To Stay in the Living Lands

Snippet Number One

Here you go! 😉 This is the first Snippet of my Short Story (teaser Here)

Chapter One

Cassandra flopped onto her bed, and a small dust cloud stirred. Cassandra coughed and turned her face so she wouldn’t inhale the grime. She was so tired. Everything in her ached. Her knees, her back, and even her fingernails. 

Cassandra’s bed was far from clean. She had stopped worrying about it a long time ago. Sleeping in the dirt became a part of her life. 

Cassandra’s stomach grumbled. She ignored it. Going to bed hungry was another part of life she couldn’t control.

She heard the clinking of silverware downstairs. Her Aunt must still be eating dinner. The scent of fresh bread wafted up to the tiny attic, reminding Cassandra of the stale bread crust she had eaten. 

Cassandra could almost visualize the food on the table. Cooked vegetables, nicely done meat with fresh bread with melted butter.  She squeezed her eyes shut. She would not think about food. She blocked the noise out mentally. Her Aunt should be done eating soon. 

She clenched the scratchy blanket with both hands, squeezing until her knuckles turned white. A clatter of plates broke through the sound shield she had made. 

Aggravated, Cassandra sat up again. She forgot the slanted ceiling and bashed her head against it. She had to bite her lip to keep from shouting in frustration and pain. She didn’t want her Aunt shouting up, or worse, coming up herself. Cassandra settled for a moan and rubbed her head tenderly, all the while scowling at the too-low ceiling. 

In reality, she saw no ceiling, just her Aunt’s face staring back at her. ‘Be grateful you have a roof over your head. I could have turned you out to the streets or sent you to an orphanage. Be grateful I give you work and don’t let you be a lazy child.’ Cassandra bit her lip again and looked down at her chapped hands. Her knuckles were raw and cracked. I’m not lazy at any rate. 

Cassandra looked out the window. Sleep seemed out of reach tonight. At any rate, her Aunt probably wouldn’t climb up to the attic tonight. She had been grumbling about bad knees lately. Mine hurt all the time. 

Cassandra stared out the window at the stars. Most nights they helped. They didn’t tonight. At the periphery of her vision, she saw a yellow glow from the garden below. She scooted closer to the window. It was fluttering about. It wasn’t a lightning bug, that was for certain. It almost seemed to fly like a butterfly. 

It seemed to draw Cassandra like a nail to a magnet. She quietly opened the small window and squeezed out. She climbed down the vines that covered the house, landing silently. Her knees almost creaked as she landed. She winced. She looked at the window above her, hoping her Aunt wasn’t looking out that window. She saw a shadow on the grass in front of her. Her Aunt was near the window. Cassandra held her breath. The light moved, dimming. Cassandra risked a look. Her Aunt had gone into her bedroom, assumable getting ready for bed. Cassandra let out her breath and looked around for the light she had seen from her window. 

She saw the glow again, it was near the large maple. The glow was small, only as large as Cassandra’s hand. She saw a figure inside it.

Cassandra breathed in awe. She was sure she’d never see something like this again. The light was almost dancing, and it was steadily growing close. 

Cassandra saw it clearly for the first time. It was a tiny human with wings like a butterfly’s. She was wearing what looked like a leaf dress, with long black hair. I never knew Pixies existed. I thought they were just fairytales. Cassandra watched the Pixie dance in the air, breathless. As the Pixie danced, Cassandra felt energy fill her. The aches and pains melted away as she watched. She scooted forward a little to get a better view. She placed her hand on a twig, which snapped.  

The Pixie whirled around to face her and froze, fear painted on her face. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” Cassandra whispered. The Pixie turned her tiny dress swishing and started flying at a remarkable speed toward the forest. 

“Wait!”

Cassandra ran after the pixie, not caring that she was farther from the cottage than she had ever been. The forest was not far off, and once the Pixie got in, it’d be easy to lose sight of her. Twice she tripped on roots and almost landed face-first. The pixie’s light was steadily getting fainter. Cassandra pushed herself harder. Memories of her mother flooded her head. Pixies are real, my dear Cassie; remember that. When things get hard, and the way grows rough. Pixies are real, and so are the pleasures in life. 

Cassandra was sure that unless she could get to this Pixie; she’d never see another again. She wasn’t sure why, but it felt like this Pixie held part of her mother, a part Cassandra didn’t want to lose again.

They entered the forest. It was dark, so Cassandra could easily see the Pixie’s light. Cassandra’s dress had torn in brambles, and she was sure she had a thorn in her foot. She kept running. As the Pixie entered a clearing, her light disappeared. 

“No!” Cassandra shouted, breaking into the clearing. She tripped over a large boulder and tumbled over it. 

Instead of landing on grass, she kept falling until she bellyflopped into a pool of water. 

Cassandra gasped, forgetting that you could not breathe underwater. She tried to move, but the air had been squeezed from her lungs. Cassandra slowly regained control over her limbs. She broke the surface, gasping, but sank beneath in seconds. 

She sank lower and lower, unable to make it to the top. It was as if something was pulling her to the bottom. The surface of the lake was getting farther and farther away. Cassandra dimly wondered why a pond was so deep. Her lungs burned. Finally, she exhaled the air, unable to hold it in any longer. She spluttered and choked in the water, her vision steadily growing black. 

This is it. This is how I die. Drowning after tripping over a rock, chasing a pixie. Who would have thought?

As the last bit of light was snuffed out; Cassandra breathed in fresh air.