But, don't they exist?

She froze as she gazed up the young boy staring down at her, her lilac hair swirling around her like a purple cloud. Her golden eyes were wide as they met his black ones and she swallowed back her fear, as it boiled beneath her skin. Ophelia, her name was, straightened her shoulders, feeling her wings fold down onto her back as they hid out of view. She sighed and tore her eyes away from the boy, gazing around for some way to quickly escape. But, the garden she was in had one entrance and the boy was now blocking it. He narrowed his eyes while he assessed her, his face twisting with confusion as he took in her appearance. She was barefoot and her feet were covered in mud. Her white dress was to just above her ankles and it reflected something directly out of Jane Austen book, just less taken care of. Her skin was fair, almost too fair to be considered so, and it was nearly flawless, expect the light freckles that adorned her pointed nose.

Ophelia felt the setting sun burning on her back and she regretted the decisions that brought her here. She should have never left the forest and she should have never shifted. It wasn’t even dusk yet and she had thought it a good idea to go out now.

“Ma’am?” the boy asked, his accent unfamiliar. Where am I, she asked herself as she tried to find a reply for him. He was only eleven or twelve and she couldn’t decide whether or not to factor his age into her reply. A strange, wild looking girl was in his garden covered in dirt and she had been expelling a gold mist from her fingertips for a few minutes before he moved into her view. What was he thinking?

“Yes?” she said with a cracking voice after a few moments of silence. She could feel her bones vibrating slightly as her friends called out to her. It bounded inside her rib cage, bouncing off the bones, and she forced all her attention away from it.

“What is your name?” he pushed the thick rimmed glasses up his crooked nose and stuffed his hands inside the floor length overcoat he wore, something that was obviously not his. Ophelia huffed, seeing no way out but to talk to him, and she pulled her hair out and away from her face.

“Ophelia.”

His face lit up instantly and he took a step closer, one eyebrow rising in question. “Like, Hamlet’s Ophelia?”

She glanced around at the shadows curling in towards them; daylight was slipping away quickly. She needed to be back to the camp before the stars peeked out. Despite that and any plans of escape running through her head, she sputtered out, “Yes, I suppose so.”

“That’s bloody amazing! But�"but what are you doing here, Ophelia?” The boy took another step forward and she slipped closer to the edge of the path, seeing that she could easily run past him and she’d be free. He rocked on his feet, desperately hoping for a miracle-like answer.

“I’m�"I’m lost. And I don’t know how I ended up in here…”  The lie poured out of her mouth poisonously without much thought about it. She looked around frantically, but her eyes met nothing but the bright greenery she had been taking care of for the past few months. Ophelia rubbed her eyes, feeling irritation and tiredness sink into her. She prayed that he would let her go, for she had no desire to run past him and raise more questions.

His eyes narrowed again and pushed his glasses up again after they slide down a good portion of his nose.  “I can show you to the road, if you’d like. Oh, and, I’m Jasper, by the way.”

Ophelia nodded, thanking the Lord just as the vibrating in her bones began to grow more and more unbearable. “Thank you, Jasper, but could you show me to the edge of the forest? I’d know my way from there better versus the road.”

It was a complete lie, for she knew this entire country better than anyone would care to think about. Still, she wouldn’t care whether or not he showed her the forest’s edge.  Ophelia stepped closer to him, feeling the cold stone path way beneath her feet, and she could tell night was approaching even faster than she had thought it was. 

“Um, alright. Follow me, then, Miss Ophelia,” he turned slowly around and glanced backwards at her before leading her out of the garden and onto another stone pathway. Ophelia followed him happily as the breath of a storm wrapped her in her own little world.

They crossed a large patch of dirt and weeds and Jasper stopped walking. She stopped beside him, gazing down at the large mop of hair atop his head.  He pointed ahead of them and quietly said, “It’s right there, even though there are few trees. Good luck, Ophelia.”

She watched him turned and shuffle back to the house, his jacket flowing out behind him like a cape. At the door, Jasper turned to look at her and she waved slightly before bounding off into the forest at her normal, inhuman speed.

Author's Note

Review it, pleasseeee!

Reviews

[K.M. Lucero]

You pulled me in with the sentence "straightened her shoulders, feeling her wings fold down onto her back as they hid out of view." It beckoned me to continue reading on! I like it a lot and look forward to reading more!