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                The white silk skirt of my corset dress hangs over the edge of the apple tree, my bare feet resting on the ruff bark of the branch. The sun rises over the horizon, turning the orchard different shades of reds, yellows, and oranges. I bite into the juicy apple, waiting for my grandpa to come search for me and take me back to the villa, his blonde hair the complete opposite of my black curls. A mother bird calls to her babies somewhere, a chorus a tiny chirps replying to her. I think back to my own mother, the one who was killed for me.

 

                We were in America, running away from the people trying to kill me because I’m marrying the Prince. I was under protection but the guard couldn’t go everywhere with us. My brothers had gotten out of the house, leaving me with mom, dad, and Kayleigh. I was very sick and they put me in the car. I was falling asleep when the light came through the window. There was a car in front of us, heading straight towards us. I heard the sound of metal colliding with metal then passed out.

                The next time I woke up, I was in the hospital. I cried and cried, begging for them to let me see my parents and sister. My brothers are the only people I saw, their eyes full of sadness as I stared up in confusion. My older brother took my hand and explained that the car had been empty, a rock put on the accelerator to keep it driving. Mom, dad, and Kayleigh were dead, Kayleigh’s car seat had been destroyed in the accident. It was meant to kill me but it killed my family instead.

                Three weeks after I got out of the hospital, I was sitting in school when I heard a gunshot fired. I ducked below my desk, my eyes glazing over in fear. All I could think was that he had found me and that I was going to die. The school went on lock down as the police officers flooded the school, my guard rushing into the room and pulling me out of the class, explaining to the teacher it is for protective purposes. He sits me down in his car, explaining to me that I am safe now, that I can go home. I ask what happened and he explains that he saw the man outside a window with a gun, aiming it. He took out his own gun and shot, killing the man swiftly and quickly. I started to cry again, the feeling of relief and freedom rushing through my mind and heart.

 

                “Pst! Tiny! Are you out here?” A voice calls from nearby, a voice that I have never been able to resist. I hear the thumping of his shoes against the dew covered grass, looking down and seeing him approaching.

                “Pst! Travis! I’m up here!” I toss the core of my apple down so that it landed right in front of him, drawing his attention to the trees. I pick another apple and take a bite, eating my breakfast happily as he begins to climb up the tree and sit on the branch next to me, taking my free hand in his.

                “So why exactly do you come and hide out in the apple orchard? I wake up and you aren’t lying next to me anymore and I thought you were kidnapped by another psycho. I was so worried so I went and talked to your grandfather and he told me to look in the orchard. Why here?” His brown eyes shine with worry as I bring his hand up to my lips and kiss it, calming him. He reaches out and picks an apple, biting into it while waiting for me to answer the question.

                “It’s so calm and relaxing, just watching the sun rise coming up over the orchard. It makes me wonder if mom, dad, and Kayleigh can see the same sunrise from their place next to the gods.” I take another bite then toss the half eaten apple to the ground, jumping off the tree branch. The white dress flies up into the air around me, the skirt hitting my shoulders and giving Travis a lovely view. I land on my feet, leaning down on all fours to steady myself. As I stand up, I hear a thump behind me and feel an arm snake around my waist, pull me to his muscular body, a body I know so well.

                “Tiny, they are probably so happy for you, smiling down from their seat next to the gods, happy to see their little girl and big sister so happy in the arms of her fiancée.” He kisses me gently on the lips, taking my hand in his as we walk out of the orchard and into the field full of wild flowers. I see someone walking in the distance and I know it is my grandfather even before I start receiving his thoughts. Worried thoughts, afraid that something bad happened to me since I wasn’t in the room with Travis, afraid that Travis hadn’t found me. or had found me, wolves eating my body. My mind blocks the thoughts as I smirk, thinking back to the past and how I made my brothers mad so many times.

 

                While in America, after my parents died, I had to live with my twin and older brothers. We all have the same ability, the ability to read people’s minds, even from a distance. I had learned how to block my thoughts from other people like us but my brothers couldn’t figure out how to. I would always hack into their minds and figure out what exactly they were thinking about, whether to find out what they are preoccupied by or just to make them angry. They knew one thing though. Travis often blocks my receptor so they sent me home. Of course, they knew I would be happy with that because I was becoming impossible to work with because I missed Travis so much.

 

                “Tiny? Tiny!” My grandfather cries, begging me to be alive. He had been through so much, losing his son, daughter-in-law, and one granddaughter and not wanting to have to lose another. I run forward so he can see me and thoughts of relief run into his mind, making my smile as he comes and gives me a big hug. “Oh goddess. I was afraid I lost another one of my family.” Tears run down his cheeks and into my mess of black curls.

