Ella's Fairytale (Chapter Two)

Chapter 21

Fairytale2

Ella’s grandmother met them at the door. “Hello, hello,” she said warmly. “Are you all hungry? I have pancakes ready on the table.”3

Then she must have seen Ella. “Ella! You’ve grown so pretty. You’ve got your mother’s same dark hair, do you know that?” She fussed.4

Ella knew. When she was six she used to dress up in her mother’s clothes. But Ella was twelve now and a big girl.5

“Hello Grandma June.” Ella said politely. 6

“Let’s go inside,” Ella’s father said. “Don’t let the pancakes get cold!”7

After lunch, Ella unpacked her bags. She carefully put her things in her bedroom with her mother’s help. Her grandma took her hand and led her on a tour round the house.8

“Watch for the five steps up the porch,” said her grandmother. Ella had tripped coming up those stairs. “They’re rather high so you’ll have to lift your legs higher.”9

Ella understood. But she was curious about something else. So Ella asked, “Grandma, are there any neighbours?”10

Her grandma sat down on the steps. She helped Ella find a seat as well. “There is a farmer and his wife on the other hill,” she said. “We’re good friends.”11

“Any my age?” Ella asked.12

Ella’s grandmother squeezed her hand. “There used to be a boy and his family near here. But they’re gone now. The parents left after the boy disappeared.”13

Ella felt cold all over. “Disappeared?” she asked.14

“Yes.” Her grandma sounded sad. “He went into the River Forest and never came back. After half a year of waiting… the parents just left. That was more than two years ago. The boy would have been fourteen years old now.”15

Ella shivered. She was a little scared. She felt sorry for the boy. “Where is the River Forest?”16

Her grandma answered in a sharp tone, “Are you thinking of going there? It is a dangerous place.” Her voice softened. “The Fairies live there.”17

Ella laughed. “I’m too old now for those kind of fairytales, Grandma.”18

Her grandmother did not laugh with her. “Not the little 6 inch girls in skirts and magic wands I used to tell you about.” she said. “Those aren’t real. The Fairies in the Forest are real though. They are great and strong people with terrible magic. They live in the River Forest and do not let any human enter or leave alive.”19

Ella was afraid. She was also very curious. She wanted to meet the Fairies. If they were real.  But she said, “I won’t go to the River Forest.”20