I leaned my head against the windowpane. It was cold and made me shiver a little as I looked out at the falling rain.
It was a grey, dismal day, the kind of day that sucked the energy out of you and made you sit somewhere, lifeless, until the sun came out. Which was exactly what I was doing. I was sitting on the window seat in my new room.Looking around, I sighed. My room was still filled with brown cardboard boxes. The boxes were filled with everything, from books, to clothes, to my art supplies. I hadn’t been very inspired to unpack them, despite my parents telling me to, over and over again.
The rain drizzled on as I got up and went downstairs to where my parents were unpacking their own boxes. They hardly noticed me as I walked in the room. I looked around, hoping for something to do, but saw nothing that interested me. I sighed again, utterly bored.
I hadn’t wanted to move. I loved my old home, back in the city. London. But then my parents both needed a change of scene and new inspiration for their books and blah blah blah. So we packed everything up and moved out into the country, near some nowhere little village.
My parents loved the place, but I couldn’t say the same thing. There was no one my age around here. Just lots of old people who offered stale biscuits and drank lots of tea. And usually had lots of dogs or cats around. I was allergic to both.
My mother was putting cups and plates onto a shelf when she finally noticed me standing there. She smoothed down her short, brown hair and said “Emma, if you have nothing to do, then you may as well help with unpacking.”
I groaned. “Mum, we’ve been unpacking for days! I want a break for a little bit.”
She frowned a little but said nothing as she went back to her unpacking. My dad walked by carrying a bucket of cutlery. “If you’re just going to mope and sigh, then you can do it somewhere else. You may as well go outside and take a walk, if only for a little bit.”
For some reason, a walk sounded like a good idea, even though it was still raining. I nodded and went to the front door. I grabbed my blue raincoat from the closet, put on my rain boots and then went out into the dreary outdoors.
Everything seemed to be lacking color. It was late fall, so all the colorful leaves were now dark brown and lying dead underfoot. Tall skeleton trees lined the road as I trudged along, avoiding the large puddles. They seemed too tall, and over all very foreboding. I didn’t like the feeling they gave me.
After about ten minutes of walking, I was just about ready to turn back when I saw someone sitting by the side of the road. I walked a little closer and saw that it was a rather old woman. She had silver hair that was tied in a bun, though it was a very messy bun. She wore a long dark dress that seemed rather out of place for this day and age; it reminded me of something from my history textbook.
She saw me and smiled warmly. “Good afternoon, girl. Lovely weather, isn’t it? Come here and talk with me for a little while.” She smiled even more and I could that she was missing several teeth.
For some reason though, something about her made me want to talk with her. I mentally shrugged. Why not? I had nothing better to do anyway.
I walked over to her and saw that she was sitting in a fold up chair. As I walked closer, she pulled out another fold out chair and set it up. A little hesitantly, I sat down next to her.
“There we are then.” She said. Now I could see that she was crocheting a long, red string. In fact, the string was so long that it trailed down all the way to the ground, sitting in the mud. But she didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she simply didn’t care.
“So who are you, dear girl?” She asked, her fingers never stopping for even a moment.
“My name is Emma Leavenworth. My parents and I just moved here a couple of days ago, in the house down the road.” I pointed in the direction of my house and she nodded, her fingers flying.
“I heard about your family. I didn’t know they had a little girl though.”
I nodded. “Well…they do. Me.”
She smiled. “Any more of you? Siblings, I mean?”
I shook my head and sighed. “Nope. Just me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Ah, do I detect some unhappiness?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just, it’s always so boring being the only one, you know? My parents work all the time…they’re writers and are always writing! And I don’t even get to read what they write! It’s so boring.”
“It would seem so, dear.” She said, nodding her head. The red string was even longer now, and I was surprised by how long it was getting. It was coiled in a little circle, going around her feet.
“And what’s your name?” I finally asked her.
She smiled, though she didn’t show her teeth this time. “Desdemona.”
“O-oh.” Was all I could think of to say. She nodded more. “Unusual, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. But…it’s kind of cool.”
“Why, thank you, dear child.”
We fell silent again, the only sound being the rain falling on the ground. It wasn’t raining as hard as earlier, which was nice. Strangely enough though, Desdemona didn’t really seem to be all that wet, even though she wore no hat or raincoat. But I didn’t think much of it.
“So, my dear, what do you think of this place?”
I shrugged, swinging my leg. “It’s not bad…but there’s no one my age around here. It’s kind of….boring.”
For a moment, I thought she grinned. But then her face was normal again. Maybe I had just imagined it.
“I’m afraid that’s the way it is, dear. You’re the first child to live around here since….let me see now….there was that little boy who….well it must be at least twenty years now….it’s been a long time, it has.”
This seemed odd to me. “Any reason?”
She shrugged and then frowned as a piece of her thread tangled up. She carefully fixed it and then said “Children have lived here, but…well, you see they don’t ever stay here for that long. It’s rather….odd….” she trailed off and started crocheting again, the tangle completely gone now.
I sighed. “That’s too bad. Because if there were other kids here, then I would have someone to talk to.”
She looked up, her fingers still flying. “What about your parents?”
