Talia
"And remember, Rosy-"
"'Never stay out in the forest after dark.' I know. I'll be back before you know it." Rosy said with a smile and a gentle wave, not realizing that she had started to worry her bottom lip. She turned away from the cottage where she and her aunts and uncle lived, but before she had taken more than a few steps, something fell from the pocket of her coat, forcing her to stop to pick it up. In that short pause, she heard voices drifting from the open window of the kitchen.
"How long are you going to keep indulging her, Dawn? She's been skipping her studies to go out into that forest every day for the past two weeks! We all agreed that she should properly prepared for her future. This has gone on long enough."
Rosy stood and began walking again.
"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Dawn asked. "Of course she wants to be out alone by herself. It hasn't even been a year since the poor dear lost her-"
Rosy picked up her skirts and began to run. Pressing her lips together tightly, she put her head down and raced into the depths of the Enchanted Forest, refusing to stop even as her lungs burned and her legs complained. Her swift feet took her far, deep into the forest, until she burst through the opening of a suspiciously thick wall of ivy and brambles, to her favorite spot - the place she had been visiting every day she had been out.
She smiled sadly and dropped her coat and basket on the ground, discarding her shoes as well and relishing the feeling of the soft green grass beneath her feet as she walked down the short hill to the lake, where several large, gorgeous white swans floated peacefully. It was both a wonder and a pleasure to her that no one else had ever found this place. The swans were peaceful and generally quiet, nothing like the geese she'd seen guarding other people's farms, and the water was clear and cool and clean.
She had made enough noise that several of the birds had noticed her, but most had just put their heads back down, one even appearing to be half asleep. Most other birds she'd seen slept during the night, not the day, but these appeared constantly tired. It was one of the things that made them so funny. She'd dubbed the one who always looked sleepiest Down. But of course, as always, her beloved friend Honey came paddling over to her as soon as he caught sight of her, and she welcomed him with open arms, picking him up and holding him tightly to her chest.
The first day she had come here, the swans honestly had been aggressive, or perhaps startled was the better word for it. It was clear no one had ever disturbed them before, and the appearance of a human seemed to have quite startled them. But Honey, who she had named for his honey-colored eyes, had protected her. He always seemed to be protecting her. He was her good luck charm, the only spot of good fortune that had come out of the past few months.
"I wish I could keep you." She whispered into his feathers, as he soothingly patted her shoulder with his beak. She had tried bringing the swans home once or twice, but the one thing they wouldn't do, not even Honey, was leave. They didn't even seem to migrate. She sighed and let him go and found herself staring down at a pair of deeply-concerned honey-brown eyes. The birds were really just so… human. It was like they could understand her when she spoke. It was comforting pretending they could, but knowing they couldn't. She was certainly no stranger to enchanted animals - it was the Enchanted Forest, after all - but enchanted animals could talk, and these could not.
She gave a small laugh and patted his head, pulling a piece of cheese from her pocket and feeding it to him. "They were talking about him again today, Honey." She told him softly, stroking his feathers as she talked. "I heard them as I was leaving. They didn't use his name, though. The longer it goes, the less they'll say it, as if not saying it makes him any less dead." The bird put his head on her knee, looking up at her seriously. She laughed at him and shook her head. "Don't you worry. I'm alright. He used to tell me to 'just wait,' because we were going to see each other again soon. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to wait, and trust that he comes back to me."
She gave the swan a big kiss on the cheek, which made him honk with displeasure and back away with a big flap. It made her laugh. He'd always hated it when she'd kissed him on the cheek, too. Complained that it made him feel like her older brother instead of her love, even as the blush spread to the tips of his ears. "You really are just like him." She said, poking Honey on the nose.
Looking up at the sky, she sighed and whispered, "I miss you, Stephen."
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