The Queen of His World

It was well into the night when Nadia climbed out her bedroom window.  She had moved to the first floor after her parents died; the change brought fewer memories of them.  She quietly made her way to the back yard and followed it until the she arrived at the edge of the woods.  She stood now on the edge, pausing for a brief moment before slipping into her nightly dwelling place.  Swiftly she made her way to the little stream that flowed through the enchanted forest she called her kingdom.  She ascended upon her throne, which was no more than some tree roots with moss and woven grass mats to create a comfortable seat.  To Nadia, this was the most wonderful place in the world; a place where the worries of the lighted world vanished, where she could sit and think for hours without crumpling down sobbing.

Ever since her parents died Nadia slept little, ate less, and smiled even less; her bubbly personality vanished, and she believed that it would never return.  It had been three months, and everything in her life changed.  She was fourteen and was thinking about going to a public school, since she had been homeschooled, for the first time her freshman year.  Now, she didn’t even want to be around the people at her church.  Everyone just seemed to bring up her parents or ask how she was doing; she would mentally shout, “I was beginning to feel like today I wouldn’t be haunted by the memories of my parent’s faces but, thanks to you, I am thinking about them.”  Out loud she would simply mutter that she was doing better.

 It was partially the truth, every time she visited her kingdom she would return in the morning refreshed and ready to take on another empty day.  However, if she was unable to visit her hiding place, her face would be the dwelling place of a dark shadow.  It had gotten so bad that she believed she was awake and alive in her little world and every time she left it she drifted into a nightmarish slumber.  No one knew what was wrong with her because she never told anyone about it, the woods were her secret kingdom and she hoped that it would always be that way.

Nadia’s mind was so sick, that one day Devon, a boy who’s family had been friends with her family for years, found her crumpled on the edge of the woods sobbing.  He had started towards her when he heard her crying out in a soft voice, “Why do you leave me?  Why do my fair folk shut me out when the sun rises?  I belong in there let me in.  Open the gates so I may dwell among you forever.”  Worried, he carried her inside, and all the while she never even noticed that he was there.  Now, Nadia arose from her throne in the wilderness and began to leave, for she knew that her magical kingdom only lasted when the sun was hidden.

 Nadia slowly walked out of the trees as the sun arose from its hiding spot and she turned to face it, as she did every time she came out.  “Let the golden rays of the fire orb protect my fair place and all the folk that dwell in it.  Curse is anyone who enters without the fair folk’s consent.”  With that she turned away preparing herself for the nightmare she was entering.  Nadia walked over to the house, climbed into her window, and prepared herself for the day; she looked in the mirror and saw she had dark circles under her eyes and her face appeared hollow and ghastly.  She applied enough makeup to make herself look at least a little bit healthy and got dressed in fresh clothes.  It was summer, so she had no school to do but it also meant she had nothing to do, which she hated.

Nadia knew Devon would be over to try and take her with him to do something other than sit and mope, as he always did.  He was careful with her and tried to coax her to come out of her sickly state of mind; she could tell he worried about her, but convinced herself that he was just a dream and when the great golden key fell from the sky, he would go with it.  However, there were times when Devon and his brothers were able to bring back some of Nadia’s old spirit, and she would feel a flow of life shoot through her.  Those days were some of the best of her life, but in her state of mind she was determined to believe that the feeling was some sort of evil trickery, to lure her into the haunting world where she would never again rule over her fair people.

When Nadia entered the kitchen, she found Devon was already there with his younger brother, Gavin.  They had some pancakes that Nadia’s older sister probably made, before she went to work; Gavin was the first to notice her.  “Aidan,” he shouted with his mouth full of food, he always said her name backwards, which either made her smile or it made her mad, today she was feeling a little happier so it made her smile.  “We were told to make sure you ate something since you didn’t eat diner.”  Devon and Gavin lived four minutes away by driving and ten minutes by walking and at least someone in their family was always over.  “Sam is not here.”  Said Nadia referring to her sixteen year old brother who was Devon’s age; she would always say that, even though she knew Devon was there to keep an eye on her.  “I know,” Was always his reply.

