spend most of the day at school not paying attention to anything, trying to piece together the memories I have of the last twisted walk I was on.
It was several months ago and Zoë was on vacation with her family. Our physical distance made it difficult for us to connect in walks. I try not to walk alone, just in case I need a rescue, but my imagination got the better of me, something that usually happens if I’m lost in a daydream before I fall asleep.
I landed in what felt and looked like something straight from the pages of a fairytale.
It was quiet. Dusk was fading away and nightfall was imminent. A gentle, intermittent breeze blew delicately through the leafless tree branches. The breeze brought with it a frosty chill that indicated a snowfall was approaching. The sky had a violet glow to it that intensified as the sun dropped below the horizon. I was in a forest, but that was all I knew for sure.
I took my first precarious steps toward what looked like a clearing ahead of me. Twigs cracked under my feet and dried pine needles crunched softly with every step. The closer I came to the clearing, the more fairytale like the world became.
Soft, silver snowflakes began to fall elegantly from the cloudless sky. Sparkling stars adorned the heavens like glitter. I reached the top of a small hill in the midst of the clearing, and what I saw before me took my breath away.
A large castle, made of blue-gray stone sat abandoned in a valley. The moat surrounding it looked more like a half-empty, moss covered swamp than a protective water barrier. Overgrown weeds and grass surrounded the walls. Vines of ivy and moonflower stretched around the towers. Gigantic pine trees surrounded the castle on all sides.
It was a breathtaking sight and nothing I had created on my own. There had to have been someone else I was interacting with and I was determined to discover who he or she was.
I carefully walked down the hill and crossed the permanently lowered drawbridge. The old boards that it was comprised of creaked and shifted under my feet.
As I passed through the gate and entered the magnificent courtyard, prehistoric looking trees, flowers, shrubs, and vines came into view, essentially filling the vast enclosure. Dew drops on petals and leaves glistened in the moonlight like little mirrored balls twirling under a spotlight.
My surroundings were nothing like what I usually created. They were so full of imagination and over-the-top beauty mixed with a perfect amount of fairytale that this had to be the work of a young girl. My head was carefully guiding me around the majestic beauty that surrounded me while keeping an eye out for danger. My heart was hoping to see a stately queen and her courtiers emerge from the depths of the courtyard.
Out of nowhere, the delicate voice of a small girl grabbed my attention. She was off in the distance, giggling softly and talking to a white bird that was precariously perched on the branch of a weeping cherry tree.
My presence had gone undetected. I stepped behind a large shrub that was unlike anything I had ever known in reality, in hopes of remaining unnoticed and sharing in her spectacular dream world.
She danced around the courtyard as snowflakes landed on her light brown hair and twinkled in the moonlight. When she spun in circles her gray dress whirled around her. I couldn’t help but smile. The purity of her walk was spectacular. I felt innocent and unblemished. I would have been happy watching her for hours. But our time together ended very brusquely.
A massive bolt of lightning brazenly erupted across the faultless sky, darkening it with ominous clouds in its wake. At the same time, a roaring clap of thunder raged through the air, bringing with it streaks of bitterly cold wind. The girl quickly crouched in fear and covered her head. The bird spread its wings to fly away to safety, but before it could get even a foot into the air, it disintegrated into a cloud of dust and ash.
The majestic flowers unhesitatingly wilted and lost all of their beautiful color, as if on cue. The trees’ leaves turned black and shriveled into a frost-covered death.
Thunder exploded again, this time much closer and louder. The magical snow turned quickly into a heavy rain. The once glorious moonlight was hidden under the thick cloud cover.