                “Grandfather, you know that I like to watch the sunrise in the orchard. Travis told me you told him where to look silly!” I kiss him on each of his cheeks, his chest bouncing as he laughs. Travis runs the rest of the length as my grandfather lets me go and starts spinning me around, letting go so I can fall backwards into Travis, knocking us both down. I lay on top of him, laughing as my grandfather runs away. Travis wraps his arms around my waist and holds me close, kissing the back of my neck teasingly. Spinning around, I find myself pinned to the ground beneath his strong body and perfect abs. He kisses my lips, softly at first and then harder, bruising them, teasing them softly.

                “No. Not here.” I whisper breathlessly, hating the sound of my own voice but receiving thoughts from some of the local boys who had just entered the field. That last thing they needed to see was the prince and future princess enjoying each other.

                “Laurel.” He whispers and kisses me softly again before continuing to kiss me deeper and deeper. “Tiny.”

                “No, they are coming. Travis, please.” I push him up a little, telling him that I really mean it as the boys laughter rings over the field. He sits up and kisses me once more.

                “I’m-I’m sorry. I should have listened the first time. I just missed you so much.” His eyes turn hazel, the green showing the lust he had felt and the small amount of blue showing apology. I give him one kiss and stand up, walking over to the guys as they start laughing again.

                “Marcus, what are you doing here? Trying to find another boy to help out  your… small package?” I grin at him as his eyes fill with anger, the guys around him laughing along with me. Travis jogs up behind us and wraps his arms around me, keeping me safe  from the angry eyes of Marcus.

                “Alright Tiny. You’ve had enough fun torturing these guys. Come on, you had an appointment in town with your cousin to try on your ball gown.” I sigh and allow him to pick me up, the guys whistling and cooing at us as he carries me out of the field.

                “Aw, I was having fun being evil.” I whisper in his ear, wishing that he would allow me to torture people every now and then. I grew up with these boys, I know all of their dirty secrets and everything that makes them tick. Every now and then, I just want to mess with them.

                “Marcus has been really out of it lately. I don’t want him to take whatever is bothering him out on you. I don’t want to get you back just to lose you again.” His lips meet my cheek as I feel his thoughts flood into me, thoughts of love and worry. Images of me being hurt, me lying in a pool of my own blood, me lying with Travis in bed, us happy together.

                “Travis…” His finger covers my lips, telling me to shush.

                “Laurel, I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You’ve been through more than most people go through in a lifetime. I just want to keep you safe.” He sets me down and wraps his arms around me, tears flowing down my cheeks as I lay my head against his chest. “I love you. I just want to protect you.” I lean back some and his thumb wipes the tears away gently, his fingers entangled in my black curls, curls that stick every which way because I did nothing with them today.

                “Ah shoot. I really do have a dress fitting. Ugh, what am I going to do about my hair! Benny will yell at me so much if my hair isn’t perfect and out of the way at the fitting.” I groan, annoyed that my cousin has to be so difficult, making sure I look a certain way just to try on a dress. I mean, I understand that it is his dress, his work of art, but I’m the one who has to wear it and I want to not be stressed out when I have to try it on.

                “Come on. Let’s go back to the room. We can take a shower then see what we can do with it.” A sparkle of lust appears in his brown eyes as he picks me up again, pulling me close to me and running the rest of the way to the palace. The king looks out of the chamber as we run past, me laughing in his arms as he tickles my sides. The thoughts coming from him were proud, happy that his grandson has found such true love.

 

                When we were little, Travis’ parents took a ride out in the countryside. They hadn’t returned by nightfall so Travis’ grandfather sent a search party out. They found his parents in the car, a tree being the only thing that had stopped them. I wasn’t supposed to know but I had accidentally read the thoughts of the people returning from the search, me and Travis having been forced to stay in a room together until we were let out. His parents had died on impact though they looked much worse than that, a pack of wolves having made them their meal.

 Travis refused to eat for weeks, his mind so full of grief. I even had tried to slip him spinach pie when the cook would give it to me, I knew it was his favorite me. He still wouldn’t eat. After the scattering of the ashes, he told me what was wrong and I comforted him. He slowly started to get better. Luckily, we were young enough so he was able to move on. His grandfather became his caretaker, training him in all the ways of that a prince and king should act yet letting him spend time  with his friends in the town.

 

“Come on!” He carries me into the room and tosses me on the bed, taking things out of the closets around the room and tossing them at the end of the bed. I walk into the bathroom and start to take off my clothing, getting ready to take my shower and get all the tangles out of my hair.

                “Travie? Can you give me a hand? I can never get out of my corset alone.” I call into the other room as Travis walks into the room, his shirt and pants off as he starts to unlace the intricate backing and runs his hands around my waist, pulling me close, our skin touching and forming a sort of heat.

                “Mmm. Tiny, please.” He whispers, his voice husky from the heat between us, letting me know that he feels the same thing as me. He pushes the corset out and away from my body, my body naked from the waist up. A knock comes on my bedroom door. I push him back and shut the bathroom door, giggling. He starts to run the water as a knock comes on the bathroom door.

