A Red Door: Chapter 4

Alden pleaded with Avigayle to stay with him. However, she declined. She couldn't stay as long as her friend would've liked, but she stayed as long as she could. There was a restlessness that was still very thick on her, and it would not be satisfied by anyone or anything. It kept her pacing around and walking for miles, until she reached the outskirts of town. 1

And Alden had gotten strange in his ways since Avigayle turned down his offer. He became moody, remote, and manipulative. Avigayle left. She would not stand for her friend's abuses.2

It was good to go back to square one, to go back to that place before a Teivel or a Wesley. But at any rate, she needed to...move. It was the only way to cure her mad longing for her restlessness to end.3

And one day she finally decided to leave. She gathered only a few things together, and started walking. It was quite unexpected, surprising even her. She had not planned on going that day, or any day soon. Leaving was the farthest thing from her mind at the moment she walked out the door. Nor did she stop walking until she had walked a mile past the outskirts to a fork in the road. To the left was a path that would lead back to the village, though being very long and having lots of other forks along the way that led to some interesting places. To her right...that path she was not so familiar with, yet it did look adventurous and exciting.4

"So, why not?" Avigayle said to herself.5

She started down the road.6

To be honest, it wasn't truly a road. It might have been at one time, but it had not been used in many long years. And even then, it might've  been a mere goat path. Yes, indeed it used to be just that. 7

The way was thick with foliage. Tall grass, vines, and branches hid the path so well, that at times, Avigayle could not tell if she were still walking on it or not. This went on for several miles, a sort of directionless wandering. At last, the path began to show more clearly. 8

It was now easily defined by rows of tall grass and Lilly-of-the-valleys on either side of the trail, embedded with multicolored pebbles. They looked very much like paving stone to Avigayle. And after walking beneath an archway of oak branches, with green and yellow ribbon woven through them, she was proved right. She had roamed into a  very wide clearing, perfectly circular, green, vibrant. In the middle of this exquisite place was a sort of well. It was a simple hole in the earth, with a mosaic of plants and flowers around it. The well wasn't particularly wide, but it was big enough for a grown person to fit through.9

Filled to the brim with curiosity, Avigayle lay on her stomach, gazing into the infinite fathoms of the mysterious well. "I wonder how deep it is?" pondered she. Stretching her hand out into the grass, her fingers searched for a stone or any solid object. Her thumb and forefinger found a smooth pebble and cast it down into the darkness. There was no sound. Avigayle felt she should move away. The well held an odd sense of morbidity and sorrow. The darkness of the well stared back at her. They stared each other down a while, the girl and the darkness. And then, her curiosity overcame her apprehension, and Avigayle pushed herself feet-first down the well. 10

There was dim light. The sound of glass sliding against glass, in a tinkling, almost giggling fashion. Avigayle was on her back, a dull pain throbbing through her head and middle back. She was aware of a presence. "Pray, tell me, does thine heart lie still in its bony bed?" A voice. Male. The tone was indefinable.11

"No," said Avigayle."I am alive."12

"Then up with ye. The King requests a council with thee."13

Opening her eyes and sitting up, Avigayle's sight fell upon her addresser. It was a little man, no more than three feet, with a handsome boyish face and a red cap. He leaned against a staff, feathers, glass beads and other such ornaments hanging from it. "If you must call me anything, call me Puck."14

"Where am I?" inquired the girl, massaging a place on the back of her head. There was a dull pain there.15

"The King will disclose the information thou seekest," stated Puck, gesturing toward a hole in the wall. "Follow me."16