When Darkness Finds the Light (Chapter 1)
#1 of When Darkness Finds the Light
A romance I'm writing between two beings from two parallel dimensions.
When Darkness Finds the Light
Chapter one
It was a lovely morning on a quiet, humble farm in the middle of a warm, temperate countryside. Birds could be heard singing their love songs in the hope of finding mates, chickens could be heard clucking while they pecked at the earth beneath them, and the delicious, sweet smell of sausages covered in maple syrup filled the breezy, dry spring air.
On this farm, you could see a smiling young lady cat with long, wavy hair as brown as dark chocolate, bright and pure eyes the color of acorns, and pale yellow fur adorned with light brown freckle-like speckles. She was 28, although she appeared no older than eighteen. She was a good 5'7 with a small waist and child-bearing hips, and even though she was attractive, she never felt romantic love-- or even attraction --even once in her entire life. This didn't bother her, for platonic love was enough for her to feel happiness. And this young maiden's name was... Annabelle.
Annabelle was busy working on her mother's farm that morning feeding the chickens, and she just adored those chickens. She petted the smallest one, named "Bridgette"; a brown chicken with an affectionate attitude towards Annabelle and no one else. Annabelle was the only one who could ever handle Bridgette without being viciously pecked or clawed at.
"Hurry up, 'Belle! Your breakfast is getting cold!!" Cried out a plump, middle aged feline woman. "And stop petting that hen!" The woman crossed her arms and looked at Annabelle with both exasperation and amusement.
"S-sorry, mom!!" Stammered Annabelle as she gently placed Bridgette onto the ground, softly scratching her finger beneath the chicken's beak and smiling. Bridgette looked up at her, let out a few soft clucks of approval, then ran off to join the rest of her flock. Annabelle picked up the bag of chicken feed and stored it away safely in the shed, away from any hungry animals who might get into it. She then trotted to her mother's small little cottage and walked through the door, slipped off her shoes and washed her hands before heading to the breakfast table. Her mother smiled at her and shook her head.
"You and that little hen... I can't believe she only lets you handle her. That little chicken sure is something," the mother chuckled as she poured hot coffee into Annabelle's cup. Annabelle poured some cream into her cup with a sad look on her face, which her mother immediately noticed. "What's wrong, pumpkin?"
"Mom?" Annabelle asked quietly. Her mother tilted her head in both concern and confusion.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Do we really have to... y'know," Annabelle paused for a few seconds, trying not to cry. "Do we have to kill her and eat her next week?" Her mother furrowed her eyebrows for a moment.
"I-I mean... that is the plan, 'Belle," her mother told her in the calmest voice she could use, trying not to upset her; but in vain, as Annabelle's eyes teared up.
"But, she's my best friend, mom..." Annabelle sighed softly, holding back tears as she put a few sausage links onto her plate. Her mother felt so horrible as she watched her eat bites of sausage with tears falling into her mouth. She handed her a tissue.
"Sweetheart, you could have told me that you didn't want Bridgette to die," her mother smiled. "You know what?"
"What, mom?"
"Your birthday is a little over three months away, and even though we can't afford to buy you a gift..."
"Uh-huh...?" Annabelle stared at her mother, wondering what she was about to say.
"How would you like to own your very first chicken?" Her mother's face was beaming as Annabelle smiled widely and gasped with excitement.
"Ohh! You mean it, mom??" Annabelle could barely contain her excitement. Her mother patted her on the back and nodded yes.
"She's all yours, dear," Her mother said to her. "You can go ahead and spend some time with her after breakfast."
After breakfast, the young, eager farm girl put on her shoes and ran out the door, searching for her new pet chicken. When she got to the coop, she didn't see Bridgette inside of it or even anywhere around it.
"Bridgette!! Bridgette? ...Bridgette!" She felt nervous as she looked around for her beloved chicken. As she began to worry, she heard a rustling in the tall grass, then...
"Buh-gooook!" Out popped Bridgette, with a shiny silver object inside of her beak.
"Bridgette!!" Annabelle chortled as the plucky young hen stopped at her feet, dropping the item into the dirt beneath them. "Huh?" Annabelle gazed down and picked up the peculiar trinket. "What is this thing?"
Annabelle surveyed the item. It was a small silver-clad box of some sort, with a button on it's side. It looked like it could be opened, and she assumed the little button could open it. She pressed the button and it clicked, opening the little box like a book. Inside of it, she saw a picture. It was a picture of a feline man and a feline woman, and the woman was holding what looked like their baby. Annabelle squinted her eyes as she looked at the picture.
It was actually a photograph, but photography wasn't invented in the land she lived in, so she thought it was just artwork...and by a very talented artist. The man and woman had black fur and strange markings that appeared to be glowing; the man's were red and the woman's were blue. The baby also had these markings, but they were purple. What was also odd was that the couple was wearing strange and outlandish clothing with many buckles and straps.
As she tried to understand what she was seeing, she heard her mother let out a blood-curdling scream from the other side of the farm. She put the item in her pocket and ran to find her mother.
To be continued...