Forever yours

She kept running and running ,where was she going ?,who was she going to see in the way ?,how far she had gone and where she was .These were all questions awaiting a response but there was no time for that ,all she knew was that she had to keep on running and running until her body finally gave in which was not going to be far from then.As she went deeper and deeper into the forest she felt as if the animals were starring at her with beady eyes.Whenever she looked up it was as if the sky was mocking her ,her head felt dizzy ,her eyes went blank ,she started feeling weak in the knees and before she knew it she was kneeling in the cold greeny grass that smelt as fresh as if the first rains of the season had just dropped.She started panting and panting and then the world went completely blank .She had finally given in after running at least 5km and she wasn't even into exercising.After what seemed like a nightmare,she awoke to strange sounds ,it sounded like a conversation between a male and a female .As she ragained conciousness slowly and slowly she came to realize that she was in a house that looked a bit old and it seemed as if the faint voice she had heard earlier was that of an elderly woman who was a bit shriveled and looked as if she had seen better days .When she finally regained full conciousness, slowly but with great comfort and patience,she woke up and stood up and sat comfortably on the bed ,still feeling a bit woozy and her head aching she opened her eyes ever so slightly to finally see that she was in the presence of an elderly woman and her "son" .At first she thought she had been kidnapped ,that her cruel uncle had sent some hitmen to capture her,she tried to rush outside and keep on running away from these people and never see her uncle again but her legs were heavy and she could barely keep sitting up on the bed before she could even think further of what to do a sweet kind and caring voice said to her "don't worry dear ,just rest , you need it".Before she could turn and see the warm expression on the woman she collapsed again.The woman's son ,Jerry ,had been wondering in the forest looking for firewood when he noticed Rose laying on the ground unconscious ,with atmost gentleness and care he lifted her and carried her to the house Jerry's mom being a kind and passionate woman she had taken the young lady in and taken care of her.Rose slept for almost the entire day .She had never slept this well since forever she really felt like she was in paradise.Jerry and his mom had been living in their house in the forest for as long as Jerry could remember.His father had passed on when he was five years old and his mother and him where struggling to make ends meet but fortunately for them these past few weeks they had been looking better as Jerry had gotten a job. Jerry was a 16 yr old boy who was very hard-working,generous and kind ,if this was a fairy tale he would have been Prince charming except he didn't have a crown or castle or wealth. After those hours of sweet sleep ,Rose managed to pull herself up again ,but unfortunately when she woke up there was no one in the room .It looked so comfortable and peaceful in there and she was wearing a nice rob that was so comfy ,she had never felt this good in forever . Her uncle had really taken a toll on her emotional and physical health ,as she looked in the mirror she saw herself ,she had become so thin and her face looked as if she hadn't had a descent night's sleep in forever .If this was also a fairy tale she would have been a Cinderella still awaiting her prince charming ,and yes Rose was a big fairytale fan ,and she was only 15 yrs old.Now most people start thinking a 15 year old ran away from home things must have been really bad but you might be right in cases of other novels but not this one .It was not as if Rose was being ill treated, well in a way she was ,you see she was an heiress and you know how rich people live it's party after party so much to be expected of you ,in a way her life was like that of a princess but that was just it .Rose was more into adventure daring sports, a lot of excitement and thrill ,but as an heiress she was expected to be refined elegant and calm , obeying orders do what was expected of her ,so she ran away in hopes of finding a place were she could live like a normal kid. Chapter 2 In a way the idea of running away was dumb ,she might as well have killed herself ,but it had finally gotten to that point that she couldn't take it anymore and out of anger , frustration and confusion she had ran away and she was going to regret her decision but 'decisions made in anger are rarely good decisions' . Enough of digressing from the story let get back to Rose.As she went on to explore the small but cozy room she came to wonder where she was and that's when she noticed that the dress she was wearing did not belong to her it was so frail and yet elegant and simple.As she continued to tour the room of her hosts she came to notice some beautiful family photos ,the people in them seemed to be beaming with smiles and joy.The photo looked as if it had been taken