The Village

I was always warned not to go into the forbidden woods. I never believed the stories but listened anyways. People go in and they never come back. Don't blame them though, there's got to be more than this little village. "Gwenn it's Dinner time" momma yells breaking my concentration. "Happy birthday sweetie" father says as he kisses my cheek. Today is my 18th birthday and everyone is expecting me to tell them what I plan to do with my life and if I'm going to accept Jonathans proposal. Jonathan is amazing in everyway, he's the most handsome man in the village and the smartest one too! I'm not too bad myself but I wouldn't need to lift a finger if I married him. He's two years older than me and chose to follow his dads footsteps as a doctor. Everyone plays their part and if I say yes to him I'll be expected to play mine and have his children right away. Not that having his children would be terrible. We both have bright blue eyes and great bone structure so I know we'd have beautiful babies, but I'm still so young and have so much life I want to live. I convinced my family to hold off life conversation until the following day. I'm still not sure what to tell them but I know in my heart the village life isn't the life for me.

My decision was made, I would enter the woods and make a new life for myself. I left a note for all my loved ones and snuck out before anyone could see me. The thought of never seeing them again left a lump in my throat and my eyes started to water but I knew once I left there was no coming back.

It was a cool dark morning but the stars and the moon gave me some light. After what seemed like hours the sun started to rise and the cool breeze lightened. I could feel my eyes getting heavy so decided to rest before moving on. I used my jacket as a blanket to lay on and my bag as a pillow. As I doze off I start to wonder if I made the right decision. All I have is what could fit in my bag, little food and water, and $600.00 to start off with. I'm hoping to find civilization soon. I hope momma and father are doing well and that Jonathan finds the love he deserves. I'll make sure I find my way back to them one day. As I drift to sleep I take one last look into the trees and I see some type of bird staring at me. "Run" the bird said, did that bird just speak to me? I fell asleep before I could get my answer.

When I woke up the sun was already starting to set. The memory of the talking bird creeps back in but I shrug it off thinking it had to of just been a dream. My surroundings seemed a little different than I remember but they couldn't of been, I hadn't moved and I was alone, or at least I thought I was. Nothing was missing from my bag and I seemed unharmed besides a couple of harmless insect bites. I still couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong though so I pulled out my knife just to be safe. As soon as the moon took the suns place I put my jacket back on and started picking up my pace. I had to be close to something. I could see lights further in the distant and my mouth started watering at the smell of something delicious. Before I could go any further I hear the same voice from the night before. "Run."

I look above me and I spot a barn owl. There's no way it could of been him. He looks at me again and says "They are coming for you, follow me." He seemed urgent and my gut told me to listen so I did as he said. He led me to an underground tunnel. The closer I got the more I made out a human shape. It was Jonathan! "Turn around, they'll kill you." "Its just Jonathan, my boyfriend, or ex boyfriend, either way he loves me and we can trust him." "I warned you" The owl said as he flew off. I ran into Jonathans strong arms and he held me and ran his fingers through my long blonde hair. "Please tell me you weren't leaving the village, please tell me you were going for a walk and got lost out here" Jonathan says with tears in his eyes. My heart drops and I couldn't find the words to say. "I was afraid that wasn't the case." The last thing I remember was him kissing me then jabbing a needle through my neck.

The room was spinning when I opened my eyes. I was cold and and my wrists felt like they were on fire. "Should of listened to me" says a familiar voice. I made out a blurry shape and realized it was the owl again. Whatever I was injected with starts to wear off and I see that I'm in a basement. I was tied to a chair and I wasn't alone. The basement floor was covered in bodies. I was hoping they were alive but I could tell by the smell they weren't. I recognized some as villagers that never made it back home. "The stories were true" I mumbled under my breath. Jonathan and his father enter the room and shake their heads in disappointment. "You and my son were supposed to take over the family business so I could retire. Its a shame that you turned out to be a runner. Jonathan take care of what needs to be done." his father leaves and Jonathan unties me. He kisses me again but I back away with anger in my eyes. "You don't have to do this, we can both run now." He laughs as he pulls out a knife "Why would I leave when I have it made here?" The barn owl swoops down and claws at Jonathans face startling him. I grab the knife out of his hand and stab him in the groin praying that it keeps him down. I made it back to the woods and I knew I needed to go home and warn everyone about Doctor psycho and his son.

Doctor psycho tackles me and giving I barely weigh 120 pounds the fight wasn't fair. I try to stab him and he grabs my arm flinging the knife into the leaves. I jab my fingers in his eyes with my free hand giving myself a few seconds to escape. The owl grabs the knife and drops it at my feet. "End this now." I grab the knife and without hesitation I jab the knife in the doctors neck and make sure he takes his last breath before I remove the knife and take off before Jonathan can make his way to me. Once I knew I was out of harms way I stop and asked the owl what was going on. He explained that the Village was really a prison made out to be a paradise. The world outside the village was huge and full of magic. The doctors family didn't agree with the freedom of the real world and gathered followers to make their own village. Only the originals knew the truth and the doctors family would make sure that no one left. They made up stories of forest monsters that scared people into staying and the ones that did would never make it back home or to the real world. I made it back home and Gaebora, the owl, followed me to tell everyone the story. The villager went to the cabin in the woods and retrieved the bodies of their loved ones. Jonathan was never found. The Woods were now open and we were free. Our people decided we would venture out to the new world together.