FicWad

Sun burnt leaves fell gently to the ground, lightly crunching as they did so. The trees swayed with the wind and the sun brightened the view, making the dew drops glisten in the light.
But, suddenly, the sun vanished and the sky darkened, making long silhouettes cast out across the open space. The trees stopped dancing and the falling leaves quickly turned to rain, cascading down my face.
From beyond the trees, a rustling sounded, sending a shiver up my spine. Turning slowly, I met the harsh stare of a pair of eyes, glaring hastily at me.
Quickly, almost too quickly, the dark figure stepped out from it's hiding place, letting the small amout of light illuminate his face and...

"What the... How does this... Now what?!"

I awoke with a groan, rolling over slightly, and squinted my eyes against the glare of the sun. From outside I could hear my father yelling at Phillipe, our horse, over the harsh roar of an engine.
I got up slowly and stumbled over to the window, pulling my messy brown hair out of my face. Sure enough, father was in the barn, working on another invention. He was sure he was going to win at the fair this year.
My father could be summed up in two words -- Brilliant and Amazing. He was a brilliant man. Some people call him crazy, but, they just don't give him a chance. To me, he is the smartest and most talented person I know. He's not crazy. He's just Poppa.

I pushed open the window roughly and swatted away some of the dust.

"Need some help, Poppa?" I called, straining my voice to go higher than the noise.

"Rose?" he yelled, peeking his head out from behind the barn door. "What are you doing up? I thought you were sleeping?"

"What? And miss all the fun you're having?"

"Oh," he smiled sheepishly, reaching over to turn the engine off. "I didn't mean to wake you, dear."

"It's alright. I needed to get up anyway." I smiled, nodding over to the barn. "Make any progress?"

He smiled wider, his eyes crinkling at the edges. "Yep. I tell you, we are gonna win this year, Rose. I can feel it. Those fools up in Ridgemont won't know what hit 'em."

I lauhged. "Good. It's about time someone showed them how to build a proper... uh, Poppa? What are you building, anyway?"

"A wood chopper." he announced, proud.

"Really?"

"Mmmhmm." he inclined his head in the direction of his makeshift wood chopper. "Wanna see?"

I turned around and threw on my blue ruffle dress and black slip-on shoes before throwing my mess of brown curls into a bun and ran outside. When I got there, my father had a block of wood in his hands and a finger on a switch.

"Ready, Rose?" he lowered the piece of wood above the opening, dangling it. "Get ready to be amazed. I'll bet you've never seen anything like this before, have you?"

I shook my head, dazed, as I watched the loosely hanging ax swing dantily above the little piece of wood. It looked like it would break off any second.

"Alright, Rose." chuckled Poppa. "Watch."

His thumb flipped the switch and the engine roared to life, rattling the machine vigorously. He dropped the piece of wood into the opening and I watched as it got sucked into a pit, being held securely by two metal rods.
I jumped when the ax swung down, being let loose by the wire, and severed the piece of wood into two.

I blinked, breathless. "Wow."

"It worked! Rose, did ya see that?"

"Yes," I grinned, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. "And I'm sure you'll win first place at the fair this year. This is really amazing, Poppa."

"I'd better." he mumbled, walking back over to his work station.

"When are you leaving?"

"About dark." he paused, peering around to look at me. "You'll be alright by yourself for a couple days?"

I sighed, nodding. "Yes. I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm twenty-one. Give me some credit, Poppa."

He smiled guiltily, a light blush coloring his cheeks. "I know. I just don't like to leave you alone like this."

I laughed and opened the gate, grabbing my book off the fence post on my way out. "I'm gonna go to the library. I think I'm ready for something new."

"Alright, Rose. I'll be here when you get home."
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As usual, the streets were crowded with wave among wave of people and Ms. Gulliford was shouting at the delivery boy. Again. Stan must've done something wrong, poor boy.
I pushed open the door to the library and smiled upon seeing the thousands of books scattered around. I like to read. A lot. It's a nice save from boring nights at home. Plus, I've always wanted a fairytale of my own.

"Back again, Rose?" laughed Marcus, the librarian.

"Sorry." I smiled. "I just got too wrapped up in it. I couldn't put it down."

"What was it about this time?"

"Oh, it was so romantic, Marcus. A girl, locked away in a tower, waiting for her prince to come and rescue her. Captured by an evil witch. It was so enticing."

"Romantic, eh?" asked Marcus, taking the book from my hand. "Say, Rose? If I read one of these... will that 'ole Ms. Gulliford give me a chance?"

"Honestly?" I asked, scrunching my nose. "I doubt she'd give anyone a chance, Marcus."

He laughed. "That's what I thought."

I walked over to a shelf, reading over the tiltles, until I came across my favorite.

"Ah," I announced. "I'll be checking this one out."

"Jack and the Beanstalk? Again?"

"Hey, don't pick on it. It's a classic. Besides, it's my favorite."

Marcus stared at me for a moment and then glanced down towards the book. He winked. "You like it so much, it's yours."

"Really?" I asked, blinking.

"Sure."

"Thank you, Marcus. So much."