                “Who is it?” I call out and am met by a stream of curses. “Marie, is that you?”

                “Who the hell do you think it is? I have no idea what you are doing to my cousin but from the thoughts I’m getting from both of you, I really don’t want to know. Your cousin sent me up here to get you. He said to forget about your hair, he has plans for it. Get dressed and come out. Now!” Marie yells through the door and I hear a laugh coming from inside the room.

                “I swear those two can’t go five minutes without being all over each other!” Michael calls through the door, most likely wrapping his arms around Marie at the same time. They are in an arranged marriage too and just as happy as me and Travis.

                “Like you guys are any better!” I yell out as Travis hurriedly laces my corset dress and I grab a pair of flats from a box on the shelf. “You two better be dressed! I’m coming out!” I yell out and hear laughter, opening the door and being tackled by my best friend.

                “Wouldn’t be the first time you saw me naked, Laurel. Remember when we were 8 and I convinced you to streak around the palace! That made your grandfather so mad! It was so funny!” The guys laugh as me and her walk drunkenly to the bed, barely making it there before we collapse with our own laughter.

                “Enough reminiscing. I have a dress to go try on.” I say after regaining my breath. Jumping out of bed, I bolt to the door and run through the halls, only stopping long enough to bow to my grandfather at the end of the hall and run again. The villa doesn’t get very many guests so I wasn’t worried about running into people I didn’t know as I ran down the sloped pathway, turning into my cousins shop right as he was getting his son ready to come fetch me. 

                “Took you long enough Laurel!” Daniel yells over to me, opening his arms wide for a hug. I tackle him, holding him to me as if I hadn’t seen him in forever. “Elijah, back upstairs. Go study.” He kicks his son in the butt as the boy runs upstairs, complaining.

                “Alright, where is this dress. I hope to the gods that you didn’t make it puffy like the last one. I could hardly walk, let alone snuggles close to Travis!” He takes my hand and pulls me to the back room where the pedestal is and instructs me to take off the clothes, as he walks out of the room to grab the underclothes that go with the dress. The corset dress is a soft material, dark blue in color. I hold it up to me, turning it this way and that to see exactly how it looks. Since the color is so dark, it will make my skin tone look even darker. The lacing to the corset it on the front so it is easier for me to lace up on my own. I pull the other underclothes on, the stockings and such, and stand there, waiting for my cousin to return.

                “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Michelle says as she was walks into the room, looking at me hair. “What did you do to your hair, child? Daniel told me it looked like a bird settle in it. Come here, let’s fix your hair up. Daniel is working on Travis’ suit and the finishing touches of your dress. It’s going to take a while.” She slides her hand in mine, taking me to the rooms upstairs. Michelle is Daniel’s wife, my hair stylist,  and probably one of the sweetest women in the world. She has treated me like I was her child since I was young.

                “Michelle, please don’t pull too hard. I didn’t mean to get it tangled. I didn’t have time to shower this morning so I didn’t get the chance to untangle it.” I try to explain but know it won’t work. I’m almost positive that there is grass in it from me and Travis’ little jaunt in the field.

                “Tiny, I don’t understand how you get your hair so tangled. And why is there grass in it? What were you and Travis up to this time?” A wet brush runs through my hair, tugging at the black spirals that fall down to my waist. Slowly, the curls untangle, the grass falling to the floor at her feet as she pulls the brush through the snarls of curls.

                “We weren’t doing anything! Well, we were… But nothing happened!” I desperately try to explain to her as she chuckles, pulling the brush more smoothly through my hair, going over the sections she had already brushed.

                “Laurel, it’s fine. I’m sure that you behaved yourself.” She turns my head some to look into my eyes. I look away, knowing that my eyes would give away the truth. She lets out a chuckle and tells me to stand, pulling my hair up in a bun and then slapping my bottom as I walk away. “Try to behave. I know Travis probably won’t let you but try to be a good girl.” She calls after me as I walk back down the stairs and into the pedestal room.

                “I have no clue how long I’ve been waiting for you to get down here! Hurry now, come get on the pedestal. Hold your arms up and face away from the mirror, I want it to be a surprise.” Daniel instructs as he walks over to me, a dress bag in his hand. I do as he instructs, putting my arms above my head. I silk dress slides over my head, a tight fitting dress fitting snuggly against my body. I look down at myself as he ties something around my back, a gauzy material falling softly from my shoulders to the floor, bubbling out beautifully. The dark material matches the under-dress though it has a sparkly sheen to it. “Alright, let’s turn you around.”

                Taking my hand, he slowly spins me around, the dress a bit long without the shoes that go with it. In the mirror, a girl stares back at me, A beautiful girl in a gorgeous dress. She looks like a princess.

