Time For Healing: Celestine's Journey of Discovery

I walked through the forest, following the cloaked figure. I followed her because I had nowhere else to go. I was hungry and tired and the forest seemed less scary than my village. The sun shone down through the canopy, dappling the ground with little spots of light. The trees were tall, their trunks fat and gnarled, covered in moss and lichen. The leaves rustled at our passing, whispering stories in a language I didn't understand.

I felt as though I'd been walking for hours. My feet hurt and my back was sore. Sweat trickled down my spine and into my underclothes. I longed for a drink but I had nothing to drink out of. Nothing but the clothes on my back and a few coins that jingled in my pocket when I walked. If only my family hadn't turned me out, I wouldn't have needed those coins...

The figure stopped and looked back at me over her shoulder. Her face was hidden behind her veil but she beckoned me to come closer with one gloved finger. I stepped forward until we were face to face, then she put one hand on my shoulder and pushed me back against a tree trunk. She leaned in close to me, her breath hot on my cheek as she whispered something into my ear that sounded like wind rustling through dead leaves.

She moved away again and handed me a single red flower that echoed her eyeshadow colour, then continued walking without looking back at me again. She moved like smoke flowing past a candle flame, dancing effortlessly through the thick undergrowth without disturbing any of it or leaving any footprints behind her.

I took a deep breath, staring down at the flower in my hand. It was beautiful - perfect in every way - but there was something about it that made everything seem wrong... Like it wasn't real but just an echo of something lost to time... Something marred by poison...

I shook my head to clear it then followed after the woman again. When she stopped this time she pointed up into the branches above us before disappearing into thin air again. There was a path here; little more than a tunnel between two thick-trunked trees with moss growing halfway up them - just wide enough for me to fit through - but I might not have seen it if she hadn't pointed it out to me. I picked up my skirts with one hand and scrambled up onto the first branch, then went from there to another branch further up where there was an opening leading into what looked like an empty treehouse built inside an oak tree.

The floorboards creaked underfoot as I stepped inside and scanned the room for any signs of movement or life but there was no one else here except myself so far as I could tell... Not that there would be anyone else here - who'd want to live inside a tree? Even if you could climb all the way up here you'd probably never make it back down again without breaking your neck... Unless you had wings or something like that maybe...

* * * *

Up ahead of her stood two women: one old - with hair as white as snow - and one young - with hair like fire set ablaze... Firehair's eyes were blood red while Snow's were so blue they matched the sky overhead perfectly! The elder held a small wooden box out towards Firehair while Snow stood with arms folded across her chest in front of a large stone archway carved with symbols she couldn't read but somehow knew anyway!

"You must choose wisely," Snow said gravely, "for your choices will decide your fate!"

Firehair sighed and reached out for the box only to have Snow snatch it away from her at the last second! "No!" Snow shrieked angrily, "Choose carefully!" Firehair turned away from her angrily; tears stinging her eyes as she stared at all the doors ahead of her: frozen shut until someone chose one of them! Which would it be? Would she ever find what she was looking for? What did she even want? Was there anything left worth living for now? Pain lanced through her heart at this thought and she shuddered violently before choosing one door at random!