tom-wells: March 2009

Once upon a time a young girl lived in a small brick house with her eleven brothers and sisters. They were not a rich family and lived in a small house surrounded by other small bricked houses.

By the small house there was a dark wood, and beyond the dark wood was a great old house that seemed to sit on a large, very steep hill that looked down over the dark wood and the small houses.

The family that lived in the great old hose on the very steep hill were a very rick family and lived in their big old house with all their fine jewels and wondrous food.

The great old house house was ruled by an evil old lady that hated the little bricked houses that lay beyond the dark wood, the girl who lived in the small bricked houses everyday would walk around the little bricked houses and through the dark wood and up the very steep hill to the big old house the help the evil old lady. The girl would help the evil old lady dress, and make her food, and clean the house that sat on top of the very steep hill. All these things the girl hated to do. The evil old lady of the big old house was very mean to the little girl but every day the little girl would come and help.

One day when the evil old lady was away from the old house that sat on top of the very steep hill the young girl found herself looking at all the old lady's fine clothes. The young girl thought that they were beautiful. One- she thought- in particular was hung in the corner of the large room it was particularly beautiful. The girl looked at herself in the gold gilded mirror and thought, 'compared to this beautiful red dress that hangs in the corner of the room, my clothes are tired and old.'

The young girl looked again at her tired old clothes and decided that she no longer wanted to work for the evil old lady that lived in the big house that sat on top of the very steep hill. Whilst the evil old lady was away the young girl decided that she would run away never to return.

It was darker now and the girl ran through the woods as she would every night after she had finished work. However something tonight was different the young girl did not know where she was. She did not recognise this part of the dark wood.

Now, when the young girl was a child, her father had told her stories of fairies that lived inside the dark wood. The girl never believed these stories. The father told her that unlike what most think about fairies being kind and friendly creatures are in fact evil and mischievous. He told her that these fairies would play tricks on those that would find themselves alone in the dark wood and misguide them so that they would loose their way.

The young girl never believed in such stories. Until the day she found herself alone, lost in the dark wood.