Crowdfunding Creative Jam story: Faerie School Colection: a door that's always ajar
Written for
siege's prompt 'a door that's always ajar'.
It was stupid. Even after a hundred years on Earth Willow still kept the door ajar. She couldn't bring herself to close it entirely because she still thought of the world they left behind as her home. Earth was a beautiful planet in its own way and she did love it, but it didn't feel the same. When she looked through she hoped that maybe it would have gone back to the way it was before they had destroyed it. A tear trickled down her cheek as she thought of the mistakes they had made and why it was so important that they never made them again.
“Darling,” a voice said from the doorway, making her jump, “it is time to let go.”
Willow turned to look at Alder and saw the sadness in his eyes. “I should have let go a long time ago and now it's too hard.” She sighed. “Is there nothing we can do?”
“We've tried everything, Willow.” Alder sighed, walking over to her and taking hold of her hands in his. “I wish there was something we could do to change what happened but I just don't think it's possible.”
“Maybe with time...”
“How much more time? It's been a hundred years already.”
Nodding, Willow glanced back at the door. “Are you sure, beloved?”
“I'm sure. Everyone is sure.” Alder squeezed her hands gently. “Close the door and stop looking back. We are here now and we need to focus on the lives we have, not on the world that we had to leave behind.”
“The door needs to stay open as a reminder. One day we won't be here any more and our children will need to remember what happened back there. Words won't be enough.”
Alder looked at her for a long moment. “You may be right there but I don't know if it's safe to keep the door open.”
“Nothing will come through this door,” Willow said, knowing without a doubt that nothing could. “When I made it I keyed it to our race's blood for a specific amount of time and that time is long over.” She just hoped that everyone had managed to make their way through the doorway before the time ended. “It's safe, I promise.”
“Your promise may not be enough for some people.”
“I am their only blood Queen, Alder. Even if they don't trust me then they should trust my bloodline.”
Nodding, he looked into Willow's eyes and she was grateful to see that he wasn't going to argue. “It's up to you, my love.” Alder bowed, smiling. “You are my Queen just as much as you are theirs.”
“You know that I will always listen to you and take what you say into consideration because you are wise, not just because you are my consort.” She took her hand out of his and gently stroked some hair off his face. “I love you, Alder.”
“I have never doubted that.” Alder kissed her forehead softly. “I love you too.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.