MuralOath

There was a long cabin in the snow forest, that was like a maze of death, except with an actual maze there was at least some promise of an exit for an unfortunate victim.

Anise and Elena waited for their mother to open the door, while listening to the wind snore. The mother was unlocking the door, and tapping the floor. Elena, her sister, walked in first, and wanted water to quench her thirst. So mother got out a can-tine, and pored her a glass first saying, “After this we need to warm the chimney.”

After a week of schooling, the family simply thought it would be better to home school the kids. So she pulled them out, and educated them at home. Anise sometimes complained about the education, and during the few times her mother helped her -- she noticed it was different from what she would teach her own kids. “I suppose I will give you two a day off,” -- there was a very long pause, then -- “but tomorrow it’s the textbook.”

Anise did not like the sound of how she said it, as there was a very faint growl in her voice. They had skipped breakfast, and both of the girls were getting hungry. “I will make something in a little bit, of what we have.” And then she closed the door, and walked outside to the horse and buggy. Meanwhile the girls went ahead and took their bags to their room. Elena placed her glass on the shelf.

“Are you sure you want to put that there,” -- another pause, then a short breath from the cold. “I have a bad feeling about this place. Then began getting out her clothes to put on the shelf. “Something about this room.”

“It’s probably nothin Anise.” Elena said, walking outside to continue to get their stuff.

Later that night, they ate dinner at the table. Their father was quieter than usual, and then looked at his daughter Anise while she was eating. “You should chew with your mouth closed,” and then continued eating himself.

“You don’t normally comment --”

“But now I am.”

Around bed time, Anise and her sister were in bed. Mother had stopped reading their bed time story, and then got ready for bed herself. It was a slow night, and the chimney was not doing much to take away from the heat. Although mother said they put the fire out the next morning, Anise could feel the wind blow hard in her room, and the sudden chill made it obvious it was either the wind or something else.

The next morning, Anise put the books up on the shelf in her room after reading before their classes. And after she was done, their mother opened the textbooks. She taught her daughters basic math, for hours on end. After the classes were over, she walked back to her room and noticed, after the loud noise as she walked in -- the book shelves have fallen of the mini-book shelf.

“Maybe you just did not secure them properly.” Her mother said, though knowing that her daughter normally always secured the shelf. The afternoon had come, and they had their lunch. Mother did not tell them that their lunch provisions were decreasing. And then it was time for the rest of their classes.

That night. Anise noticed that there was a loud noise in her room. A very loud breath, that she thought would at least wake up Elena. But she walked over, and noticed that she was still conked out on the bed.

She walked over to the door.

And then walked outside. The cold chill made her teeth chatter, and she held her arms to maintain whatever little warm she had left on her bones. Then closed the door quickly, quietly so as not to wake up her mother. Then briefly, so saw something in the distance. A red symbol that was on a tree, that was masked by the snowy breeze. She walked closer and closer to it. Her bare feet were cold in the snow.

And then she saw, an up side down pentagram. She walked closer to the tree, and then placed her hands upon the pentagram -- then her vision faded to black. A moments of transport, and then an eternity of darkness -- then figures dancing by the fire. As she walked closer if as to look at the figures, skull-masks. A young girl her age sitting at one of the logs situated as if it were some sort thrown she sat on. The children’s eye were red -- a sudden jerking.

“What are you doing out here Anise.” Her mother said.Then took her inside. “Why did you go outside, don’t you know you could have frozen to death? Not what did you wake up for, are you hungry? What?”

Anise did not want to say. Did not want her to know that she thought that the house was haunted, and did not even really know what was haunting it. “I just woke up hungry?” Then she reclined her head on the couch.

“Well can it wait for breakfast?”

“Yes.”

“Now go back to bed.”

The next morning, more normal classes. Their dad left for work early, living her behind to tend to the children. Anise was getting tired of all the math, and asked for a change of pace. So the mother agreed to teach language first. Elena did not seem to care either way. And then after the first classed, made breakfast. But Anise continued to have that dream in her head as her and her sister had breakfast.

The day went mostly normally, but then the chanted noises that Anise heard, continued to grow louder and louder and louder. Until eventually she could not ignore the noises, the sound of children playing by the fire. “You need to pay attention to your work Anise.” their mother said, while Elena was paying attention her work. She sniffed to Anise.

And then another day went.

It was the next night that Anise decided to bundle up more warmly, and then she walked back to the tree where she once saw the red up side down pentagram. After pausing for a minute, it eased back upon the tree. And then she heard chanting:

Once upon a winter fire,
We dance around the winter fire,
Come dance with us, listen to our song,
And dance around the winter fire.

She walked back home quickly, was noticed by mother.

“Still hungry huh?” the mother said. It was already later in the morning than the previous day that Anise decide to wake up. She wanted to find out the meaning behind the chant.

Hours went, dad still was not home.

“Where is dad?” Anise said.

“Work honey.” Another home school day, and then things began to change. When Anise slept her sleep full night, she heard the chanting once again. And it was becoming louder and louder, until it was beginning to hurt her ears. And then she walked outside, and saw the emblem on the tree once again. After placing her hands upon it, she warped into the darkness. There were chants within the darkness:

Once upon a winter fire,
We dance around the winter fire,
Come dance with us, listen to our song,
And dance around the winter fire.

