It was nearly a week before Wendy appeared yet again at Jennifer's window, six long, painful days of worry and fretting. For a young mind six day was an eternity of waiting. She had never felt so impatient before, not even Christmas made her feel this antsy. And on more then one occasion Jennifer considered tossing her letter out and starting over again. Each time she stopped herself just before tearing it in half, convincing herself that Wendy would understand her issues and return to her. Jennifer went about her chores with increased pace for the next few days, wanting to make sure she was at the window when Wendy returned. Each day felt like more of a disappointment then the last. Then, just as Jennifer was about to give up on Wendy, there came a strange scraping at her window, which was followed by a rapping. Excitedly, Jennifer snatched up her letter from its place under the mattress and jumped onto the bed. Snow had built up upon the ground so much that her entire window was buried from sight. Wendy was slowly digging away at the snow around the window, however Jenn could not wait for all to be cleared away and opened the window, causing clumps of fresh snow from around the window upon her bed. Unconcerned with the snow, Jennifer reached her tiny fingers through the gap to have Wendy grasp them lightly. Her heart raced at the feeling of those warm fingers wrapping around her own. "I'm sorry I took so long to return." Wendy apologized, "Did you read my letter?" Jennifer nodded fanatically, "Yes, and I have one for you in return." She slipped the letter through the window to have it eagerly seized by the girl. "I'll come back soon." Wendy assured Jennifer and lightly squeezed the girl's fingers, then, just as before, she vanished from sight. Jennifer struggled to close the window and shivered against the cold. A cold that only touched her surface of her body, for her insides felt warm all over. She dropped to her bed to brush the snow off the back of the mattress then laid down, wondering how Wendy would take the news of her true self. She prayed that Wendy would not see her any differently and would return with wings on. This time she only had to wait four days before she heard Wendy clear away the snow around her window. The very sound made her heart leap with joy, 'She returned after all.' She thought to herself, with a smile upon her face. She quickly clambered onto the bed to see mitten-covered hands clearing away the snow around the window and the smiling face of Wendy peering down at her. Without hast Jennifer opened the window, "I was worried you would not return." She stated, still uncertain that the girl really did return to her. "I will always return to you." Wendy stated with a grin, "You are my Prince after all." She reached into her pocket and retrieved yet another letter, "Here." Jennifer excitedly reached through the crack to take the letter in hand and pulled it close to her chest, "When will I see you again?" She inquired anxiously. "How is Tuesday?" Wendy asked. Jennifer nodded, that would only mean three days to wait, "I'll be sure to be here." She stated with a nod of assurance. Wendy grinned, "I'll see you soon, My Prince." Before Jennifer could respond the girl got to her feet and rushed off. Jennifer pushed the window closed, with some effort, the quickly unfolded her newest letter and read it: <i> My dear Prince in disguise, I sort of had this feeling. That man had introduced me to you before and that last time you seemed so different. There was something that I cannot explain about when I looked into your eyes. I hope you enjoyed my rose. I wish I could be there with you right now. </i> Jennifer sunk into her bed with her back to the wall as she read the letter over and over again. Wendy knew that she wasn't a boy and didn't seem to mind. Her eyes moved to the dried out rose and held the letter close to her heart. Something about the letter gave her some hope in the world. Quickly she rushed over to desk and pulled her chair up close. Without hast she drew out a piece of paper and a pencil. Within moments words began to fill her mind and she allowed them to flow out over the page. <i> "Dear Wendy, Yes, I wish you were here too. I am so happy to have seen you again and I loved the rose, I do not recall telling you that. I wish we could we could fly away from here and leave this place behind. I guess that sounds crazy, but that is how I feel. I am so glad we met and you came to my window that day. I hope to hear from you again." </i> Again she hid the letter under her mattress, in the same place as before. She placed the letter from Wendy in her suitcase, with the other, and then happily skipped up the stairs. She never thought she would have a skip in her step again, but now she had a reason to live. No matter how horrible this place was she would work until the day she got to be with Wendy. As she reached the upstairs hall her cheerful domineer quickly faded as the mumbling of the man's voice began to drift down the hall. He was singing that dreadful poem again and the very sound of it made all of her dreams of being with Wendy evaporate as quickly as snow on a hot summer's day. Cautiously, Jennifer crept down the hall. The man only sung that song on a few occasions and usually it was on those days that Jenn could see more despair in his eyes then normal. Once again she wondered what the song meant. Was he trying to tell her that he really did kill his own son and if so what was Jennifer to do about it? Concerned for the man she moved towards the sounds, in search of him. She reached the intersection and glanced around. The man's voice seemed to be drifting from the right, where the man's study was. Carefully Jennifer slid up to the door and listened closely. He continued to recite his poem, or song, or whatever he thought it was, over and over again in a droll flat tone as if he were in some sort of trace. Summing all her will, Jennifer grasped the doorknob and slowly turned it. There was a soft click that caused the girl to freeze in place. She waited, motionless, listening for some kind of movement from the other side of the door. However, the man did not seem to notice and continued on with his rambling. Extra attentively she pushed the door open a crack and peered inside. As first all she could see was the man sitting at his desk in the far right corner of the room, next to a small window. She had only been in this room a few times to clean and pretty much stayed out of the room when the man was inside of it. There was the desk that he now sat at and a small bookshelf took up the left wall, other then that it was a very empty room. The man's back was to the girl as he sat upon an old wooden chair. Slowly, he rocked in the chair as he spoke the words of his song. She could hear the words more clearly now and they sent a shiver through her spine. Curiosity, and maybe a bit of sympathy for the man, pulled Jennifer further into the room. Then she saw the gun and stopped dead in her tracks. The man was staring at the weapon as he rocked in place. The chamber was open and he spun it with the thumb of his left hand. From where Jennifer stood she could see that all six slots were loaded and a box of ammo sat upon the desk before the man. Suddenly the man snapped the chamber in place, startling the girl, and placed the barrel to his temple. "Good night, young pea... Good night, young pea." His hand began to tremble as he says these words. Jennifer turned her head as she prepared for the gunshot. When no shot rang out and the man started up his song again and Jennifer opened her eyes to find the man still sitting before her, the gun still upon his head as he rocked in his chair. Jennifer shook her head in confusion and fright, then turned and bolted from the room. She headed straight to her room and threw herself upon the bed, crying into her pillow. She was to tired of being afraid and wanted nothing more then to be away from that place. Then she remembered Wendy, her only connection to the outside world. She preyed that Wendy would return to her and take her away from this prison. ***** To be Continued . . .
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