The Winter of Black Snow

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

Well I made this 2 years ago. It's a rough draft though, so it is a little choppy. Actually, I came up with the title because I noticed one day that when you take a mechanical pencil and gently shave bits of the lead off, it looked like black snow. I made the main character an old lady after I read Howl's Moving Castle. I realized that there hardly any stories about old ladies, so I made one. Enjoy.

The Winter of Black Snow

Chapter One

"Wake up," said the nurse as she turned on the light. The old lady mumbled something about impatient young people as she pulled the covers off of herself. The nurse walked away when she sat up. As soon as the nurse left, the lady swung her feet back onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head.
The nurse came back a few minutes later to see if the old lady was ready for breakfast. She discovered the lady snoring loudly on her bed. The nurse came over and shook the lady.
"Wake up now or your breakfast will get soggy."
"I don't want to!" The old lady rolled over and pulled the pillow over her head.
"Come on. Get up," said the nurse as she pulled the pillow off the old lady's head. The old lady peeped over the covers like a shy mouse.
"Do I have to?" she whined.
"Yes you do."
"Humph!" grumbled the old lady. The nurse started to help her get out of bed.
"I can do it myself," she snapped. She swung her legs over the side of the bed. She shoved her feet into her slippers and stood up. Then she followed the nurse downstairs to the kitchen.
There were Honey Nut Cheerios with grapes and strawberries for breakfast. The lady grabbed the bowl and sat down at the kitchen table. She munched on her cereal as she thought about how boring this day was going to be.
After she finished her cereal, she pushed in her chair and headed back to her room. Slowly, she walked up the stairs, mumbling as she went. She heard the clashing of dishes being cleaned and shoved into the dishwasher, then footsteps coming up behind her. She turned around to see the nurse following her.
"You know you're supposed to hold onto the rail while you go up the stairs. If you get hurt, there might not be anyone here to help you," said the nurse in a mocking voice of concern.
"Blah, blah, blah! You only say that to make me think you care." The nurse ignored her; most of them did. They all believed she was crazy, but really she was just alone.
She shooed away the nurse as she reached the door to her bedroom. The nurse showed her an envelope while she was leaving.
"What's this? You didn't blow your nose in it, did you?" asked the old lady accusingly.
"No, of course not."
"Gimme it then!" The old lady snatched it out of her hands and slammed the door.
She walked over to her chair and ripped open the letter. The sender's name was Sylvester. It said, "I will meet you in about 10 minutes."
She had no idea who this Sylvester was, so she ignored it.
She walked into the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush. After she finished brushing her teeth, she made a ridiculously huge spit into the sink, getting toothpaste all over the mirror. She rubbed it off with a towel. Then she ran the hairbrush through her hair. After fighting her hair and barely managing to bend it to her will, she went downstairs into the living room.
As she walked in, she noticed a young man standing in the middle of the room. He had brown curly locks that splashed all over the top of his head. He was wearing a white tunic with some lace on the collar and wrists. His thick, brown leather pants were tucked into some even more durable boots. His boyish face turned to her when she came in. As he did so, he sheepishly put down the photograph he had been examining. He took a step towards her and extended his hand.
"Hello. I just wanted to tell you that-"
"I'm not buying anything," interrupted the old lady.
"No, that's not what I'm-"
"Jeez, you young people can be so dull sometimes. I - said - I - do - not - want - to - buy - anything. Do - you - understand - me?"
"Yes, I do, but-"
"Ugh! Stop talking to me!"
"But it is very important."
"Well, maybe you should have said so!"
"I did!" he said in exasperation.
"Actually, no, you didn't."
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does. You shouldn't say you said something when you really didn't. That is called lying, young lad, and you shouldn't do it."
"Okay, I'm sorry. Now will you please listen to me?"
"Depends on what you have to say."
"Okay. Eh-eh-em," he pulled out a scroll from his pocket and began to read, "'The King of Albuntor has decided to accept you among six others to go on a quest for him. Mysterious things have been happening in the kingdom. He needs you to find out what is causing these strange things. If you will accept this quest, please go to the library at noon today.'"
The old lady was speechless. This is exactly what she had wished for as a child, but she was 80 years old now. How could she have an adventure when her muscles were stiff all the time?
"Are you sure you have the right person? I'm too old to be running around saving people."
"Your name is Alva, right?"
"Yes."
"Then you're the right person. The King will be glad to have you help him. Remember; be at the library at noon." As he said these last words, a portal opened behind him. He turned to step towards the portal, then looked over his shoulder, as if he had forgotten something. Then he walked through the portal. A flash of blue light appeared as he stepped through, then the portal went away.

Alva left her house at 11:30. She bought a doughnut on the way to the library. It had chocolate icing on it with jelly filling in the middle. Her fingers were all sticky by the time she got to the library. She walked into the main door and looked around. There were computers all over the place. Most of the computers were all new and shiny. Alva licked her fingers as she walked to the sign in the room that said, "Welcome to the Library." A sign next to that sign said, "King's Quest in Room 108 B." Alva assumed that was where she was supposed to go. She strolled over to the room and opened the door. She entered the room and slowly closed the door behind her. She looked around the room and noticed that there were rows of foldable chairs facing the left side of the room. It looked as if there was going to be some type of performance. Apparently she had opened the back door, for the back wall was to her immediate right and there was another door all the way towards the front. A glow of light appeared as the portal opened in front of her. The young man stepped out and looked around to make sure that the old lady was alone.
"Well, are you going to stand there like an idiot, or are you going to bring me to this album place?" snapped the old lady.
"It is called Albuntor. Now, are you ready to step through the portal with me?"
"Does it feel weird? Because if it does, I’m not sure that I want to go."
"Umm...it's...umm...interesting...,” he said, avoiding her gaze. “Well, come on. Follow me," he said as he reached for her hand.
"Don't touch me. I don't need you to hold my hand like I'm a baby. Anyway, my hands are sticky," she said as she showed him her fingers.
"Ewe...I hate sticky fingers," he mumbled to himself. "Well," he said out loud, "get ready. On the count of three. 1...2...3!"
They both stepped into the portal. Suddenly, a blue flash of light blinded the lady temporarily. After a few seconds, she saw that she was surrounded by a tunnel of blue and white light. At the end of the tunnel was a terrifying black hole. She saw that the young man was being stretched out. His face became all gooey in an instant. Then his two foot long toes were sucked into the black hole, with the rest of his body following after it. Her skin started to feel all prickly. Alva looked at her body and saw that it was being stretched out too. In less than a second her entire body was sucked into the black hole.

