Beyond the Willow Tree (Under MAJOR reconstruction)

Chapter 4: Butterfly Kisses

Beyond The Willow Tree 

Chapter 4: Butterfly Kisses 

It had only been a short time since Willow parted ways with her only friend in the Book World, The Wizard, and already she missed him dearly. She was walking down a path, all on her own with no one to guide her. She felt a deep ache of loneliness set in her stomach. This would mark the first time in her entire life that she was left alone. The sun was beginning to set beside her, the sky already the soft, comforting pinks and oranges that told the tale of so many days past. Willow continued to press on, trying to get as much as she could out of the days travel before having to stop for the night.  

The wind began to pick up, making the trees dance in the night. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Willow took a moment to rest, soaking in the beauty of the forest. Willow had gotten so absorbed in the beauty she didn't notice that the stars and the moon were out. She had lived in the city for most of her life and had never gotten to truly experience the beauty of the night sky. "It's just so beautiful..." she said amazed by what she saw. "Mom would have loved to have seen this." She said feeling a little homesick. "I guess this is as good a place as any to settle for the night." She said to herself. She turned to her sled and went off the path into the forest, just enough to be hidden but not far enough she couldn't see the road. 

Willow untied the ropes that held the supplies to the sled and began to unpack. She pulled of one bag and opened it to find a pillow and a few blankets. She placed them both neatly down on the floor and made her a bed, sitting the empty bag on the sled. She pulled off another bag and opened it to find bread loaves and rinds of cheese. She left those in the bag for later. She opened another, smaller bag to find individually packaged herbs. Willow smiled thinking of how much the Wizard must have gone through in order to pack all of this for her. She continued to unpack finding chopped wood, matches, kindling, pots and pans, dry meats, pastas, clothes and rice. Once that was all sorted through she found one more, smaller bag that had a bunch of gold, silver, and bronze coins in it. She assumed it was money Lucky for her they were marked with how much each was worth so she would know how much she had. Quickly Willow counted it and found that it was over $500 worth of money. She put the money on her person. As she continued unpacking she discovered a hunter's dagger and placed it with the money for later. 

After she was unpacked she started a fire, collected some water from the rushing rapids of the river and cooked up a small amount of rice and meat. Even though she used to be a vegetarian the Wizard had converted her over to an omnivore. She ate it quickly and packed up all the extra supplies in the bags. With the fire burning strong, Willow wrapped up in a blanket to protect herself from the cold of the night. It was February and the winter cold was still around. The sound of the fire was putting her to sleep. She doused the flames and closed her eyes. "One more day down." She said before falling asleep. The last thing she saw that night was the fluttering wings of a white butterfly as it landed on her.  

Willow was walking down the road, the sun shining down on her. She was smiling and the birds were chirping. The day seemed bright and everything was going great for her, until a loud booming voice called 'Help!' Willow stopped in her tracks and looked around. "What was that?" she asked, looking around for what had called out. She saw nothing so she continued walking. 'Help me! Help me please' the same voice called out again. Willow stopped walking. "Okay. I know I heard it this time." She said. "Hello? Where are you?" she called out. 'I'm over here...' the voice called again. Willow ran to it, but it seemed like she couldn't reach it. 'Help me.' The voice called again. Willow tried to run faster but couldn't reach the voice. Willow's her heart began to ache and she fell to the ground. She was breathing heavily, like she was suffocating. Everything went black. 

Willow jumped up from her makeshift bed gasping, her hands over her chest. The sun was up in the sky and birds were chirping. She looked around assessing the area. "It was just a dream." She said in disbelief. 'It felt so real.' She thought to herself. She picked up her blankets and pillow and put them back in the bag she had gotten them from. She went to the river and collected some water in a canteen. Willow boiled it to get rid of any bad bacteria, just like she had learned from her mother. Then she mixed the ashes from the fire into the dirt until they became blended together. She wanted to be sure there would be no trace of her ever being there. Before she tied up all the bags, Willow grabbed the bag with the bread and cheese and ate some for breakfast. Once that was over with, Willow tied all the bags back onto the sled, making sure it was secure, and continued her journey. She hated that she couldn't take a bath or change clothes but the river current was too strong. Her clothes were limited so she needed to save them.