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Once upon a time, there was a young girl who loved to read and enjoyed every animal that lived in the forest that surrounded her cottage.
Every morning, Ella would open her curtains and sing to the woodpeckers and the squirrels. She knew they would never sing back or understand her hums, but she did it anyway.
Ella was twelve years old. She loved writing at the desk that laid in the corner of her room.
Every morning, when Ella woke up, she sang then sat at her desk. She wrote stories that were made in fairy tales. One about a girl who wore a red hood and ran about the woods. One about a girl that pricked her finger on a spin wheel, falling into a deep sleep where she would never wake. And one about a girl who ate a poisoned apple, falling into a world of death until the magical boy brought her back with a single kiss.
Ella just wrote what came to her mind. She didn’t really understand what she wrote or how she came up with it. It was like her quill had a mind of its own.
Suddenly, the bell rang at the top of Ella’s door. “Isabella!” her father called. “Breakfast!”
“Coming!” Ella yelled back. She finished the last sentence of her story, and ran to her door. Her little feet padded down the halls as she dashed. Sliding down the staircase, she landed on the hardwood floors and walked into the dining room.
Jack, Ella’s father, sat at the dining table. There were three other girls who Ella didn’t know. An older one who had dark brown hair and shining gold eyes. Ella could see her wrinkles slightly form on her cheeks. There was a second girl with the same brown hair and similar gold eyes. The third girl was different, though. Her hair had shimmering golden locks and bright blue irises. The second and the third girl were both Ella’s age.
“Oh! Ella!” Jack exclaimed. “There you are!” He smiled sweetly. “You’re probably wondering who these wonderful girls are.” He pointed to the older lady with brown hair tied into a tight bun. “This is Ivy. My new wife.”
Shock smacked Ella in the face. “You’re MARRIED?” she almost screamed. She wasn’t shocked that Jack wanted to marry again. Her mother died three years earlier. She was shocked because he didn’t tell her. Jack never kept secrets like that.
“Yes. I’m married.” He gave Ella a “please don’t freak out” look.
Ella saw Jack’s look and stepped back. For some reason, she didn’t want him to look at her like that. “Are those my sisters?” she wondered.
Her father smiled. “Yes.” He held his hand to the blonde girl. “That’s Ava.” Ava smiled softly and waved at Ella. “And that’s Olivia.” The girl with dark brown locks completely ignored Ella. She stared at her food. A look of annoyance pasted on her face. Did she not want to be here?
After she greeted all three of them with a bow, Ella sat in her designated chair to eat her breakfast. The maids settled poached eggs, hash browns, and apples in front of each of them. The scent of the sugar from the apples and the savory smell of the salt from the potatoes made her stomach grumble. She almost picked up her fork when a thump echoed through the room.
Ella looked up from her plate to find Jack’s head down onto the table.
“Dad?” she said. “Dad?”
Ivy looked up from her plate as well. She saw Jack’s face down onto the table. “Jack!”
Three maids came in the room. They saw Jack’s position and panicked voices echoed through the house. One of them ran over to him, picking up her skirts. She lifted his head up to find blood trailing from his eyes and nose, and foam bubbling at his mouth. She immediately dropped his head.
“He was poisoned...” Ella whispered.