Donna Forte

Chapter 2

The Beginning of the End.

The night seemed to appear darker and the sound of wild animals and birds could be heard clearly as they passed through the trees in the forest. According to the tradition, the child is to be wrapped in a while cloth, dabbed with rose water and left in the clearing at the heart of the forest. Not a single person knows what happens to the children on the fateful night. But the very next day traces of blood are found on the dry soil of the forest leading them to believe that the child is dead.

Manila held onto her husband for support as the elders proceeded to wrap a clean white cloth around her daughter, she tried her best to keep the tears at bay but they continued to flow silently. Aaron was the rock that held his wife ashore, he kept her from getting lost in the sea of emotions that she was going through.

Soon the sweet scent of roses filled the small area and they knew the time had come. Their little girl had to go away.

“You have a few minutes spare.” An elder said in his unusually deep voice, handing them little althea for the last time. She was happy even now, giggling and throwing her hands around in attempts to catch thin air. Aaron hugged her tightly to his chests and relished the moment while it lasted. Next was his wife, who kissed every inch of her daughter’s skin and took a last look until she was taken away.

Althea was placed in a small bamboo basket and left at the center of the clearing. No one was allowed to enter the forest after midnight so the millers were forced to leave with the elders. That night the stars did not shine, nor did the moon appear. It was dark as ink and silent that ever before. The rains stopped but the irking feeling in every resident was still lit as day.

The next day news of the millers’ disappearance spread like a wild fire. They could not bear to live in the city that took their only child away from them. They had left in the silence of the night to never return again.

The behin people felt a tinge of sympathy for them but could do nothing about it. What had to be done was to be done. It was for the betterment of all, or that’s what they were led to believe.

……. Fifteen years later…….

A young girl was running around the field with her hands full of different sports balls. She was dressed in a sports gear and her long chocolate brown hair was pulled up in a high ponytail. Her shoes were dirty and her clothes were the ‘definition of mess’ as her mother would say. But she could care less, she loved her sports and a little dirt never harmed anyone, it only made her feel closer to the nature.

“Hey! Where are you taking all the balls?!” someone shouted making her stop short. Her long hair whipped arouse as she turned to face the said person.

“What do you think Jonathan?” she replied with another question, her sweet voice had a hint of sarcasm that always held the listener captive. Her voice was known to hypnotize anyone, the words were what made her who she was.

“Look I know you need them but I’m sure you don’t need all of them at once. Give me the basketball, we need it for practice.” Jonathan replied strongly. Jonathan was an ideal captain any team would want, but at a high school level. She always admired people who are strong enough to go against anything wrong. Jonathan was not one of them, so she did not like him very much.

“We have girls’ team practice now, maybe later.” She said with finality and turned around again. Jonathan sighed in frustration and started to jog with her, but without the sports balls.

“how do you even do This every day, I don’t have the energy to have an hour long argument with you about who will get the ball and who will practice first!” he exclaimed loudly due to the loud wind flowing all around the field.

“Too bad, you are not fit enough to be the boys basketball team then if you can’t even hold a meaningless banter for an hour.” She exclaimed back with much less interest that him. She had many things to do and Jonathan was only making her slow, which she absolutely hated.

“So you agree these banters are silly and meaningless!” he said ignoring the statement about him incompetency of being the captain. He stood in front of her successfully stopping her from moving forward.

“Yes Jonathan I do. They are silly and a waste of time. Why don’t you just practice with at a different schedule than fighting for the same field and same balls when you know you can’t win?” she said, her words were spicier than hot chili peppers. That earned a frustrated growl from Jonathan who tried to snatch away the basketball from her hands. But before he could get them her left leg shot forward making him fall face first on the freshly watered field.

“Don’t try to act smart with me Jonathan. I am smarted and you know that.” She whispered in his ear and stood back up from her crouched position.

“You will pay for this Althea.” He growled in anger.

“I would absolutely love to see you try Jonathan.” She replied sweetly and flashed him a pearly while smile before she went on her way to the girls locker room where her teammates were impatiently waiting for their team captain.

“What took you so long? Coach was having a fit!” a fellow team mate and friend, Raina asked her.

“Jonathan.” She hummed while rummaging through her back pack for a face towel, she remembered keeping it in the side zip.

“Oh sweet lord, did he cause trouble again?” Raina inquired.

“You know he is no good rain, someone has to show him where he belongs.” Althea replied with an amused smile, her vibrant green eyes sparkling with mischief as she continued her before practice routine of locating her equipment.

“You know he will do something to get back at you right?” her friend asked, concerned for her.

“Don’t worry Rain. He is as strong as a toy truck against a mountain.” Althea replied and laughed at her own words, her laugh was like the ringing of bells that attracts everyone to her and caused passersby’s to take a second look. 

“Why do you always disregard my concern for you!” her friend complained.

“I don’t rain, believe me. I take all of your words very seriously. But I can’t be living with fear in my eyes now can I?” althea replied with a meaningful smile, her mischievous green eyes sparkling with unknown intensity.