Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

"I couldn't help myself. I was looking at the page before I even realized what was happening. And after I saw it, I couldn't look away. It was a picture of me a beautifully drawn likeness, down to the last detail, sitting in my room. It was a perfect still image of that exact moment, me hunched over the book, my comforter wrapped around me; the blazing curtains framing the ice cracked window; the shadow beings leaping around me in their tribal dance; my hair flying around my face whipping at my cheeks; and my eyes, locked on the book in terror, wide and unseeing, the look of horror so foreign and animal it sent the whole situation suddenly crashing into perspective. But even worse than the inhuman look in those eyes, my eyes, was what I noticed in the next second that lurked behind me in the drawing. A huge, gaping hole, not like a rip in the paper, but like a rip in space and time itself. It was the deepest black I had ever seen, actually sucking the light out of the air around it, and yet at the same time, I saw thousand of iridescent rainbows shimmering though the blackness, bouncing off of the walls and wrapping their delicate tendrils around my stationary body, as if trying to pull me into the void.
"And then, everything went black."

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SPreviously...

“But even worse than the inhuman look in those eyes--my eyes--was what I noticed in the next second that lurked behind me in the drawing. A huge, gaping hole, not like a rip in the paper, but like a rip in space and time itself. It was the deepest black I had ever seen, actually sucking the light out of the air around it, and yet at the same time, I saw thousand of iridescent rainbows shimmering though the blackness, bouncing off of the walls and wrapping their delicate tendrils around my stationary body, as if trying to pull me into the void.

"And then, everything went black."
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Some twenty minutes later, we found ourselves trudging slowly through the dense forest, tripping over roots and rocks, half blinded in the darkness. It was made doubly hard by the fact Ezu was leaning heavily on my shoulder, and our progress was slow and lumbering.

I had just finished explaining how I had woken up in a daze in the middle of a forest after the black hole thing sucked me up, and how I had gone wandering in a confused haze for god knows how long until I ran into a very upset Little Red Riding Hood--literally. After explaining about three times while Ezu laughed his ass off about how she had drawn a knife on me and then taken off back into the forest, leaving me clutching her fallen cloak, I finished back at the moment of the wolves, and my meeting with Ezu.

The affore mentioned was, for the moment, deep in silent thought. Which, unfortunately, left me to my own thoughts. None of which I was all too eager to think about.

For one, but mind kept drifting back to my home on... Earth? My dimension? Hell, I don't even know where I am anymore!

But wherever my world is in this great big universe of ours, I couldn't help but wonder what my parents were doing. Have they even noticed I was gone?

I doubted it. My father was usually too drunk or too busy obsessing over my brother to notice me all that much. Not that I was complaining, or anything. It was better than actually being noticed by him, something that never ended well.

And I barely ever saw my mom, since she was a nurse and worked night shifts. She slept all day, and was usually already at work before I even got home from school.

Speaking of school, I vaguely wondered what was going on there. My friends would notice my absence, and the school certainly would too. Who would be first to contact my parents? Then what would happen? Would the police get involved? Most likely. I wondered how long the search would last. Would I be declared dead?

Does time even move the same here and back home? Is it like Narnia, where years can pass here, but only seconds there? Or maybe a hundred years have already gone by at home, and everyone I know are long since dead and gone.

I was beginning to feel slightly sick. Not because I was worried about my family, or my friends, but oddly enough, because I wasn't. I wasn't freaking out, I wasn't concerned that my mom might be worried about me when she found out I was missing. I didn't care all that much that my friends were most likely freaking out at this moment, unable to find me. I wasn't worried about how I was going to explain where I had been when I managed to get back to my own world. If I got back.

The problem was, in the back of my mind, even after nearly getting eaten by wolves and crushed by Giants, I couldn't help but think of all this as one big adventure. My very own fairy tale. It just didn't seem real.

And no matter how many times I stared at Ezu, taking in every detail about him, all his little imperfections, the pores in his skin, his dead weight as he hung from my shoulder, the reassuring thereness of his arm draped across my neck, I couldn't stop myself from wondering if he was really real. Or if I was just crazy.

This rather depressing train of thought would have continued, but at that moment Ezu shouted, and I suddenly realized the ground was coming up to meet my face very, very fast.

The next thing I knew we were on the ground, and I couldn't breathe. Ezu was laying splayed on top of me, constricting my chest and groaning. Also, there was a small, sharp rock digging into my back. Not vital information, but it was bugging me.

I vaguely wondered for a moment how I had ended up on my back, but I was brought back to the present situation by a sharp pain in my abdomen. Ezu was struggling into a sitting position, and had stuck his rather bony elbow into my gut to prop himself up.

"Ow! Hey!" I grunted, and I knocked him ars out from under him. He came crashing back down onto me with a yelp, and suddenly we were nose to nose, his mis-matched eyes staring into mine. His breath was warm and uneven against my face, and somewhere deep inside my chest, I felt something flutter.