I shook my head, scowling. “They never have time for me. They’re always too busy for me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, that can’t be true.”
“Oh but it is! If I disappeared….I don’t think they’d even care. Probably wouldn’t even notice.”
The rain was starting to fall even harder now. I shivered a little and pulled my hood over my head, wiping away some rain drops from my face.
She spoke rather suddenly. “Emma, dear, would you like a present?”
Warnings about not taking things from strangers alarmed in my head, but I ignored them. “All right, sure.”
She stopped crocheting long enough to reach into a little bag that I hadn’t seen earlier. She rummaged about and finally pulled something out and held it in her hand.
“Close your eyes and hold out your hands, dear.” She said, and I did so. I felt something cold and a little heavy get placed in my hands.
“Alright, open them!” She said, sounding very excited.
I did and looked at what was in my hands. It was a very old looking watch, the kind you would see an old train conductor using. It was all golden and shiny, as if it was polished often. The glass front sparkled and the hands inside were actually moving. I looked at the watch in wonder, not quite believing that she actually meant to give it to me.
“Wow, this is beautiful! But…are you sure you want to give it me? I mean, you just met me! This must be some sort of…I don’t know, heirloom or something. I-I can’t accept it.”
She laughed a little. “Of course you can. I have many watches like this one, although each one is a little bit different. I want you to keep it, alright? Oh, but wait. I need to add something to it.”
Picking up the long strand that she’d been working on, she took one end and tied it to the watch. Then, pulling out some scissors from her bag, she cut the other end so it wasn’t so long. Then she tied it off in a knot, so it wouldn’t unravel.
“There. The red matches your hair.”
I touched the watch gently; its’ smooth shiny face was somehow comforting. “Thank you so much.” I said, smiling.
I suddenly realized what time the watch said; I had been gone for over an hour. “I should go home now. It’s probably time to eat.”
Getting up, I folded the chair and placed it next to hers. She smiled and said “It was nice talking to you, my dear. I’m sure I'll be seeing you soon.”
I waved goodbye and trudged back home. The rain had stopped now but the road was as muddy as ever. I nearly lost my boots several times as the mud tried to pull them off.
Opening the front door, I said “I’m home!” But no one replied, as usual.
That night, I lay in my bed, thinking about the old woman. I pulled out the watched and looked at it for a long time, touching the face and twining the red chord around my fingers. I must have drifted off though, because next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes and looking around.
But I wasn’t in my room. I sat up, very confused. I was lying on the ground, still holding the watch. I was covered only by a thin blanket. The walls were dark brown and as I touched the ground, I saw that it was only dirt. No floor.
My heart pounding, and a bad feeling starting to rise, I got up and walked over to the doorway. There was no actual door, just a long piece of cloth covering it. I pushed it aside and gasped.
I wasn’t home. I wasn’t in the village. I wasn’t even in a forested, green area. Spread out before me was a sort of desert. Cacti and a few small shrubs dotted the place. I couldn’t see any signs of wildlife.
The only signs of life were several small huts, spread out in a random fashion. As I stared at it all, a human came out of the hut nearest to me, and started picking some bits and pieces off of one of the bushes.
I was feeling very scared now. This just wasn’t normal! I had to be dreaming! And yet…everything seemed so real. Too real.
Before I could figure out what to do next, another figure appeared from around one of the huts, and started coming towards me. A dark feeling of dread filled me as I recognized that small, silver haired figure.
Desdemona.
I ran towards her, nearly dropping the watch as I tripped over a small root. “Desdemona! What’s going on?”
She grinned when she saw me and said “Ah, my dear Emma. Aren’t you pleased? You’re finally in a place with no parents that don’t pay attention to you! You’re surrounded my children your age!”
My jaw dropped. “What are you talking about? Where am I?”
She was using a walking cane, which she leaned on now. “My dear, dear child. You’re in a new place. It’s not on earth. I suppose you might say it’s in another dimension.”
I gaped at her, sure she was crazy. “Are you serious?”
She nodded, still grinning. “I’m not human either. I simply come to earth, looking for something fun to do. Like sending bored, lonely little children to this place.” She motioned to it all with one hand. “This dry, dusty place.”
I shook my head. “This can’t be real. How can it be?”
At this, she cackled, sending shivers down my back. “The watch. The red chord! All part of my little game. Hehehe, this is so much fun! The look on your face, dear. Priceless. But now I must be going. I have other children to play with.
“What? You can’t leave me here! I want to go home! I want my parents!”
She turned away from me, still laughing. “You yourself said they wouldn’t miss you if you disappeared. So it doesn’t matter, now does it?”
“But I…” I trailed off, at a loss for words. I could feel hot tears welling up in my eyes now, and I bit my lip, trying to stop them.
“Goodbye, child. Enjoy your new life.” She said. Then she waved her stick around and disappeared without a sound.
On their own accord, my legs carried me to the spot she vanished. I fell down to my knees, the tears falling now. “Please! Take me back!!” I screamed, my fingers clawing at the dry ground where she had been standing. “I want to go home! I want my parents!!”
Want my parents! A mocking echo replied. I stopped screaming, knowing that it was no use now.
End
