Ever After [4/?]
anonymous
August 28 2009, 02:37:45 UTC
Ivan felt a bit sad to be leaving the cottage he had lived in for all his life, but he had no choice. He couldn’t very well pack the whole thing up and carry it on his back, bricks and all. In fact, after he had packed clothes, food, his dagger, flint and steel for making fires and a book about which plants were safe to eat and which would kill him in an hour, he had very little room for anything else in his satchel. At last, he decided to take a warm scarf that had belonged to Yekaterina, and an ornate knife that Natalia had treasured. The scarf he wrapped around his neck and the knife was tucked deep into his satchel for safe keeping. There, now he had no more reason to stay.
“Are you done? Ready to go?” the doll asked when Ivan finally left the house and locked the door behind him one last time. He had left the doll outside on a rock while he gathered up his things; he wanted his last moments in that house to be private.
“As ready as I will ever be,” Ivan said, and picked the doll up. It couldn’t walk fast enough on its cloth legs, so he tucked it into his satchel on top on his other belongings.
He had been in the forest hundreds of times over the years, and at first the paths he followed were familiar and well traveled, but the further he went, the stranger the woods looked. He had passed the place were he had met the thief, and the forest beyond looked darker and wilder than ever. It suddenly occurred to Ivan that he wasn’t even sure if he was walking in the right direction. He had never been to the city on the other side.
“Little doll, am I going the right way? I’m not lost, am I?” he asked. The forest had gotten unnaturally quiet, and his voice seemed too loud in contrast.
“How would I know that? I don’t have a map or a compass,” the doll replied.
“But you were the one who told me about that city! Surely you know how to get there!”
“I only know of the city because your sisters did, but they didn’t know much either. Still, if you walk in one direction long enough, you’re bound to find something!”
This sounded like very poor advice to Ivan, but he had no choice but to keep walking. He walked and walked until his stomach started growling, so he stopped to eat some of the mushrooms he had packed for lunch, and then started walking again. By that point the forest had gotten very strange indeed. There seemed to be only trees. There was no undergrowth, no moss, no flowers, no animals of any kind, only tall trees that stretched up to the sky and blocked out most of the sun. Even the trees seemed strange; they didn’t look like any kind of tree that Ivan had ever seen. Something seemed fake about them, though they certainly looked sturdy enough.
“Are you done? Ready to go?” the doll asked when Ivan finally left the house and locked the door behind him one last time. He had left the doll outside on a rock while he gathered up his things; he wanted his last moments in that house to be private.
“As ready as I will ever be,” Ivan said, and picked the doll up. It couldn’t walk fast enough on its cloth legs, so he tucked it into his satchel on top on his other belongings.
He had been in the forest hundreds of times over the years, and at first the paths he followed were familiar and well traveled, but the further he went, the stranger the woods looked. He had passed the place were he had met the thief, and the forest beyond looked darker and wilder than ever. It suddenly occurred to Ivan that he wasn’t even sure if he was walking in the right direction. He had never been to the city on the other side.
“Little doll, am I going the right way? I’m not lost, am I?” he asked. The forest had gotten unnaturally quiet, and his voice seemed too loud in contrast.
“How would I know that? I don’t have a map or a compass,” the doll replied.
“But you were the one who told me about that city! Surely you know how to get there!”
“I only know of the city because your sisters did, but they didn’t know much either. Still, if you walk in one direction long enough, you’re bound to find something!”
This sounded like very poor advice to Ivan, but he had no choice but to keep walking. He walked and walked until his stomach started growling, so he stopped to eat some of the mushrooms he had packed for lunch, and then started walking again. By that point the forest had gotten very strange indeed. There seemed to be only trees. There was no undergrowth, no moss, no flowers, no animals of any kind, only tall trees that stretched up to the sky and blocked out most of the sun. Even the trees seemed strange; they didn’t look like any kind of tree that Ivan had ever seen. Something seemed fake about them, though they certainly looked sturdy enough.
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