There was once a little girl named Edalie who lived in a small house in the countryside. She passed his days mostly catching butterflies and insects. Collecting herbs and plants, and exploring the nearby woods, whom she knew perfectly well. She knew each trait of them, each rock, each tree. She could say to you the exact route that you had to do to get from any point to the other; many believed that she was able to traverse the forest at night without light, though this has not been confirmed.

Her grandma took care of her when he returned home, prepared her some fine foods and gave the goodnight kiss when bedtime came. Though Edalie often broke it, lighting a candle to read a little further the stories that grandma was narrating to her before bed. She didn’t mind listening to her again the next day. She even kind of enjoy it, hearing what she had already read in that feeble and sweet gave her a new perspective on things.

Sometimes a letter would arrive with a strange stamp on it, but her grandma always said that it was nothing to worry about, and proceeded to hide the letter away. She always wondered what those letters said but she never got the occasion of reading them.

Apart from those usual pass-times, there was also the mountain community not far from there. A community made of good people who valued work and ethics above all else. She usually went there to play with the other children or help her grandma buying some things.

“Edalie” her grandma once said, “enjoy this period?”

“Why?”

“Because those will be the best years of your life.”

“But why?”

“Once you grow up you will have things to do and take care of. You wouldn’t be able to think only to yourself”

“But it doesn’t seem like you have all of those responsibilities.”

“That is one of the advances of being very old.”

She heard some stories about his mother and father, though she never knew them personally. She knew that they were his parents but in her mind, they were just ghosts, not unlike other dead parents from his friends. People treated her with care, especially when it came to parenting but for her, it wasn’t a big deal. She was happy with grandma, though she wished to have known her grandfather, from the descriptions it seemed like a good man.

On Saturday evening while she was playing tag with some of her friends a man came running towards her

“Edalie you have to come home, it’s urgent”

She looked at him, it was Eddie the local woodcutter “why mister Eddie? Can’t I finish playing?”

“Edalie yo-I mea-I- Edal….” Eddie couldn’t compose a single phrase “it’s fine. Finish playing”

After, when she returned home accompanied the entire house was full of people. All looking at her “Eddie” she said, “what is happening?”

Eddie opened his mouth but didn’t manage to talk and just gave her a preoccupied look.

They entered her grandma bedroom, a doctor was near her talking with various persons

“Doctor, doctor what is it?”

“I say it again, no conclusion can be drawn, it’s all just speculations.”

“But doctor she will pass the night? Who would take care of Edalie?”

“As I have already stated no conclusions can be drawn” he picked up his tools and bag “I don’t know about Edalie. That is something which you have to sort for yourself.”

As the doctor was leaving the house he met Edalie, which gave him a confused look. Everyone in the room was looking at her, unsure of what she had or hadn’t heard.

“Edalie...?” A weak voice called from the bed “is that you?”

Edalie ran to the bed, hugging her grandma “wha- what is going on?”

“Don’t worry Edalie is just a momentary weakness, nothing more, I will be fine…”

“But the doctor-”

“I know what said the doctor, don’t worry I am still strong, I will pass this. Do you trust me?”

“But-but”

“Edalie trust me”

“I trust you, grandma,” she said while hugging her stronger.

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After that, she was escorted outside the house. From the inside of the house she could hear some fragmented lines:

“You damn… I wish that….Edalie!”

“Don’t... EDDIE! The documents…”

She could understand little of what is going on, but the words documents and Edalie came much often.

At a certain point, she was called back into the house.

In the dining room, a mountain of papers, documents, cardboards and letters had just appeared from seemingly nowhere. Minster Nathan, in full lawyer dress, was reading them half-out loud to the crowd of curious that had gathered near him.

They made her sit near him.

“So Edalie” minster Nathan said, “what was the last time that you went to school?”

He stopped thinking for a second “I believe that it was during the winter holidays, I went to this school for young boys, don’t remember his name, it was nice...but hours passed so slow and the subjects were...annoying.”

“When was that?”

She stopped again “Maybe four years ago?”

Many persons turned pale.

“Is that a problem?”

“No, Edalie that is not a problem, we are simply trying to understand some things.”

