Phew! Just on time to put out my entry for
Morning's writing contest!!
And would ya look at that? 30 followers! Only 5 more until my current goal!
Well here is the entry!! Enjoy! I don't think it's that good... but... oh well, I tried.
Janelle looked out the window of her little home. Her mother was
cooking in the fire place with small portions of dark hair slipping
out of the handkerchief tied in her hair. Her father was still
working at the cheese shop, which didn’t pay much. Her brothers
were out by the pond, most likely.
Janelle twirled a piece of light brown hair in her finger. Her
pale pink dress was clean and her gray blanket was old and
comfortably worn.
Outside of Janelle's comfortable little home, she often snuck away
to the forest to meet and watch the so called 'strange creatures',
that many people these days would capture and kill because they were
'useless' and 'dangerous'. Janelle secretly, one of the people who
still loved these unusual and slightly dangerous animals. Even if
her family knew she supported these creatures, they couldn’t afford
to help keep them alive. So Janelle kept it to herself.
That cloudy day had past and it had warmed up a little. At the
break of dawn, Janelle threw on a white dress and her blue hooded
cape. She grabbed a basket and told her mother she was going to find
some berries, which she would... but she was off to see the animals.
She rushed out into the crisp morning air, breathing it in. She
went out to the field, beyond her home and the cobblestone road. She
ran through the field of damp grasses and purple flowers and came
upon the woods. It was dark, and the sun crept through a few of the
entangled branches. You see, after the people started to rebel
against these animals, they all fled into the forest, to a hidden
sort of oasis. She slowed her pace when she came upon the hidden
animals. There was a large parting in the trees above, where the sky
shone clear and blue, and the golden sun glimmered. The grass was
soft and was greener than any other grass. It was an almost magical
place. There were rocks, where the large, bird\lion creature, the
griffin, lay. It's eyes opened slowly and Janelle peeked through the
dark forest into the 'oasis'. Above her, a phoenix cawed like a
raven. The phoenix could do many more things, but the interesting
creature kept a low profile. Janelle smiled at the griffin and sat
beside and pet it. She looked up as a centaur, a human\horse
creature, came out of the brush.
“Hello Janelle.” It said with a very human like voice. It
was a calming voice. Janelle replied with a grin and a nod. The
phoenix swooped down with a powerful thud as it hit the ground.
Janelle looked around and many other centaurs could be seen in the
forest. And griffins casually walked amongst them. More phoenix
came down from the air and fauns walked out from the forest, some
were picking berries off of small branches. Then all went silent at
the sight of the very last unicorn. The unicorn walked into the
clearing and the voices of the merry centaurs and fauns were hushed.
The unicorn began to speak to the other animals, and if Janelle
listened close enough, she could understand it. When she listened at
first it would sound like a horse neighing. But when she tried hard,
it was like a calm breeze that spoke to her heart in whispers.
Sometimes Janelle would close her eyes to hear it, and she could
almost feel the soft, breezy words. A voice that cracked like the
branches Janelle stepped upon, and like the grasses that swayed in
the breeze near the field. This time, the unicorn seemed troubled and
said, “I have felt a disturbance... Janelle,” the unicorn looked
over at her and she looked up and flipped a piece of hair from her
face, “You must not come here any longer,” it continued, “I
fear that the other humans are ready to strike for the last time...
we have lost many of us already,” the unicorn said and the other
creatures looked down with sorrow, “We need to escape, and Janelle,
you must go and never say a word to anyone of our whereabouts, do you
understand, child?” The unicorn finished and looked at Janelle.
“I understand.” Janelle said.
“It is settled, we shall flee in the night,” the unicorn said
and the others agreed. The unicorn turned back to the forest, its
white mane and coat glimmered a pearly white and its horn... many
different colors. Janelle was worried. What if they were caught?
Would she be to blame? The fauns gave her berries to give to her
mother and she shook hands with them and said goodbye to the others.
She took her cloak and ran back to home.
Later that evening, after Janelle's family had gone to bed, she
heard many feet going through the streets. She went to the window
and saw them. People going to the field, to the... animals.
No.
It was happening. Janelle
thought. She quickly slipped on her shoes and her cloak and went
quietly out the door, running very fast. She ran swiftly along the
side of the field so she was not seen. She was ahead of the people,
she would make it. When Janelle got there, she whispered, “Are you
there? They are coming!” There was a sound from the forest and a
faun came out. Its eyes were wide and frightened. Janelle looked
behind her, she could hear people and saw lanterns not too far away.
“Go!” She whispered to the
animals. They quietly ran. The people approached and Janelle stood
alone, scared and cold, in the clearing.
“Where are the animals?” One of
the people grabbed her cloak and shook her and she fell to the
ground.
“I-I don't know...” she realized
that was a bad lie, because why else would she be here. The person
tilted his head with unbelief. He gestured to the rest of the people
and they ran towards the animals.
Janelle stayed behind, she couldn’t
risk the be trampled by the fighting people and animals. Before
long, she heard cries and fighting in the distance. She snuck closer
in the woods and watched, painfully.
Fauns fell to the ground... they could
not defend themselves. Centaurs tried to run and fight them off but
it was no use, they were surrounded. Phoenix were all shot down by
arrows. The animals were not ready for a fight, they were losing
terribly and unprepared. Then the great roar of the griffin. A roar
and a caw at the same time. It was loud and strong and there was a
flash of light as it turned itself to fire. And then the roar
sounded painful and fell silent. All that was left was the unicorn.
It could not defend itself. The majestic creature put off a blue-ish
glow from its white, iridescent coat in the moonlight. Janelle saw
one of the people slash it with a sword and the unicorn began to low
even brighter and its horn shone with blinding light. All the people
fell to the ground. But Janelle could see right through the light,
like the unicorn was showing her something. She heard the stick
crunching, grass blowing whisper say to her... only her, “Your
friends are gone, but they are safe... I will see you elsewhere,
Janelle. Thank you for all you have done,” and that that, the
light stopped and it seemed all the people were temporarily blinded
as the moaned and all kept saying that they could not see.
Janelle was in awe. She laid down on
the grass and fell asleep beside the brush.
In the morning, she sat up straight and
brushed off her dirty dress. The people were gone and so were the
bodies of the animals. The people must have ran home, but what of
the bodies of the animals? Had the unicorn taken them? As Janelle
ventured through the woods where the fighting had been, she stood
right on the center of the trampled, damp leaves and looked out in
the deep woods and saw a glowing figure. It was the unicorn. It
galloped closer, silently. It looked ghostly, but it was there.
“Janelle,” it said in it's calming
whisper, she listened as it's words created a soft breeze around her,
“I am here. I will always be here. But I will be hiding. And in
the future, when even you are gone, I will keep you safe, and farther
in the future in many years, people will not know me, but they will
admire me. This will be a pastime and seem only a fantasy, not a
reality that was lived by a person. It will be seen as a myth. Not
a lie or a tale, but as a story that many people, especially children
like you will admire over thousands of years,” Janelle nodded and
the whisper ended and there were tears on her face, she was so
surprised and shocked and she sat in the woods and thought until she
went home and never spoke of this again. Janelle only smiled when
people mentioned it. She knew something they didn’t, and she was
proud. Every once in a while, the unicorn would speak to her in the
woods and she would keep it a secret. She knew it was always there.
xxLizzie
