My mouth dropped open; how could she think this was good news?

Wasn't our family doing well?

Why did she see the need to marry me off to my best friend? I have told her time and time again that I didn't see him like that. He was just my friend, and I wasn't ready for that.

Didn't she care how I felt?

All these feelings were shaking my body from the inside tell it trembled, thoughts were jumping around my mind so fast that I couldn't articulate them, so, all I could ask was why?

Mum looked at me with pressed eyebrows.  "I thought I was giving you great news." She told me.  "I thought that since you two are always together that this would be the next step."

The next step?  Was that what this was?  It felt more like I was getting handed off. I looked over to William - my elder brother -, who had been watching the whole ordeal unfold. Why wasn't she playing matchmaker with him?  He had been past due for a wife for years.  Did he know mother planned to do this?

Judging from the discomfort on his face, if he did know then it was not sitting well with him.

I looked back to mum who looked back at me expectantly. "May I be excused?" I asked her. She nodded, and I quickly left the table and ran to my room. It was at times like this that I was glad to be the only daughter.  I didn't want to see anyone else right now.

I stormed into my room like a cloud on the brink of tears.  I threw myself onto my bed and buried my face into the pillow. Why was this happening?  Didn't I get a say in the matter.  I was the one who had to live with him for the rest of my life.  I was the one who was going to be trapped inside of four walls, having to take care of a bundle of children.  I wasn't ready for that.  I wanted to cry and then I was ready to yell, my heart went with the former.

Why didn't she ask me first? I wouldn't have been as upset if I had gotten the chance to say no. If I had gotten the chance to explain.

I rolled over and I could feel the hot tears stream down my cheeks.

My thoughts slowly started to drift away, and my eyelids grew heavier. What did he think about this? Did he want this? Did his father?  Why was this happening so fast?

——————————

I woke up to the sound of someone yelling for help. My eyes wearily tried to break through the crust that had cemented my eyes shut. "Help me." The voice cried again as I rubbed the eye gunk away with the tips of my fingers. When my eyes finally pried open, I looked around the room and wondered why I didn't hear the thundering of any of my brother's feet. Couldn't they hear that someone needed help?

I stumbled out of bed and rushed to the window, my feet gliding against the ground like a newborn doe. I gripped the edge of the sill and squinted my eyes to try and see more clearly, but I couldn't see anything. However, I knew that it was coming from the woods. I instantly felt bad, didn't they know the stories? Didn't they know it was haunted by creatures that wanted us dead? Why were they in there? There was no good reason to be in there.

I waited around to see if I had heard correctly, and I hoped that I didn't. After seconds of silence, I doubted that I heard anything at all. Maybe I didn't hear anything. I turned around hesitantly, waiting to hear them call again. But it didn't come. I wandered back to my bed, my heart thumping from the adrenaline that was pushing through it. I took deep breaths to try and calm myself. I wasn't going to get back to sleep like this.

I clambered back onto my stiff bed and tried to find a spot where the straw wasn't poking up. As soon as I had made my way under the covers they called again, "Help." It was louder this time.

I pulled my blankets away, let my legs dangle off the bed and thought about what I should do. I wasn't equipped to venture into that forest, as mother had told me so many times, as she had told all of us so many times. But I couldn't just ignore them.  I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did.  If I had foolishly gone into that forest, I would want someone to get me.

I grabbed the candle holder with its unlit wick, a couple of matches, and silently walked out of my room and snuck down the hall.  Should I wake William? Would he go with me?  Probably, but I would probably wake Samuel or Tim in my efforts to wake him, I shouldn't risk that.  Neither of them would lift a finger this late at night and neither were great at keeping a secret.

I fumbled around in my brain.  I could go out, but if mother found out then I was sure to be in trouble if I survived, but not dead, not like the person in the woods who would be if I did nothing.

My hand hovered about the knob, doubt holding me there.  Should I be doing this?

"Help." The voice cried.  It struck me to my core, it was like it could hear my thoughts and I immediately felt guilty for hesitating.

I quietly opened the door, snuck out and made my way over to the forest.  Once I felt like I was out of earshot, I started to run.  As I got closer to the woods, I could feel myself start to worry.

When I finally made it to the woods edge I froze in fear.  Despite wanting to help, I wasn't sure if I could, especially at night.  Mum did tell me that the woods felt different to her at night.  More eerie, even more dangerous.  While our king had driven anything remotely dangerous away from the edge, mum would still heavily sway anyone to keep away from the woods.  While I knew that terrible things had happened from the creatures that existed within, I had always wondered why we hadn't moved.  But I knew why, they were the last connection she had to dad.

