The Curse of Adelaide

TEN

"Did she go back?"

"What about Philip? Did she see him again?"

The man looked into the distance, remembering where he had stopped. Slowly, he shrugged and looked down at his children mischievously.

"How about we take a break? I will continue the story tomorrow."

The children looked at him with disappointment. "No," they all but shouted in unison.

"Please, Father," the youngest one, Caroline, pleaded her father with a pouting look. "Just a little bit more, please?"

The man looked at his child, a smile playing at the tip of lips. As he stared at his daughter, he couldn't help but shake his head in amusement.

"Alright," he said and leaned back into his chair. "Where did I stop?" he thought out loud.

"She said goodbye to Philip," the boy, Jonathan, answered quickly. Although he tried to hide it, he was still as excited to hear the end of the story as his sisters. But he would never admit that.

"Ah, that's right," the man remembered. "So, as I already told you, Adelaide had to leave the forest because her father wanted to see her. But leaving the forest also meant saying goodbye to Philip. After finally saying goodbye to her friend, Adelaide returned home to pack up her things and leave the forest behind..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Adelaide, stop staring," Aunt Kara quietly told me as we passed through yet another village.

Two day ago, we had packed up our belongings and left the forest. To say that I was anxious and excited at the same time would be an underestimation. Although my thoughts were still clouded because I knew that I would never see Philip again, I couldn't help but feel excited to finally see the world, meet other people, and most of all, get to know my father.

It had been years since I had last seen him, I couldn't even remember how he looked like. But soon I would finally meet him.

"I just can't help it, Aunt Kara," I said excitedly. "Have you smelled the bread earlier, oh it smelled so delicious."

"Now that I think of it, we should buy something to eat and take a break once we have left the village behind," Aunt Iris said.

"Oh, please, can I go to the bakery there?" I begged Aunt Kara.

She hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, we could all use a break."

Excitedly, I didn't wait for my aunts, knowing that they would only be a few feet behind me, and ran towards the bakery, passing by a flower seller. I stopped shortly when the scent of peonies surrounded me. Without hesitating I walked over to the older woman, selling flowers.

"They look wonderful," I said astonished.

"Thank you," the woman replied kindly. "Would you like to buy a bouquet?"

"How much those one cost?" She told me the prize and I turned around looking for my aunts. "I will be right back!"

Turning around, I headed towards my aunts who, by now, had reached the bakery. "There you are, Dela," Aunt Melody said. "Do you want anything else."

I looked at what they had taken so far, two loafs of bread, and shook my head. "No, I am fine," I said and waited for Aunt Kara to avert her attention back to the baker.

"Will you come with me, Aunt Melody, I have to show you something," I whispered, not wanting for Aunt Kara to hear me. Aunt Melody looked at me curious and nodded.