The Skeleton Key by Isabelle

It hung from a snow covered tree branch, tied with a sheer piece of white ribbon, looking delicate as an icicle in the frozen landscape. Only it was dark. A pure black mark standing out against so much snow.

It called to me, a voice lost somewhere in the howling wind. Find me, it whispered. Find me.

I ran across the valley toward the trees, my curls bouncing against my shoulders, becoming limp waves battered by the cold breeze. My feet left tracks along the way I came. The crunching of my boots in the snow was the only sound for miles, other than my breathing.

Day stretched slowly across the lavender sky, pushing the sun up above the distant horizon, sending blinding streaks of white through the dense forest.

One beam of light hit the key, straight on.

I stopped at the edge of the woods, my breath like puffs of smoke around my face, my cheeks so cold they burned.

Take me, the key whispered, somewhere in the breeze. Take me with you.

So I did. 

I tucked it deep into the inner pocket of my pea coat and ran back through the valley, over the stone wall, past the sleeping garden, and into the servant’s entrance along the side of the palace. A fire danced and sputtered within the hearth. The smell of warm bread came from the kitchen.

My sister’s voice appeared suddenly behind me. ”And where have you been?” she accused, not so kindly.  I spun around, falling back against the door I’d closed behind me.

“I was just taking a walk on the grounds,” I snapped back, my palms flat against the door, the weight of the key in my pocket burning a hole in my dress.

“Aren’t you afraid?” she asked, though her lips were curled into a kind of smile/snarl and her eyes pierced through me as though she knew the truth.

“Afraid of what?”

“You know what. I saw you through the window. At the edge of the woods. You better be careful, sister.”

“I wouldn’t have gone in. I just wanted to see the sunrise.”

“Every walk you edge closer. One day, without notice, you’ll lean in… and…”

I swallowed hard. She came close, so that our noses touched, and made an awful chomping sound. I shut my eyes and turned my face away.

“It’ll be off with your head.”

I huffed, pushing past her. “You better be nicer to me.”

“Why?” she asked, laughing at my expense. “Because you’re Mummy and Daddy’s favorite? The Great Queen in line for the throne? No one truly controls this world, dear sister. It is the Jabberwocky who rules it, by means of strength and fear. And one day– the creature will be mine, and all its power with it, and I will feed your scrawny body as its supper.”

I ran from her chilling words, ran until I found safety within the four walls of my bedroom. Door slammed shut and dresser angled to keep it so, I pulled the key from my pocket and held it close to my chest.

One day, it would save me. One day, in the darkest corner of the forest, if I were ever brave enough to go there, I would find the door. And I would use the key. And it would grant me freedom.

Away from here, from my wicked sister, from the monsters that appeared out of the dark. From this horrid place they all called Wonderland.