some years before ,as she continued to examine the photographs in the room .The elderly woman reappeared behind her ,and ever so slightly she answered the question Rose was now asking herself mentally, the boy in the photographs was the son of the woman who she later came to know as Mrs Williams and the man who would have been obviously her husband as their love for each other could be seen so clearly through the photographs ,the young boy was Jerry and he looked ever so happy and peaceful . She then answered with a shriveled voice that was beginning to gain strength with every word that escaped from her lips she managed to say ' you look like a happy family,thank you for taking care of me . I hope your husband doesn't mind the trouble .' Mrs Williams answered with such ease and said ' Your welcome love ,but it was Jerry my son , who found you and brought you so he's the one who deserves the appreciation .As for my husband he's dead but I'm sure he wouldn't have mind either way'. Upon hearing this Rose felt a bit awkward and starred back at the photographs and thought of her own father ,she almost dropped a tear but she managed to stop it , she thought of how he always wanted the best for her and tried to make her comfortable with the lifestyle she was born into and how he never wanted her to stray far from home ever since her mother was killed by a mob of thieves on her way to one of her friend's party. She gathered herself up and tried to reply with a sincere voice but it came out a bit trembly as she was at the bridge of bursting into tears. Fortunately Mrs Williams saw that the young Miss had not felt comfortable with the conversation so she went on and asked for her name .' Rose ' ,she answered,'my name is Rose Hildye' .It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintances .' she responded ever so politely and respectful as she had been tought to do. Mrs Williams introduced herself as well and went on to ask why Rose was all alone in the forest to begin with ,but before she could answer the question Jerry barged into the front door and Mrs Williams turned quickly and gasped ,' that must be Jerry , he's awfully early ,he must have been anxious to meet our guest when she woke up .' Rose felt a red color rise from her pale cheeks ,oh my she was blushing . Quickly before Mrs Williams could comment on her sudden change in colour she said ' well I guess we rather hurry downstairs ,so I can meet him as well.' As they descended from the stairs ,Jerry could not believe his eyes she was absolutely stunning and her pale cheeks which were now turning rosy now as she saw his gaze land on her . Mrs Williams noticed the chemistry between the two and decided to break the tension and gazes by asking Jerry why he was so early .He answered back a bit nervous and shy ' I wanted to come back and help you with our guest . But I can see that she is now doing better than when I left she seems a bit pale though ,mother ,have given some medicine?' 'Oh hush Jerry she looks fine I will give her the medicine after she has breakfast after all it is not good to offer someone who hasn't eaten ,medicine ,it might worsen her situation ,and I'm pretty sure she's starving she slept all day yesterday.' 'Oh my ', gasped Rose ,'I have been asleep for that long, it only felt like a couple of hours .' They went to the table and as they sat down Jerry felt a tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach as he sat next to her . Unfortunately Rose was so focused on the food that was coming as she 'was' starving and besides the food she had other thoughts on her mind which were either to lie to Mrs Williams that she had to go back home and keep going as she was not convinced that she was far enough from her uncle or she could assume she was far enough and ask if she could live with the Williams family for now on as they seemed to have the simple lifestyle she had been craving for ever since she could walk . Thoughts swirled through her mind that she didn't even notice that all this while Jerry was glaring at her , fortunately his mother wasn't in the room so there was no one to tease him about how he was looking at her. He wanted to talk to her so badly and just pour out his entire heart but he knew that would be a bit too forward and early. So he just gazed at her and decided to switch seats with his mother before she came back from the kitchen with the food ,so that he could get a better view at this angel that had just fallen from the sky .What Mrs Williams didn't know was that ever since Jerry found her lying on the grass ever so peaceful the previous day he had found her to be most fascinating and glorious and he could not stop admiring her from her small delicate pink lips to the gentleness of her voice and her nature ,he felt a welcoming kind aura from her that from that day until at that very moment he had found himself thinking of her none stop . Sure he was young but he was certain she was the one for him ,she was pure perfection of course none of this Rose noticed as she had her own querries and thoughts ,she actually found no interest in the young man.Finally