Episode 1
Roxie looked down at her socks and then back out the window. Trees and wildflowers rushed by as she rode in the car for yet another hour. Her stomach rumbled from her lack of lunch that she refused in her fowl mood.
"Mom," she grumbled for about the millionth time, "Do we absolutely have to live at Mimi's house?"
The middle-aged mother looked over at her daughter who was sitting in the passenger seat. "Yes," Roxie, her nickname was Rox heard her mother sigh. "Honey..."
"Don't call me that," Rox snapped.
"Don't you use that tone of voice with me, young lady."
"Sorry..."
"Rox, I know this is hard, but your grandmother needs help and since you are living with me instead of your father-"
"I don't want to talk about it, I want to go home!" Rox turned her face away from her mother, staring at the passing, and very much the same as before, scenery.
"I know," her mother's voice broke at the end. If her mother said anything further, Rox did not here it. She was in her own little world which seemed perfect...her mind continued to drift, and she fell into a peaceful slumber.
Roxie felt someone saying her name softly, sweetly. It was familiar, yet somewhat estranged to her. Still groggy and not ready to leave behind her dreams of home, she opened her eyes. Peering into her face was an elderly woman, perhaps 78, with wrinkles creasing across her face and white hair. Her eyes shined with youth and her voice filled with life.
"Welcome home, Rox," the woman smiled joyously. A somber expression crossed over Rox's face, but the older woman still held the smile intact.
"Hi, Mimi," she raised her head from the headrest and unbuckled her seatbelt. Rox rubbed her eyes, grabbed her purse, and got out of the car. Mimi grabbed her granddaughter into her arms and kissed her repeatedly on the forehead.
"I hear someone needs some love. You are going to get plenty of that here, you just wait and see." Rox noticed a strange glimmer in the eyes of her grandmother. She could not tell what it was about or even exactly what it looked like, but it meant something...Rox could just tell.
"The moving truck will be here any minute," Rox's mother announced the next morning, just after breakfast was finished being consumed. Rox groaned. That would make it official. They would live there. She got out of her seat and ran to her room, laying down on her sleeping bag, dark tears of water and mascara ran down her cheeks. Why was this happening?
Rox heard the front door bell ring. That was it. She needed fresh air...majorly. Her throat constricted and she slipped out the back door unnoticed.
Her grandmother had no neighbors, Rox noticed, at least not nearby. On the sides and back of her property were woods. She breathed a breath of fresh air, but it could not lift the sullen mood that had sunken over her. Rox took another deep breath, trying to free the constricting of her throat from trying to keep back her tears. After a moment, she let them loose. Her knees buckled and it all came down. Hiding her face in her hands, her chest heaved up and down with deep emotion. She pulled her knees up close to her and hugged them like a life line.
A breeze washed over Rox several minutes later. This caused her to look up. No one was around. She could hear the loud sounds of the movers. She only thought, only felt one thing: I'm alone. A chill ran up her spine as her mind formed those words and they sunk into her mind.
"Rox?" a voice called from behind her. "Rox." It was Mimi, but Rox didn't want to hear it. She got up and ran the other direction into the woods-away from "civilization". "Be careful in there! Those are strange woods, they could-" Rox could hear no more from her grandmother, even a few feet into the forest. Rox shivered, even though the temperature was not uncomfortable. What can the forest do? She walked a little bit further into the woods and then stopped and sat on a fallen tree. A few more tears escaped from her eyes.
I wonder what is out here... Rox's curiosity had begun to take over. The woods appeared to be very mysterious. The trees filtered the sunlight into a greenish almost mist. It was dark, yet light at the same time.
"Hello? Hello?" Rox's voice echoed, but not one living thing returned the call. No one was around, at least that she could tell.
Suddenly, a twig cracked. An electric shock ran up Rox's entire body. "Who's there?"
Be sure to vote on what you want to happen next just above the About Me section on the right! Here are the 3 Paths that you can chose from:
Path 1: An elf comes out of the shadows pointing a bow and arrow at her.
Path 2: A huge dragon shows himself.
Path 3: A goblin comes tumbling out of the shadows and charges towards helpless Rox.
How do you like it so far? Are you excited for next week?
