The Lady of the Forest

Mirror Image

After dinner I headed to my bedroom excusing myself from Peter who sat by the fire in the main room. At my bedroom I grabbed a clean white night gown and then headed to the bathroom in soft fuzzy slippers. The room was already fogged up from the heat of the bath Peter had drawn earlier. The mirror was covered in a thin haze. I looked at my blurred image moving slightly with the in out in out of my breathing. It looked as though strange shadows were cast over my face in the mirror, but I assurred myself it was just dirt and then climbed into the wooden tub. The warm water carresed my skin and slowly washed away my pain in waves of bliss. I gently scrubbed away any aches with a repetitive circular motion. Then washing away the soap suds I wrapped myself in a towel loving the plush feeling against my skin. I sat down on the cool flooring and carefully braided my hair as the heat from the bath tub slowly seeped from the room. Then I stood up and gave a surprised little "oh" as I saw the mirror. 

Dark green, almost black, tatoos trailed along my cheeks, vines blooming into flowers. On my forehead a crescent moon held a glowing sun, and as I looked in the mirror my eyes widened and the vines began to grow down along my arms slowly creeping to a stop. I put on a soft clean white dress with golden trimming and ran to find Peter. I saw him in the kitchen already looking up, forewarned my loud TAPTAPTAPING. 

"I see you've found out. As your powers grow and your realization of yourself your outward appearance will show this in the form of tatoos. It seems that it has come to you as quite a shock though."

Then coming closer to me he pulled me into a hug. And I don't know what to do as my heart goes bam bam bam. Slowly I return the embrace and I know Peter's lips are curling up into a smile as I feel mine begin to do the same.

A thumb traces the dark green swirls lightly brushing against my cheek. He pulls away and I take his hand that once had seemed to be such a stranger, an alien, and he twirls me around as I lead him outside. This time I go wandering into the embrace of the forest dimly lit by a couple beams of moonlight dancing. My skirt swishes against the ground swirling up leaves that whisk away into a strange intricate pattern. Peter laughs as he pulls one out of my hair and I grin and place a crown of buttercups opon his head. Then it is all music and pattern, but these patterns are new and sweet. They fill me up with joy for the world around me and I watch as the vines on my right arm bloom into flowers, imperfect, yet each more dazzling than the last.

As the moon runs for cover in the trees and a brighter light seeps into the forest Peter and I walk side by side with one uniform tapping into the house. There we fall asleep each in our own beds dreaming about the mysteries of a dark forest.