Follow

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.

Dark, it was. And cold, too. Shadows of the past hung forgotten on the walls, never to be recovered. Their quiet cries haunted the emptiness of the place; if only it weren't the last of its kind.

It held the only window to the Outer Lands.

Feet padding on the ground, she entered, hesitantly gazing at the luminous picture frames lacing the floor. Each was devoid of anything but smiling faces scribbled out in black. Whispers of the shadows filled the air, warnings and pleas of fear to prevent her from going any farther.

But she never was interested in any of the haunting things in that room. All that mattered was the window at the end.

The only light in the room came from that very window. Sunlight shone brightly, casting ghastly beams of yellow and orange onto the floor. Outside the glass was a world more beautiful than any of her dreams. Flowers bloomed everlastingly on lush foliage; trees towered overhead, their leaves dripping with midnight dew. The sky was clear and blue, and occasionally a large gray fluff would pass by and draw her attention.

Sometimes she thought she could see shapes beyond the window. Creatures moving through the field. Wolves leapt high into the air, their white manes glistening in the ever-blowing wind. She would watch them jump and twirl, watch their fur flow with the gales from the west.

It was one rainy, dreary day when the pack of thick-furred wolves began to make their way over to the window. She heard the sound of their paws hitting the grass and turned her head, amazed at the way they ran. They were seeking shelter neath the oak tree visible just outside the glass. She thought she could touch them, they were so close, silver eyes glimmering with a powerful, attractive light.

Aoife reached up to the window, set her hands against the crystals separating her from the Outer Lands. She stared at the canines with wonder, watching their every move. Many of them huddled in fetal positions under the dripleaves. But one, large in size, its mane full and majestic, stood standing, rain dribbling down its tan-colored snout.

Its eyes were a beautiful cinnamon shade. The alpha set its paws carefully on the muddy ground and trotted closer to the window, eyeing the child who sat inside. It lowered its head, as if considering, and neared the glass so closely that she thought it was going to break through.

No words came to mind. No thoughts or feelings- no emotions, no sentences, no mental comprehension. Never had she understood anything in a linguistic way. Never had anyone taught her how to speak, how to read.

She focused- particularly because she had no other choice, she did not know how to speak or read or even write- on the tangible things, the things she could somehow understand, deep in her heart. The things she saw in the eyes of the alpha standing so close.

The things she heard in the shadows' voices.

All of a sudden, without warning, cold air burst into her face. She felt it blow her hair back against her eyes, brown curls rushing away from the abrupt chill. Unaware of the change in the window, she pulled her rose-pink sweater around her, teeth silently clattering. She wondered what had happened to cause such a difference in temperature, staring at the eyes of the wolf.

Its ears swiveled around, fluff twisting with the wind. The alpha wolf sniffed the air, considered once more, and then promptly let out a noise that she hadn't a name for. Loud it was not, but similarly, it was not meant to be quiet. There was not a sound to describe it- and that, perhaps, is what was best for Aoife. She knew what it meant, though none other could ever understand.

"Follow."

It was whispered into the wind by the wolf who stood outside where the window had been. Its feet implanted into the ground, it watched her as she climbed up his bookshelf, bit by bit, until she finally touched the windowsill and breathed in the Outer Lands air.

The wolf yelped- not exactly out of fear, but out of happiness, a sense of joy, if you will- and bounded away from her, showing a certain youthful glee. She was startled at its sudden movement. Nevertheless, she stood up, looked fearfully at the green grass just an inch away from her gray boot, and stepped outside.

Out of the Inner Lands.

Into the Outer Lands.

Aoife let her lungs intake the new, chilly air. Taking a few more paces forward, she could not help but wonder if anyone had noticed that she'd left; and as she looked back, it was proved to her that no one had.

The alpha wolf was almost larger than her entire self. It sniffed her little curls of short hair, gentle in its actions, but excited. A heavy drop of water melted off a leaf above, landing on her head with a little plop. She gasped, almost quaking, and the wolf, in turn, nuzzled her arm, as if saying something only understood by her.

"It's only rain."

Aoife looked to the sky curiously, watching more droplets fall to the green grass with satisfying splashes.

She began to wonder- again, with no words- how the Outer Lands had been concealed for so long. How the window had broken, how it had disappeared, how he had not noticed that she'd snuck away.

And when she looked back into the room, she saw the shadows escaping. Their feet pitter-pattered on the floor as they fled their cages, fled the hauntings, fled the pain of the pictures that lay behind. The shadows, much like herself, longed to be free, and as they raced through the rainy fields, black robes flowing behind them, she found that they seemed to be waving goodbye.

Goodbye...

A word, the only word, that she knew.

The child, little and small, turned her head to the shadows, watching them wave, and, in turn, also waved herself. Frames and cracked photographs had been left behind; cages made of glass and diamonds were left in the dust. Memories of distant people were run away with; reminders of those who once lived were kept.

The only one left behind was X. Once a ruler, once a king.

Now a ruined scrap of iron underneath the beauty of the Outer Lands.