                “Wow…” I gasp in shock, touching the dress in shock, lifting the silk into my hands, feeling the soft gauze and sparkles. “I look like a princess.”

                “You are a princess, Tiny. This is the ball that makes your engagement to Travis official, you know. It seems like just yesterday I had to make dresses that would cover your diapered bum.” Daniel sniffs, a tear rolling down his cheek as I turn around. “You’ve grown up so fast. You are a beautiful young woman now. You look just like your mother at their engagement ball. You know, this was her dress.” I look at him in wonder, thinking about how close I am to my mother.

                “Really?” I question, not believing that it could possibly have been my mothers. He motions that he will be back in one minute and exits the room. I hold the dress up and step off the pedestal, getting closer to the mirror and looking at myself closer. The sound of someone clearing their throat calls my attention away from looking at myself in the mirror.

                “These are some pictures taken at their engagement ball. They are in black and white, but I think you can picture the dress.” He hands them over, my parents staring up at me, smiling. My mother is in a lovely dress with sparkles and gauze, the same dress I’m wearing.

                “Wow. I really do look like her.” Tears roll down my cheeks with the thought of my parents, how happy and proud they would see to see me like this, in a dress that shows that I’m a woman. My engagement dress.

                “Hello?” A voice comes from behind the door at the front of the room. “Laurel? Tiny?” A head of black curls peaks into the room and I turn away, turning away so that Travis can’t see me.

                “Out boy! You can’t see her in her engagement dress! Shew! Shew!” Daniel laughs, grabbing a nearby paper and running to swat Travis on his head with it. Travis shuts the door and laughs, standing outside as he waits for me to change. “I swear he is evil. By the way, you have an appoint with Jared next. He has some special lingerie for your big night. Not like that hasn’t happened before.”

 Giving me a smirk, he comes over and unties the dress and pulls it off over my head. He tosses me a new corset dress and exits the room with the dress over his arm gingerly. I lace up the corset dress, the lacing on the side, and run through the door, smashing right into Travis and knocking him down.

                “Oh my! I’m so sorry!” I slid my hands behind his head and cradled his head in my arms, resting his face against my bosom. He starts to laugh as I stand up, pulling him up behind me. His arms wrap around my waist and he pulls my closer.

                “Oh, love, I’m sure you’ll figure out some way to pay me back for knocking me over!” He pulls me close and kisses me hard on the lips, kissing me deeper and deeper, pressing me up against the wall. The door to the pedestal room swings open and he draws back in shock as Daniel looks at us and laughs.

                “I guess you don’t need the lingerie to have a good time! Way to go Tiny!” Travis turns beet red and I give my cousin a happy smile, happy to see him laughing again after our tender conversation a few moments earlier. “You better got to that appointment though. You know that Jared is not nearly as forgiving as I am for people who are late!” I lean over and give my cousin a kiss on the cheek then grab the skirt of my dress and Travis’ hand and run out of the shop.

                “I swear you have more appointments then any three people combined! You know the Americans are coming in today. Brigitte, Anna, Marissa, Sean, Stephen, and Jacob are coming in on a flight landing at 7! They are coming for the ball. Your grandfather invited them!” He grabs my hand and swings me around, pulling me in close so he can give me a kiss. I let out a little giggle, pulling away and running the rest of the way to the shop.

                “If I’m not  out of the appointment, will you meet them for me?” I call back as I listen to his footfalls behind me. I turn into the lingerie store, shutting the door behind me, locking Travis out. Jared doesn’t let boyfriends, fiancés, or husbands into his shop because he wants his products to be special surprises for the men.

                “Tiny, is that you? You are late! I need to take that ruler out and beat you with it child! Knock some sense of time into you!” He walks out from the back room, the room where he makes the lingerie and has the women try it on.

                “Jared, you know threats do nothing for me. I am a gypsy after all!” I laugh, dancing around the cramped store front.

                “Get back here! You need to try these on.” He tosses me a pile of lace, silk, and other materials that I had told him Travis likes. There is one set that is the same midnight blue of my ball gown, the set that goes with it. I unlace the corset dress and climb behind the screen, sliding out of my current lingerie, the beat up white lace I’ve had since I was 14, and put on the new delicate pieces, the beautiful lace framing my body perfectly.

Author's Note

I know it isn't my best work. I didn't know how to explain certain parts of it because it was kind of complex. Also, if you can think of a name, I would forever be in your debt. It isn't done yet, but I am working on it.

Reviews

[AbsentElements]

Whether it be your best work or your worst it is better than most I have seen. There is no need for explaining because if people can't get an explanation on their own from the words written, maybe they don't need to know.

There is a lot of description, the best of it in the first paragraph. Very interesting story behind it all.

I very much enjoy this piece

[Wicahpi]

I don't know what you should call this story, but the word used most seems to
be TINY...so maybe simply that. :)