McKenzie+Baker

Free

Outside my window is the diminishing sunset

The sky is turning violet now and I’ve seen the same sunset many times before

The room is silent as it always is

I’m sitting cause I always am.

My room is never dirty.

Never interesting.

Someone is always there to help..

I can’t remember the last time I felt

Independent

I can’t remember the last time I felt

Free.

Falling..

Confused, and still wondering what just happened. I was walking away from this house in the moonlight, stumbling. My knees were weak. My heart was pumping faster, yet slower. I felt like butterflies were flying around in my stomach. Then I noticed, I had not stopped smiling since I left the house. A kiss had touched my lips and made me fall Into Something Wonderful.

Short Story Wesley: I dreaded having to come home. I wasn’t done with riding my horse yet. The way I feel on the horse is my favorite feeling in the world. I always go for long rides by myself, especially lately. It’s so nice to be alone. I love riding on the sand right next to the ocean. It’s so beautiful here on our land in the kingdom, but that doesn’t mean I want to be responsible for it. I definitely do not want to be King. What’s so great about it anyway? Ordering people around? Not really. It just makes you seem mean and stubborn. Everyone will just look at you as a bossy unhappy person. This is how I see my King anyway, my dad. Yes, I’m probably over dramatizing it because the King is my dad, but he really is a mean, stubborn, bossy unhappy person. He is always complaining about how much stress he’s under and then he turns around and says I have to be king as soon as I’m married, and that I have to find my princess in less than a month? I just don’t know if I can do this. That’s why riding my horse is definitely my favorite thing right now. I get to go search for my princess. At least it will give me a couple days to myself with out my parents watching my every move and nagging me constantly. I have met many princesses from many places and I have not had feelings for a single one. Of course they were all beautiful in their own ways, but not my sort of beautiful. I want someone who takes my breath away every time I see her. I want someone who is true to herself and isn’t obsessed with what she looks like and what she’s wearing because she is a princess or queen. I want someone who doesn’t take life for granted and that will make me a better person. Hard to find? Almost impossible. As I walk into the castle after riding two hours on my horse, my mom is already calling my name. “Wesley?” she says loudly and in high-pitched tone. “Is that you? Come here, son.” “Yeah mom, it’s me.” I say with a sigh as I walk over to her. “You can depart now, child. I have packed you food for the trip and acceptable clothes for three days time.” She said. “Thanks mom, I’ll try and be to Huntington Kingdom by sunset.” “You better hurry along, Wesley. It is three hours away by horseback. You will stay at the Huntington’s tonight. No exceptions.” She said sternly. “No more sleeping under the stars whenever you want to. Oh, and they have 3 lovely daughters they are excited for you to meet.” She said with a smile growing on her face. “Great.” I said under my breath. “Okay mother, I’ll see you in 3 days time.”

