* Chapter 2: Escape Not much occurred in the days leading up to the ball, besides Lily accidentally watering the plants with toxic liquid and Juniper spilling porridge all over Queen Cindra, Queen of the Woodland Realm. Cindra was very kind about it. On the day before the ball, Lily overheard her father speaking to her mother about Juniper. “That girl is a nuisance!” she heard him say. “She made a porridge stain all over your new gown, although it was quite amusing, but she can not continue to live here!” “Where else can she go, Florien?” put in Queen Cindra. “I don’t know, but she may no longer stay here!” Lily gasped. Her father was a nice Wood Gnome! Her mother was a nice Wood Nymph, too! This was yet another reason to run away! Lily sighed and tried to push the thought out of her mind. * “Well, I suppose it’s time to start getting ready for that old ball,” said Juniper as she pushed the door open. “I guess,” said Lily, “They don’t know we’re planning to run away, haha.” They laughed, but they knew that deep down, they both had that lumpy feeling inside. Lily pulled her golden gown over her head, and Juniper did the same. “I have to say, your light orange hair looks great in that golden dress,” complimented Lily. Juniper rolled her brown-with-golden-flecks eyes. “Now,” said Lily, “Let’s go over the plan one more time. Nobody has a great enough imagination to think of what Juniper did then. Let’s say you might not want to know. After that memorable occasion, Queen Cindra beckoned them all into a roomy closet and pulled the door shut. Then she said, “I want you two on clean-up duty. After the ball, you two will clean everything up.” Lily exchanged a worried glance with Juniper. “Oh,” said Queen Cindra, “and stand at the door and welcome the first few guests, will you? I have to fetch my crown, and my hairdresser is running late.” Juniper rolled her eyes. They scurried out of their closet, and waited at the door. “You know Wolf?” Said Lily out of nowhere. “Sure, the Wood Elf you were friends with when you were, like, two?” said Juniper. “That’s Wolf. Junie, he’s coming to the ball. I haven’t seen him in over five years, and he should be here any second now!” “So?” said Juniper. “So—” but nobody ever knew ‘so’ because at that minute, the doorbell interrupted. “Hiya,” said one of two tall skinny Wood Nymphs, “We’re Calanthe,” said Calanthe. “And Rosalie,” said Rosalie. “We like dancing,” they said in unison, then giggled themselves out of the room. Lily held back a laugh. Then, without the doorbell ringing, the door swung open, and in stepped… Let’s see, icy blue eyes, mussy hair, thought Lily, It’s got to be Wolf… I could never really tell what color his hair is… I guess it’s sort of brown-grey… That’s certainly debatable, though… Wolf. He had his hands in his pockets, and was leaning his skinny self on the doorway. “Uh,” said Lily.. “AHEM!” Coughed Juniper louder than she intended to. Lily kicked her harder than she intended to, and Juniper began hopping around on one foot saying, “Ooh! Ooh! Ouchies!” That certainly captured Wolf’s attention. He looked around and stared at Juniper. She turned a shade of red unknown to humans and shuffled directly behind Lily. But Lily whispered, “Ridiculous! I’LL deal with this, like usual!” Lily shoved Juniper right in front of Wolf and said, “Meet Juniper! Meet Lily! I’m Lily! This is Juniper!” Juniper turned an even DARKER shade of red (still unknown to humans). “You’re talking like a Gathump!” said Wolf. Lily stuck her nose in the air. “Maybe I am one!” Wolf laughed. “Follow me, I want to show you something…” Lily trailed behind Wolf, and Juniper trailed behind Lily (yes, Juniper’s face was still a shade of red unknown to humans). “We were supposed to be on welcoming duty!” Muttered Juniper. “Oh, Mother will understand. Besides, she’ll forget by the time we’re back from our EPIC JOURNEY!” Lily shouted the last part, catching Wolf’s attention. “What about an epic journey?” he sounded intrigued. “We’re traveling to th…” began Juniper, but Lily interrupted. “Pay no attention to her. She’s a little…” She made some spirals by her head. “Aah,” said Wolf. As Juniper attempted to smash Lily to bits, Lily ran over the plan one last time. Ok, Lily… Next step, see whatever Wolf is showing us, and desert him for grabbing the bag, key, and note, she thought.
UNFINISHED (the end of the chapter will be out soon!)