She appeared in a valley at the edge of a city. Just to the right of her, the young man was brushing dirt off his pants. They were outside a huge gate. The wall surrounding the wooden gate was made of granite. The young man walked over to the gate and knocked on the door. A tiny slit of the wall was pulled back and two beady eyes stared at him and then at the old lady.
"Who goes there?!"
"Sylvester Sonva, sir!"
"State your business."
"To see the King about the summoning."
"Okay...proceed." He looked at them one more time through squinted eyes before closing the slit.
The door creaked loudly as it opened. Sylvester and Alva slowly entered the city. There were carriages in the street. The street was made of gray tiles, now lumpy and worn because of wind and rain. People and animals were running around. There were many brick buildings towering over the road. All of the windows had the shutters closed. Sylvester grabbed Alva's arm and pulled her across the street to a small shop. A bell rang as he opened the door and walked to the back of the shop.
"Are we robbing this place? Why are we sneaking into the back? Will you answer me?!" Alva demanded.
"Do you think I'm crazy? Of course I'm not robbing this store! We're going to see the king," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "There is a secret passage way over here. It leads to the palace square."
He moved a patch of clothes to reveal a door. He beckoned Alva to follow him through the door.
They traveled through the dark, wet tunnel silently, the water splashing around their feet. Sylvester held a lantern, the flame making dancing lights and shadows against the stone walls. Alva held Sylvester's other hand tightly, so as not to get lost in the underground maze. It was so black behind her that the hairs on her neck rose stiffly when she search the endless dark for traces of light. It looked like it was trying to suck them in it was so black.
Fear made her clutch Sylvester's hand even tighter than before.
"Ow! You don't have to squeeze so hard. Besides, we're almost there."

[Golden /~/ Shatter]

This is really good!! Your dialogue is great, I can really imagine how the characters act. And Alva is really really funny XD The idea of having an older main character is different and interesting, definitely something I've never read or seen. You're very good!

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

Thanks. I think it will at least make my character more interesting and give her an excuse to act so childlike. XD

[Golden /~/ Shatter]

Haha nice XD

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

XD I added a little bit of description to it. I'm gonna be modifying a lot since it's a rough draft. And I'll try too think up more over Spring Break!

[Golden /~/ Shatter]

Yeah, adding description and detail really helps add depth to the story. Great! Can't wait 2 read it XD I always write a bunch over spring break too

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

Me too! Write and read, read, read!!

[Golden /~/ Shatter]

Yes! I have a tradition. I bought maximum ride in florida a couple years ago, so now I bring them all down 2 florida and read them every year XD good times! Altho i only own the first 3 cuz the other 2 look stupid -_- But they r still AWSOME!

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

Cool. As far as I know, I have never been to Florida.

[Golden /~/ Shatter]

As far as you know? XD And YOU'VE NEVER BEEN THERE?? That is so sad. I feel for u. I live in Michigan, and what Michigan people do is go 2 florida XD

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

I've been to Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona, Hawaii, New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, and......that's it, I think.

[.:.S.:.t.:.o.:.r.:.m.:.]

I really, really like this.

Normally when I read stories about old people they're dull and boring, but you just changed that. XD

Oh, and I've been to like every place in the U. S. A. XD

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

Thanks! I only read a few with an old person as the main character, but only one of them had the person go on an epic adventure. That one was Howl's Moving Castle, but the girl had been transformed by a witch into an 80 yr old woman, so I don't think it counts really.

[.:.S.:.t.:.o.:.r.:.m.:.]

Ohh, I remember reading that.

I don't think it does either.

And yeah, this is like really original. Normally when someone's on an epic adventure they're really young or a teenager.

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

Yeah. Although in the series I'm reading now, the characters are in the late thirties, but they go to a magical world (with wizards and fairies and stuffs) and get new bodies that follow the laws of that world, so that one doesn't count either. xD

[.:.S.:.t.:.o.:.r.:.m.:.]

Wow, and I ment like eldery about to die people. XD

I'm so rude. :B

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

LOL
yeah I'm gonna have a wizard put a spell on her that will make her phisical body younger too, that way I don't have to worry about achy joints. But for some reason that I can't think of, he cannot do it all the way, so she'll still be pretty old.

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

although, my grandma is 75 and she's really healthy for an old woman, she drives and lives by herself and busies herself with us children by given us food and cloths and stuff, and complains that are parents aren't providing us with stuff. xD She claims that it is because she drank lots of milk.

[.:.S.:.t.:.o.:.r.:.m.:.]

Hmm.

Like you don't know what he can't do, or why he can't do it?

[Thorn//\\Dark||Shimmer]

yeah. haven't thought of a good enough reason. Maybe there is something special about her or something.