The Beginnin

The shadows of the trees loomed darkly against the starlit sky, the mystical blue glow of a full moon drew Elspeth from her home for a walk in the woods. If anyone knew about her midnight constitutionals she was sure they would cry “witch” so she slipped out of her grandmother’s cottage very quietly, so that she could enjoy the solitude of the cool night. Drawing on her cloak as she stepped away from the door, she headed to her favorite place, a lovely little clearing it the woods, that was bordered by a small stream, on the nights of a full moon she would slip away so she could write in her diary without the worry of prying eyes, and have a few moments to herself.

 

Elspeth York had always been a strange individual; no one seemed to understand her very different point of view or her quiet moodiness. Since her mother had died when she was ten she had been prone to sad contemplation on the nature of life, which struck the rest of their small village as morbid and strange. There would be days she wouldn’t say anything to anyone, her beloved grandparents included. Last year her sorrow and her moods had deepened when her grandfather had passed away, the only person she had left was her grandmother. Elspeth and her grandmother lived in a little cottage on the edge of the village, Euella, her grandmother had sunk into a deep depression when Collum had passed on. It was only recently that her grandmother had started joining in the village activities again.

 

Elspeth sighed as she walked on thinking about the conversation she had had with her grandmother earlier in the day. She mulled it over, replaying it in her head.

            “Elspeth, child I worry about you…” Euella had said quietly shaking her head “You have been strange since your mother died, God rest her soul, but you are almost twenty years old now, it is unbecoming that you have not married, the other villages are talking, for goodness sake girl you don’t even have any suitors!” Euella’s voice got higher and louder as she spoke, showing her exasperation and worry. Most of her life Elspeth had heard how she needed to be more like the rest of the village, she knew her grandmother loved her, it was just that she was worried about her as well. Elspeth wasn’t sure why she didn’t act like everyone else she just knew that she didn’t, she didn’t seem to think like the other girls either, while they worried about new fabrics and making dresses, Elspeth would have her nose buried in a book, usually something like the great works of Yanbury, she too contemplated the nature of life and existence, philosophy and the unknown fascinated her.

            “Nana, I try I do” she started pleadingly,”however; I just can’t find myself interested in what color dress everyone is working on. It just does not seem important in the grand scheme of things. And when it comes to a suitor, well Nana, I just don’t know why no one is interested.” She ended on a frustrated sigh, sure there was something wrong with her, she must be homely because the young men of the village didn’t come talk to her or ask her grandmother for the permission to take her for walks like they did with other girls.

            “I’ll tell you what the problem is with the young men” Nana Euella started “You run them off with your strange behavior. You scare them; you let them know you are smarter than them. You can’t let a man know you have more brains than they do, it scares them. Els I just worry about you, I have heard talk about your strange behavior, there are people watching that think it is something more than a girl who misses her mother. You have got to be careful my dear, it is bad enough that we live here by ourselves. Me they excuse my husband died and I live in the home we had together for fifteen years, but for a young beautiful girl like you to share the lonely existence of a widow, well that just isn’t right. I do like your company but I am afraid I have let my own ramblings affect you more than I thought, you speak beyond your years, and there is suspicion as to why. Just try to be more like everyone else, Els, for your own safety.”

 

Beautiful, her grandmother had called her beautiful, but then wasn’t that what grandmothers were supposed to do? Lost deep in her own thoughts Elspeth hadn’t realized she had made it to the clearing until the gentle babble of the stream broke through her mental ramblings. As she walked to the stream a breeze caught her hood and pulled it off her head, knowing no one was going to see her in the forest she hadn’t bothered to bind her hair up as was “respectable” and so it blew free in the breeze streaming out in dark brown waves behind her.

 

Elspeth could admit that her hair was beautiful; it was a deep sable color that shone brilliantly in the sun. When left unbound it reached her waist, and covered her back in thick waves that gently curled around her oval face. She looked into a still spot in the stream and caught her moon lit reflection, her doe like brown eyes stared back at her with surprise shinning in their depths at what she saw. In this light perhaps she was beautiful, she had soft brown eyes, high cheekbones and a slightly sculpted oval face with full lips and a cute little nose, in this light the roundness of her cheeks didn’t seem as bad as they seemed to her in sunlight. Breathing in a deep sigh she sank to a rock next to the creek and pulled out her journal from the pocket she had sewn inside her cape for it, and turned to the newest page and began to write her thoughts.

 

When Elspeth wrote everything else drifted away, she didn’t notice anything going on around her, and this was the case now as she got caught up in writing the happenings in the village and the conversation with her grandmother, her thoughts and confusion at how to be like everyone else. She was so focused on her journal she didn’t even here the approach of someone else until she heard a gasp.

           

Surprised by the sound she turned around and echoed it with a gasp of her own when her eyes spied a tall lean male figure standing behind her in the clearing. In the light of the full moon she could see his hide knee length boots, with green braes tucked in. His tunic was crème colored and a deep green cape blew lightly in the breeze, its hood pushed back to reveal a dark complexion, a chiseled jaw line colored with stubble. Her eyes caught on his lips that were sinfully sensuous. Shaking her head she moved her gaze upward to see his dark brown eyes that sparkled with a quality she couldn’t quite name. His wavy black hair was cut short but still curled on his brow and around his ears… There was something strange about his ears… Elspeth squinted and then drew back with a gasp as she realized his ears were elongated and pointed. Shock ran through her, this could only mean that he, he was an elfin being, but weren’t they supposed to be small and not exist?

 

Panic shot through her, the stories they were told as children about elves were not pleasant at all and here she was in the forest, with one, alone and no one had any idea she was here. She scrambled to get up, shoving her book and her pen in the pocket in her cloak. As she turned to make a dash for freedom she hit her knee on the rock and fell to the ground. Crying out in distress, all the stories she had heard of elves kidnapping people so that they were never seen again floating through her head she just knew she had to get away or suffer some of the awful fates the other village children said would happen.

The Dark male figure moved towards her, speaking in a language she had never heard before, however the tone that touched her ears seemed calming and gentle, not vicious and angry as she believed it should be. This gave her pause, and she relaxed a little and turning to face this strange man.

"I- I don't understand you" she whispered jaggedly " you frighten me and I want you to leave" Elspeth tried to put some force behind her shaky voice but was disappointed that instead of a command it came out as a whinny plea. She frowned at herself, anger galvanizing her she took a step forward “GO AWAY!” she yelled at the figure who just started at her as if she were a curiosity that must be figured out.

“Wh-Why  air  ew so an-gree?” came a stilted and accented reply that seemed similar to English though Elspeth was hard pressed to understand, what was being said by the deep timbre of his voice.

“I don’t understand what you are saying!” she said again shaking her head and standing her ground, the calm almost musical tone of his voice calming her nerves.Elspeth was starting to relax, having realized that that this stranger had not made any threatening moves in her direction.

Author's Note

Do you like the description or should it be cut, and please help with punctuation and breaking up sentences.