Rapunzel [JunHao]

4

Junhui

I stumbled through the forest. Loose leaves and branches tangled into my hair and tore on its strands. The trees stood so close to each other, that their thin arms scratched my cloths and face. My lousy, old bag was held back every few steps and I had to check every time that the pray was still there and didn't slip through one of the many holes in the leather.

Shouts and breaking boughs echoed through the forest. The men were coming closer. I ruffled my hair in frustration, why did I had to have such an annoying concept of justice. What other idiot would come up with the ridiculous idea of stealing from the thieves anyways? I mean, those people knew how to steal the best. If there was someone who was prepared for everything then those. I was simply stupid.

My parents died early and when I was all on my own, the only way to survive was bagging or stealing. Both was illegal and would be punished with death or a hand less. In the end stealing was more profitable. However my mother had raised me well and managed to give me great sense of justice to take along. And so I decided to only steal from those who had done something wrong themselves. I robed scammers, thieves and murderer.

But my last stroke went too far. Earl Capon was the most feared and powerful gangster boss in the whole kingdom. There were only few people who dared mess with him and all of them were now dead, buried under dirt. I was definitely too young to die. And way too handsome.

My feet had dragged me further without my realisation. Somehow the trees had gotten less and I could finally see clearer. After a few more steps the trees stopped fully. A small stripe of grass laid between the forest and a high wall. I had seen the wall before. It marked a huge property in the middle of the woods. The walls however were huge and its surface so smooth that I could not find any footing.

I was about to run back into the woods again, when I spotted a chance to survive. One of the trees was uprooted and had fallen on the wall. The tree was brittle and when I climbed on it, I could feel how the wood loosened under my shoes.

Fast, light steps and I had walked up onto the wall. The tree only needed a slight push and it broke, already loose due my weight. I looked back at the forest and then bushed myself off. Whatever was waiting for me behind the walls was better than what Earl Capon and his man had planned for me.

The place was amazing. Behind the walls was a huge, beautiful garden with a cute little cottage in the middle. Behind the castle was a field with high growing grass and even farther away I could make out the blue of water and guessed that it was a small lake. I front of the cottage ran a small path that was surrounded by high rose bushes and left and right to the bushes were beds of flowers and patches that grew all kinds of vegetables and fruits. It looked like the paradise itself, even the kings garden was not as beautiful.

I was still gaping at my surroundings, when the loud crouching of shoes on lose stones reached me and I noticed that it would be better to hide from whoever lived here.

I hid behind the rose bushes in hope that the thick branches would cover me. The feet stopped right where I was and my heart stopped. Did they catch me? I made sure not to move nor breathe. Maybe that way the resident of this place would not notice me.

A sight came from the other side of the plants and a muffled, "But I really wanted to go". Huh? Was the person talking to me? I tried to move closer, but froze when I heard small sobs from the other. The unknown person was crying.

Cautiously, to not hurt myself with the thorns, I pushed some of the branches away. I wanted to see who was crying so sadly. But even without the few leaves, that I had moved away, I could still not make out the other properly. There were only pieces of yellow cloth and a patch of red hair shining through the bushes, so I pressed my face closer to the roses, still making sure not to cut myself. I must have made a lot of noise that way, because suddenly the person shot up and a small voice asked, "Mary? Mary, is that you?". I did not know who that Mary was, but when the stranger had moved, the angle of his face had changed and now I could see her.

She was beautiful, with big doe-eyes, softly curved lips that looked so soft and untouched that all I wanted to do is touch them and feel their velvety skin. I was so smitten by her looks, that I did not realize that she was moving the branches away as well until it was to late. In shock widened eyes stared at me and the cute little moth was gaping at me. Shit. She should not have seen me.

I stumbled back and ran as fast as possible away and to the back of the garden, maybe she would not search that far for me.

Now I was huddled behind one of the a big oaks around the lake and prayed that the high grass was giving me enough shelter from the cottages residents. The sun was slowly setting and it would only take a few more hours until it was dark enough for me to leave unnoticed. However, the image of the girl did not leave my thoughts and by now I was willed to leave my cover and get caught, just to see her again. Maybe I could secretly break into her room and get a glimpse or two. My cheeks burned at the thought. This was wrong. I could not just climb into a girl's room! But she was so pretty!

When the sun was finally swallowed up by the dark, I dared to get up and leave the lake. The rooms of the cottage were dark, except three. I quietly sneaked around the house and tried to steal a glimpse into the rooms.

The first one had a wide opened window. I could hear an older woman singing loudly to some faint foreign music. The next window displayed a small room with a wide bed in its middle, long pieces of cloths fell from the ceiling to the floor and covered most of the bed behind it. I could see a white dresser on the ride side of the room and a small table on the left.

I was sure this was my beauties room, so with fast, skilful hand grips I climbed up the wall. The window was closed, but when I pressed against it I noticed that it was quite loose. With a well-aimed push of my elbow, the lock broke and the window swung open.

The girl was not here yet and so I used the time to look around her room a bit. In the table were various books some so old that the pages were already coloured yellow. I wondered who that girl might have been. Books were expensive and only the nobility was able to teach their children to read or sent them to schools. I leaned over one of the books and tried to make out its title. "La Belle at la Bete", it was a French fairy-tale. The beauty and the beast. I grinned, so she liked love stories. Maybe I could be the beast to her beauty.

All of a sudden the doorknob twisted and I swiftly hid behind the curtains. It was her, the gorgeous girl. I could finally see her more clearly. She was tall and thin and I was amazed to see that her hair was short. It still fitted her well. The dark red strands made the pale skin seem even whiter and nicely emphasised her big eyes. Just like the rest of her, the dress she wore was adorable.

But then my thoughts suddenly stopped, because she was about to lose the straps of her dress and... Oh no, no no no. No undressing! Heat shot into my cheeks and, at the thought of her being naked, in some other regions as well. Shit.

To get her to stop and gain her attention, I cleared my throat loud enough for her to hear. She spin around and at the sight of me let an out a high-pitched, "You!"