Over the Garden Wall
A long time ago in a mystical, faraway place there lay a village secluded from the rest of society by a colossal, magnificent wall...and in this village was a little girl named Emery and her dog Rockwell. Emery was always very curious about what was over the wall and constantly wondered.
So one fateful day she went to the wall with Rockwell and climbed it, traveling up the many large vines twirling and twisting their way up to the top of the wall, making a path up that only a little girl and her dog would be able to navigate safely. When she got to the top she gazed out at the rolling land of hills and seas of enchanted forests that lay beyond the wall. She shifted her gaze to elsewhere and found that there was a shoreline close by and discovered that it was the same coast that surrounded the back of the village.
She smiled the slightest and took a seat on the cool, mossy , compressed rocks that made up the wall as Rockwell wearily smelled around as the hair on his tail raised up from all the unknown smells that flooded his senses. She ran her hand carefully over the smooth stones that made up the wall, thoughts of wonder flooded through her mind. She watched as the high risen sun made the mossy rocks shine as if they were the drops of water on a spiderweb. Her chest swelled at the meer beauty and peace of it all. As she ran her hand along the cool stones, she admired how the smooth stones shimmered in the sunlight. This is what she did for months to come... but today was different.
It was an unusually cloudy day as Emery exited her small cottage-like house, calling Rockwell to come to her. He replied with an exasperated grunt and reluctantly followed her, his powerful tail swaying the slightest bit. As any other day she started to make the long-winded trek to the vines of the wall, kicking stones with her black boots as she walked. No one approached or questioned her as she traveled towards the woods that stood between her and the vines. Rockwell followed at her heels, letting out low grumbles of annoyance every now and then, upset that he kept getting small stones caught in between his toes.
She slowly but surely made her way towards the vines, reaching them when the clouded sun was fully in the sky. She looked up at the long twisting vines that reached up towards the darkened sky. She traveled up the vines as any other day, following along the small trails the vines had made for her. When she reached the top she seated herself on the smooth stones she always sat on, gazing out at the rolling land that seemed to stretch on and on endlessly. As she stared something out of the corner of her eye startled her. There, looking at the wall in wonder was a boy with messy, disheveled, black hair. He paid no mind to Emery, not even knowing she was there on the very top of the wall, watching him as he looked at the moss-covered wall in wonder.
Emery's mind raced as she tried to come up with reasons about why the boy had come. She had heard folk tales about the people outside of the wall, the stories always making them seem like monstrous gluttons who brutally kill for no apparent reason. She never whole-heartedly believed those stories though, But at this moment she couldn't help but think of all the bad reasons as of why he would be here. Rockwell started to growl at the boy, threating to let out a strident bark. Like a bat out of hell she reached over to grab his snout in order to make him refrain from barking but it was too late. Rockwell let a blatant bark, the noise resonating off the trees.
The boys head immediately snapped up and he stared at Emery. Her heart caught in her chest as she stared back, unable to move out of fear that this boy really was a monster in disguise as the folktales said. The boy then smiled happily before cupping his hands around his mouth and calling out to her, "Hello!" the boy called as loud as he could, the noise quietly bouncing off the mossy wall and into the unknown.
Emery did not respond, still frozen in fear. The boy frowned for a moment before brightening up and once more cupping his hands around his mouth, " Do you live behind the wall?" he called. She was able to respond this time and timidly nodded her head, causing the boy to smile widely."I'm Finn!", The boy still smiled and waited for a reply but when he received none his smile faded only slightly.
