through the day. When it was just her mother and her, cooking so much had seemed so simple; but with no-one to keep her company. The task merely felt like a chore.

Growing up, they'd never had much - barely a house at one point - her mother had invested every last coin she could into the bakery. Bailey kicked the murky dust beneath her feet, her eyes casting over the village she called home. It was nothing special, it didn't have some spectacular fountain that made the place look inviting, nor did it have a single cobble pavement. Everything was made from wood, or stone that crumbled apart overtime.

"How good to be home." The brunette mumbled to herself sarcastically, following the path that led to her shabby oak front door.

Over the years, Bailey had longed to leave. There was nothing to keep her here anymore, no friends she cared enough for, no girlfriend or relation. Just the simple fact that this was the place she'd always known. They were never allowed to venture too far out of the village, for fear the evil queen would return and cast them into one of her horses. Something Bailey considered to be more exciting than her life right now.

Since her mother's passing, the brunette found herself thinking about her father more and more. If he was still alive, she wondered whether he'd come and swoop her up. Give her a life that meant more than a shitty village in the middle of nowhere. The tales she heard from village folk when she asked about the man named Captain Hook were simple, he was a drunk, who slept with multiple women - which explained why I existed - and sailed the seas as a bitter man.

The man didn't exactly sound like father material, but her mind would wander. Pondering on what he looked like - she knew she'd inherited her dark hair from her father, but her chocolate coloured eyes were uncanny to her mothers. Whether he'd have taken her on his spontaneous adventures, hand her all the treasures she could only dream of.

But she brushed off the feeling, pausing from kneading the bread as a glint of silver caught her eye. As she wandered closer, pushing aside the bags of flour were resting upon the object, her brown eyes met a simple, yet elegant band. For a moment, she thought it was her mothers, but the design, the invisible setting that held down a large black gem told her it wasn't. Unlike her, her mother couldn't stand the colour.

She wondered for a moment why it was buried beneath random piles of flour, no customer had ever passed this part of the store. Which meant her mother had stuffed it here for whatever reason. Bailey clutched it in her hand, not wanting to drop it in fear it would shatter. The ring meant something to her, she could feel it.

Bailey's thoughts were interrupted as a rumble broke out beneath her, the sound mimicking thunder as the walls shook furiously. Panic quickly seeped into her system, telling her to hide, to not come out until whatever was creeping over her land had vanished. And yet, she stood, eyes wide, ears ringing to the point where she'd thought they'd bleed and she found her legs taking towards the source of the sound.

It wasn't some earthquake, it was magic. Where there was magic, Bailey knew there was adventure. As her brown eyes flickered to the fellow villagers she passed, kids screaming, adults scurrying left and right. They were all trying to get as far away as they could. A woman rushed past Bailey with a crazed look, her startling grey eyes yelling at her to move in the opposite direction.

But despite her warnings, the brunette continued, every step closer she found it harder to stay on her feet. This was what she imagined being in a carriage for the first time would feel like.

For a second, the girl thought she was imagining it. Before her, in a what used to be an old dried out lake, was a tall, overflowing amount of water tumbling into the empty space below. The brunette was so enchanted in seeing the impossible before her, that she'd failed to notice the two people stood chattering away to one another. One in an awful expensive gown, which looked like it weighed the poor woman down. The man stood beside her, was a little harder to see, dark hair and a lengthy leather coat.

Not an outfit she'd choose for this weather, but who was she to judge?

Suddenly the water stopped, the ear piercing sound of crashing waves replaced with a shallow gush of water and a pale purple glow. The strangers had created a portal. The young girl realised that this was her chance, her only opportunity to find a life that meant more than the one she was leading. Without giving herself a chance to think things through, she raced towards her chance at another life whilst the two strangers were distracted by whomever had interrupted their travels. They hadn't appeared to notice her, not even as she vanished into the water filled abyss.