Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 74631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
For months, I’d wander a bit into the forest and lean against the trees. I’d watch as flowers picked themselves up and floated toward me until the wind blew them just beyond my grasp and they disappeared behind the wall. The vines that grew along the wall would twine with one another and travel through the forest.
I feared the vines the most because they often came toward me, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to curiosity or if the vines had intentions of their own. Once, when I was enthralled by a tree that moved its boughs for the squirrels as they barreled by each other in their playful manner, I didn’t notice the vines. I didn’t see them weaving together to form a rope. I didn’t notice as they crawled along the dirt floor of the forest toward me. I didn’t even feel them as they wrapped around my ankle. Not until they tugged me toward them.
My heart stopped beating and I screamed in terror. As soon as the sound escaped my lips, I regretted my reaction. The forest went still and everything retreated, including the vines. In a frightened blink all the magic had left. I apologized profusely and willed the forest to entertain me with its magic, but to no avail. I walked to where the vines laid on the dirt and gently picked them up, stroking the dark green leaves. They did not respond.
I was genuinely sorry that I’d frightened the magic, and I told them so, but it was not enough for them. I felt hollow and miserable that I had ruined such a beautiful thing. I hung my head and let a few tears escape. The magic must’ve sensed my sincerity; the vine in my hand sprang to life and gently brushed the tears from my cheek and chin before moving back to its place on the wall.
I admit that the fear kept me safely away from the mist and therefore away from the wall, but in that moment I had a burning need to touch the bricks. As I approached, the dark fog subsided, granting me passage, and I nervously touched my two fingertips with a kind gentleness to the cold exposed brick. A quiet calmness spread over me as I dragged my fingers along the wall and led myself farther into the forest where I’d never ventured. I breathed deeply, suddenly very relaxed, although a small voice within me was pleading for me to go back. To turn around. It warned me that I was not safe. But I did not listen. I could not. I was entranced, and I let the urge to seek out the secrets of the wall take over my body.
The vines along the brick spread themselves and crept along the wall with me. It was as though they were following me, wondering what I was doing. The trees grew thicker around me, making it difficult to see where I was headed. But I maintained my slow pace, all the while trailing my fingers along the brick until I saw a break in the forest ahead. The autumn leaves crunched beneath my feet. I must’ve been walking for quite some time because the sky darkened and a chill blew through the air. I wrapped my arms around my bare shoulders, cursing myself for not dressing warmer. The brick wall ended just outside the forest as I’d hoped it would.
The dark green vines stayed on the brick and two small flowers bloomed just above my hand. I stared at the beautiful pink petals, trying to gather the strength to touch them and wondering if I should pluck the flowers.
After all, the magic made them just for me.
My fingertips gently touched the delicate petals. A sense of profound calm washed over me, and the stem fell to my hand of its own accord. I brought the bloom to my nose and filled my lungs with the sweet floral scent. A soft smile played at my lips, and I silently thanked the magic and placed the stem in my satchel.
I always thought the gate was sealed shut with magic. The men who’d lost their lives decades earlier were the ones who were able to climb the gate. At the time, it was unbreakable and sealed with a magical force. The tellers of the tale were convinced that the magic allowed those men to climb the gate in an attempt to lure them to the beast, because when the screams started and the men ran back to the gate, climbing it in an attempt to escape, the vines wove in between their hands and the iron rods, tying their bodies to the gate and forcing them to stay on the beast’s side. The beast who they’d sought to kill. The magic held them there until the beast came for them.