A Dreamer Caught In The Crossfire

Winifred Delilah Clarimond

Winifred                                                                                                                                                                              

She woke up on the cold, dark forest floor, an odd sensation in her chest. She blinked slowly, her mind still hazy and brought a hand up to her chest. She sat up still confused. She was dressed in her regular clothes, her coat still the same as it was when she had changed out of it that morning.

'Aren't I supposed to be dead? Or at least still at the battlefield,' she thought, 'where am I?'

Next to her on the ground was a small envelope. Quickly examining it for any markings, she opened it carefully. Inside she found a compass and a note written on old parchment.

Your task is complete, you are free to live on. Use the tool wisely. He's waiting for you.

"I-it can't be! After all this time..." she mumbled, staring at the parchment.

Winifred felt her heart start racing as she picked up the compass in the palm of her hand. It was an old thing, gold with a chain attached to it. She watched as the hands spun in circles, the cardinal points fading with each spin until there were no markings left.

Winifred had been in the enchanted industry for almost a century and she had never seen anything like it.

Still, with hope in her heart, she stood up, the hand containing the compass outstretched before her. Suddenly the hands moved and pointed in an unknown direction. A force jerked her forward and soon she found herself following the twirl of the compass hands with an occasional lurch when she walked in the wrong direction.

Thunder rumbled in the distance signaling that a storm was brewing but Winifred brushed it off. She had waited so long for this that she wasn't about to let a single thing screw it up for her.

"Anybody here?!" she heard a male voice shout.

"Yes!" she replied joyously, a wide smile on her face.

She began running faster, only being hindered by the rocks and trees in her path. She could hear somebody else not so far away and she was sure, it was him. She was finally going to get to meet him! Still running, she reached a clearing in the forest, where only flowers grew like a natural carpet. When she was close enough that she could see his silhouette from the other side, she took off her coat and threw it to the ground, it being the only thing holding her back.

She could finally see him clearly, and he sure was no disappointment. Her eyes filled with happy tears as she slowed to a walk meeting him in the middle of the field.

His slightly curly but short ginger hair almost tumbled onto his face, his bright brown eyes immediately locking with her green ones. He wore a blue shirt, stained in some areas with the dirt of the forest and rolled up at the sleeves under a grey formal vest. His tie was slung over his shoulder from running and his khaki trousers were covered in mud at the knees.

Winifred was absolutely memorized by him.

'Wow... I might just get cut if I mishandle that jawline...' she thought, immediately blushing afterwards.

The two of them stood in silence, taking each other in until he raised a compass that looked similar to hers and introduced himself.

"Harrison. Harrison Floyd Edgar," he was beaming at her.

Winifred raised her own compass, smiling at him.

"Winifred Delilah Clarimond," she introduced, "I hope I'm no disappointment..."

"You're perfect. Everything I imagined you to be."

"You're more than anything my mind has come up with," said Winifred with a laugh.