Call Me Willow

When I finally regained consciousness, I found myself inside a dilapidated, run-down house. I struggled to sit up, my body aching as I took in my surroundings. Shards of broken glass littered the floor, and a thick layer of dust covered almost every surface. I had been lying on a tattered, worn-out sofa. Cold night air seeped through the cracks in the walls, sending a sharp shiver down my spine.

Forcing myself to stand, I took a single step forward, and a sharp creak echoed beneath my boots from the rotting floorboards. I glanced upward and noticed a gaping hole in the roof. Moonlight filtered through the opening, casting a silver glow over the dusty room.

As I walked further into the space, I spotted a glowing chimney in the corner. Warm embers crackled inside the fireplace a clear sign that someone was living here despite the abandoned state of the structure.

"You shouldn't be standing right now."

I turned around slowly, following the gentle sound of the voice to its source. Standing just outside the doorway, bathed in the soft glow of the moonlight, was a woman whose beauty took my breath away. Staring at her, completely spellbound, I felt detached from reality, wondering if my heart was even still beating.

"Am I dead?" I asked in a slow, faint whisper, questioning my own existence in that moment.

"What?!" she called back, her tone filled with disbelief, yet her voice possessed a pure, melodic sweetness.

God, even her voice sounds like a song, I thought to myself, desperate to memorize every line of her face, every strand of hair caught in the moonlight. Please don't tell me I'm dead... not when I've just found something this incredible to look at.

Overwhelmed, I averted my eyes, suddenly self-conscious. Before I could compose myself, she closed the distance between us. In a split second, time seemed to dilate into slow motion. She was so close our faces were nearly touching. Up close, her features were striking eyes of a vivid light green laced with subtle blue, soft peach toned lips, and adorable, rounded cheeks that gave her a youthful, endearing face like a chipmunk.

For a brief moment, she looked so sweet I just wanted to kiss her. Her simple, silk dress of deep green and warm brown draped around her like the swaying leaves of a willow tree.

Just like that, I was completely captivated, already dreaming of a future where she was my wife. Caught off guard by my own racing thoughts, I hastily leaned back to put some distance between us and blurted out the first defense mechanism that came to my mind.

"So! Why did you save me?" I asked, trying to project a calm, steady composure despite the heat rising to my face.

She paused, studying my sudden shift in behavior with a look of quiet confusion.

"Are you okay...?" she asked softly.

"I... I'm okay," I stammered.

"Okay...?" the woman replied, raising an eyebrow. "The reason I saved you is because you needed my help, right?" she asked, probing for an answer.

"Yeah," I said.

"And since I saved you, I also healed you, right?"

"Yeah..." I said with a puzzled look.

"Since you're okay now, and it seems you can walk..." she said in a sweet voice as she inspected my body for any remaining wounds. Suddenly, her tone shifted drastically. "Go home and don't ever come back. Bye!" she warned angrily, turning to walk out the door.

"Wait, what!?" I blurted out, trying to process her words. "Hey! Wait a second!"

I chased after her, but as I reached out to grab her hand, she used her magic to control the nearby vines. They wrapped tightly around my throat, strangling me until I couldn't breathe.

She stopped and glared back at me. "Do that one more time, and I'll make sure you never breathe again."
She loosened her grip, releasing my neck. I fell to my knees, gasping and coughing heavily from the choking pressure as the vines slithered away.

"I... I don't even know where home is!" I wheezed, clutching my raw throat. I tried to speak further, but my voice cut out. I forced myself to calm down, took a breath, and rasped, "Do you really have to strangle me to the point where I can't breathe? Cough, cough... Damn... this is why I like you."

She scoffed, thoroughly shocked by what I had just said.

"Are you crazy!?" she yelled, her face red with anger. "You could have died out there! Good thing I was there before that thing could kill you!"

"So now you're worried?" I teased, but her expression grew even more agitated, looking as if she genuinely wanted to finish the job.

"I get it, I get it," I said quickly, trying to reassure her. "Thank you for saving my life."

Thankfully, she calmed down just a fraction.

"May I know the name of the woman who saved my life?" I asked.

She grew silent, eyeing me closely before mumbling something under her breath.

"I can't hear you if you keep mumbling."

"I said Willow! Call me Willow, you damn freak," she snapped.

I chuckled, looking at her as my heart fluttered. It seems I really am falling in love.

"Okay... Willow," I said in a soft voice.

After that, she pointed out the direction I needed to take to get back to town. When I turned back to thank her, she was already gone. I navigated my way home through the dark, my mind completely consumed by thoughts of her.

"Willow... huh," I whispered to myself as I lay in bed, my eyes slowly drifting shut until sleep took over.

From that day on, whenever class ended at school, I would secretly slip into the forest, waiting inside that run-down house every single day.