Chapter Text
There was this fairytale I used to hear, I always heard it from kids around the village, it spread like wildfire.
I don't really know if I used to believe it, or if I was too oblivious to notice.
But something always stuck with me about it.
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A field of flowers, the evening sun shining down on all of them, and a cozy moss-covered cabin in the middle. The soft grass swayed with the slight breeze of the warm spring air, Aarushi walked through the overgrown grass towards the seemingly abandoned cabin. As she climbed the few steps that lead up to the porch, she slightly opened the unlocked door, peeking inside of the house and-
"What the hell are you doing inside of my house, apple hat?" A voice said suddenly from behind her. She turns around, holding her book tightly to her chest. The man had a flower draped over his head, white hair and a pair of half-rim readers perched on his nose. His clothes were a.. sure interesting choice. "I'm sorry, I assumed it was abandoned." She spluttered. "Do you assume a lot?" The flower deadpanned.
"Do you insult everyone you meet??? Why is your cabin even in the middle of the forest, I've never seen you in town." Aarushi exclaims. "That's none of your business." The man pushes her out of the way and goes inside of the cabin, she could faintly hear the click of the lock after the door was slammed in front of her face. She scoffs and walks back down the porch, sitting on the last step.
“A beautiful well-kept flower field, overgrown and soft and this stupid white haired flower headed bitch guy keeping it all to himself.” Aarushi grumbles. She crosses her arms and taps her foot on the step. “Ah, hallo!” A sudden voice calls out from the left of her. “Are you one of Card’s friends? He doesn’t get much visitors!” She looks over to her left.
A mango with a stupid smirk on their face approaches her, an orange faded hat with pieces of mango in their hair. They were carrying a basket and their wrists were filled with makeshift bracelets make out of tulips. “Card..? I’m sorry I don’t seem to know who that is.” She says, confused. “Oh, the white haired boy with a giant flower on his head?” They question, setting the basket down next to the step she’s sitting on.
”Oh, him! He’s kind of..”
“Moody?”
”yeah.. very.”
“That sounds like him..” The mango sighs. “He doesn’t get out much, he hates going into town and rathers just staying in this garden, which I don’t blame him but I wish he’d go out and meet someone.” The mango sits on the step next to her, their hair fluffing up with the wind blowing lightly. “He seems stubborn.” She says, fidgeting with her glasses. “Which sucks because this is such a good place to read!” She grumbles while cleaning her glasses off with the edge of her sweater.
”Oh you read? I assumed that was for school only!” The mango exclaims.
“You.. don’t get out much either don’t you..?”
”No, not really.”
She puts her glasses back on her face. “But I do yeah, history is one of my few interests that I have..” The mango suddenly gets in her face. “Have you read any flower books?!” She jumps back slightly and adjusts her glasses to see them more. “Uh.. a few I think.” “You should definitely lend me some! Cardlin loves learning about gardening and how Mother Nature has flowed over the years!”
”Sure.. I’ll see if I can find some..” She says, smirking slightly at the mango’s enthusiasm. They smiles and grabs the basket again. “I really appreciate it! Oh and if you need somewhere to read, deeper in the forest is this beautiful tree with flowers surrounding it!” They jump back up cheerily and go inside the cabin. A beautiful tree deeper in the forest.. what could she lose? She stands up and dusts herself off as if anything got on her while she was sitting.
She tucks her book in her arm, starting to walk behind the cabin to find this so called ‘beautiful tree’. As she walked deeper in the forest, the sun slowly set. The air felt chillier, the forest had a slight golden hour tint on the leaves as the sun shows the last of her appreciation on the life below. As she walks deeper and deeper in the forest, the shadows play tricks on her mind.
But her curiosity takes over, and she decides she needs to see this tree before she heads back to her home. She slowly walks down deeper in the forest as a path catches her eye. It’s a person shaped path, like someone had flattened the overgrown grass to get to this area. She follows the flattened grass down, it takes weird turns and sometimes stops and suddenly appearing again. Something tells her it wasn’t only one person.
She reaches the end of the trail of the fallen grass, it led to a giant tree that the mango must’ve been talking about. “It is.. beautiful..” She mumbles to herself. It’s a beautiful golden brown with swirls and tints in all the right spots. The moss grew perfectly over as little flowers grew out of it. “Why has no one in the village said anything about this tree?” She wonders. Aarushi tucks her book in her vest.
”I wonder if there’s a good branch to sit on..” She ponders to herself, she pulls her hair back and rolls up her sleeves. She goes to climb it and-
It’s Black
tap
i cant see anything
why is it so loud
i can’t hear anything
its so cold
i I can’t breathe
Tap… tap
-.-. ..- .-. .. --- ..- ... .. - -.-- / -.- .. .-.. .-.. . -.. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / .- -. -.-. . ... - --- .-. ...
GGGAASSPP
She stepped back out of the sudden pitch blackness, not even blackness it was too dark to even be a shade. She stumbles back onto the floor, trying to ground herself with the feeling of the grass. Her shoe is gone, her book fell out of her vest somewhere, her eyesight is blurry without her glasses. Where even did she go, she’s scared.
”oh god-“ She stands up, running back and not looking back. She can barely see but she knew something watched her through the branches.