In an attempt to give myself courage I lit the wick with the matches and stuffed them back into my pocket. But it wasn't any better, everything looked more daunting now. I took a deep breath and could feel myself start to shake.  Maybe mother was right? Was I really ready to go in there? My heart screamed out yes and my brain told me no.  I sat on that fence for what felt like hours. I didn't know what I should do. What would William do? He would probably go in. He had always been brave. 

I tried to muster up the courage to go in, but I could feel the fear push me away, but then the cry happened again. It felt more in need than it ever did and so I pushed myself to go in.

As I ran further into the woods the cry became more and more persistent.  I quickened my pace, but the shaking candle kept me from sprinting. I knew that time was of the essence and so I ignored the stiff twigs that stabbed my feet.  In my hurry to find the source of the cry my foot hooked into a loose tree root, and I tripped.

As I slammed into the ground my candle snuffed out and the cry quieted.  I looked around discombobulated, all I could really make out were trees, or what I thought were trees.  My hands shuffled around the ground to try and find the wick, but it was like the earth had eaten it up.

I gripped onto the copper candle holder and tried to stand back up, wiping the dirt of my hands and onto my dress.  "Hello?" I questioned.  "Where are you?" Still nothing.  "I'm here to help you." Nothing.  My fear started to rise back up. What if that cry was a trick and I was the fool who had foolishly gone into the woods? In a last attempt I loudly said.  "I'm here to help!"

"Over here." The voice said.

I turned to where I thought it was coming from and stumbled towards it, barely missing the trees that stood in my way.  "I'm afraid I can't see in the dark." I told them.  "You have to keep talking."

"Over here."

The voice sounded off again, and I continued forward.  It had been a little while since they last spoke, so I was going to ask them to do it again.  But before I could, another root hooked my foot and I fell forward.  But I didn't hit the ground.

I landed with a thud on a creature that huffed when I landed, my weight forcing the air out of its lungs.  I wanted to run away; only dangerous creatures lived in those woods my mothers voice echoed.  But something held me there.  Maybe it was the velvet like fur that I could feel against my fingers, or maybe it was my fear which prevented my legs from running off.  I stood with the help of its deep breaths and my heart was thumping so fast that it felt like it wanted to run out of my chest and away from here.  I squinted my eyes to try and make out the shape of the creature.  A horse was my best guess, but I had never felt a coat this soft on any horse we owned.

"Are you here to help me." The creature asked, its voice low and tired. My heart froze, that took me by surprise, its voice didn't sound like the one calling for me.

I nodded. "Yes." I told it nervously as I balanced myself against the creature and tried to find my way up to its head, stopping short of the neck, my brain screaming that I was foolish. 

The creatures breathing eased as it calmed down, and in turn, it calmed me down.  But only a little.

"My foot, my foot is caught." Its lips flapped together, and I grew more certain that it was a horse. Perhaps the magic imbued in these woods had given it the ability to speak.

The creature shook its hoof, and I did my best to ignore my fear as I followed the noise of shaking metal.  As I clasped the metal, I felt how hot it had gotten and I realized that this poor creature must have been here for awhile.

My hand touched hot liquid and I quickly grew worried, even though it was expected.  I gripped my fingers at the mouth of the trap and tried to pull it open, huffing as I pulled it out to the ground.  The creature pulled its hoof out gingerly, and quickly tried to hide it.

The trap snapped shut as my hands hurriedly grabbed the injured hoof.  "It needs to be wrapped." I told it.

For a second, I really regretted doing that.  This was a wild animal, even if it could talk.  I expected the creature to lash out at me.  I prepared for it, it was like when our youngest horse would buck me off.  My chest tightened, my head turned away, and I closed my eyes.  But, to my surprise it loosened its pull and my hand almost fell to the ground from the weight.  "You better hurry, the sun will rise soon." It told me.

I gingerly placed its hoof on the ground beside me.  First, I needed something to wrap up his injury.  But the only thing I had access to was the clothes I was wearing.  My hands gripped the bottom of my dress, and I ripped an arms length off. I guess I had forgotten to get changed out of my work clothes, but it was nothing special, so I didn't morn for the loss.  I tightly wrapped the woolen fabric around its wound and looped it tell it could keep hold on its ankle.

As soon as I finished the creature stood up and snorted happily. "Thank you little one." It shook its head to recenter itself. "Now, you better hurry along. The sun is coming up."

I looked over to the horizon, the sun was indeed rising, slowly igniting the sky with pink and orange hues of light. Despite feeling like I had traveled far into the forest, I hadn't. I could see my house from where I stood.

Even though it was right, that I had to get back home or face my mother's wrath. I wanted to get a good look at it, an image that I could engrave in my memory of the horse that could talk.  The kindest creature in these woods.  An adventure I was able to have before I was married into a life of responsibility. But when I turned to face it, it was gone. Leaving me amid crumpled plants and silver goo.