2 The Day

3 POV

Today was the day, the day that changed her life for the better- and for the worst. But we won't get into that now. Today was the day, the day where she met the legend that she thought was only in the myths.

She woke up that morning with a smile on her face and got ready for her special day. Once she was finished, she got out of her little house and went to the forest to get some apples for her new friend. She had only met the animal a few days ago but it was the only thing she really considered a friend, so she always stopped by to feed it. She climbed on one of the trees that covered the clearing she was at and reached for the apples. She was only able to grab two before she fell off and cut her arm. It hurt a bit but it wasn't too bad so she moved on quickly and went to the spot where her friend was at. She arrived at the spot only to find it was not there, so she went to the pond located in the middle of the empty clearing that was surrounded by big oak trees to wash her hands and apples so as to not get her friend sick.

Suddenly, she heard a noise somewhere near the bushes and decided it was best to investigate. She was a little scared, thinking it might be a monster or a villager trying to hurt her, but quickly changed from fear to happiness when she saw her friend walking towards her. It was a beautiful brown horse that had white lining down its face, though it was barely seen as it was covered by the full diamond armor it wore on its body. She never once noticed the name tag it clearly had around its neck, too excited to feed it to ever realize. It was only after she fed it the apples and was brushing the horse's hair that she noticed that it had a name. She stopped braiding its hair and read it out loud, "Car- l?" She said it slowly, processing it in her little brain and decided it was best to write it down to really understand it. She sat on the grassy floor and grabbed a nearby stick and wrote the name "Carl" on the ground, smiling with pride as she was able to spell it out. It was a beautiful name, and she quite liked it, and was especially happy to know his gender now so she didn't have to call him "it" all the time.

She hung out with Carl for a bit more until it got late so she waved goodbye to the horse and started walking back to the village. While walking, she spotted a field full of alliums: her favorite! She smiled and started to pick up the flowers to give as a present to her family. She collected 5 in total since it was a rare flower and rolled up her shirt to make a DIY pocket and carefully put them in there. She got back to the village soon after and went to her home, which stood atop of a little slope that looked over the other little houses in the village. She goes behind it only to find two little gravestones sitting there:

her parents.

The names on the gravestones were smudged due to the lack of care it was given for years. She smiled sadly and planted the alliums on each of the stones, making sure her parents got two each. She stood there for a moment just staring at the stones, trying to stay happy but the memories of the day flooded her mind, making a few tears fall down her scruffed up face.

After visiting for what felt like hours, she waved goodbye to her parents and went inside her home. She sits on the cold ground and thinks about how she should treat herself for her birthday. She hadn't had food for a couple of weeks now so she could go with a loaf of bread in place of a cake. She decided to go outside of town to get the bread though- she already learned her lesson from stealing food located in the village and the inhabitant's houses.

She grabbed a few necessities before heading out into the freezing cold, telling herself she needs to do this quickly if she doesn't want to get frostbite. She wonders why everyone isn't outside like usual but doesn't think about it too much as she's on a mission. She leaves the walls of her little town and looks around the forest in search of any other signs of homes in the area. She finally spots a cabin in the middle of the woods, which is connected into a second cabin through a bridge that's over a little pond with lily pads. She looked in awe at the sight, going up the stairs to look through any window she could find.

She finally spots a table that has a plate of bread and some other goodies like soup and potatoes on it and decides she will only take the easiest ones to carry. She hops through the window and steals the bread while also pocketing some baked potatoes with it. However, before she could climb out again, she stopped to look around. Is this how a home is supposed to feel like? She wonders, as the little cabin is filled to the brim with chests full of many things she's sure, and is very...warm. She decided to explore a bit, finding a little room on the top floor that had a king sized bed, a carpet, a very sharp sword, a big fuzzy coat and a shiny gold crown with different colored jewels lining it. This person must be a prince! She thought happily:

She hears people talking outside but ignores it as she's too busy basking in the warmth to care. She just eats the bread slowly to savor every last bite, since she probably won't eat for a while afterwards anyways. While eating, she looks to the big bed and wonders how it must feel to sleep on a real bed. She had just been sleeping on the cold hard floor at her home for years, so it was very tempting to just jump on the big mattress and sleep for ages. It won't hurt to sleep for a couple minutes right?

Her childlike wonder gets the best of her and jumps on the bed, feeling the fluffiness and warmth almost immediately. She goes underneath the blankets and basks in the extra warmth, soon getting sleepy and decides it wouldn't kill to just get a bit of sleep in the warm house. Before she did, however, she looked at the crown that hung with the coat at the corner of the room. The girl slowly exits the bed and heads towards it, touching the gems that lined it carefully with her small hands. She takes the crown soon after and puts it on her head, looking at the mirror on the wall and silently giggles, I look like a princess! She puts the crown back after posing in the mirror for a bit and heads back to the bed only to immediately fall asleep as she was overwhelmed with warmth and… safety. One thought escaped her mind before fully falling asleep; Today was a good birthday.

And, for the first time in years, the child fell asleep with a little grin on her face.