Only Her

Chapter 1 Lost

Drip.

warm water spattered across her brow.

Drip

It dribbled down the bridge of her nose.

Drip drip.

And jabbed sharply under her eye.

Her eyes opened, slowly, to a world of colour that pierced her vision. Aching with the new sight, she rubbed and blinked several times until she felt nothing.

She looked up, and realized that she was sitting within hollow of a large brown tree trunk. It was damp and soft. She scanned the surroundings with her deep brown eyes. Coloured Birds of red and blue sat perched in the light green trees above. They looked sideways at her with curiosity, squawking at intervals.

She was alone.

Crawling out on her hands and knees, she could feel the dusty grey dirt pressing softly into her palms. She stood up and began to walk. The air was humid, and pungent with the scent of the earth and the plants. In the distance she heard the howl of a creature of which she did not know. It sent a shudder of fear up her spine as she realized she was completely alone. A group of feathery leaved plants offered an opening to a natural path. She parted their fronds, and crossed through.

The terrain was reasonably flat, but included gentle rises and falls with many roots protruding from its surface. She stepped her way carefully around them, the tough soles of her bare feet barely noticing when stones or stick jabbed at them. Anxiety ached in her chest, as she became more and more confused. She reached a dark area where the trees where thicker and different in colour. A steep drop dissolved the path, just as quickly as the sunlight had been swallowed up by the newfound darkness. She crouched down, and began to slide one foot carefully down the slope. Without warning, the lump of earth that she had been standing on gave way and she tumbled and rolled down until she hit the bottom.

She lay on her back for a moment, stunned. As she sat up, she noticed another break through the trees...a lighter one. Slowly creeping her way towards it, she could see that on the other side of the trees was a wide open space, with acres of flat green grass as its carpet.

She pulled herself through the trees, and stood at the edge of the soft green grass, and stared in wonder and relief at what she saw. To the right of this field were several wide buildings. They were made of stone, and stretched upwards to the sky as if the red-brown bricks of the roof could scrape the clouds. Her stomach rumbled, and she deduced that people must reside in those buildings. And where there were people, there must be food as well.

She crept her way around the grounds to the back of smallest building. It was from this building that she could smell the enticing scent of baked goods just waiting for her tastebuds to encounter them. The black wooden door opened with a creak as she silently made her way in. Tip toeing tentatively in, her eyes flicking from side to side, checking for danger.

Nobody there. The room was silent, except for a large copper cauldron bubbling over the heat. She spied a basket of bread in the corner.

She reached in, and grabbed a loaf. It was stale, but she didn't mind.

She had just sunk her teeth into the loaf, when she heard the garbled chatter of women approaching the door. She jumped up, but it was too late. The door swung open and two large old maids came bustling through. The older one was short and chubby, her hair covered with a white cap. The younger, was tall and boney, and had tied her hair into a dishevelled bun atop her head. They stopped immediately and stared at her.

"What are you doing here?" said the slightly younger one with the sharp, scowling face.

The girl stood silent. Her hands clutching the bread behind her back, mouth open in fear.