The Magical Cottage in The Forest

“Oh dear, you are far from home,” the gray-haired woman said after just one glance at the young girl who was standing in front of her. “I’m looking for my brother. Have you seen him?” The woman pitied the girl, who was clearly lost and couldn’t have been more than 14 years old. “Not many people come by here. I’m afraid I can’t say I’ve seen him.” The woman extended an invitation into her moss-covered cottage. “Would you like to come in? You look like you could use some rest.” The girl was timid and politely turned down the offer when a man’s voice came from inside the cottage. “Storm’s a-brewing Lena, she should really take cover for the night.” The young girl shifted on her feet. “Markl’s right, you know. You won’t want to be out in the forest when the storm comes.” Lena stepped aside and after a moment of hesitation, the girl led herself inside.

The inside of the cottage was cluttered, and had the girl been claustrophobic there might have been a problem. Luckily, the girl was used to small, enclosed spaces, as her room at the orphanage had been no bigger than a broom closet. The man, Markl, who was taller than average and had a full head of reddish hair, had appeared behind Lena. The kitchen and living room, if you could even call it that, merged into one anarchic area. There was a rickety stove adjacent to a tall white box that the girl presumed to be a fridge. Pushed into a corner was a wooden table with two chairs. There was a cluster of candles on the table, most of which had seen better days. On the other side of the room was a cast iron wood burning stove. The girl could see there was something cooking in the stove, and she could smell it too. Rosemary and cardamom wafted through the air, blanketed by the smell of burning meat. Pushed against the wall furthest from the door was a lone leather couch. Only then did the girl notice a fairly large black cat snoozing on a pile of wool blankets on the couch. The last thing the girl noticed was a lopsided door almost exactly opposite the front door. She could only assume this is where Lena and Markl slept.

The first thing she had noticed, however, when she entered the cottage was not how small it was or the cornucopia of smells, it was the sheer amount of books littering every facet of the quaint home. Her observations of the new space were cut off by Lena. “I know it’s not much and it’s a bit messy, but it’s perfect for us,” she said and smiled at Markl, who returned the smile. After a moment, the girl said “I like it,” which came out sounding more like a question that a statement. “Lots of uh–.” Lena interrupted, “books, yes. Lots of books.” She gingerly touched the silver pendant hanging from her neck and Markl put his hand on her shoulder. “Forgive me, I never asked your name.” 

“My name is Sophie. I really should keep looking for my brother.” Lena walked towards the cast iron oven. “At least stay for dinner. I’m making beef casserole.” She pulled a ceramic dish out of the oven. “Oh dear, I’m afraid it’s burnt.” Markl chuckled, “it’s even better when it’s burnt. Let’s eat. I’m starving.” Lena brought the dish to the table, sweeping the candles out of the way to make room. “Honey will you grab that extra chair from our room?” 

Markl returned from the bedroom with another, smaller chair. “This chair is perfect for you, little one,” he said to Sophie. She thought it peculiar he called her “little one” even though she was as tall as his wife, or at least she assumed they were married. The three of them sat down at the table, and Lena and Markl bowed their heads. Sophie followed their lead and bowed her head as well. She expected a prayer or a thanks to God for the food, but no one spoke. After what felt like an eternity in silence, Lena and Markl said in sync, “amen.” Sophie, unsure of what to do, let out a weak “amen.” Markl stuck his fork into the casserole and began scooping the food onto his plate when Lena kicked him under the table and nodded her head toward Sophie. “Oh–er sorry. Sophie, hand me your plate and I’ll serve you,” Markl said, reaching his large, hairy arm out for Sophie to hand her plate over. 

Markl spooned some of the casserole onto Sophie’s plate with a plop. “Thank you,” Sophie said and poked her fork at the heap of food. Lena commented in a defensive tone, “It may not look very appetizing but it tastes like home.” “Like home?” Sophie asked. “You know... when a meal holds a special place in your heart? It tastes like home. That’s the best way to describe it.” 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal like that.”

“Well maybe this can be it.”

“But this... this isn’t my home.”

Lena and Markl shared a look, then Lena took Sophie’s hands in her own. “Maybe it can be your home.” Sophie was apprehensive. “Where would I, I mean, why would you want me to stay here?” “The truth is,” Lena began, “we were expecting you.” 

“I don’t understand,” Sophie said, pulling away from Lena.

“We haven’t been completely honest with you,” Lena said and gave Markl a nervous glance.

“What do you mean?”

“Your brother is here, Sophie.”

“What?” Sophie exclaimed, and stood up abruptly so the chair fell. She spun around the room, dazed. “Where is he? How can he be here?” Lena grabbed hold of Sophie’s shoulders and held her steady. “We’ll take you to him, but you have to promise.”

“Promise what?”

“That you’ll stay with us. That this will be your new home.”

“Fine. I promise. Just take me to my brother.”