The vision slowly eased into a darkened thrown room, through a dark pathway that was once the interior of a castle from long ago, but was now the whole to strange plants. That had the distinctive quality of human likeness. Not by the appearance, but rather in their speech -- that beckoned her forth to a room, that was locked tight. She opened the door and, woke back up on her bed.

She was shook by Elena.

“Are you OK, I heard you screaming.”

“Yes, thank you. Now go back to sleep.” Anise, because her sister was dismissive about the falling book shelf before had no inclination to tell her about her dream, or any of the strange things that have happened -- that somehow her family did not seem to notice. Later that morning, even her mother asked what was going on.

“Anise, was that you lat night?”

“Yes, bad dreams I guess.”

“Dad should be home tonight.”

“OK.”

Dinner tasted funny, the meat was oddly shaped. And they had no real idea what it was that they were eating. And it took longer to actually get around to the eating. But once that was done they had no complaints. But they still wondered when dad was going to be home. Although little did they know as the mother did, he had long sense been home. “It’s time for bed again girls, let’s go ahead and get that bed time story read.”

Anise walked back to the tree that night, and saw the children dancing by the fire. But as the children danced by the ring of fire, she saw an image of her father in the crowd. And he was dancing in fairy garments, and he had a skull-mask of his own. “What are you doing in my dream father?” she said to him.

“It is not a dream Anise.”

And she woke up. She had a bad taste in her mouth.

But did not know for sure.

It was the next evening yet again, that she began to have more wild dreams. If in fact they were actually dreams at all. When she walked to the room that had no roof, and was a remnant of the castle that once was, she met with the queen. “I have a task for you my dear Anise.” And the little girl wondered what this task might be.

“I want you to retrieve a dragon’s heart”

Though the sound the skull-fairy queen’s voice sounded like she meant something that was other than a dragon heart. “It lies within your fridge, just remember to wipe away the sludge. Give to us, and I shall eat it like fudge. And you will get great rewards.” Anise found out what it was she had eaten, and brought back the dragon’s heart. She simply had no idea that was what she meant by the dragon heart.

The next evening, neither Anise or Elena heard from their mother.

After walking to her room. They found out why. Elena was in tears, when she saw her mother’s buckled shoes knocking on the door. Anise tried her best to console her, and then had a distrust for the Skull-Fairies.

Anise lied on the floor beside her sister the next evening, and by this point the bones were beginning to protrude from the skin on their bellies. “I’m hungry,” Elena said. At first she could not bring forth the energy say what she wanted to, to her sister. But with a struggle from her lips, she spoke. “Where is mom, where is dad.” Anise was not sure whether to tell her little sister the truth. She wanted wanted to maintain the myth, that someday they will come back home from fairyland. And that they would be home home by tomorrow. Yet there was a part of her that wanted to tell her the facts, however painful they were.

“You don’t remember?” Anise said to her little sister. She turned around to face her, making sure to see her one last time, if they were to go that night. Wanted to savor that moment, that moment that felt like time seemed to stop forever. “Mom and dad have gone to fairyland, they should be home shortly.” Though even Anise’s hope that their older sister would come gradually began to fade. It had been a week since rations had gone down to a trickle, and Anise wondered how her mother would have felt -- if she were alive. The taste of her flesh made her vomit, but on the other hand it was food. Something to keep them alive for just a little longer.

Elena stared long and hard at Anise, who was playing with her hair. Those curls she was going to miss, as her would finally kill her, and it was that lack of hope -- that made her decide upon a rash decision, even though she had some second thought. What if our sister arrived, and I was dead? She looked into the eyes of her sister, who’s shaking eyes revealed a lack of believe on her part. There is no such thing as fairy land, there is no such thing as the world of magic. No such thing of battles of light and the dark. “Elena, go get the axe. It’s more important for you to live on, stay alive to greet our sister.”

“But Anise, we can survive together.” It was at this moment that Anise realized, that she had never told her sister. That they have eaten mom and their dad, though she wondered if she knew. Knew that there was no fairy land, that she had lost her own right to visit fairy lands, the world of benevolent wizards, happy elves, and sometimes even the gods were would visit, and arrive for a cup of tea. There is no life left for me, only for hope for Elena’s glee. Or at least some semblance of a normal life.

Elena got the axe from the shelf, and her older sister could here her weep. “Stop it Elena, stop it now. Or I will weep to.” She walked over to Anise, took a moment to reflect upon what she was about to do. It was over sooner than Anise expected. The door opened, a messenger of the fairyland. Anise was not sure if this was all her mind, or it this was really happened. Her sister looked at the young woman, who was wearing a crown of flowers of the night. “Madam Anise, the queen has regained her thrown.” At that point, she did not care whether it was real after all, or simply a fantasy. The pain of aching joints, gradually went away.

“Why has she decided to let me return?” Anise said to the messenger. Who merely gave Anise a passing glance, looking at the changed fairy world. A world that has not been the same, since the traitor had almost won. But now there was hope.

“There was no letting,” the messenger said. “You were never banished,” the messenger gave Anise a passing glance, then back down the hall way. “You were never banished.”

They arrived at the door.

“Ah. Anise, the queen will see you now.” the guard said.

“Welcome home.” the queen said.

After she walked into the thrown room. She stared at the queen wistfully, “So what is going to happen to my sister?” Anise asked at the skull-fairy queen.

“Oh we will make sure she survives.”

The next morning, a long lost sister arrived. She took Elena to see her family in the city, and now she remembers now all those years ago, the fall of her family. If it were not for her sister, she would not be here today.

Elena was thank full.

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