Once Upon a December |task pt.1|
Eleanor didn’t know what she thought about anything. She didn’t have many--if any--friends. She was somewhat of a recluse, living in a shack in the middle of a field. The field was surrounded by acres of dense forest. She liked the quiet of it all. Well, now she did.
When she was a little girl, Eleanor lived in a village in the woods. She would come out to the field of wildflowers to play. She would run around and pick flowers to sell in the market. She was happy. Everyone in the village loved Little Ellie, a sweet little seamstress’s daughter. She was always smiling. But, she was a child. And children have tendencies to be greedy.
There was a day, Eleanor was only eleven. She was laying out in the field in her favorite yellow dress, her hair curled with a single pink bow atop her head. She watched the clouds pass, calling out the shapes she could see in the fluff. Soon, she drifted off to sleep. Not for long, but long enough for it to be almost dark when she woke up.
Her little heart dropped, filled with terror as she sat up, searching the dark field for someplace to go. She could barely see past the tree line, the forest so thick. Eleanor ran to a large rock and climbed atop it, scanning the field. Suddenly, she saw an old woman walking through the flowers, a lantern in her hand. Eleanor ran to her. She collapsed against the old lady’s hips, embracing who she thought to be her savior.
“Can I please borrow your lantern?” Eleanor rushed. The old woman lifted it, and Eleanor could see her face. She looked to be hundreds of years old, with matted and wiry grey hair. Eleanor let go of the woman out of fear.
“What a pretty bow,” the lady touched Eleanor’s head, “A pretty, pretty, bow.”
Trying her hardest to be brave, Eleanor swallowed and then asked again, “Could I p-please, ma’am, borrow your light? I need to get home.”
“But if I give you my lantern, how will I see to get home?” the woman said. “How about a deal? You give me your pretty, pretty bow, and I will walk you to your house.”
“It’s my bow,” Eleanor said. “My mother puts it in my hair every day. I like it a lot. I don’t want to give it up.”
“But I don’t have a pretty bow for my hair,” the old woman said, “And you don’t have a light to guide you home. So it seems we both have something the other wants.”
“I don’t want the lamp, I need it,” she didn’t want the old woman to take her home. Mother wouldn’t be happy if she knew Eleanor was out past dark and talking to strangers. “You don’t need a hair bow.”
“A greedy little girl, yes?” the woman cackled. “Stubborn as a mule.”
“I just want to get home to my mother, please!” Eleanor was almost crying. “At least let me light a stick on fire to make a torch. I just want to get home.” it was even darker now. A mean boy that lived in her village told her that once the sun was down, and if you were out in the woods, that you were going to be taken by a witch and made into pie. She didn’t believe him, but that’s all she could think about now. It was the witching hour, and this woman looked like a witch.
“A stubborn, greedy, little mule,” she cackled louder. “Never to find her way home.”
In a panic, Eleanor let out a cry, shoving the woman and grabbing the lantern. She ran as fast as she could to the village, never looking back at at cackling witch.