The golden lock

It had been raining for many night falls over the hills and mountains of Dillybaldron. It was hard to see past the thick mist and damp trees, as the wind howled, the rain was so cold and hard that it hurt when it hit your face and skin. Deep in the heart of The Trees, (a mysterious Forrest on the map)even the dryest land the earth had gotten wet. Flood rains had filled the cracks of the stone streets and flooded passages. It was a 100 year storm according to the townsmen. It was the season of witches after all. This time on the calendar was known as tree changing (written in Dillybaldron). The sun ☀️ rose earlier each day and night was darker in the evening. The tree changing was a mysterious time with folklore and magic. They say you can tell the Witches are around when the tree colors begin to change. Orange is their favorite color. But this was just “folklore”, mother would say, “Georgie, believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see. There are so many tales out here in the world!” One in particular may be of interest to you, it’s about a disappearance. My kidnapping.

My mother was head house maid of a castle farm in Galleyball, the town next to Dillybaldron. My father was a battlesman in the LORDS battalion against the north. He was gone for what seemed like more than several seasons. My mother had no idea when and if he’d return. But she never spoke of him. Before he left I was just born, meeting him only for a moment. He told my mother to go see a wealthy landsteader named Jonas. He owned an expansive landstead with a farm. He was honest and would keep her employed and the baby warm with blankets and milk. It had been almost an entire solar return, working with the farm animals each day when the 100 year storm had started.

Early one morning right before the sun shone, we headed out for the day, we passed a black wooden cart with a gold snake emblem on it in the valley market. She read the sign to me as we passed “Georgie!” she said “this stands out? “Vandalisis - “the one who knows” hmmmm?” she said as we kept walking to get to the castle farm. Mystery had always intrigued my mother, she was curious about all matters in the world. But today we had no time to stop, her boots were soaked in mud as the rain was unrelenting.

Just a ways passed the valley market you could see the magnificent castle and wondrous landstead where mother and I worked. It was beautiful, even flooded in the storm. As we entered the gates there was workers already buzzing about. Everyone was friendly greeting us and always pinching me. “Ohhh Georgie is so good, what a lovely baby,” Mrs. Hanna, a goat herder would say. As we approached the front door Jonas greeted us both with a warm 🥖 batton of bread from the hearth and fresh churned butter. “Come in for mugs of hot gurgle and dry off” Jonas greeted us with dry towels “today you will be in charge of the tidy of the whole walking corridors” “at least you’ll be dry until mid day”. “Also Rebecca, Does Georgie like pumpkin?”. I struggled to get out of mothers arms and down the the ground. We could smell the kettle cooking outside, it smells delicious, almost sweet. “Yes” mother replied “he loves all vegetables”. “Great” said Jonas “then you’ll join us for a midday supper”. I grabbed my bread and butter as Jonas patted my head. Warm in my hand my bite of bread was soft with nestled butter into each bite. How lucky was I for this delicious treat. We quickly got to work. Mother was fast on her feet, scrubbing walls with her arms and feet, rags tied to each on these long castle hallways. In these halls I’d laugh and giggle while my mother sang cheerful lullabies. I followed right behind her, a large metal reserve spilling the water with bubbles was fun. “Now, now Georgie not too much”, I was just learning to walk. It was easy as I missed my footing with the bubble bucket some spilled out each time I almost tripped. Mother had looked at me often and said “it’s as if you were born for this job, Georgie, you are my hero, the most marvelous, brave, baby!” Kissing my forehead only 10 times a day.

It was just about midday we were almost through. My clothing was all damp, and a big chill came through the corridor. Our last corridor on the fourth floor, was a lot of steps to climb. It had a large stained glass window, in which my mother had to climb a ledge up to clean it. She put the bucket up first then she climbed up. The ledge was too high for me to reach. Mother sang about the beautiful view even though the rain was coming down, “you can almost see passed the valley market from up here!” She said excitedly. I started crying, I was cold, hungry and needed a nap. Mother said, “Just a minute Georgie, I’m almost done,” I screamed louder. I was even more hungry. Crying and carrying on I just wanted to see out the window. It happened so fast, like a gust of wind. Mother scooped me up onto her hip. She held me and continued to sing, 🎶 🎶trying to calm me. Bouncing lightly she turned on the ledge so I could see over the valley market, as the rain was hitting my face, and all of the sudden what felt like a wind gust was the dark blue wings of the greatest creature I’ve ever seen! There was a dark looming shadow over us. A deep humming sound and almost growl from the large belly of an animal engulfed us. The shadow cast upon us darken the hallway was as large of the elephants mother told stories about from the hot land. The flapping wings turned out all the lights. It was hovering, flapping its indigo wings, creating an unstableness of how mother was clenching me. My mother held tight but it’s large talons grabbed my clothing, ripping me from mothers arms. It’s the last time I felt my mothers soft hands, and her unconditional love. It was a scream I’ll remember FOREVER. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Not my Georgie

Noooooooooo!’

Confused and screaming myself, I saw mother fall. Her golden hair and truly devastated eyes filled with tears. Her arms outstretched for me with hope this creature could drop me but she landed with the bubbles 🫧 splashing all over the floor inside the castle window. I had managed to pull a lock of my mothers golden hair. I gripped it tight. The higher we flew the louder I cried. I would never see my mother again. Until my wedding day.