Attempted Escape

She ran through the forest, her stockings full of holes and her feet bleeding. She had lost her slippers during the chase and prayed that they would not use her shoes to follow her trail. She had fallen down twice along way but got up and kept running. Every now and then, she’d turn her head to check out if they were still chasing her. Her brown ringlets got into her face sometimes so it was hard to see. Plus behind her, there was nothing but darkness. She didn’t know where she had come from or how she had escaped.1

I must escape. She reminded herself. If the wizard catches me, he’ll turn me into a hag! I mustn’t let that happen!2

Now the wizard was powerful. He installed fear in everyone that dared to cross his path. The problem was that she hadn’t crossed his path. He saw her first. And he wanted her. When he proposed marriage to her, she refused and broke away from his grasp. Then he threatened her. If she ran away, he’d turn her into an ugly hag. She didn’t want that but she didn’t want to be with him either. So she ran and prayed they would not find her.3

I can’t see them anymore. She realized. But that didn’t mean they weren’t there. The wizard had sent henchmen who were just as powerful in magic as he was. They were surely thinking up something.4

She turned around once more…and that was when she tripped over a twig sticking up from the ground. She screamed and fell over a ledge and…5

GAME OVER!6

“I told you!” Jimmy taunted his little sister when she lost the game. “Girls suck at video games! You lost!”7

She smirked. “But I got farther than you, didn’t I?”8