Once Upon a Time. . . (on hold)

Ugh, bees.

100 years ago

Ah, yes.

After two weeks, I finally learned how to at least shoot an arrow near the target. I still found it impossible to aim it precisely at the bull's eye, but I liked challenges.

The thing is, if you're a girl here, you could either:

A) Learn girly things (knitting, sewing, cooking, etc) and probably end up as a housewife, unless you're that good at either one of the skills/more.

B) You could learn combat, how to use a knife, sword, protect the kingdom from threats, etc.

I thought about joining option A, but after setting a practice kitchen on fire (oops,) I decided it would be better off (and more useful, no offense to the girls who went with option A,) to go with option B.

My instructor retrieved the arrow and handed it to me. "Not bad, but with those skills, you're going to get yourself killed on the field."

I rolled my eyes as he walked by and tried again. I didn't exactly have a method, I just placed the arrow in a certain position and pull the string.The arrow landed closer to the bullseye this time. I grunted as I tried to pull it out of the board. After a few pulls and grunts, I finally managed to pull it out.

My instructor said a good way of getting the red spot is channeling your hatred and anger towards it. So if you hate someone, imagine that person's heart/head/whatever as the bull's eye, and aim for it. I didn't have to say tell him it wouldn't help me, because I didn't hate anyone or anything at the time being, and he knew it. He said another good way is to clear my head and just aim at it, without thinking too much about hitting the target.

I guess the second technique worked best for me, because he only gave me two techniques. They sounded simple, but like a lot of times, it wasn't as easy as it sounded. I watched from a distance as my instructor retrieved an arrow for another student. He was such a patient man sometimes. It pained me to see him so depressed and quiet while most of the people here were cheerful. Sometimes I thought about inviting him over to dinner, or perhaps talking to him. But if anything, I'd probably make him feel worse, especially with my archery skills. I couldn't wait to move to the next field, knife tossing. The thought was exciting and overwhelming that my arrow didn't even land on the board. I quickly retrieved the arrow before my instructor strode slowly to my direction. I set the arrow on the bow and aimed at the bullseye.

"Time's up, Charlotte." I put the bow and arrow aside at a square haystack. I fiddled with my hair nervously, "Can I see you do it?"

He gave me an expressionless look and took the bow and arrow. We actually had more arrows, but a lot of them were broken and in use for fighting off the army of bees. (Which was the most recent threat we've been handling.) Since bees had the advantage of flying, the best way to bring them down would definitely be the arrows. I mean, you couldn't just drag the bees down on the ground and punch them to death when they were bigger than you, they could poke their tail through you.

My instructor closed his left eye and moved the bow around a few times. He pulled the string and let the arrow fly. Surely enough, it hit the bullseye. I smiled, impressed. I'd probably seen him do it over a hundred times, but I never got bored of it. He set the bow down and walked away without returning my smile.

I felt a small sting in my chest. I wondered what was wrong with him, but I could never bring myself to ask him. He was just-- too young to be this depressed. I decided to promise myself that if I actually managed to hit the bull's eye with the arrow, I'd ask him about it. I still had two days left before I would start knife tossing.

"Get going now, Charlotte," my instructor shouted from afar. I nodded and ran for my horse which was resting under a shady tree. I named her Snow. She was white, and I was uncreative with names. Snow neighed when she saw me, a few grass and stains of mud slobbering her muzzle. Not only did I bring Snow because I was too lazy to walk to the field, especially since I was a rather clumsy person in the morning, I also brought her so she could eat some grass and enjoy a bit of the green scenery...if horses were actually into things like that. I wanted to add a bit more life to the stable she stayed in, but my mother said "She's just a horse. Horses don't get bored, and they probably can't see colors anyway." I didn't argue with her on the second part, because I didn't know if it was true or not.

I got on her and held on the reins. Snow snorted and started to gallop slowly. Before I knew it, we were already home. I got off snow and put her back into her old, dusty stable before knocking on the door. My mother opened the door on the fifth knock. She wasn't the only one who greeted me. A nice, rather strong smell pierced into my nose. My stomach grumbled loudly, "What're you cooking, mom?"

My mother smiled. "Your dad's favorite dish." I followed her to the kitchen and smiled as well. "Oh right, it's dad's birthday. Is he coming home to celebrate?" My mother's smile faded. She knitted her eyebrows together. I hated it whenever she made that face. She just looked so worried and helpless. "I hope so, Charlotte."

I bit my lower lip and nodded. Now I knew why my mother was so upset when I didn't want to go with option A, even after we had to pay an amount of gold coins because of the kitchen incident. She was afraid I wouldn't come back, just like my dad.

No. My dad may not had came back yet, but he'll come home.

My mother took a blue bowl for me and a wooden ladle. She poured in a few spoonful of creamy mushroom soup mixed with a few spices she grew in the backyard. It wasn't only my dad's favorite, it was more like our family's favorite dish. I drank from the bowl and handed it back to her a few minutes later. "Do you want more?" I nodded quickly. She poured in more soup and I drank a few more bowls until I found it hard to walk.

"Thanks, mom," I said before releasing a loud burp. My mom smiled, bringing out the dimples in her cheeks, and took the bowl with her before disappearing into the wet kitchen.

I opened the small, circle door which lead to my room. Once I was inside, I noticed a scroll sitting on my desk. I quickly ran to it and unfurled it. The writing on the scroll was written in cursive, as if the person who wrote it knew I had a hard time reading cursive writings. I guess I wasn't exactly meant to read this then. But of course, curiosity eventually got the best out of me. After awhile, I finally made out what the scroll read. On it were written:

Dear Charlotte,

I know you hate reading cursive writings, but I just felt like writing in cursive. How are you and your mother? I heard you're doing not that bad in archery class. I'm sure there are those worse than you.

And yes, I know it's my birthday today (you remember, don't you?) but unfortunately, I can't come home just yet. We're getting another bee attack. But don't worry, I'll be home soon. I'd love to say I promise, but I honestly don't know if I'd make it this time. I've had a few close calls.

I'll write to you again when I can. Give your mother a kiss for me.

-D

I let the scroll furl on it's own and sighed. If it was on my desk, then that meant my mom must've read it already. I looked outside the window and saw a few black dots on the sky. They looked rather small from here, but that's because the bees don't usually attack the area I live in. They were all drawn to the field, which meant our bait worked, as usual.

I didn't know if I was imagining things, but I swore I heard screams. They usually weren't that loud, especially that the field wasn't very close to my house. I closed my eyes and felt a tear trickle down my cheeks.

As much as I hated to admit this, I knew my dad wasn't going to make it this time.

A/N: XD this chapter's basically tells you a little bit about the place Charlotte used to live in. You'll learn more if you keep reading XD basically every chapter has tiny hints, so if you want to understand the story you'll have to sum everything up XD I'll update very very soon :) xx I'm going to school on the 4th of August which is like over a month away, so I'll have plenty of time to write :P Stay awesome!