Taking Back

The Vision

He was alone. He did not seem like a person who was always alone or lived alone.

He looked dazed and confused, wondering what had happened to him. The coolness of the night gave him a gentle breeze, telling him to get up. The crickets strummed their nightly lullaby. The wind and song of the crickets were arguing.

He looked behind him toward a stone castle in the distance. Tears started stinging his eyes. Hopelessness swallowed him.

A wolf howled in the distance. His brown eyes widened as he looked toward the direction it came from; his tears ceased to exist. His full head of brown hair that curled against his neck stood on end as the rest of the pack answered the wolf's howl. His heart raced as sweat broke on his brow, worried if they would attack, but why? All wildlife avoid humans as much as possible. So why was he afraid?

Getting on his feet, he started to run in the opposite direction of the castle.

Why? If that was his home, how come he does not run home? Could there be someone back home that wanted him gone?

He dodged trees and bushes while keeping a listen out for the wolf's howls. His hair blew against the air. He lept from a boulder that rested next to a creek. His feet stomped into the water as he landed, and he sloshed through carefully on the moss-covered rocks under the water.

Not only did he seem cautious and in a hurry, but he also seemed nervous, as if he did not want to stay for very long. Where did he come from, and whom did he fear so much? Better yet, who feared him?

Panting and sweating after he finally crossed the steady-moving creek. Looking back at the way he had come, he seemed lost in thought, unsure if he should continue, but where? It seemed like he knew that he could not go back, but why not?

He sighed in relief, hoping that he was in the all-clear of the wolves.

Grrr.

He froze and looked out of the corner of his right eye. A gray wolf was staring at him. The wolf was telling him to leave.

After giving the young man another growl, the man began motioning his hands down to calm the creature. Before long, the wolf backed up, giving the man a clear path to keep going. The young man started breathing heavily as he cautiously passed the wolf. When he passed the wolf, his breathing had finally calmed down.

When he was a few feet away from the wolf, it howled again, and he ran.

While he was running for his life, he looked back one final time. Before he could pay attention to where he was going, he felt himself being flung forward and hitting himself on the hard ground. His tears poured out as he clawed against the dirt, and a cry of pain escaped his lips. A sharp pain ignited in his right ankle. He cried until the sharpness dulled and ceased to exist. The last of his rearranged his eyes, and his heavy eyelids gave in to sleep. His scrunched-up face had finally softened.

Once again, everything was quiet. The argument of the wind and the crickets that whispered in the young man's ears continued through the night.

Alisha shot awake with sweat rolling down her face.

"Are you all right, Your Highness?" asked the nurse, who held a rag against her forehead. "Another vision, I take it."

"Yeah."

"I will get your mother."

"Yes, please, do."

Alisha huddled herself on her bed, thinking over the vision dream she had. Her parents had taken her visions seriously when she was young. They were always about other people within a certain radius, but this was different. She could not explain it, but it was different.

"Are you all right, Alisha?" asked her mother.

"Yeah, I will be fine."

"Can you tell me what your vision was about?" she asked, sitting at the edge of her bed. Alisha looked up at her mother and noticed that she pulled her blonde hair back in a tight braided bun. She missed her mother wearing her jewels. She always looked so beautiful wearing them.

"It was a young man, but he did not look like anyone from the village. He was wearing a blue tunic, but he was alone in the woods."

"Hmm. Interesting. Anything else?"

"Yes, he tripped and got hurt out there. Could you check the nurse's room to see if anyone brought in a young man from the woods?"

"Of course, honey, are you going to be okay?"

Hanging her head, she did not want the pain and suffering to suffocate her life anymore. How can anyone go through what she has been through and still be okay? These visions she has are the only glitch in her life. These visions were about people and the troubles they go through in their everyday lives.

The villages' troubles were finally at peace since they were helping them out. "I will be fine."

"All right."