Into the Dark
17

Arabella sits in the same spot she always occupies in the ladies room. From her spot, she can clearly see the cobblestone pathway that leads out of the castle. The same pathway that carried her eldest daughter away from her forever. The very daughter whom she had but could never hold.

Not a day goes by when the queen does not regret how complacent she has grown. She wishes she would have fought harder for her daughter. The daughter she never met; at least not to Calypso’s knowledge.

No one knew, but the queen had often found herself sneaking into Calypso’s room while she slept. Each time became harder than the last. Her heart begged to reach out and hug the young child. The girl who never really got to be a child at all.

She never did touch her daughter despite this. She knew her vulture of a husband would replace out and she would not be the cause of Calypso’s pain. Besides she has two more daughters now. She can not afford to be locked in the tower due to her argumentative attitude and disobedience.

Calypso’s sisters often begged their mother to let them meet their sister. Each time the queen had to explain that their sister was very ill and contagious. ‘Their hero of a father sacrifices himself to take care of the girl so no one else will catch the sickness’ she would tell them. The closer it got to Calypso leaving, the more the lie burned on her tongue.

Nevertheless, the lie was exposed the day she left in her midnight dress. Arabella should have closed the shutters and complained of a headache so her daughters would not see. Though there was one thing for sure that Calypso has inherited from her mother and that is her curiosity.

Her daughter was for too breathtaking; even more than Arabella herself. The queen found herself on the floor weeping with. misery as her two daughters attempted to comfort her through their confusion. Their voices calling for help were drown out by the sound of their mother’s heartbreak and fear. Didn’t they know? There was nothing that could help her. For this type of heartbreak was unlike any other and it was not one that could be easily healed.

Arabella promised herself one thing that tragic day. If Calypso did make it out alive, she would do everything in her power to ensure that the girl lived. After all, there is one thing her foul husband underestimates and that is a mother’s love for her child.

A young girl bursts from the trees while the queen is lost in thought. Her gown tattered into pieces and twigs tangled into the girl’s golden locks giving her a devilish appearance.

The queen hears herself uttering the one name she never believed she would again.

“Calypso?”

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Unedited

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