Mrs Williams reappeared with plates of toast and jam and some orange juice .Rose felt her mouth water as the plate was placed in front of her . Now what was left was to tell Mrs Williams that she was going to stay with her for who knows how long that would have sounded better in her head ,for all she knew it was impolite to just barge in on people like that unannounced. Fortunately Mrs Williams offered her accommodation for as long as she liked without even asking her where she was coming from and why she ran away from home . This was all too good to be true there must be a catch ,"she must want something" ,Rose told herself , she thought after the meal the lady would state her demands but surprisingly she just picked up the dishes and disappeared into the kitchen once moreQuickly she ran towards the kitchen to help with the dishes and make sure what she had heard about her being able to stay was true. As soon as she entered the kitchen she saw that Mrs Williams had already started on the dishes she quickly stood beside her to rinse the dishes and wipe them. She then continued the conversation and said , "So you said that I could stay with you for as long as I want" .Mrs Williams replied ever so politely and said that she was welcome. Rose ,out curiosity and without great thought she asked 'why' . After she said it she covered her mouth ,she had hoped Mrs Williams hadn't heard that ,but she had and she left out a little chuckle and replied,"When I was young my father brought home this poor little boy who was about 7 years old ,he said he had found him wondering in the streets alone and looked lost . I asked my dad why and he said kindness beggets kindness ,so when Jerry brought you I remembered that little boy ,my father was a nice man so I decided to let his legacy live on" .Rose was very thankful for her help and was very pleased she didn't ask any questions . She didn't know that Jerry had been eavesdropping on their conversation and was also pleased that this goddess he had only met a couple of hours earlier was now going to be living with them until who knew when . She quickly went back to the dinning room to get the remaining plates. But surprisingly the young man who had been sitting across the table to her had disappeared ,she asked Mrs Williams where her son had gone ,she replied that he must have gone to run some errands or something and that he doesn't really stay home that much and now that Rose ,was now here she could keep her , company. That was fun at least Rose thought so ,she could help this woman with some chores listen to her stories every once and again just to make her feel nice ,but she was mostly interested in the woods around her . After the dishes were done she went outside to enjoy some fresh air and finally for the first time in years enjoy the great outdoors without a boring escort or being given a limit or a bunch of rules to follow and sunscreen. It felt wonderful to be outside and hear the birds chirping and the wind whistling all around her . Without much consideration of the near future she ran as fast as a cheetah into the woods ,jumping and shouting with joy . She came to a small river where she swam and enjoyed the cool splashes of the river on her and the sound they made when they collided with the rocks , after seeing the wonders of the small river she moved on to explore more wonders of the forest, she came to some berry bushes ,she recognized the berries as blueberries ,her favorite of all the berries she knew and that was saying something as she knew a lot of berries most of which were exotic and she had never tasted or seen in person just in pictures . Her uncle had thought it necessary for her to know these berries just in case or for common knowledge . She ate a lot of berries and lay down to sleep with the peaceful sound of the birds giving her a soothing lullaby. She woke some hours later and it was almost sunset and in the distant but not too far she could see a cliff .She thought she could see the sunset more clearly from there ,she had heard that the sunset was a very beautiful and majestic site and she was not going to miss it for who knows what might happen tomorrow. She quickly took a hike to the cliff from there on she saw the sunset with all its magnificents and glory as soon as the sun had completely set she turned around to go back home as she knew Mrs Williams would be worrying sick about her ,but there was a problem she didn't remember which way was home from where she stood. After what seemed like an hour of aimless walking she heard a strange sound in some bushes nearby ,at first she thought it was a wild animal and that she was done for . Being witty and intelligent as she was she quickly grabbed some pebbles nearby as she had no intention of harming the creature in the bush be it big or small , ferocious or sweet . She believed all creatures had the right to live but on the other hand these pebbles were only supposed to scare the creature . As she approached the bush with delicate and light steps as she was a trained professional ballerina or as her uncle had wanted her to be . He always said ' you never know when delicate steps will come in handy ' ,but as much as he was right she had no intentions of going back to that so called house that she rather consider a prison at most. She started throwing the pebbles one at a time without hurriedly ,surprisingly the creature did not retreat instead it seemed to emerge from the bush looking as if it was some merciless gorrilla ready to pounce on her . But fortunately it was not a gorrilla ,for as Rose was about to shriek she had noticed the figure to be human and the human to be Jerry . She was grateful that it wasn't some hungry animal or beast ready to devour her and also that she had found a way home or at least an accomplice . Jerry was a bit stunned at seeing Rose out in the forest with her barely even recovered but it was not until what seemed like an infinity of silence and confusion had he managed to start complaining about the fast and furious pebbles that had earlier been flinged at him mercilessly but of course he could not stay mad at her for that long because not only did he have a crush on her he seemed to have understood her immediate panic reaction as he had once done the same when he was young. He had flung berries instead, to his father when he went out of the woods to pick some berries and lost his way home . After his father had come to rescue him he unfortunately mistook him as a hungry angry bear ,in his defense the poor man had been covered in syrup and twigs and bush leaves that it was almost impossible to recognize him. After understanding what the ill patient had been doing in the forest alone flinging pebbles mercilessly at bushes he told her that he was actually hunting and had caught them supper for the night as it was the weekend and he had not gone to work. They could and mostly would have gone back home straight away but instead Jerry decided to take his princess out for a late night stroll in the forest. Rose thought it a great idea as the last time she had apparently been in the woods alone she had fainted and nearly seriously injured herself . They took a stroll near a beautiful stream that she surprisingly hadn't noticed on her way ,after exploring the glowing flies and the weeds in the stream that seemed to mesmerise without end they continued to a nearby path where she seemed to have loved the twinkling of the beautiful night sky and the cool nigh air . Rose was absolutely enjoying it until Jerry started asking her questions that involved her past life. He asked her why she had ran away from home if she was being ill treated and if she was looking for a victim center or something. Rose didn't want him to know that she was an heiress for if he had known they would have probably let her out for ransom or something or maybe she had been watching too much television . She let the guy believe what he wanted to and as the questions got more and more personal she felt more and more uncomfortable and decided to cut the line before it became too long. So she told Jerry that she was feeling cold and wanted to return home. Hearing those words escape from her lips it felt so unusual and strange for she had never been happy to return to her 'own' home ,but now she was calling another person's home her home and she rather let it be that way. For Jerry he could notice that she would rather not continue on the topic of her past life and that the questions had made her uncomfortable but being as stubborn as he was he had continued with them any way. They returned to the house where ,as expected Mrs Williams had been worrying sick about Rose she almost blew a top on the site at the little miss but felt pitty almost immediately after seeing her shivering figure in the moon's faded but helpful light . She quickly took her in, paying little or no attention to her own son. But in her defense the lad had not seem to pay any attention to the cold and he seemed to have been immune to the cold slashes of the wind . She was handed a hot cup of tea and she sat near the fireplace thinking of the stroll she had had with Jerry ,besides the questions she had found the night quite pleasant . As soon as Mrs Williams had disappeared into the kitchen once more she turned to thank him but he had once again disappeared from the stairs. She could have sworn that that boy was a magician or he just didn't like being in public or known that he was around. Mrs Williams took much care of her and she felt as if it were her own mother who was taking care of her which made her feel a bit sad as she sipped the cup of tea while absorbing the heat of the fire . She felt as if she had betrayed her own family by running away, had she have had a sibling she might have felt even worse ,infact she might have not even ran away from home. As she was deep in thought she could hear Mrs Williams shout at Jerry for having have kept her out so late. As soon as Mrs Williams had reappeared on the stairs Rose told her that she had decided to go out alone and had been lost and that Jerry had actually found her. Mrs Williams thought the girl's sympathy so sweet but reassured her that she did not have to take the blame for him because