A Castle Made Of Dreams

HE HADN’T REALLY noticed before in all the chaos but she was breathtaking in every way. There was a youthful mirth in her eyes that glowed like sunlight, one that made her look so much younger and jovial than an average human could possibly be.

“Erm,” he cleared his throat awkwardly, taking a step back. “All done.”

His voice snapped her out of the trance that kept the both of them spellbound. Instantly, she jerked back, hands gently touching the hat before a gleeful grin burst forth on her face. The girl’s pearly white teeth were shown in that smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling from the intensity of it.

“This is wonderful! Now I’ll never have to chase after it again when we’re in town.” Delighted, she jumped onto the counter, perching herself gracefully on the smooth countertop. “My name is Paige. Is there anything I can help you with to repay your kindness?”

Wallace’s immediate reaction was to say ‘no’. There was nothing he could possibly ask from a such a strange girl for such a small favor. Yet, the name that she had presented herself with caused Wallace to frown. As a storyteller, he had come across many names of both fictional and real folk. Paige was a rather iconic name in his vast collection of stories, in which one, coincidentally, was the same story he had told the crowd just mere minutes before.

“Paige?” He echoed, “Paige as in Paige Prewitt?”

Instead of replying his question, Paige merely broadened her smile. She got up to her feet, casually walking on the countertops. Upon closer inspection, the soles of her feet barely even grazed the smooth stone. Instead, she was hovering well above it, walking as if there was a layer of glass that Wallace could not see.

The hem of her emerald dress swished around her calves, fluttering gently like a set of powdery butterfly wings whenever she took a new step. The satin and lace that resembled the forests beyond contrasted greatly against her pale ivory skin.

“Your story today was rather wonderful,” she mused, a hand to her cheek as she spoke. “But I am afraid that you’ve gotten some facts wrong. Paige Prewitt doesn’t steal children from off the streets.”

She turned her head sharply, her chin-length bob flying around her face, framing the sides of her head like a veil of mysteries. Each strand of her hair resembled a string of fire. It was scarlet in the dark but when placed under the light, it glowed like the dawn.

Squatting down, she leaned close towards Wallace so that her lips hovered right by his ear. He could feel her warmth radiating onto his cheeks, making them blush a deep fuchsia pink. If he could see his own ears at that moment, he was so sure that they would be tinted red as well.

Paige whispered her next words airily, passing on a secret that others could not hear. “They were spirited away,” she said. Those words were enough to send chills down Wallace’s spine and his lips parted with a light gasp.

Like a storm, as soon as she came, she was gone. Leaning against the door frame of the pub, Paige had her arms folded across her chest. With the light of the street behind her, a shadow was cast onto her face. Slowly, she reached a hand out.

“Anyone can come and go as long as they knew how. I bring those children with me off to a place where they will never have to worry about reality ever again. Now the question is, little boy, do you wish to be spirited away as well?”