Sleep-Like Death [ON HOLD]

Chapter 1

Kaly's POV

The day was calm and warm, with a light breeze rustling the green leaves above my head. The puffy white clouds floated serenely above the earth, providing slight shelter from the sun's unyielding heat. The woods were alive with the wind and animals, the babbling brook not far away, the faint sound of the village that sat off in the distance.

It was a beautiful day, and I intended to make the most out of it.

I walked quietly through the forest, hoping not to make any sound when I saw Jacob sitting on a rock near our pond. I picked up the skirt of my dress and stepped onto patches of moss as I snuck up on him.

He picked up a small, round stone and I froze, jumping behind the large tree to my right. I sighed to myself in relief when I heard him throw the rock into the water.

Peeking around the tree, I saw that he was facing away, so I stalked closer and just as I was about to yell, he turned around and shot me one of his dazzling smiles. "Oh, there you are. I was wondering what was taking you so long," he joked.

I groaned. "How do you always do that? I can never scare you."

Jacob shrugged. "I'm just magical that way." He held his hand out and I placed mine in his. He tugged me down lightly to sit by him on the rock. I settled next to him and smiled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "It's nice to see you again," he murmured into my golden hair.

I smiled softly and turned my face so that our foreheads were touching. "You too. I've missed you. The sisters have been crazy lately, with my sixteenth birthday tomorrow... They're obsessed with making it absolutely perfect."

"As they should, for you deserve the perfect birthday. Sixteen is an exciting age, you know. It's when all kinds of magical things happen."

I rolled my eyes. "You know magic only happens to special people, like royalty. The last anyone heard of magic was, like, a decade and a half ago, when the princess was taken."

He shrugged. "You never know."

Every time I looked into his sparkling blue eyes, I was reminded of the day we met a year before when we had run into each other in the forest... It was the strangest--and the best-- moment of my life.

For some people, the most exciting part of their lives are when they ride a horse for the first time, or when the love of their life tells the that they want to get married. Or seeing their children being married to someone that they clearly love.

It's different for me. You see, for years, I had been shut up in a small cottage with other women, and had never met any boy before. When I first saw him, I thought he was a prince... The way he held himself, and the way he looked... With his gorgeous sky blue eyes, light skin and chestnut brown hair, he was stunning, and I couldn't take my eyes away.

"Kaly..." Jacob said quietly, bringing me back to the present.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll still be like this? When you're older and, you know, ready to begin a public relationship?" I could tell from his tone that he was nervous.

I laughed softly and rested my head on his shoulder. "Of course. Why would things change?"

He shrugged shyly and looked away. "You're beautiful, and smart, and I'm sure that once you are old enough to marry, the Sisters will be marrying you off to someone rich and able to provide for you. I'm... Well, I'm just the farmer's boy. I can't give you all the things that you deserve..."

I reached over and lightly pulled his head to face me. "Jacob, listen to me and believe me when I say this. I don't care if you can't give me a mansion, or twenty servants, or a giant ham on the dinner table each night. I don't want a big house and I don't want all the money. Money is materialistic. Honesty, kindness, courage, daring, patience, faithfulness, love... Those are the things I care about, and those are all qualities that thrive in you. You are you, and that is all that matters to me. That is all that will ever matter to me."

Leaning over, I gave him a soft kiss. When our lips touched, it was feather soft and comforting. It wasn't intense, or passionate, but sweet and full of love. It wasn't long, but it was perfect. It was perfect and beautiful, like our romance.

It wasn't overly complicated or anything. It was just... Us.

When I pulled away, he was smiling lovingly at me. "I don't deserve you, you know that? You're far too good for someone like me."

"It's me that does not deserve you," I corrected. I heard the town's clock tower ring three times. "I have to go... The sisters will be expecting me to be home soon..."

Jacob stood up with me and held my hands between us. "I will see you again soon, right?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew his face closer to mine so that we were only a few centimeters apart. "Tomorrow night," I replied, grinning. Our lips met, and I smiled into the kiss. Our lips caressed each other, and, not for the first time, I thought of how we were invincible. Jacob and I... It was like we could never be pulled apart. We were like one entity, and I loved it.

I pulled away slowly and said, "Until tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow," he echoed. In the sunlight, his brown hair glowed with a golden halo as he waved. My heart fluttered. The way he looked at me... It made my heart beat faster every time, even though we had been seeing each other for months...

Some may have called it an extended infatuation, but I called it love.

It was the only way I could describe the way I felt when I was around him. I felt as though everything was right in the world, only for those few moments, but life in those moments felt like heaven.