by Jeff Gunzel
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The rain had broken now, and the sun was coming out. The man in black quietly tied the beautiful white horse to a tree outside of a red barn, then snuck around through the tall grass to the side of the two-story house made entirely of gray stone. The beautiful cottage seemed to make the red barn appear out of place.
The cloaked figure carefully climbed up the grapevine that ran up the back of the stone house and quietly opened the window before sneaking inside. The room was furnished with a large bed, coat rack, and a small wooden table with two fine, polished wooden chairs. Last but not least was a huge dresser with a full-sized mirror attached to the top of it.
“Hey, who is that?” came an older man’s voice from down stairs. “Jade, are you up?” Slow footsteps could now be heard coming up the stairs.
The black cloak went flying into the closet, followed by both shoes. A lacy baby-blue nightgown was thrown on in seconds. One, two, three pins were removed from long, black hair now flowing over petite, yet defined shoulders.
The door opened and a white-haired, kind-looking old man walked into the room. “Oh, good. You are awake, Jade. Are you ready for breakfast?” the man asked with a warm smile.
“Yes, father,” came the sweet, innocent reply. “I’ll be down in a minute.” The young girl smiled, her flowing black hair roughed-up and messy. She tilted her head to the side as she fluttered those innocent crystal-blue eyes.