Tackling the Imperfection Dare

Day 7

Day 7

7. Write a scene with no dialogue.

Veronica was running through the woods.

She didn't know what came over her. She just knew that that dove was trying to get her to follow it, so she did.

It was a foolish thing to do, she now realized. She left her older sister Penny at the park reading one of those romance novels and spontaneously bounded into the forest in pursuit of that dove.

Now she had lost sight of the dove and was now turning in circles, trying to remember the direction it went in. She sighs and then frowns.

She looked up all around her. The streaming sunlight managed to get through but the blue sky was almost completely blocked by the thick canopy of trees. The trees' leaves were a spectacular array of golden and reddish hues, as it was the middle of autumn.

If Veronica listened closely, she'd hear the chattering of squirrels, the chirping of birds, the rustle of leaves, and the rushing of the nearby brooke.

A cool breeze swept through the forest, fanning her face. She shivered ever so slightly and wrapped the coat around her a tighter. Behind her, she heard the unmistakable flapping of feathers.

She turned, and as expected she saw the beautiful white dove she had been following. It flew all around and in front of her in an enchanting way. If Veronica was so sure she would say the bird was dancing. It swirled over her head a few more times before it darted quickly to her left.

Entranced, Veronica followed it happily, leaves making crunching noises under her fur boots. The bird led her to a small circular clearing that had a big heap of leaves piled at the center. It flew over to it and flapped its wings, causing the leaves to fly up in the air. Veronica expected them to fall to the ground but they didn't. Instead, they started to radiate a golden glow.

Veronica's breath caught in her throat, and the forest seemed to go silent. They spiraled up into the air, before enveloping Veronica in it.

Veronica's mouth was agape as she saw that the dove also started to glow. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head, expecting the image before her to dissappear and for her to be back at the park with Penny. When it didn't, she started to wonder if she was dreaming. She pinched herself, and oddly enough, she wasn't.

The dove and the leaves gradually stopped circling Veronica, but still glowed like golden firelight. The dove hovered in front of her. She was about to reach out and touch it before it suddenly dived into the pile of leaves.

Immediately the floating golden leaves dropped to the forest floor, as if nothing happened at all. The usual noise of the forest returned.

Then right before her eyes, the solid ground crumbled into a small hole. Small enough for her to fit in. After a few moments it started to radiate the same light the doves and leaves did.

She couldn't help but be attracted to it, so she crept towards it slowly, peeking into it. In the hole she saw a beautiful place - plush, green grass, sparkling water, a glowing golden castle, a breathtaking sky with a warm sun. And she saw the dove, who slowly lowered onto the grass, before giving off a bright white light. Veronica shielded her eyes, and when she looked again, she saw a beautiful woman with fair, rosy skin and blonde locks that cascaded down her back. She donned a white gown and on her head delicately laid an intricate-looking tiara. Her pink lips pulled up into a smile, her ocean blue eyes crinkling.

Veronica smiled back. Looking at the scene before her, she was tempted to jump in that hole. It was as if it had a gravitating force that pulled her to it.

Wthout looking back, she jumped in.

She landed on the soft grass on her bottom. The woman walked towards her and helped her up. She looked into the woman's eyes. They were full of depth, and Veronica saw that she had been through a lot. Events started to flash across the woman's eyes.

Fire. Deaths. Pain. Hardship. Misery. Then she found this place.

Veronica couldn't stop looking. It was like she was hypnotized by the woman's eyes. They started to glow white, but still Veronica couldn't look away. Veronica's eyes started to sting looking at them. The woman's eyes were so bright now that Veronica was positive she'll go blind.

The white light glowed brighter and brighter. And when Veronica thought she couldn't handle anymore, the white light seemed to explode and expand all around her. She couldn't see the woman's eyes anymore. She blinked, snapping out of the trance.

And suddenly she was back at the park again, sitting beside Penny on the park bench. She breathed a sigh of relief.

But then she saw something that made her gasp.

In the trees, she could just make out the blonde hair and white gown of the woman, her eyes no longer glowing white, before she disappeared into the forest.