The Dawning of Truth

    “And a one, two, three!” the young girl clenched her fists and lept for the next rock.  Her bare toes tried to cling to the hard surface before losing their grip and falling to the ground.  Elise scowled at the rock from her position beside it. 

    

    “Elise!”

    “Coming!” she leaned down close to the rock and whispered.  “Till next time.”  Her hair, having long loosed itself from her ribbons and was now adorned with a wreath of flowers, swung freely in the air as she skipped through the woods to the cottage where she live.  Ferns gently brush her ankles as she swished through them.  It was a glorious day.  As she reached the worn path that led to her home she caught sight of a horse standing in front of her home.  “Company!” her face lit up.  Company was rare.  Most people kept to themselves around here with no desire to meet with others.

    She slowed as she reached the horse.  It turned its head to look at her.  “Hey horsey.”  A smile beamed its way across her face.  There could not be another horse so gorgeous in the whole forest.  

    “Elise,” her mother’s voice sounded again, but this time it was quiet, too quiet. 

    Elise tore her eyes away from the horse and gazed at her mother’s face.  “Yes?”

    A tear trickled down her cheek as she reached down and folded her daughter into her arms.  “I love you,” she breathed into Elise’s ear.  “Don’t ever forget that.”

    “Of course.”  She pushed away confused. “How could I?”

    “So, this is Elise.”  The girl cringed as a man, dressed in fine clothing which bore the king’s seal, stepped out of the cottage right behind her mother.  There was something in the way he said it that turned her insides to ice.

    Swallowing hard, she quickly bobbed a curtsy.  The man smiled stiffly.  “Thank you for making this easy on me.”  She started, surprised, before she realized the words were aimed at her mother. 

    “Some people actually resist me, can you believe that?”

    Her mother said nothing, just stared at Elise with sorrow filled eyes.

    “Well, there’s no time to be wasted.”  He reached down, grabbed Elise around her waist, and yanked her off her feet. 

     Heart beating wildly she kicked violently. “Let go of me!  Mother!” 

    As if he did not feel it, the man mounted smoothly and threw her over the saddle in front of him.  She gasped as air was forced out of her lungs.       

    Elise opened her mouth in a silent scream as her arms reached out back towards her mother as the horse started loping down the trail.  Her mother crumpled to the ground weeping.  Tears flowed freely down the girl’s cheeks.  The truth was dawning on her.  She knew what was happening, and there was nothing she could do to change it.