Challenge Accepted

The Chestnut Tree (challenge from an app)

My eyes wander towards the strange little boy on the huge chestnut tree placed on the small hill out back, curious as to why he was in our garden. We had just moved in, and yet, there's already someone here? 'He must be lost,' I thought in my head. My eyes flicker to his left hand. Something glints. The sun's rays shine on it brightly, as if it was some kind of diamond. 'But if it were a diamond, it should have reflected a rainbow or something,' the smarter side of me reasoned. Shrugging, I excuse myself from the people my family had invited over, and walk into the meadow. The ground slightly arched upwards and I almost trip over my gown. 'Stupid frilly dress, why do dresses have to be like this?' I bunch up the fabric of my skirt to my sides, hauling the heavy layers up to make my journey up the hill easier. As I neared the tree, I notice how old the little boy actually looked. He must be around the age of ten or so. Even more interesting in my case. Little boys around the age of ten shouldn't get lost so easily.

The boy noticed me trudging over. Who wouldn't? I am wearing a lush, frilly red gown in the middle of a meadow. I stick out like a sore thumb! His posture went from relaxed, to slightly guarded, unsure whether I would suddenly turn into a monster, ready to pounce and eat him as my dinner. I inwardly scoff for such a wild imagination. He wore a white shirt, with grey suspenders, a pair of dark blue trousers and an adorable blue bow tie around his neck. "Who are you?" He asked, bright blue eyes that resembled mine shined with curiosity, but gave away a hint of fear. "I'm Delilah Carter the daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness that live in the manor house behind me," I answer, staring up at him, I cocked my head, "are you a son of one of the guests?"

His eyes widen, "manor house?" He sputtered, eyes wide with great incredulity. I smile, nodding. "Yes, I live there. And what about you? Who are you?"

"My name is Theodore Stone," he answered.

"Mr. Stone it is, then," I reply, racking my brain for any memory of meeting a 'Mr. Stone' in the manor.

"What's with 'Mister'? I'm not an adult," the boy - Mr. Theodore Stone - looked at me in a strange manner as he asked me this question, kicking his feet up and down as they dangle from the branch he sits on.

"It's called being polite," I answer, "What are you doing up there?"

He flinched, looking down at the metallic object in his left hand longingly. "Nothing."

"Indeed?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you have such a look on your face?" I retort, hands on my hips.

His eyebrows furrowed. And he lifts up the object in his left hand, lifting it up to the sky. The object shines brightly again, as if light was being emitted from it. I absentmindedly take a step back, my heart rate accelerating. 'What is that?' I thought. My companion notices my unease and he throws the shining object up in the air, catching it with the same hand, before repeating the process. "Why are you scared? It's nothing unusual," he says, examining the object in a lazy manner, "I mean, I guess it is something unusual, but it doesn't look like it from the outside. It's just a time machine." This caught my attention. There is absolutely no way that what this little boy is holding is a time machine.

"Time machine?" I scoff, snapping open my fan and fanning myself, "as if that's a time machine! There's no way that you could travel through time. It is simply not possible!"

"Are you sure?" The boy smiles a bit as if he knew something that I didn't. "Because if it wasn't a time machine, then maybe I could see the so-called manor that you live in."

"W-what?" I abruptly stop fanning myself, and just look at the little boy in front of me. He must be joking! Our manor is huge! No one can not NOT see it, even from here! And time travel is NOT possi-

My thoughts were cut short when I turned around in search of our manor, only to find something much, much worse.

Incredible, large structures behold in front of me. Buildings - if I could possibly call the magnificent structures in front of me as merely that - stood tall, almost reaching the sky. Flickering lights everywhere! I doubt they were torchlight, or else the whole city would be in flames already! The lights were different colors as well! Incredible! The lights lit up the entire city, shining bright like a star in the evening sky. A sound thundered from up above that didn't quite sound like thunder, or anything that I'm familiar with. When I looked up a massive structure was flying in the air. 'It's flying! Oh my god! It's flying! How on earth-!'

Without thinking, my feet move towards the city. The boy must have noticed this, because he started calling out for me.

"Miss? Miss Delilah? Miss! Miss, wait no-!"

His voice was cut off when suddenly, everything disappeared in front of me, replaced by our little manor house in the vast meadow. "Lady Delila?!" Someone called. I suddenly trip on a rock that came out of nowhere, and I tumble down the hill.

Everything went blurry, until I finally stop at the foot of the hill. 'It's already evening,' I thought to myself. I glance back, feeling exhausted, and get a glimpse of a worried looking little boy up the hill, before the servants found me and took me away.

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Yo. So, what do you think? In the challenge I decided that the little boy was someone who had wanted to see the life England had before everything. So Lady Delilah actually lived during the time that women were not allowed to have jobs or work back then. So yeah, that would have been interesting.

I hope you liked the concept, but idk if I'd be writing about this anytime soon. What do you think? I'd love to know your thoughts about this story!

XOXO,
Cerulibeth