"Anytime." Marcus nodded, walking me to the door. "And you tell that father of yours he needs to drop in some time when he gets back. I'd sure like to see that trophy."

"You sound so sure of him winning."

Marcus laughed. "Of course. He won't stop talking about this one. Well, I'll see you next time, Rose."

I waved before opening the door and made my way out onto the busy street. People by the dozens loitered outside of the pub, hollering and whistling at something. When I got a closer look, I instantly wished I hadn't.
Standing by the entrance was none other than James, or, in other words, my number one fan. Ever since I turned sixteen he's been trying to get me to date him, but recently, the talks have been about marriage.
Don't get me wrong, he's a good looking guy. Sandy blond hair and light blue eyes, a chisled body. The only thing is he's just a tad bit immature. And by a tad, I mean a lot.

I quickly ducked behind someone, desperate to hide my face before he spotted me. Sadly, I was too late. I have horribe reflexes.

"Rose!"

I hurried through the crowd, pushing past person after person, and stumbled onto clear land.

"Rose," called James, easily catching up to me. "Didn't you hear me?"

I decided to play dumb. "Were you calling me?"

"Rose." murmured James, taking a strand of my hair in between his fingers. "Don't play games with me, Rose. Now, I saw you watching me."

"James, I wasn't-"

"I knew you wanted me, too."

I rolled my eyes. "James-"

"Don't try to deny it, Rose."

"I'm not--"

"See?"

"--because there's nothing to deny. I'm not attracted to you."

"You say that now," he smirked. "But just you wait until I find some other girl to occupy my time while you come to your senses. Jealousy is an ugly emotion, Rose."

"Please." I scoffed. "I'd love it if you found someone else to occupy your time. Someone who'll actually care, maybe."

"Rose-"

I looked around, startled, and bit my tongue as I watched James struggle to get out of a mud pit. It became too much for me and I just couldn't hold it. I burst out laughing, a hysterical giggle escaping my throat, and turned around, towards home. It was almost nightfall.
______________


When I got home, I noticed the lights were all off and Phillipe, or Poppa, were nowhere to be found. Certainly he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. But, sure enough, his makeshift wood chopper wasn't in the barn anymore.

"Poppa... " I sighed.

"Rose!"

I spun around and saw Stan, the delivery boy, running towards me, waving his arms frantically in the air, above his head. Something about the look on his face made my stomach drop.

"Stan? What is it?"

He gasped for air, gripping the top of my arms. "Rose, it's your father... woods... Phillipe... missing..."

"What?" I gasped, shaking my head. "Stan, breathe!"

He inhaled a couple times and pointed over to the old trail by my house. "Mr. Knully said he saw Phillipe tangled up in the woods. His harness was tied around a tree and it's getting darker now, the wolves'll be coming out. But... your father... wasn't seen. He thinks your father got lost."

I drew in a jagged breath, trying to register everything he said, and took off towards the woods, pushing past him and ignoring the his shouts. My father was missing. And I had to find him.
I held my arms out in front of me as I ran through the stickerbushes and random tree branches, searching everywhere for my father, as I got deeper into the woods. Not even a mile into the woods I found Phillipe. His harness wasn't tied up like a human did it, but, like he got scared and it wrapped around the tree.

I ran over and pulled at the leather straps while trying to calm the shaken horse. Something had frightened him. "Phillipe, it's alright. It's okay..."

I got him free and pushed him in the direction of home. Luckily, he was scared enough to know to just go straight there. Hopefully, Poppa wasn't too far gone.

"Poppa?" I yelled, my eyes darting in between and around all the tress. "Poppa?!"

A low growl emitted from somewhere behind me, too close for comfort. I froze, glancing ahead of me, trying to focus on something other than the hungry wolf behind me. Instinctively, my feet took off, pulling my body with it, and ran as fast as I could.
It didn't take long for me to smack into a wrought iron gate, not even caring about how it got there, and climbed over it, leaving my shoes behind to distract the wolves.

They were shredded within seconds.

"A masion?" I whispered, to tired to argue with logic.

Maybe Poppa was here, too. Maybe he found sanctuary within this mansion and was safe inside. Maybe he wasn't lost. It was the only answer I could think of.
I made my way up the path and pushed open the door, my eyes adjusting to the darkness quickly, and leaned back against the wall. I was too tired to do anything right now. My eyelids became heavier and soon they crashed down, unmoving. Everything went black...

"Hey," whispered a voice. "D'you see that?"

"Yeah." answered another voice, closer to her body than the other. "It's a girl."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know, Frank. We should probably get Ray and Bob. Gerard's not going to be happy when he hears that we've got another guest."

"Ya think?"

"Yeah. We can't hide her from him forever." mumbled the voice. "Well, let's hurry up before Gerard wakes up. Just put her in the East Wing bedroom for now. I'll try to prepare him as much as I can before he finds out."

"Alright, Mikey."

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A/N - Here's the first chapter. I know it's weirdly long and boring but it gets a lot better. Trust me. Anyway, R&R for me so I know how I'm doing! Thanks for reading.