The Grim Taintings {indefinite hiatus}

0. Where it all went wrong

Stay away from the Goblin Market.

Laura had broken that rule long ago. She had overstepped the boundaries too many times to count.

Her right hand gripped the locks of severed blonde hair from inside her cardigan pocket, feeling each strand as she twisted and tugged the individual pieces.

Just one more. One more and then she would stop.

See, Lizzie. I did keep your words in mind. I will keep my promise.

Yet, her thoughts were met with the condescending voice of her paranoid sister, safely tucked away in bedsheets and resting in the cottage they shared.

She never really understood me anyway...

Thoughts of her sister vanished from her mind as she replaced them with the delicious fruit she would like to be tasting. At the mere thought, her stomach growled in pain. How she would like to taste the enchanted fruit. If only the Goblin's would be kinder to give her what she wanted.

Laura marched through brambles and thickets, getting further and further from the safety of what Lizzie called "Fae Free Zone". The path she was trying to find that would lead her to the goblins wasn't hard to see but one misinterpretation and one would find themselves tumbling down a cliff face and into the play den of some pixies, or worse, into a fairy ring.

Through the streams of dim light filtering through the thickening forest trees, Laura estimated that it had just gone past noon. A perfect time for when the Goblins would make their appearance and set up their cozy market.

She knew that for certain because every three months she had put up with village girls bragging about tasting enchanted fruit in exchange for something prized, like for instance, their mother's necklace.

They were selfish unlike her. Laura, on the other hand, sacrificed something a part of her. In the past, she had contemplated about giving a silver penny or her sister's prized locket, yet she soon learnt that such materialistic trinkets were wasted upon the exchange of Fae fruit which was considered to be of higher value than a human-made object.

Laura also grudgingly learnt that it was unlikely to see the Goblin's for a second time. At first the fact didn't settle well for her. How was she ever to try their fruit again? Lizzie had been ecstatic about the very fact, but that didn't mean she had her worries. Her worry only fueled Laura's desire to make the fact untrue.

She had tried on numerous accounts, crooning the Goblins to take her tears, her eyelashes, anything she had read up that would appease them. Failure met her every time which led to steal from others.

Memories of the lies that spat out of her mouth as she persuaded girls and boys alike the traumatising effects the fruit that would have on them. Beauty compared to that of an old hag; the legs of a donkey; the disappearance of the five senses, and so forth.

How ironic that they may be true. But that didn't stop Laura for she had far advanced on a path of no return.

For now, she would search for the market, for that was the only clue she had left. No voices would be guiding her like the first time, no Goblin to escort her. Then if that hailed nothing, she would go back to stealing. There was surely aplenty of others who had attained a succulent treat.

Though that was her thought process before she heard the singing. The thought process before she had almost given up hope.

Laura chewed her nails out of habit as she scrambled towards the sound of fresh delight.

Look east, dear child! Enchanted fruit and bacchus wine.

Look west, mortal girl! A wealth worth for Queens and feasts devine.

Don't look back, dear child! The past is a terrible place to stay.

Come, look forward, pleasant sweet! Away, away, away!

Her smile threatened to spill from the corners of her face as she trampled flower after flower. She could feel herself bloom from their voices alone. It was like she had found her old sense of self again. She needed, desired this feeling. The ability to feel and bask in happiness.

If only Lizzie would understand.

But you don't want her to know of your secret. You don't want to share this sense of happiness.

Selfish.

Selfish.

Selfish.

Strands of hair swept across Laura's face as she smelt the aroma of peaches. They were here--!
Her excitement dissipated as she noted the place was seemingly deserted. The familiar circular clearing was filled with a deathly silence. Where there should have been Goblins and people mingling together was instead a single stall and a single straw basket filled with peaches.

It was glaringly obvious that the stall had been abandoned, but who would leave a stall unattended?

To the ripped fabric laid across the wooden rods to the untouched fresh fruit, the whole setting contrasted greatly with one another. It almost persuaded Laura to turn away and head home. Almost.

Laura felt insecure as she turned around to survey the scenery. Nothing. Nobody appeared to be coming back anytime soon. She glanced again at the fruits with their tantalising sheen and plump bodies.

It wouldn't matter if she took one. It wouldn't hurt to if she left her payment on the stall.

Her hands flew out instantly before her mind could process what she was doing. Her small hands scooped into the basket, finding the biggest, juiciest peach she could discover. They dug deeper and deeper into the basket until it seemed impossible to know how deep she had delved and to know how big the basket actually was.

Laura soon struck gold as her hands grazed the flesh of the softest peach she had ever felt. Grappling for support, she braced herself as she pulled the fruit with all her might. It took a couple of harsh tugs before the contents of the peaches on top spilled onto the girl.

A scream elicited from her throat as she only focused on holding her chosen peach in her shaking hands. Her body was forced to the ground and she found herself rather flustered at her actions.

But she had attained a fruit without the need to steal!

In all its beauty, the peach glowed a soft gold as it sat comfortably in the palm of Laura's hands. Cocooned, it appeared to be undamaged from the rough journey out of the basket, but Laura didn't care much for the shape, all she cared for was the taste.

One bite and she would pay back. One bite and she would stop.

Sitting in a ring of bruised peaches, a girl sat in a clearing, a clearing where the Goblin Market were to be hosted. A simple minded being, she took a single bite and didn't stop until the remnants of a peach pip and its juices spilled from her fingers onto her lap. Yet she didn't pause there. She didn't stop until all the peaches in her vicinity had been devoured, memories of her sister's warnings forever cast aside.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! This is still very much a WIP (revisiting a draft from a year ago), but I felt like writing this since it was less heavy than my other works. It's a very rough first draft so I apologise for any mistakes. Other than that I'm excited to write this retelling again ^-^