Your Heart's Desire

Kate glanced anxiously at the sky. The clouds were angry and gray. It was still a long walk to get back to her house, and she didn’t want to anyway. There was too great a chance that her Mom would be home with her boyfriend. She was still nursing her bruises from the last time she had walked in on a date night. Raindrops started pelting her face and she looked around for a place to take shelter. 

The only place that looked open was what appeared to be a coffee shop on the corner. She ran in, her school bag over her head. The shop was deserted except for an elderly woman sipping coffee and looking wistfully at a book. She looked up at Kate and smiled, 

“Quite the weather out there, isn’t it deary?”

Kate nodded. The woman adjusted her glasses and patted the seat next to her. 

“Come, sit. Would you like anything? A hot chocolate perhaps?”

Kate walked up to the table, 

“I don’t have any money, I was just tryin to get out of the rain.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll pay for it. “

Kate shook her head, 

“Thank you, but I couldn’t possibly”

“Nonsense, keeping me company until the storm passes will be payment enough..”

Kate nodded, and sat down. Typically, she would decline the offer, but the weather was nasty outside, and she really didn’t want to go home. 

“I’m Kate”

The woman smiled, 

“Merideth”

Meredith turned her attention back to the book on the table. It was bound in red leather with black lettering and gold symbols on the front. 

“Do you read?

Kate looked at the book, memories flashing through her mind. Her as a little girl, flipping through the pages of books, laughing at the pictures. Her dad reading her tales of princesses and princes. True love’s kiss. Daring adventures; knights facing off in battle. But that was over now. A thing of the past. 

“Not anymore”

She replied. Meredith frowned.

“Well that is just a shame. I find that the right book can transport you to magical places.”

She nodded to the book on the table, 

“This is my absolute favorite. I’ve spent far too much time on its pages.”

She smiled wistfully and pushed it towards Kate. 

“I think it is time that someone else gets to enjoy it.”

Kate took the book gently. It felt strange in her hands, but also as if she should be holding it. As if whatever story was in this book was begging to be read. She looked at the title, ‘Your Heart’s Desire’. She smiled and looked at Meredith to thank her, but the woman was gone. Kate looked back at the book and opened it. Inside was a handwritten message, 

“My dear girl, this book has a way of finding those who are lost in this harsh world. It seeks to help those who have been surrounded by suffering and can no longer see their way forward. It can present you with your heart’s desire. 

With love, 

The author”

Kate smiled and flipped to the first chapter. 

“Once upon a time…”

Kate opened her eyes and found herself sitting in a grassy meadow. She scrambled to her feet. She was wearing a pale pink dress that flowed delicately with the slight breeze. She gathered the dress in her arms and walked to the edge of the hill that she was on. In the distance, she could see a village and a castle.

“I’m dreaming. I must be dreaming.”

Kate whispered. She took another step and her ankle buckled. She winced, 

“Not dreaming”

Aggravated, she kicked off the heels on her feet and stood up. She took a tentative step, testing her ankle. It appeared sturdy enough to walk on, so she picked up the heels and started walking towards the castle. Her ankle started hurting relatively quickly, but her only option was to keep walking. The path up to the castle was adorned with fruit trees, flowers, and a little stream, which prevented the sun from beating down too harshly. She was about a mile out from the castle when she heard a soft voice call out,

“Excuse me, Miss?”

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw a boy who appeared to be around her age. He was sitting on a rock by the stream. He brushed brown curls out of his eyes and squinted at her. 

“I’ve never seen you walking this path before? Where did you come from?”

“Oh, umm. I’m not sure actually. I saw your village from that hill over there.”

The boy’s face lit up. He stood and walked towards her. She noticed his clothing. It seemed to be of a similar time period as her dress; a cotton shirt with a leather vest, pants, and gloves.

“You must be our next leader!”

Seeing her questioning face, he extended a hand,

“Please, follow me, all will be made clear when we reach the village.”

