Not So Innocent (A Dark Fantasy Novel)

A Single Snapshot

Lexa remembered a time when her limbs were shorter, still sprouting like a growing seed. They would dangle over the gap between the bed and the floor, as if she sat upon a branch of a large oak, the ground forever away. She had always needed to be careful when she got out of that bed, for there was a spot right beside the pillow that had began to rot. She didn't want the floor to break, because she didn't want to know what it felt like to fall through. The monsters would claim her then. She could swear she heard them crawling along with the rats sometimes, long after her mother had collapsed onto the bed, silent as always.

There was a crack in the ceiling too, right above where the rotting spot of ground lay. She always had liked the way the stream of moonlight would flicker against her swinging feet as she waited. It was not long until the door creaked open, only paces away in the one bedroom home.

Her mother stalked in, her feet dragging behind her as if they were weighted with lead. Lexa could tell that there was pain laced in the way that her mother constantly moved, for some reason. As if her legs were constantly hurting. She was always very tired when she came, always plopping onto the bed, succumbing to the midnight weight of sleep.

She set her tired eyes on her daughter, asking with every syllable drawled, "how was your day, Lexa? I hope that you stayed at home like I told you to. You know your ribs have not fully healed from the beating you won't tell me about."

"Of course, mama" she lied, feigning a wince as she shifted over as her mother scooted into the bed.

Her mother pinched her face, examining her cheek. She picked a piece of dirt out from under Lexa's ear. "You lie," her mother scolded. "What did I say about behaving? You know that William would never act this way, the prince would behave properly."

A pang rang against her heart, and Lexa was sure that it was not the pain of a broken rib.

"You always talk about William, mother," Lexa commented dryly.

Lexa could already tell that her mother was falling to the clutches of sleep, with no time to talk to her daughter left. "The prince is a great example of stellar behavior." She droned.

Lexa found that hard to believe, for some reason. Did her mother ever talk to the prince about her?

She didn't like it so much to think about that.

She shifted the topic. "What do you think my prince will be like, mama?"

"Girls like you don't get princes, Lexa. I should know. The only prince you'll ever get is the one you make up in your head, so dream away."

Lexa laid on her back, her gaze finding the stars that peaked out from the hole in the ceiling. "And why not? Why can't I have it all?"

Her mother didn't say anything for a while. Before she spoke, Lexa was sure that she had fallen asleep once again.

"I don't know, honey. Trying to understand why the world is the way it is is like trying to grasp a handful of water, you'll never be able to do it, and the more you grasp the thirstier you get. Now go to sleep. Your mama's tired."

She didn't feel like going to sleep that night. For some reason, that was the night when she was grasping for the water, only becoming more desperate for the answers she was never going to get.

"Why do you always come so late, mama? Surely the prince does not have such a late bed time? Is it why you're alway so tired?"

Her mother huffed, a sound that Lexa would later adopt for herself. "You're too smart for you're own good sometimes, Lexa."

"So why is it that you stay?"

This was another moment that Lexa was sure that her mother would not speak, but perhaps this night was full of surprises.

"Sometimes when you go looking for Princes, Lexa, all you get are trolls."

Short chapter, I know. But I'm going to try to write more, so I'll have another chapter out soon that won't be a flashback