The Fairy Queen

Dolefully, Lucas walked along the well-worn path, distraught with sadness, not noticing as he entered the dense wood.

A cold wind blew the dead leaves around his plodding feet and he pulled the collar of his coat up to cover his neck, yet nothing could warm the cold that had seeped into his once whole heart.

Broken by yet another girl, Lucas' heart felt empty and hollow like the inside of the many dead trees that now surrounded him. Lost in his thoughts he had not taken notice that he had gone off the path and now stopped to look around at all of the trees that seemed to have gathered up around him, trapping him with their scraggily, dry branches; clawing and scratching at him as if they were alive.

The darkness of the evening seemed to fall unnaturally fast, making shadows seem to leap out and grab at him as he barrelled through the thickening brambles.

Frantically, he pushed his was through them, breaking the branches off in sharp points that cut his hands and face as he stumbled along, blindly trying to find the lost path.

Hopelessness started to weigh him down as no way out presented itself, and Lucas began to fear the dark forest would envelop him; fear that he would die lost and alone.

He stopped to catch his breath and try again to find a path or even a thinning of the brush that surrounded him.

Cuts on his face and hands began to sting and bleed while he circled around, only finding the looming trees still blocking his every direction.

A humming then caught his ear; soft and melodious, in the silence of the wood, building up seemingly all about him.

Swinging around to the right, he spotted a faint glow of light in the distance between the trunks of the trees, immediately, starting off toward the light.

As it grew brighter, warmer, hope crept into his heart. He neared to where the source of light seemed to be, along with the humming that continued to grow into song.

A woman's voice sang out to him just as the light beckoned to him and he raced through the trees that now seemed to open up to let him pass.

He skidded to a stop as he reached a clearing, where a beautiful, glowing woman floated above a small midnight-blue pool of water.

Her translucent robes wavered around her as if blown about by some unfelt breeze. Dark curls of her hair framed her porcelain-skinned face as shimmering wings fluttered at her back.

Lucas gasped at both her beauty and the fact that he was now in the presence of the Queen of all Fairies; her song told him as much, and promised that she could heal his wounds and even his broken heart forever.

Unable to, and unwilling to, Lucas could not resist the allure of her wondrous voice and he stumbled dumbly forward as if in a dream.

With a graceful movement, the Fairy Queen held out her delicate hand to him and he reached out to take it. Yet, as he did so, he felt himself pitch forward into the icy cold water of the pond below where she hovered.

The freezing waters began to solidify around him as he struggled to claw his way back to the surface; to no avail, the vision of the beautiful, smiling fairy became an image of terror as Lucas was trapped forever under the frozen ice.

The Queen of Fairies hummed softly to herself as she smiled down at her enchanted pool; smiled lovingly at the newest addition of lovelorn creatures that had wondered into her wood.

Deep down into the darkness, the multitude of pretty, frozen lads stared back, unseeing, at her majesty.