No Matter What

Chapter X

I gathered the parts. I crossed to twigs, one longer than the other, making a body and arms, then connected them with string. With two more sticks and some mud, the legs were added. I made another mud ball and carved a face on it. Reversing the twist that kept the string together, I got frizzy locks I would place on top of the head I had just made. Now, the last step. Every queen needs her crown, so with small fragments of the branch I had been provided I made Lena just that. My chest tightened as I held her. Seeing her again stirred up fond memories I had not thought about in months.

The witch received the doll eagerly and took in her scent. Almost immediately, the door was swung open by an incredible gale. Lena turned to cinder in the witch's hands and her ashes whirled violently, guided by the bizarre wind. They spun around the witch and I could do nothing but stare in awe as her soft face became smoother, her sapphire eyes became brighter, and her blindingly white smile became wider.

"You have strong memories, dear," she exhaled out of her.

The door slammed closed with a flip of her hand. I must have looked impatient.

"Worry not," she said. The dazzling witch squinted her eyes and the blue petal appeared, floating in front of me. I took it from the air and put it in my bag.

"I cannot send you straight to my sisters' houses, but I can save you a bit of time. Have a safe trip."

She snapped her fingers and my surroundings changed. I was back at the three way forked road.

Left path I had survived. I would now go through the road in the middle, hopefully with the same result. Here goes nothing.

This road was different than the one I had walked through previously. For one, it was much wider. It was also much darker. Perhaps since the sun had already started to meet the horizon. My footsteps were the only sound one could hear in that dry abandoned path. The crackling of the rocks forcedly scratched by the dirt. It made a steady rhythm.

But my rhythm was interrupted.

The ground vanished below me and I fell into a lightless hole. I grasped at the sides, desperately attempting to slow my fall, but soon enough the ground knocked the wind out of me. I had landed on my side and my arm had somehow dampened the blow. My heart fought against my chest. Opening my eyes made no difference, it was pitch black. I could not see, but I felt. I felt the cold water that covered the bottom of the hole. My side pierced when I breathed. The adrenaline allowed me to ignore it. The only thing on my mind was the persistent fact that I had to get out of there.

I looked around for something, anything I could use to climb out. There were boards, hammers, nails, and... bones. Human bones.

I thought I would try to make stairs. I hammered a board onto the earth wall then stepped on it to make sure it held my weight. It did. I stepped back down, felt for more materials and added one more step. I kept working this way, not realizing that the water levels were actually increasing.

Before I could finish installing any more steps, the first ones had already been dislocated. Dry earth held the boards very well, but the water was rising and the earth had gotten wet and its surface got muddy, making my plan impossible to execute. I ran up my makeshift stairs and desperately took out each step. I would stand on the penultimate one, undo the step above it, and repeat the process again and again until falling upon stepping on the first one I had made. The water had already reached it.

I was knee-deep in water, but it felt like I was already drowning. I did not know what to do. I could not swim. Oh, how I wish my father had lived long enough to finish teaching me.

***

"Alright... Now I'm going to let go, okay?"

"No, father! No! Don't let go!"