"Rikki..." He whispered, his voice so quite I had to strain my ears to catch the word. I couldn't speak, it felt like someone had shoved wool down my throat, so I just nodded.

"We'll never get out of this forest if you keep knocking me over." He said loudly, irritated, and he rolled over onto the dirt, giving me room to breathe. I gasped in the air, gazing at the foliage above me. But it wasn't because I had just had the wind knocked out of me, it was a reaction to what I had just felt. It made no sense! I'd known the guy for two, maybe three days! What the hell was that all about?

I pushed myself forcefully to my feet, brushing my clothes off.

"Ahem." Came a peeved voice from somewhere around my knees. I glanced down and saw Ezu sitting expectantly, his arms outstretched, like a small child asking to be picked up. The sudden mental image was just too much, on top of my exhaustion and stress, and I collapsed into a fit of laughter. Down I went, hugging my knees to my chest, laughing my head off. The sound echoed oddly in the silent forest, reverberating off the trees. I enjoyed the sound, and it only heightened my hysteria.

I sat like that for what seemed like forever, although it was probably only a few minutes, giggling uncontrollably. When I had finally managed to control myself, my guffaw died down to half hearted snorts, and I began to feel utterly ridiculous. Ezu was staring at me with an expression very similar to horror, and inside I felt exactly like he looked, even though the occasional chuckled still bubbled up through my protesting lips.

"Are you quite done?" Ezu asked hesitantly, as if speaking to a crazy person. But who knows. Maybe I was crazy.

I nodded, feeling a fierce blush creep up my cheeks. I thanked my lucky stars the cool, white moonlight drained our surroundings of all color and struggled unsteadily to my feet. I grabbed Ezu's wrists and yanked him up off the ground, quickly sliding under his arm, steadying him. I cleared my throat.

"Which way?" I muttered. "Oh my master..." I added with a snigger as an after thought, feeling the hysteria sneaking back up on me. Ezu just rolled his eyes skyward with an exasperated sigh and pointed to our left with his good arm.
"That way. And if I have to sit in the dirt one more time, I'm cutting off those useless legs of yours." He threatened, sounding all too serious.



Several hours had passed since my little break down, all trudged through in an unhappy silence. We were tired, cold, and hungry, but we didn't dare stop to sleep, for fear of what might be waiting in the shadows.

It wasn't until just after sunrise that I noticed a break in the seemingly endless trees ahead. I shook my head vigorously, trying to wake up, and looked again. Yes, that was definitely a way out of this blasted wilderness! I shook Ezu, whose head was lolling on my shoulder.

"Hey! Lazy bones! Wake up, I think I see the town!" Ezu looked up at me, the dark rings under his eyes amplified tenfold by the sharp shadows cast in the early morning sun.

"Wha?" He muttered, slowly blinking his eyes once, then twice.

"We're here." I said again, hoisting him higher. I was slightly amazed I had managed to go this far, especially helping support Ezu the whole way. I glanced at his broken ankle, then wished I hadn't. It was horribly swollen, and the bit of skin I could see between his make-shift bandage was bruised and bloody.

"We've got to get you off that foot. And something to eat." I said, staring to walk towards the light with a new vigor.

"Uh-huh." Ezu mumbled, his head dropping again.

"Are you even listening to me?" I asked, slightly suspicious.

"Right." Ezu said.

"If you don't wake up I'm leaving you here." I threatened, glaring at the sleepy boy.

"Yeah." Ezu yawned. I pursed my lips, annoyed. He was totally out of it.

"My flying ninjas could beat up your flying ninjas."

"Yup."

"The monkeys stole my goldfish."

"Mm-hm."

"Do you kiss you mother with that mouth?"

"Uh."

I thought for a moment for something else to say, but when I turned back to Ezu with my mouth already opened, I nearly chocked on the words. Ezu was suddenly staring at me as if I was the most fascinating thing in the world. His eyes were wide, sparkling in the sun, and his mouth slightly ajar. I cleared my throat uncomfortably, not liking all the staring that had been going on lately.

"Erm... what? Do I have something in my teeth?" I tried half heartedly. Ezu didn't speak, but managed to close his mouth. I was getting a little alarmed. Why was he looking at me like I was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ of something? Ezu reached out a shaking hand and brushed a stray hair out of my face. I flinched at his touch.

His hand was practically on fire, the heat radiating off of his skin was enough to make tiny beads of sweat break out on my forehead.

"Do you know..." He began, his voice dry and cracked. He licked his lips, eyes sliding out of focus for a second before snapping back to me. "Do you know how beautiful you are in the sunlight?" He whispered hoarsely. Now I was sure the boy was sick. Even on a good day I was a long distance phone call from a beauty queen. And this was definitely not a good day.

"Come on. We have to get you to a doctor before you lose something else besides your mind." I huffed, now completely dragging Ezu's limp body through the trees. Just a few more feet to go...

And then in one swift movement, Ezu mustered up enough strength to pull my face towards his, and the next thing I knew my chapped lips were pressed tightly to his feverish ones.