PETRA'S POV

He knocked my sword out of my hands, causing me to fall over. I tried to back away, still on the ground, as he rose his sword over his head. As he swung, I flinched, before hearing a clanking sound, I looked up, noticing a figure standing over me, their sword pushing back against his. They pushed back with their sword, knocking his sword out of his hands and knocking him over, before pointing their sword at him.The figure stood in an intimidating way, their dark hair blowing in the sudden breeze, making him jump. He ran the opposite direction.

The figure then turned to me, allowing me to get a closer look at their face. This figure was none other than Bree, my own daughter. She had saved her own mothers life. Bree held her hand out to me to help me up. I just sat there, awestruck and afraid. Afraid that if she keeps pulling stunts like this, she could end up with the same fate I was doomed to have.

Bree picked one of my hands off the ground and pulled me up, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Come on, mom, we’ve had a long day, let's just get home,” she said as she wrapped my arm around her. I have been caught totally off guard, unaware how late it’s getting. As we walk back home, we notice the sunset in the distance. Rows of yellow, orange, pink, and purple fill the sky, as the sun slowly disappears.

“Bree,” I begin, turning my head towards her, “Thank you. If you hadn’t saved me, I...I don’t know what I would have become,” I turn back to the sunset. “And if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to watch this beautiful sunset with my little angel,” I picked her up, allowing her to climb onto my back, letting her get a better view of the sunset.

“I love you, mom,” She smiled, leaning her head onto my shoulder

“I love you too, Bree,” I said in return as I kissed her cheek.

~~~~~~~~~

He raised his sword. As he swung, I flinched, hearing a sound that made me think I’ve been struck, even though I felt no pain. I then heard a thud. I looked up. He was gone, leaving nothing but Bree.

“Mother…” She said weakly as I picked her up into my arms. “Did I...Did I do good?”

“You did your best, that's all the matters,” I smiled as tears fell down my cheeks.

Bree’s eyes fluttered shut as she smiled. She was gone.

I shot out of bed with a yelp, frantically panting as I looked around. I sighed in relief as I realize I was just in my bedroom. It was just a nightmare.

Just then, Bree come bursting in. “Mom. are you okay? I heard a scream,” she panicked, rushing into my arms.

“Nothing honey, it was...just a dream. I’m okay,” I lied, when, in fact, it wasn’t. I was… worried about the future.

“Aright mom, try to relax,” Bree said as she began to walk back to her room.

I lay back on my bed, pretty much more stressed than ever. The future is a frightening place. Teaching her to fight might have been one of the most scariest things I could have done. I mean sure, she was trained and all, but… what if she slipped up and got really hurt.

I tried my best to forget about it as I slowly drifted asleep.

~~~~~~~~

The next day, I came to the front door to see Bree, impatiently pacing for her weekly sword training. She noticed me and came running to me.

“Mom, I'm ready for training,” she said enthusiastically.

“Bree, I don't want you to do these anymore,” I said quietly.

“What?!” She practically shouted. “But...but why?” I could see tears flowing down her cheeks.

“I’m worried that you could get hurt and I don’t need that,” I nearly yelled.

“COULD! I COULD get hurt. That's a rare possibility in the future,” She scoffed, “I’m going outside. Talk to me when you're ready think about the present,” she said before slamming the door in my face.

I took a step back as I processed what happened. Did I just take away my daughter's only talents? No matter. Surely there's another one she has. And I'll find it.

~~~~~~~~

We’ve tried adventuring; she tried to climb up a mountain via vine. It snapped as she was halfway up it. I caught her, luckily, and she told me that she doesn't wish to do that.

We tired animal wrangling; to make a long story short, she ended up almost getting trampled by a herd of different animals.

I wanted her to try ballet, but she almost immediately shot it down.

We even tried engineering; we tried a nice and simple machine and next thing I know, my ears are still ringing.

~~~~~~~

I don't know what to do. I want to find something she's good at that's not dangerous. I decide to take a walk outside to see if I can get any ideas.

The moon shone above my head as I wandered throughout the forest. I feel a presence behind me as I began to feel a breeze on my bare arms. I crossed them as I walked a bit faster.

Feeling paranoid, I turn around, realizing no one was behind me. I turned around and He jumped out in front of me. In response, I drew my sword, at least attempted, before I remember I left it at home.

“Heh...can we settle something instead of fighting about it?” I chuckled nervously, slowly stepping back, before tripping.

He raised his sword and swung as I rolled out of the way, causing him to miss. I got onto my feet and ran. I turned my head head to face him as I ran. “Ha, too slow ya big--oof!” I began to tease as I tripped on a root, slamming my face into a nearby tree.

I turned to face him as he rose his sword, he swung, I flinched, before hearing a clanking sound, I looked up, noticing a figure standing over me, their sword pushing back against his. They pushed back with their sword, knocking his sword out of his hands and knocking him over, before pointing their sword at him.The figure stood in an intimidating way, their dark hair blowing in the sudden breeze, making him jump. He ran the opposite direction

“Bree!” I shot up, giving her a hug. “I don't need you to do anything like this ever again,” I pulled out of it, one hand on her shoulder the other pointing to her.

“But mom, you needed my help,” Bree retaliated.

“You could get hurt doing these kinds of things,” I scolded.

“Yes I could, but let's not worry about future. Let's just savor the present,” she said as she pulled me into another hug.

Let's just savor the present. Those words stuck to my head like glue. I just have to...wait for the future and not just worry about it.

This was actually a writing assignment I had