Lena motioned to Markl and he moved to open the door to what Sophie had assumed was the couple’s bedroom. “You keep him in there?” Sophie said with disgust. But before she could work herself up, Markl swung the door open revealing the last thing Sophie imagined could be behind the door.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Behind the door was a small village. Lena saw Sophie’s eyes widen. “It’s quite the surprise, I know. Come along, I’ll show you around.” Sophie walked with Lena through the door and noticed Markl wasn’t following them. “Markl will stay behind and watch over the house,” Lena said and waved bye to Markl who closed the door, leaving Sophie and Lena alone. A moment later the door disappeared and Sophie could only see miles of lush green where the cottage would’ve been. Sophie realized she was standing on a cobblestone pathway that led into the village. Lena began walking towards the village when she noticed Sophie wasn’t following her. “There’s nothing to be scared of child.” Lena reached out her hand, “let’s go,” and reluctantly, Sophie took it.

As they stepped foot in the village, a young boy came running up to Lena. “Mrs. Lena! Mrs. Lena!” He tugged on her shirt. 

“Why hello Samuel. I’m just giving a new resident the tour. This is Sophie.”

“Oh! Hi Sophie!”

“Hi.” Sophie muttered, unsure of who this boy was or where he came from.

“Go run along Samuel and I’ll finish giving Sophie the tour.”

“Okay!” Samuel said and trotted away.

Lena turned to Sophie, “he’s one of the more sociable ones, they’re not all that outgoing. Everyone has their own personality.”

“What is this place?”

“This is where kids without homes come.”

“So like an orphanage?”

“Not exactly. We’re all family here.”

“There’s only kids here?”

“Precisely. Markl and I are the only adults. When a child turns 18, they leave us to start their lives.”

“My brother is here?”

“He is. I’ll bring you to him.”

Sophie followed Lena deeper into the village. They passed miniature brick houses, each with front gardens overflowing with fresh fruit and vegetables. “These are where the kids live. Each house sleeps three comfortably.” They continued on and came across a playground with a giant jungle gym and a shallow watering hole. Kids were chasing each other and splashing in the water. “Kids young and old enjoy this playground,” Lena began and pointed to the side of the playground at a basketball hoop and a rock climbing wall where kids a bit older than Sophie were hanging out. They neared where the path, and subsequently the town, ended and came across two larger buildings that didn’t look like the other houses. “These,” Lena said and motioned to the buildings, “are our dining hall and school house. Your brother most likely is in the school house. He loves to read.”

“He always has,” Sophie said smiling.

The school house consisted of a corridor lined with doors that were labelled with subjects, “Science”, “Maths”, “History”, “English”, “Arts”. At the end of the corridor was a large wooden door that looked different than the others. “I’ll bet he’s in the library,” Lena said pointing to the large wooden door. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The library was magnificently stereotypically aesthetic in its architecture. Giant white columns separated the shelves of books from the center of the room, where desks and oversized leather chairs were craftily placed. When Sophie walked in she immediately was hit with a strong whiff of old books and leather. The room was empty except for a boy, no older than ten, with shaggy blonde hair sitting, knees to his chest, in a leather chair with a book that was humorously large in his small hands. He was so concentrated on the book he didn’t notice that Lena and Sophie had walked in until Sophie blurted out his name and came running to him.

“Sebastian!” Sophie exclaimed and fell into the chair, embracing her brother. “Sophie?” He said with a look of confusion on his face. “What are you doing here?” Lena stood by, silently observing.

“I came looking for you.”

“You shouldn’t have.”

Now it was Sophie’s turn to have the confused expression.

“What do you mean? Of course I should have. You’re my baby brother.”

“This place is–” Sebastian started to say but was cut off by Lena. “Sebastian, I believe it’s time for supper. I’ll bring your sister to her room to get set up.”

“Oh,” Sophie said, “thank you, but I’m not staying. I only came to get my brother.”

“At least stay the night. The forest is dangerous at night.”

Sophie shot a glance at her brother, “Okay. But we’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Sure.” Lena said calmly.

“Can I just hug my brother before we go?”

Lena gestured “go ahead.”

Sophie embraced Sebastian and whispered something in his ear. When she pulled away and held him at arms length he gave her an understanding nod. Then, Sophie followed Lena out of the library. Lena took Sophie to one of the miniature houses that had a particularly lush front garden. When they got inside, it was like being in a life-size doll house. In the kitchen, the stove, oven, and fridge were all merely for decoration. 

“We like to replicate the feeling of being in a real house, but of course most of the kids are too young to cook.” Lena showed Sophie to her room, which she would be sharing with another girl, Myra, who was about 15 years old. The room had two identical sides, each with a bed, nightstand, dresser, desk, and small window. There was a large shaggy white rug in the middle of the room and the wallpaper had drawings of different versions of a girl and her dog. Myra was at her desk drawing with earbuds in. 

