CE Woods - Arthur

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There's a certain charm to enacting the scenes in your book. It makes them more real.

And when you can do it out in the middle of the woods, miles away from any sign of civilization, that only heightens the charm. Okay, so maybe I'm not miles away ... but at the moment, I can't see the barn, so I'm pretending it isn't there.

As I climb out of the gully for the ninety-seventh time, however, I decide that I'm bored of enacting the scene where V. and I jump into the gully in Behind the Rainbow. Frankly, there are parts of that scene that puzzle me. But, what can I say, my sister wrote it ... and she somehow thinks that a quarterstaff is somehow going to prevent me from falling to my death at the bottom.

She claims the quarterstaff is essential to the plot, but I'll believe her when I see that scene written. A small smile pulls at the corner of my mouth, however. Three years ago, I was the one giving all of my favorite girl characters staffs. Fortunately, only one of those staff users still possesses hers - and that's because she's scared of anything resembling a blade.

Claiming my own quarterstaff - my stick, as I fondly refer to it - from the tree against which its propped, I decide to explore further into the woods. I'm not scared of getting lost, since I stick to the charted area - where there are fewer pricker vines.

While I'm wondering what possessed me to make Jen wear flip-flops in the middle of her pricker vine infested woods, a snap jerks me to attention. I glance hastily around, but I don't see anyone. Cautiously, I take another step forward, gripping my stick tighter. I hope that it isn't the cougar that my sister saw a year or so ago.

"He -hello?" A voice breaks the silence. "Is - is somebody there?"

I tense. That voice belongs to a young man - and, to my knowledge, the only people who venture into this part of the woods is my family (mostly me.)

"Yes," I say, slowly. "There's someone here. I live here. I have a right to explore my property. What are you doing here?"

"Your property?" The young man's voice sounds confused. "I'm - I'm sorry ... I didn't mean to trespass ... I was ... exploring ... and got lost." He finally comes out from behind a cedar tree.

I take a step backwards, raising my stick higher. "Yes, this is our property," I informed him. "It belongs to my grandfather. What are you doing ..." I trail off as I notice his clothing - more medievally than I'm used to seeing on people I randomly meet in the woods. "Who are you?"

The young man had been staring at me as intently as I had stared at him, but at my question, he snapped to attention and bowed awkwardly. "I am Prince Arthur, miss ...?"

"Arthur ... of Briton?" My mental wheels are turning.

He blinks. "Well, yes, of course. I know people don't see me very often, but that's because Mordreth ..." he trailed off, and changed his statement. "I do leave the castle - every day, in fact. There's an old man who lives in these woods, and well ..." He lowered his voice. "You won't tell anyone will you?"

A smile quirks at the corner of my mouth as I lowered my stick. "I'll think about it. If I do say anything, I'll make sure it's in such a way that they'll never believe me. I'm good at that."

He looked confused. I didn't blame him.

"I've ... pardon if I sound rude, but ... I've never seen a girl like you before."

I glance down. "What? A girl who wears pants and carries a stick?" I shrug. "Your cousin's worse."

"My ... cousin?"

"You know what, Arthur, you really need to get back to your woods. This isn't Briton, unfortunately, it's America ... and there's a big difference you know."

"America ..."

I press my lips together in thought. How do my characters randomly appear like this? And how do I get them to go away so that I won't say the wrong thing ...

"Well ... do you know how to get back to Briton? I'm sure my uncle wouldn't be happy if I didn't get home by supper."

"You could try going back the way you came," I suggested. "Frankly, I don't know how to get to Briton from here. I didn't even know it was possible to come from Briton to here. So ..." I glance down at the ground, but when I look back up, he's gone.

I sigh. "That was easy ... I guess."

I swing my stick at the nearest tree. "Take THAT, you evil dragon!"

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