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In that old, untouched English forest, there is a pathway. A pathway that warps your senses. A pathway that leads to an old timey way of living. A pathway that leads to a little village, oppressed by the iron fist of whoever lives in the stone castle on the hill. A little civilisation hidden in the forest. A little civilisation that believe in fairytales.

When you look at it, you would never know that for hundreds of years, there has been a village of people living there. You wouldn't see the signs. That's because you can't see where the world shifts. It's like you've stepped into another dimension. Maybe that is what you do.

When you walk through the forest, you'll find it, you'll find the world that lurks within a heavily poluted England. You'll find the world from which you cannot escape. You'll find bliss, heaven on earth. Also known as The Willow

~

~Eight years after the previous post~

I lurk in the doorway. The room is silent, despite there being three teenage boys in there. All of which are my older brothers, one is in the dormer seat of the room, the other two are lounging around on the cool stone floor. It feels so good against bare skin on a hot day like this.

I am beckoned inside the room by my youngest older brother, Darius. I nod and join him and our older brother Nezbit.
Kaida glares at me from across the room. I sigh as I pass him by. He's only jealous because my parents named him before they were told of his sex; thus the girlish name. He is the oldest of my three brothers and is by far the most cynical. However, Kaida is nowhere near as temperamental as Daruis and Nezbit.

I swear, our parents hated us; we were 'blessed' with such terrible names. It's astounding that all of us are already or are due to marry soon. Kaida's married a woman called Fern. She's currently not feeling very well so is staying in her own quarters while her husband, and my oldest brother lounges around, bored out of his skull.

In this house, if you can call it a house, boredom is everywhere you go. We've read all of the books, explored all of the rooms, played and destroyed all of the games. The only thing we can do to calm our thirst for entertainment is to fight. Fighting is frowned upon and really isn't my forte.

Kaida and I usually lounge about and place bets on who will win. When the arguments are more heated, the stakes go up. Just to entertain themselves, Darius and Nezbit will start to squabble. I sigh and lean on the wall. Kaida doesn't acknowledge me  anymore as he sits on the window ledge.

"Oi, Nezzie, want to play chess." Darius asks, his voice grating.

"How about no, you always win." Nezbit rolls his eyes at his younger brother.

"You're only saying no because you'll have a temper tantrum if you lose." he teases, squeaky laugh piercing the eardrums of us all.

"Shut your pie hole Darius!" Nezbit commands.

"What you going to do scaly?" Seriously? A crack at the scales that climb up Nezbit's neck, chin and cheek. It looks almost like a hybrid between ivy and a burn. The texture is clearly that of reptilian scales but the colour looks as if Nezbit's skin is raw and burnt. It's a burgundy like colour and looks somewhat sore.

"That's not exactly an insult." Nezbit tilts his head, triumphant smirk on his face.

He's right, we all have those scales. They each climb the same part of our faces; some of us just received a more unfortunate colour for our scales. Poor Darius' scales are green, it looks almost like moss growing on his face. Kaida's face has blueish white scales on it, it literally looks like his face is mouldy! I try not to laugh as I analyse my brothers' scales.  Mine are greyish blueish and since my hair is floppy, I can cover it in most situations.

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