“Myra.” Lena had to repeat herself twice before Myra, startled, took our her earbuds and faced them. “Sorry to disturb you. This is Sophie, she’ll be your new roommate.” Myra said, barely audible, “hi.”

“I’m only staying for the night.” Sophie said. Myra looked to Lena for confirmation. “Right,” Lena said through pursed lips. “Well I’ll leave you girls to it. Lights out at 10 please.” Lena closed the girl behind her and Myra hesitated before turning back to her drawing and putting her earbuds back in. Sophie noticed her desk already had notebooks and pens and her dresser was already stocked with clothes. Without facing Sophie, Myra said, “you know she won’t let you leave in the morning.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re an orphan right?”

“Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?”

“She won’t let you leave until your eighteenth birthday. Says she’s protecting us. More like imprisoning.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ve been here for 5 years. I stumbled upon Lena and Markl’s cottage when I was following a stray cat into the forest. They took me in and showed me this perfect little village with no adults. It was fun for a bit, surrounded only by kids. But then I started feeling an ache. Not a physical one but a yearning in my heart for a family, for parents to tuck me in at night. I begged Lena to let me go back to the orphanage so I could be adopted but she refused. She even...”

“What? What did she do?”

“She put a spell on all the kids, that makes them want to stay here. But some of us, like myself, are immune to the witchcraft. Lena calls us ‘Sophisticates,’ the ones who can’t be cursed.”

“Who else here is a Sophisticate?”

“Only a handful of us.”

“I wonder if my brother...”

“Your brother’s here?”

“Yes. That’s how I found the cottage. I was looking for him.”

“I see. He probably followed the same cat I did.”

“His name is Sebastian. Do you know him?”

“Oh, Sebastian! He’s also a Sophisticate.”

Sophie let out a sigh of relief, “thank god.”

“If you want any chance at escaping you need to leave tonight.”

“Do you know where Sebastian lives.”

“Yes. The third house on the right from the entrance of the village. Wait until midnight. It’s safer.”

“Thank you.”

Sophie started to get on her bed when she turned back to Myra.

“You should come with us.”

Myra gave a sad smile. “I can’t. My younger sister is here. She’s not a Sophisticate so she won’t want to leave.”

Sophie nodded and lay on her bed watching the clock on her nightstand.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At midnight Myra was still at her desk drawing. Sophie had dozed off but was now anxious to go. She said goodbye to Myra and thanked her again for her help.

“Maybe I’ll see you on the outside,” Myra said.

“I look forward to it.” Sophie smiled and walked out. 

Outside it was chilly and silent. Sophie sneaked along the front gardens and counted three houses down from the entrance on the right. She stood in front of the house for a while before attempting to open the front door. It was locked. She went around the back of the house and looked up at the windows. There was one window that stood out to her. It had a sticker of a black widow hanging from a web. That had to be Sebastian’s room; he’d been obsessed with spiders since he was a baby. 

She looked on the ground for something to throw. She found a stick the size of her hand. The first time she threw she missed and the stick bounced off the wall of the house. She tried again. And again. Until finally the stick hit the window and made a soft tap. She wondered if it was enough to get Sebastian’s attention. She began to feel hopeless until a face appeared in the window. She recognized her brother instantly. She waved frantically to him. 

He opened his window. In a hushed voice he said, “Sophie?! What are you doing?”

“We’re getting out of here. I know you’re a sophisticate.”

“How– I don’t understand?”

“I don’t have time to explain now. Just come down.”

Sebastian closed his window and Sophie went to the front of the house. After a couple minutes Sebastian appeared in the doorway, but he wasn’t alone. He was holding hands with a boy about his age with short cropped black hair and bushy eyebrows.

“Who–”

“This is Misha. He’s coming with us.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

As the three of them trotted to the edge of the village, Sophie realized, foolishly, that she had forgotten the door to the cottage had disappeared after her and Lena had gone through it. But before Sophie had time to think, the door appeared and opened but no one was there. The three kids looked at each other and crept towards the door. Sophie peered inside the cottage but it was completely empty. Even the books and cat were gone.

Sophie turned back to Sebastian and Misha but they were gone too. Sophie felt the world spinning around her and slowly her environment was disintegrating.

An alarm clock was ringing somewhere in the distance. The village had been replaced by darkness. She tried running but her legs wouldn’t move. She lost touch of all her sense and the alarm was getting closer and closer. She was lifted up in the air and a bright light blinded her. She heard the soft voice of a boy whispering her name. Slowly she gravitated down to the Earth and felt her body in a soft cloud. The alarm stopped and now just the boy’s voice remained. 

“Sophie, wake up. It’s time for breakfast.”

Sophie’s eyes fluttered open and Sebastian’s face came into focus. He was sitting on the bed, gently shaking her.

“You must’ve been having quite the dream.”