Rebecca: I sit in the same small room, with the same little window, and the same spider webs. I look out the window and see the beautiful view of Huntington Kingdom that I see everyday. It gets more and more beautiful as the reality of getting out there to explore is coming sooner. I wish I knew what my real parents were like. I want to see their faces. I bet they were wonderful people. I got dropped off at the doorstep of Huntington Kingdom when I was 3 months old. The royal family took me in, but not exactly as family. William Huntington, the king, has always treated me nothing but nice. He has always supported me and tried to give me the comfort and fatherly love that I always wanted, but it got hard. It was hard when I started growing up and when his daughters decided they didn’t like me just like their mother. William always tried to be there but he got busy with being king and paying attention to his daughters that I kind of disappeared and permanently became a servant. I can see the pain in his eyes every time he sees me scrubbing the floor or washing the dishes. I know he would help me if he could, but it’s more like the Queen who runs this place. Eliza the queen turned her three daughters against me and really doesn’t like when William tries to talk to me. I think she feels like I intruded on her life, but I wouldn’t have if I could have helped it, trust me. My plan is to escape. The sooner I escape, the better. I’ve been waiting for the right day for the longest time. I know Eliza would want me to stay, not because she cares about me, but because I am her best servant. Or just the one she loves to boss around the most. And that makes me want to leave even more. I’m sick of having to do everything she tells me. I want to live my own life. I’m 18 years old now and I’m ready to get out of here. I always told myself that I wouldn’t plan the day I was going to escape this place because I knew the anxiety and guilt would get to me. So I promised myself it would be unplanned and that it would be when I felt like I finally deserved to leave. That day is today. It’s 6:00 p.m on a summer’s night. The whole kingdom is getting ready for the arrival of some new prince. Eliza and her daughters are far to busy picking out wardrobes and planning the next 3 days activities to notice I’ve escaped. I’ve worked really hard these past two weeks. My wrists are sore from washing the clothes and my knees bleed every time I scrub the floor. I feel like I finally deserve to leave this place for good. Tonight is the night. The problem? The Kingdom is guarded at all times. Not only to protect the royal family, but to prevent me from leaving. My room is also in this tiny attic that is secluded from the rest of the castle and is very high up. I can’t just climb out my window.. but I have been daydreaming about this day for years, so I think I can find a way. I’ve thought up lots of ideas. I can try to climb the huge wall that surrounds the castle and hope that no one sees me, or walk right out the front door.. I think I’ll choose the front door. How? I don’t go in the village very much, and when I do it’s with Eliza, but I think I can get away with it. I will just tell the guards I am going to get some special flowers for the prince’s arrival. Hopefully it’ll work. It has to be fast. I can’t waste anytime trying to think of the good and bad and whether I’m going to regret it so I just have to decide. My heart is beating faster my breathing is getting harder. I look at the window one more time, grab my bag, and run out my bedroom door. I have to do it. I have to do it before I change my mind. I clear my mind and think of only one thing, freedom. I get to the door that leads outside to where I feed the horses. A guard is standing right outside the door. He stands there perfectly still, just watching me as my shaking hand gives the horse a couple carrots. My heart is pounding so loud that I wouldn’t doubt if he could hear it. After the horse is done I start to walk to the gate that leads out of the castle wall. As I near the gate the guard calls my name. “Rebecca!” he shouts. I almost cannot breathe. But I have to think fast, I have to remember why I am doing this and that I know it will be worth it. I hurry and spin around. “Yes, guard?” I stammer. “You dropped this..” he walks toward me with a coin in his hand. “Why, thank you guard. I wouldn’t have noticed it fell out of my bag.” I said calmly with a smile. “Anything for you, Rebecca. Where are you heading off to this evening anyways? I’ve never seen you leave the castle without the Queen.” He questioned. “Oh yes, I do all the time. The Queen is having me fetch some flowers for the prince’s arrival this evening, sir.” I start to back up slowly. “Well it was nice talking to you, guard. Have a nice evening.” “You too Rebecca.” He said confused as he walked back to his station. I turned around and walked as normally as I could to the gate. It felt like forever until I reached it. Once I opened the gate a sigh of relief escaped my mouth, then I was gone.

Wesley: I could see the Kingdom in a far off distance from the dirt road I had been on for 3 hours. It was almost sunset and I was trying to beat the night, but I still had time. I didn’t ever want to get there if I didn’t have to. My horse and I took a break, smelt the air, and just got used to how the kingdom looked like from far off. I didn’t want to finish my journey, but I knew I had to. So I started to ride my horse again.

Rebecca:

I stopped running only for a minute to catch my breath. I was still walking very fast. It was still light out so I had to hurry before anyone in the Kingdom or anyone working for the royal family could see which way I went. I was already on the outskirts and I was on the one dirt road that leaves the kingdom. As I was walking fast trying to catch my breath, I turned around for only a moment to see if anybody was following me or looking at me. When I turned my head back around a horse was 10 feet away from me running at full speed! I was so tired from running that at that moment I didn’t know what to do. I hurry and leapt to my left into the bushes on the side of the dirt road, but I wasn’t quick enough. The horse had barely caught my ankle and twisted it pretty badly because of how fast the horse was coming. I lay there for a minute, breathing heavily and taking in all of what had just happened, when the most handsome guy I had ever seen was getting of his horse and running towards me. He looked so concerned. All the pain that I was feeling at that moment completely went away. It was like he took it from me. All my focus was on him. I didn’t understand why I was so interested in this guy. When he finally got over to me he knelt down right beside me examining my ankle and all the bruises I had. “Are you alright? I didn’t see you coming, and when I did you were so close that I didn’t even know what to do. I am so sorry.. is there anyway I can make it up to you?” he said it so genuinely. “ohh oh o, no I’m fine. It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have been walking right in the middle of the road. I’m really sorry.” I could barely get the words out. Butterflies were in my stomach.

Wesley: She was wearing an old, brown, torn dress. She had dirt on her hands and arms and legs. She had bruises on her face and wrists and knees, but she was beautiful. My kind of beautiful. I had no idea I could even think someone was this beautiful. She literally took my breath away. I instantly wanted to know everything about her. I wanted to just take her in my arms and comfort her from all the pain she was feeling. I felt so ashamed that I couldn’t protect her from it and yet I’m the one who caused it. “No, I’m sorry. You have no reason to be sorry. I, I, i… should have been watching where I was going! I can’t say how sorry I am… You have every right to put me to shame and never talk to me again, but can I know just one thing?” “Anything… “ she answered. “What’s your name?” I said cautiously. “Rebecca…” she said, a slight smile grew in her face. She had a sparkle in her eye as she looked deep into mine. “Rebecca… it was enchanting to meet you..” “No, I was enchanted to meet you.” She smiled.n