Skip to main content

An Arranged Marriage - 15




    How far they walked, Ilona did not know.  But suddenly, Knut stopped in front of a weeping willow tree.  Ilona gazed at the tree.  Long, soft branches draped to the earth, creating curtains of pale green.

    Knut swept an armful of branches to one side.  “After you, my lady.”

    Ilona hesitated and then pressed into the willow.  The branches tickled her arms and draped over her head.  She parted them and walked into the shelter of the tree.  There were more branches, and she parted them as she continued.    Everywhere she looked, the green boughs hung around her.  She couldn’t even see Knut anymore.  The farther she went, the more branches there were.

    And then suddenly, the branches thinned again.  She parted the last ones and stepped into a clearing.  It was sheltered on all sides; the forest itself had created a courtyard – a hidden refuge for these people.

    Men, women, and children of all ages were scattered through the clearing.  Some were cooking.  Some were weaving.  Some were spinning.  One was sweeping.  Another was fashioning clay.  They all looked up when she entered.

    Ilona froze with all eyes on her. 

    A little girl stood up and pointed at her.  “Is that Ilona?”

    For a moment, no one else moved.  Then an older woman hurried forward and gathered the surprised Ilona into a warm embrace.  “Ah, dear!  You look just like Amalia!”

    A stout man with graying hair laughed.  “Are you blind, Flora?  She is the river image of her father!”

    Ilona pulled away from Flora’s arms, trying not to panic.  “How do you know my parents?”

    “Not your father, dear.  Only your mama.  There’s not a day that we don’t miss our little Amalia.”  Flora patted her hand over her heart.

    Ilona looked around at each person.  What were they saying?  She was so confused.  And a little bit frightened.

    Another woman stood up – a younger woman.  “Welcome to the Derwald village, Ilona.  You are quite safe here.”  She held out a hand.  “I am Verana…Amalia’s little sister…your aunt.”


(by Esther Brooksmith)

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Skye HoffertApril 10, 2018 at 4:08 PM

    I love this little hidden village! Her aunt, tell me more!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Helena GeorgeApril 11, 2018 at 6:34 AM

    *record scratch* Didn't see that one coming...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....
18 comments
Read more

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?
20 comments
Read more

Rooglewood Countdown: 12 days

     For the next 12 1/2 days, as we do our final countdown until March 31st, I'm going to do 4 posts asking about something you would like to see in the Snow White collection.      There are so many ways all of us, writers and readers alike, can win in this contest.  Maybe a familiar name makes it into the final five -- hurray!  Maybe a story in your favorite genre ended up in the collection this year -- woohoo!  Maybe you finally get to read a winning story about an evil king and his Snow White son -- how awesome!      So, in celebration of all the many things we can root for, I want to know some of the things that you think would be cool to find in this year's set of winners.      Without further ado, here is my question for the day: What is a point of view you would like to see in this collection?  Would you like a story written from the prince's perspective?  A story from Snow White's p...
9 comments
Read more