Stone Heart

Chapter 3- Smile and Run

I woke up to the morning sunlight that made my eyes shut back up. With a groan, I got up to take a shower.  My suitcases near the door, so I took out some clothes. It was getting boring just being up here, so I decided to go explore the house.

At the last five steps of the stairs, my clumsiness kicked in and I tripped and fell. I rubbed my bottom that was in pain and stood up.

"Ms. Puetty Lady, are you okay?" A small voice asked from below me. I looked down and saw a cute little girl.

"Awww," I cooed as I crouched down to be level with her. "Yeah I'm okay. Just a bit clumsy that's all," I chuckled. She smiled at me as her hand reached out to touch my hair.

"Your hair is so puetty and soft. Also wet." I guess her two missing front teeth made it hard to pronounce some words.

"Thank you, your hair is pretty too. Tell me, what's your name?" I asked with a smile.

"Megan, what's your name?"

"That's a really pretty name. My name's Chloe," as I said my name, her eyes twinkled.

"That's so puetty!" She exclaimed and I chuckled at her amusement.

"Megan, is there anything fun around here we can do?" She gasped and her eyes held excitement.

"We could take a walk in the woods, there's a sequet place that I found, but you cannot tell nobody," she said, whispering the last part.

"I promise," I said as I stood back up. She reached her hand out and I gladly took it.

We walked and walked in the woods talking, well, more like me answering all her questions.

"Okay, this is it," she said as we stood in front of a tall, green, hedge.

"Uhh... Megan, we can't go any further in," I replied as she started to search for something at the bottom of the hedge.

"I found it!" She exclaimed as the removed some of the bottom branches and crawled in.

"C'mon!"I heard her shout from the other side. How the heck was I supposed to fit in that small opening? Oh well, I got down and started crawling through the opening. I felt the branches scratching at my legs and I winced.

"Are you okay, Coey?" Megan asked as she looked at my legs. I followed her gaze and I saw a bunch of small scratches, some of them had blood smeared around.

"Yeah, I'm alright. They're just small cuts," I responded, although it sounded like I was trying to convince myself. I looked around and my jaw almost dropped. We were in a beautiful meadow surrounded by more hedges that were in a circle. The variety of flowers were endless and each shone with bright colors. In the middle, was a huge oak tree with a swing attached to one of the branches.

"Wow," I breathed out.

"I know." I almost forgot I wasn't alone.

"Race ya!" Megan shouted as she ran towards the tree.

"Hey! No fair!" I called out as I ran to catch up. Of course I really didn't try because she was small and it was cute watching her run. We took turns on the swing laughing and the then playing hide and seek through the tall field. Watching her smile and laugh while her eyes twinkled was enough to make me smile. Her happiness was so contagious.

We were currently laying down in the middle of the meadow watching the blue sky above us, on top of soft flowers that felt like a mattress.

"We should head home before my mommy gets worried," she said from beside me.