Demetryst2 #Wattys2017

3 . My Very Own Tour.

Repeated knocking penetrated my thick fog of sleep. Getting up was a hassle. My head was banging and I felt dizzy and faint. I got up from the bed and managed to sway and walk till I got to the door only to open up to the top hair of my maid's bowed head. I already told her to stop doing that.

"Morning Angelina." I turned and began to make my way back to the bed before my knees would give way beneath me.

She raised up her head and quickly rushed in behind me, shutting the door ever so quietly.

She busied herself about, touching this and adjusting that, until I decided to engage her in some small talk while I performed my morning rituals. By the time I was stepping out of my room, she was already humming to herself.

I smiled and closed the door gently, only to turn and bump into the most astonishingly beautiful girl I'd ever seen in my life. She exuded elegance and sophistication, but looked quite out of breath.

When she saw me, her eyes widened in fear. She ran down the hall and turned to her left. I tried running after her but when I got to the hallway she ran into, she was nowhere to be found and there were way too many doors for me to bother with.

So I walked with drooped shoulders in disappointment to the nearest kitchen to get myself something to eat because it seemed that all kitchens were very well stocked even though the castle possessed more kitchens than could possibly be utilized.

To my utmost delight, the kitchen was bustling. People carrying steaming pies and trays of cakes and waffles and all sorts of light food. I spoke to the nearest person, "What's the occasion?" I asked.

"Breakfast." She simply replied in a tone that made me suspect that she thought I was stupid.

I narrowed my eyes judgmentally at her retreating behind then stalked off.

I explored the castle which seemed like it had new surprises for me, every morning.

There was a strange looking hallway that has the most fascinating things hung on both sides of the wall. I saw a lot of animal skins. Exotic, if I do say so myself. I was impressed.

Antiques, obviously collected from various parts of the world, hung there like they had no care whatsoever.

I then stopped at an oil painting. It was an original, and it was the only painting in the whole of that hallway.

It was a painting of a woman. A very exquisite woman, posh faced and stiff necked. Albeit flawless.

Her eyes seemed to bore right into the depths of my soul, making a chill run down my spine into my gut. Her smile held a secret, though it was a little too wide. It seemed to pass a message right across. I could all but read it on her lips.

She was perfect.

Or so I thought.

///

Later that night, I was having trouble sleeping. Tossing and turning, my mind and body were both restless.

Unable to sleep, even with the rain pattering my window, I decided to sit by window and watched in fascination as the rain pit-pattered down on the window.

My eye spotted a movement in the garden, but I couldn't see clearly what it was, given the distance.

Looking closely, hands on the cold window, I spotted clearly the source of movement.

I gasped.

The tree was moving!

The massive, forbidden tree was MOVING into the garden!

Oh.

My.

God.

Vote. And Comment. Please.

-Michelin