 Gavin, who was ten, had already cleaned up a large helping of pancakes and was getting some more, he, always had room for food.  Nadia sat down and Devon slid a plate of pancakes, that had already been buttered and had syrup poured on them, across the table to her.  He would sit there as long as it took until she ate at least half of the food.  Nadia learned to go ahead and eat them before he started forcing her to, that way she made herself believe she chose to do it.  When Nadia finished with most of her food, she threw away the rest and started washing dishes.  When she was done she joined Devon on the porch while Gavin was climbing the front tree.

Nadia felt alive today, and up for any adventure Devon would throw out at her.  “What are you going to try and drag me into today, Devon?”  She asked but she had no way of preparing for what he would say.  “Can we take a walk through the woods?”  He asked so softly that Nadia could almost believe the words never left his mouth; at least she hoped they didn’t.  “What did you say?”  She asked, every muscle in her body was beginning to tense up with anticipation.  “You know what I said Nadia,” He replied in a soft voice, “After dad comes to pick up Gavin I want to see the woods.”  “You can see the woods, unless you’re blind.”  Nadia nervously chuckled, no one, not even Devon would enter her woods.  “Nadia,” He said so kindly that she just wanted to cry, “You know what I mean, and if you ever want to get better, you have to show someone what you’re hiding in the woods.”

As Nadia stared at the ground Devon’s dad drove up, picked up Gavin, and waved as he drove away.  It was a long time before Nadia answered, “I can’t, because they won’t let me.”

“Who won’t?”

“My fair folk,” Nadia replied in a whisper, “They only let me in at night.  They wouldn’t accept you anyways, you are a dream and they believe you are trying to take me from them.  They need me to watch over them and their homes, so no one from the dream world will destroy them.”  Nadia looked up into Devon’s eyes and saw so much pain that she wondered if he was real instead, but why would there be so much pain in something real, who would ever want to live in this world.  She looked away, her good day had been ruined; she wished the golden key would fall and she could enter her kingdom once more.  “Nadia,” said Devon, his voice strained with emotion, “I am what’s real, not your people in the woods.”

“No, they said you would try to change me, they told me to stay away from you.  I thought that you were the only person in the dreams I could trust, now you have taken that from me.”

“Nadia think, think long before you ever saw the woods what do you remember?”

“All I remember is pain, there was a man and a woman in my dreams, I loved them dearly, and this cruel world decided to destroy them.”

“They were your parents, and it wasn’t a dream world that was the cause of their death, it was ice on a bridge.”

“The dream world created the ice it wanted me to feel pain so succumb to its wishes.”

“No the only dream you are living is in the woods, listen to me, please.”  Both of their voices were raising now, Devon’s in desperation, Nadia’s in frustration and confusion.  “My fair folk are no dream; they love me and treat me like their queen.”  Nadia said her voice had lowered and she was hugging herself and rocking back and forth on her seat, she was staring at no apparent thing.  “Nadia,” Devon said as he went over and knelt before her so she would have to look at him.  His voice too had lowered to its soft caring tone, “If you’re fair folk were real, then they would let you in the woods during the day.”  He took hold of her hands, trying to make her stop trembling.  “But they love me and I am their queen,” She said confused.  She had stopped rocking and her body went eerily limp; she slumped into the seat like she had lost all ability to move.  Her face took on a haunted and betrayed look and she stared off into the sky as though she was deep in thought.  “Hey sweetie,” Devon said so tenderly that it brought her out of her mesmerized state, “Let me take you into the woods and you can decide if you want to stay there forever or come back with me, please?”  It was a question that Nadia didn’t want to answer, but she absent mindedly nodded her head and Devon stood and picked up her frail body.  

Nadia clung to Devon’s neck as they neared the edge of the woods; he paused at the edge then followed her well-trodden path to the stream.  He saw her throne, set her upon it, and as he sat back, the bright rays of the sun shone through the trees and hit her golden locks making them shine.  To him she never looked so beautiful than that time when she was sitting peacefully on the bed of moss, with her eyes closed and her frail body folded up.  After a moment he noticed she was looking at him; there were tears showing in her eyes and all she said was, “They won’t answer will they.”  She needed no answer and he did not wish to give one, so he silently picked up his queen and carried her back home to the world where she chose to stay.  She entered it then and left it many years later with her head laying on his shoulders and her golden locks flowing down his back.