Anna Leah - Day 361 (A Lovely Story)

Hallo, world!
Remember when I told you guys that I deleted my story and I totally freaked? Well, I rewrote it! YAAAY!!!!! So now, I present to you: my lovely story!

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“Lights!”

Ariella blinked her light quickly and then dashed to a new hiding spot, giggling breathlessly. ‘Lights’ was one of her favorite games, sort of like ‘Marco Polo’, but with their lights instead.

“I see you Ari! I’m gonna get you!” Her friend Ivan was it, and he was starting to get pretty good.

Arielle looked all around her for an escape route, but were thick shrubs on either side of her, and she had no choice but to head toward the Hedge.

The Hedge was the border between their world, and the world of the giants. They had been forbidden to cross the Hedge, although a few brave souls had ventured out into the unknown lands. But none had come back the same as they were when they had left. Some came back with just stories, others came back with injuries, but many never made it back at all.

Ariella was a curious girl, and wanted to know what the fuss was about. So she entered the Hedge.

Ivan hesitated as he saw Ariella enter the Hedge. “Alright, Ari, alright, you win! Just come out of there, I won’t tag you!” he shouted.

Ariella didn’t stop. “I don’t believe you! I’ll bet you’re trying to trick me!” Ariella knew that Ivan was always truthful, but she wanted to see what lay beyond the Hedge. “Ivan, why don’t you join me? It’ll be fun!”

Ivan looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then started toward her. “Ariella, you’re going to be the death of me,” he groaned.

Ariella squealed with delight and pulled him in. “Yay! We go through on the count of three. One!”

“Two,” he mumbled.

“Three!” Ariella pulled Ivan through the leaves and out into the open. “Woah!”

Lying in front of them was an enormous house, surrounded by giant furniture; an enormous teddy bear sat next to them.

“Ivan, isn’t this amazing?! It’s even better than the stories!” she squeaked.

“No, it is most certainly not amazing. It’s terrifying! Now you’ve seen it, let’s go back,” he demanded.

As Ivan tried to drag her back to safety, a giant hand snatched them off of the ground. Ariella tried to scream, but the hand squeezed too tight. After what seemed like an eternity, they were dumped unceremoniously into a giant glass jar. Before Ariella had a chance to escape, a lid was screwed onto the top.

The giant (or giantess, as Ariella now realized) ran with the jar towards the house. “Daddy, look at what I found!”

She shoved the jar towards an even larger giant. “Why yes, darling, I see you’ve caught some fireflies! They’re absolutely beautiful,” he smiled. “Just be sure to let them go before we head in.”

“I will, Daddy!” the giantess giggled. She skipped off with them towards a giant table.

All of this bouncing was too much for the fireflies, and Ariella just wished it would stop. But she noticed that Ivan was still lying on the bottom of the jar, and hadn’t gotten up. “Ivan!” she shrieked. “Ivan, are you okay?!”

Ivan moaned, “I don’t thinks so, Ari, I can’t move my wings.”

The little girl watched the fireflies with delight for a few minutes, but quickly grew tired. She forgot about them when she went inside, and the fireflies were stuck inside of the jar, with no air holes.

Just as Ariella felt that she couldn’t take another breath, the lid came off, and the two were dumped onto the ground in front of the Hedge.

Ariella gasped for breath and turned toward Ivan. “Ivan, we made it! We - Ivan!” she screamed.

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The two survived their ordeal, but were changed for life. Ariella was never the same happy-go-lucky bug again, and instead was a shell of her former self. Ivan never flew again, and died after a few months. Maybe you’ll think twice before catching a firefly.

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MWAHAHAHA I tricked you into thinking it was nice for a change! WRONG!!!!! Well, that was fun, and I also saved the day by posting for 365 (You're welcome, gals) See ya!