Edalie was escorted again outside the house “Minster Eddie, what is going on?” she said

“Nothing to worry about… just some missing papers and documents, nothing more.” he paused “I am sure. Just an inconvenience.”

It was at that moment that she remembered some vague memories about documents and school. It was an old memory of her grandma screaming at an administrator about school and freedom and children. That wasn’t the best memory of hers.

She was brought again inside, this time to sleep, she lept that night with her grandma. A doctor stood in the same room sleeping on a chair. She could hear several people walking around and in the house, chatting and playing cards. She had trouble falling asleep without his usual ritual.

“Ehmm, minster doctor,” she said, “would you..ehm..tell me a story?”

The doctor awoke from his sleep “Wh-I mean of course, do you know the story of the rabbit in the garden and the red splitting cup?”

“What?”

“Forget about it, is not the best of stories. Hmm…” he stopped thinking “so once upon a time...”

The story was good even if at traits it was confusing. After the story ended she looked at him, waiting for the good night kiss. Her grandma was sleeping soundly.”

“Ok, what you want now?”

“The good night kiss”

“Oh...right.” he gave her a slightly trembling goodnight kiss.

After that, she fell asleep. Hoping that tomorrow would be better.

She woke up by her grandma having trouble breathing and the doctor quickly intervening and shouting for help. She was quickly brought out of the room. The rest of the night she spent awake in her bedroom. Attentively listening to every sound.

The next day when they went to woke her up she was already awakened she thought that she never slept; thought she wasn’t sure.

“Edalie?”

“Yes?”

“Your grandma is fine. She is out of danger”

She ran in her grandma bedroom, opened the door and, smoothly evitating to fell on the doctor, she hugged his grandma again. “Never leave me, grandma. Never!” she said while crying

“Don’t worry Edalie” she answered “I am gonna stay here for another bit of time. Unfortunately, I can’t live forever.”

After a few days, all returned to normal, except for the more frequent visits of the doctor. But a black cloud was thrown into her happiness. That won’t have lasted forever, she would have to grow up, grandma would die one day….one day… and what was all this talk about documents and papers anyway? When he thought about those things, she felt really sad and anxious. Even if her grandma tried to reassure her that everything would go fine and she would have lived until she didn’t become a woman and could take care of herself. She was still worried.

Some days after she was in the forest, collecting plants and insects as his usual when another person came.

“Edalie! Where are you?”

“Here,” she said

“Edalie you ha-”

“She is dead.”

“Edalie yo-”

“She is dead, isn’t she?”

“I mean…”

“Answer me!”

“Yes, she is dead. It happened in the night. We tried to do anything but there was no way to safe her.”

At that moment, she felt a thunderbolt shattering his soul into fragments, it was like a part of her had gone forever and couldn’t be recover. She felt her breathing increase, her heart beating faster. Her heart was painful. She couldn’t think straight.

“Edal-”

She ran in the forest, she didn’t want this to end. Not in this way. She arrived at an old waterfall. There she stopped and gained some breath and clarity at what to do.

Day after day passed and in the mountain community, there was no sign of Edalie, neither in the forest, in her house, nowhere. Groups were dispatched, they were very worried about her. She was but a child, even she couldn’t survive long in the forest.

She was eventually found still in the cavity of a fallen tree, pale, cold and with much weight lost, but still alive. They brought her into one house, not hers, and gave her food, water and warm, warm in both senses of the words.

When he returned to her home she talked and saw a lot of people. In short to one was sure what to do. Where they to follow the law who said that she was to go to his uncle in a city to frequent school? That could be disastrous! Where they to simply adopt her among themself? What they were to do?

At least, after hours of discussion, a person proposed himself to adopt her and provide to her education and documents.

Edalie was in her bed reading some tales that her grandma told her before going to sleep

“Edalie can I enter?”

“Yes.”

A man in his mid-twenties entered

“I am your tutor, my name is Matthew think of me as a big brother.”

“Brother…Matthew?”

“Yes, my mother not knowing how to call me just choose that name from the new testament.”

“Matthew?”

“Yes?”

“I am gonna be safe?”

“Yes, Edalie, you are gonna be safe.”

The end?