it had now been a problem that he would return home late on nights he didn't work,he always did that and usually have no excuse for his actions. After going to sleep a bit late the previous day she woke up a bit earlier than usual to help with the chores and make up for the previous day. She woke up did the cleaning which was quite a stretch as she was used to having the maids do it for her. She made sure the house was properly swept the furniture was dusted and everything was well organized and she even had enough time to make a scrumptious breakfast that she had learnt from the house cook ,who every now and again she would plead with to be taught how to make certain meals as she always thought that it was necessary for a lady to know how to make descent meals even if cooks were always readily available . She even had time to make the meal look absolutely perfect for both Mrs Williams and her son. He was always up early and always disappearing so you could barely tell when he was gonna come back or go so she made sure he saw his breakfast before he left. She placed the ready to eat meal near his bow and arrows that he always found to be his best possessions . Rose did not understand the boy's great liking for such tools. Jerry did manage to see the meal and had known his mother well enough to know that she had not prepared it ,he could feel himself smile as he saw the meal and day dreaming about the girl who had made it. Unfortunately for him Rose was just emerging from the kitchen with Mrs Williams' meal and as she saw the boy stare at the meal hasitantly she made an effort to tease him by saying ' are just gonna stand there until the meal eats you or are you gonna eat it. I promise I am better at cooking than I am at answering questions.' He felt a bit pale after hearing the comment but he managed to let out a small smerk and smiled as he sat down to enjoy the meal and she disappeared up the stairs she thanked him for the previous night. She surprise the eldery woman with the meal , Mrs Williams did not expect such a lavished meal from the girl. She assured her that she did not have to but Rose said she did not mind and that it was the least she could do after Mrs Williams had shown her such kindness. By the time she came back down stairs to tormant the poor boy she found he had gone again and on the plate he had drawn a small smiley face with some ketchup. She thought it as one way to say thank you and she smiled as she took the dishes into the kitchen to wash them. She had taken it upon herself to pamper the woman for the rest of the day. It was this or at least something that could make up for her behavior the previous day , although Rose was a daring girl she was also well brought up and very well mannered. Mrs Williams thought that what Jerry had done, leaving without thanking Rose for the meal was very impolite but Rose assured the woman that it was fine he had left a smiley ketchup face that showed that he had enjoyed the meal which was in a way showing appreciation. Mrs Williams went on to say that he had not been himself ever since his father had died when he was fairly young and that he had been quiet and harldy talked at all. She thought all he needed was a sibling or a friend but he had never found someone he could actually clinge to but no on seemed to have the same interests as him. What she didn't know was that he just needed someone who would help him who he felt was trustworthy enough to share his pain with ,he just needed that special someone to care for him, he had narrowed down that person to be Rose herself but he wasn't quite sure as she was not willing to share with him her past he had start to think that maybe she was not the one after all ,he could share with. As Mrs Williams and Rose had a wonderful day enjoying each other's company he wentbon to trail in the woods where he felt he could relieve his hurt and pain with the woodland animals his favorite place to stay low was this small cave not a long distance from he stream he had taken Rose to. He found it very calm in there and he could battle his inner emotions in there and find peace and hopefully a solution to his emotional struggles . Of course he could have just talked to his mother but it was not as easy as it sounded to him it was as if climbing a steep hill with a string of floss it was too deep for him to say how he felt kind of like Rose they seemed to have been sailing in the same boat but they did not seem to know yet. It was only a matter of time until they realized it. What Rose also hadn't realized was that that theprevious day Jerry had been too inquisitive ,he was trying to know her better so that he could tell her and see if she could understand but of course she just thought he was being nosey.As much as Jerry loved his mother,he could not tell her how he felt ,he felt as if she awould not understand and would probably think he was just being a baby. Meanwhile Rose was enjoying Mrs Williams company and hearing her stories about her life growing up and her family , including her live life with Donald , Jerry's father .She learnt a lot about Jerry himself.