The Passage of Fear and Destiny

Amy quietly sat in the car with her new guardian. She was just picked up from the orphanage. It was a hard life for her. Amy’s parents died when she was three in a car accident. For the past four years, she’s been passed on from relative to relative. Now she is moving in with her wealthy Aunt Jane.

Amy looked in disbelief as the car pulled up to a very large house. Surely this was not her new home. But a well-dressed man came out the double doors to carry her luggage. She timidly walked up to the house without opening the doors. She took a deep breath and opened one and walked in. 

In front of her stood a balcony with two staircases, one to the left and right. Between them was an indoor fountain. The walls around her were covered with doors, and above her was a diamond chandelier. She walked up the staircase to her left, hands sliding up the polished wood railing. Just then her aunt walked in the house.

“You can pick whatever room you want, dear,” her aunt said kindly. Amy just nodded without a word. She kept walking up the stairs until she reached the top. To her left and right there were hallways covered with doors. The hallways seemed to continue around each corner. In front of her was an outdoor balcony that looked out into a large, private garden, covered in roses, trees and sunshine.

“Amy,” her aunt started, “ you can explore around for a little while. I have to see someone for a meeting.” And just like that, Amy was left alone.

She decided to look in each bedroom to see which one she’d like. She wandered alone, peeking inside the room covered in beautiful, colorful paintings. She strolled around into each room, choosing if she liked it or not. Then she came across one room, one room that was rather shabby to the other ones. She immediately liked this room. The dusty, light blue bed and the chipped, dark, wooden wardrobe felt the most familiar. Even if the furniture was replaced, just the small size of the room made her feel warm inside. This is what she was used to, not some fancy, ritzy bedroom.

“So this is the room you want?” said her aunt from right behind her. Amy hadn’t noticed that she came in. Amy nodded at her and smiled. Her aunt said, “Well, whatever you like.” That’s when Amy felt guilty. One thing she thought she would never miss was the authority. But Amy soon realized how much she needed it. With no one telling her what to do, she didn’t know what was the right decision. But that was part of growing up, Amy supposed. 

 As the hours slowly went by, Amy started to feel comfortable. She kept her good manners at tea time, and when it was time for bed she didn’t complain. As Amy got snug in her old bed, her aunt came and kissed her goodnight. She dozed off to sleep, but it didn’t last long. Soon she heard her name being called by her aunt. But her aunt was not in the house. She was out meeting someone again. But this time her name was called louder, and something inside her urged her to follow it.

She walked out of her room and turned left, but the voice called her louder in the other direction. So that is where Amy went. She followed the voice down the stairs. As she got close, the voice grew louder and louder. She went down the hallway underneath the balcony. Then there were many different voices, yelling out her name. The pain was so intense that she fell to the ground in agony. She tried to call for help, but nothing but a whisper came out of her mouth. Amy wondered if she were to die. The ground was quaking and she was trembling in pain and suffering. The voices called out to her louder and louder, screaming in her ear.

Then when she looked in the direction that the voices came from, she saw a door that she didn’t notice before. She focused all her strength on crawling weakly to the door, trying to ignore the screaming in her ear. Amy fell again, hands holding her head in torture, her body curling up in a all, hoping that the voices shrieking at her would stop. Then her body urged her again toward the door, as if telling her that this was the way to make the screaming and suffering stop. Then she inched nearer to the door until she was right beside it. 

When she shakily put her hand on the door, all the screaming and pain immediately stopped. Just stopped. Amy figured that if she took her hand off the door, she would again experience all that suffering. She nervously put her hand on the doorknob and twisted it until the door opened. On the other side of the door, there was a dark staircase that led down to nothing. She could not see the end of the staircase. Then as she stepped inside, another voice started to whisper her name. It was so soft and kind and quiet that her body followed it without command. The voice had hypnotized her body, pulling it down the stairs. She struggled in trying to stop, but she wouldn’t. 

She then saw what was at the bottom. It was water. Just water everywhere. Her body was being controlled by someone other than her. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she thought her body would stop following the voice. It didn’t stop. Her body trudged in the water. She then really started to panic. She put all her strength into stopping. Her body stumbled a little, but it wasn’t enough. Amy was being dragged into water to be drowned, and she could do nothing about it. 

As her head disappeared underneath the watery surface, she took a deep breath and held it. She now could see who was calling her. It was a beautiful woman, with streams of white cloth flowing from her dress. Then Amy realized who this was. In her old school, there was a class about myths. This was the Lady of the Lake, the appointer of all the great kings and queens. Amy then stopped resisting and started swimming toward her. Amy was drawn near to the Lady until she was right beside her. The Lady of the Lake held out her hand, and without question, she took it. Right then the water started to bubble rapidly. Then they started being shaken like they were in the middle of a tornado. Amy decided to close her eyes until this was over. She started to run out of breath. And suddenly, it all stopped. 

As Amy slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was paradise. As she looked closer, she could she many different kinds of strange creatures. Some were big, some were small, but all were very colorful. Trees everywhere surrounded her, trees of strange colors like a dark blue-green and light pinks and purples. She then looked back at the Lady of the Lake who was beside her. The Lady nodded at her for some reason. Then the Lady looked at all the strange creatures, saying, “You have your queen,” as all the creatures bowed before her.