She took his hand gratefully, as her ankle was throbbing at that point. She had no doubt that it was swollen, but she had dealt with similar injuries before; most of them inflicted by her mother’s boyfriend. She tried to distract herself from the pain by making conversation with him.

“So… I’m Kate.”

He looked at her startled, 

“Nice to meet you, Lady Kate. I am David.”

She looked at him and smiled, 

“Nice to meet you David.”

He held her gaze for a moment before looking at the ground. She detected some hesitation in his movements. He obviously wasn’t going to talk with her. So she looked at the ground too, trying to focus on her steps. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again.

“I must admit, Lady Kate, I am surprised you spoke to me. That goes against the customs here.”

Kate looked up. 

“Why? Also, My name is Kate. Just Kate.”

“You are a lady, and I am simply one of the villagers. My job was to lead you to the castle, and here we are.”

They stopped walking abruptly. Kate looked up at the towers. Vines were crawling up the walls, giving the castle an old, majestic feel. David knocked on the wall and a secret door opened. Before Kate knew it she was whisked away. 

She was pulled into a well lit room. A bunch of girls fawned over her. They applied some sort of tint to her lips and cheeks. They pulled her hair back into a loose braid and adorned it with flowers. Kate could feel her heart-rate elevating. This was her dream when she was younger. Now she felt stressed. Extremely stressed. After years of dealing with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, her fight or flight instincts were kicking in. 

There was a sense of security and calm when she was walking with David. That calm was shattered as soon as the makeover had begun. A couple of the girls brought out a gown, complete with the corset and everything. Kate fervently declined the gown, declaring that she would be much more comfortable in the dress she was in now. She tried to talk with the girls but they ignored her, only interested in her opinion of white or pink flowers.

 When they deemed her appearance suitable, she was ushered into another room. There were about five other girls in the room. They were all dressed differently. She didn’t know enough about the culture to know what they were all supposed to represent, but she could guess at a few. 

Someone stood up at the front of the crowd. He was dressed in velvet, but it was marred by ink stains. This led her to believe that he was a scribe, or a poet of some kind.

“Good evening ladies, I assume you are all wondering where you are and why.” 

There was a murmur of agreement from the girls. From the orientation speech, Kate learned that there were five books. They pulled girls into this alternate world to try and save them from their reality. Each book is related to a certain group of people. There were pirates, Soothsayers, The Army, the magicians, and the gardeners. The scribe suggested that they get to know each other and exited the stage. 

Kate looked around at the girls again. They all looked nice enough. She turned around to a tap on her shoulder. She saw a girl dressed like a pirate. They started talking and she learned that all of the girls came from abusive families. Apparently, they were all trying to stay away from home when the storm hit. The stories were all exactly the same from that point forward. The only difference was where they woke up. Apparently where they woke up determined what group they joined. 

Years passed. Kate lived happily in the world that she had affectionately dubbed, “My Fantasy World”. Her kingdom flourished. From what she could tell, war was rare. It typically happened between the different groups and she had good relationships with all of the girls. Her days were normally spent with David; and once she convinced him that he wasn’t going to get in trouble for talking to her, he actually seemed to enjoy her company. 

Her old life of fear and abuse was barely a memory. A whisper of a past nightmare. She never worried about whether or not it was safe to go home. She was home. So when the day came for her to take her last breath, she did so peacefully, her frail hand clutching David’s. The girls she had arrived with had aged too. Some of them had already passed, but the ones who remained stood around her, providing comfort as she slipped from the grasp of that world.

Kate opened her eyes. She found herself in the coffee shop, holding that leatherbound book. The sound of the storm raged outside. She assumed that she had fallen asleep, but on closer inspection, she realized that her hands were wrinkled and frail. A warm cup of coffee was sitting on the table, so she took a sip; all while gazing at the book, wishing she could return to her fantasy world. The door slammed open, and she raised her eyes. 

Standing there was a teenage girl, a schoolbag in one hand. Her eye had a dark, blossoming bruise forming and her lip was red and swollen. Kate smiled at her, 

“Quite the weather, isn’t it love? Come, have a seat.”