A fragment In Time

A wish, made upon a falling star.

After my fathers speech, well announcement I would say, the rest of the evening went quite smoothly. With all the fuss that I was receiving, on how I was so fortunate to have such a stable future, I quickly excused myself and withdrew from the sickly energetic crowd. The dress, let alone the attention, was making me quite unwell. When it came to Duke Anders, I held my tongue and endured the compliments. To everyone, he was a good man from a wealthy family. He was what every young maiden would hope to marry, but only I knew the real Anders. The Anders who would pull my hair, and mock me for being such a pathetic creature, the Anders who would frame me for his own slight misshapes. My head spun like a carousel, only going at high speeds and never stopping for me to get loose of it's intoxicating grasp.

The sound of my heals clicked on the on the cold marble floor, as I swiftly made my way back to my private chambers. I stuck to the shadows long enough to escape the grasp of any social interaction, that might have came from the delirious guests. The long dark, winding corridors, were lit dimly by a pale blue light, that shone through the gaping windows to the left of me, making the sight rather captivating. The beautiful light was emitted from the moon, making the presence of dust that was floating aimlessly more known. I was almost convinced that half of the mansion was abandoned, despite the fact that there was a major party taking place in the centre of it.

As I entered my chamber, I took a big sigh of relief, and freed my suffocated body from the overly tightened corset. I was now comfortable and able to relax, as I had a lot of pent up feelings due to the last few stressful days, fixing my night gown, I made my way to the window and opened the latch. The skies were clear, so I could see the enchanting stars, as they shimmered in a tender light. The moon was the crown jewel in this dazzling display, however the wind carried an awful chill in it's wake, the cool breeze sunk it's teeth onto my exposed skin making me shudder and regain my composure again. This cold presence didn't sway me enough to retreat back to my comforting bed, in fact it only made me stand in awe, pondering on how something could be so beautiful but come with the cost of suffering.

The cold was starting to make me vacate from my spot previous. As I made up my mind on retiring for the night, I took one last glance at the sky, and saw the most captivating thing in my entire existence. A lonely comet swept the sky and left a crystal blue tail in it's wake, the scene made me breathless. I took my chance and made a wish, I wished for a time when young girls were able to choose their destiny and not be swayed by another's wishes, it was rather absurd but with that a huge genuine smile graced my lips as I sealed my gaping window and retreated to my bed. The thick duvets warmed my chilled body, and in no time, I slowly eased in to the endless grip of sleep.

As I started to become more unconcious, I closed my eyes, only to have them flutter open fully. When this occourred I took a glance at my surroundings, and suddenly I became rather puzzled. I was back in the ball room, only this time it was abandoned; in shambles more like. The ceiling had partialy collapsed, and the once golden room was coated in ashes and charred objects. This made my heart tremble in fear, as only minutes ago this room was filled to the brim with life. A stray tear made it's way down my colourless cheek, as i rotated to see my mothers grand piano standing perfectly unharmed. There was a bitter taste in the air that lingered in my mouth, and there were broken shards of glass on the floor, piercing my delicate feet as I advanced aimlessly aroung the desolate room.

"What happened, in order to achieve this?" I mumbled ever so quietly.

This all became so peculiar, as far as I knew everyone loved my father. No one had ever spoken ill of him, ever. I started to become more fustrated when all at once everything blackend, and the room was changing. Suddenly the room re-appeared, but only this time everything was on fire. Sickening scrames and crackaling were the only things that had filled my ears. I saw panic and terror in peoples eyes, as they all ran to find a way out of the hot inferno, among the racket, I saw my father calling for my name. Anger was written on his face like the plain of day. My heart was soon filled with intense agony as he walked past me, I turned and yelled at him grasping for his attention, but in the end it was futile and my father continued walking away. Just as I thought that it couldnt get any worse, a segment of the ceiling was threatening to collapse, I saw this and shrieked, "FATHER, RUN!" But my words could not reach him. I collapsed to the damaged floor as I was plunged into the dark pits of dispair, my soul felt rather hollow and I soon fainted.

"Cordelia, Cordelia? It is time to wake my dear." a soft voice started to ring in my ears, it alomst sounded like... My mother...