The Woods

A Night of Celebration

            I spent the rest of my days up until Friday going to school and visiting Gabe. The doctor wasn’t sure when he would be fit enough to try and walk, but he said everything was healing well. The village has been quiet since Gabe’s attack. Everyone was scared for their lives and I didn’t blame them. I was scared too, but more for Daniel’s sake than my own. If my father made the decision to go hunting, he would find Daniel’s village and destroy them all. It was Friday and today was my birthday though it didn’t feel like it. I wasn’t going to school and neither was the rest of the village kids. Today was a celebration and the village would be getting ready for it all day long.

            My father was taking precaution and setting up guards on the outskirts of the village for the entire night. There would be no interruption for my birthday. This was also the day that my mother and father would declare my betrothal to Roland. That made me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I was also disappointed that I had not seen Daniel in two days. He said we would see each other soon. He was all I could really think about for the past few days.

            “Oh Calla.” My mother sings before knocking on my door. I turn to my other side and ignore her. I didn’t want to get out of bed just yet. All I wanted to do was relax for a little bit and fantasize a little more about Daniel. I hear the door open and then my mother moving about my room. I groan and pull my blankets over my head. She sighs.

            “Wake up now. It is my little girl’s day!” She says excitedly and pulls the blankets off of me. I sit up and push the hair out of my face. My mom had braided it last night so it would be curly for tonight’s celebration. It was tradition that nobody outside my family saw me before the celebration. I would be cooped up inside all day today and I hated that. 

            “I am not little anymore.” I say to her. She pauses to look at me and I can tell that she has this thoughtful look on her face. This was a huge day for me. I was going to be an adult.

            “You are right, you aren’t.” She says with a fading smile. I give her a small smile and get out of bed. I put on some clothes that I would be comfortable in the rest of the day. I have not even seen what I was going to wear for tonight. My mother usually kept my birthday gowns from me.

            I spend the rest of my day watching my mother order people around and reading more books about wolves. I was so bored and all I wanted to do was go outside and into the woods. I just wanted to see Daniel. It was so odd to feel so connected to someone when you hardly knew them. It was just about sundown when my mother shoved me into the bath. She covered my hair so it wouldn’t get wet and washed me down with this rose and vanilla smelling soaps. 

            In my robe she sat me down and her and a few other woman including Jezebel started doing my hair and make-up. My hair was pulled and brushed and combed. My mother also put some of her home remedies to keep it bubbly and not flat. I saw Jezebel putting a daring red lipstick color on my lips and I was worried as to what the dress was going to look like. She put on some dark liner and made me look pretty clean-cut which wasn’t really me, but I must admit that I did look beautiful.

            “Now for the dress.” She says walking in with black material in her hands. Now black was a color that I did like. I smiled and took my robe off. Jezebel helped me into it and helped tighten it up. I looked at myself in the mirror for a final inspection. I looked so put together on the outside, but on the inside, I was jumbled. My mother kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear.

            “Beautiful.” She whispered. I smile. My mother leaves the room briefly and walks back in with a white box. An early birthday gift perhaps?