Short Story Competition!

Boundaries

by Clare (Year 9)

Emmeline swore that she hadn’t walked into the barn that morning meaning to hit Drake Edwards in the face. It wasn’t her fault that he thought he was tough enough to take her on, or that his nose had decided to bleed.

“Mother, I swear. It was like he moved his face into my fist. I can’t help it if he wanted me to hit him!”

Maggie shook her head and sighed in exasperation.

“I still do not understand how I can send you in there to deliver a message and you come out with scraped knees and bloody fists!”

Emmeline took a step back, avoiding her mother’s hand that was trying to clean her bloodied knees. “What did this boy do to deserve your wrath anyway?”
Emmeline shifted her weight to her other leg, looking uncomfortable.

“Well...”she started, trying to come up with an excuse. “He’s always teasing me about that time I tried to convince Master Roland to teach me swordsmanship- do you remember?”
“Yes, I remember.”Her mother grumbled, not liking to be reminded of the embarrassing memory.

“So you see,” continued Emmeline “when I saw him training with the others, I may or may not have made a comment that may or may not have provoked him to push me over, which may or may not have led to his face meeting my fist. ”

Maggie made a noise in the back of her throat that sounded very similar to a hungry bear.

“It was self defence!”cried Emmeline. Her mother sighed again and there was silence as she finished cleaning Emmeline’s leg.                

Maggie stood up slowly, placing her hands on either side of her daughter’s face, staring intently into her dark hazel eyes. What was she going to do with her?
“Please Emmeline.” she said gently “You are of marrying age now-“

“Do not start this again!”Emmeline interrupted hotly. “You didn’t get married until you were seventeen!”

Her mother smiled sadly.

“Only because Miero and I couldn’t afford a wedding at your age.”

Emmeline recoiled slightly at the mention of her father’s name, thinking about him working in the mines somewhere halfway across the country, only seeing him when he came to deliver the large amounts of money he was making. “I only think that you should be acting more... feminine. You are sixteen now and-”

“I know how old I am mother! Do you have to constantly remind me that-”

“Emmeline Evergreen, do not speak to me that way!”Maggie interrupted harshly “I just want you to be happy. Why are you so against getting married?” she asked, taking on a softer expression. Emmeline’s face remained a hard mask.

“It’s not the marriage part mother. It’s the bit where I have to spend the rest of my life with someone who thinks they’re better than me!”

“Oh Emmeline, not all the men in the village are like that.”

“When was the last time you spoke to one? They’re all horrible, big-headed pigs! Just because they can handle a sword-“

“Is this about pig-headed boys or being turned down by Master Roland?”

Emmeline paused, knowing that Maggie would not like the answer.

“Bit of both...”  she said quietly.

“Emmeline! You will never be permitted to learn sword fighting- thank-goodness, and you will marry a man even if I have to pick him out myself!” Maggie shouted furiously.

“But-“

“End of discussion!”

A familiar hot rage burned inside Emmeline as she glared at her mother.  The fire in Maggie’s eyes did not dim.

“Fine!” Emmeline screeched. She quickly turned on her heels and stomped out the door, letting it slam behind her.

Maggie let out a deep sigh as she walked over to the cottage’s front window and watched her daughter run off to who knows where.
No doubt she would be back in time for supper.

Pebbles crunched beneath Emmeline’s worn shoes as she made her way to the edge of town. She was forced to hoist up the edges of her pale tattered pink skirt. Her mother wanted to buy her a new one- they had the money, but Emmeline thought that it would be wasteful to ruin another skirt- because she would ruin it. Maggie wouldn’t let her wear trousers in public but Emmeline thought the skirt was better than the impractical expensive dresses some of the other girls in town wore. Her mother would probably die of happiness if Emmeline ever asked to wear one of those.

The beautiful clear blue sky and warm sun did not match her mood, which made Emmeline even more furious. How can the sun shine when innocent people are being forced to marry arrogant pigs!? She sighed angrily and the stone wall, marking the town’s boundary, came into view. Picking up her pace she began to run, and then swiftly made her way up the old oak she had climbed so many times before.

This was the only place in Fairwood that would let you see over the wall that surrounded its boundaries. Emmeline was always told by her mother that it was there to separate the towns people from The Fey, but Emmeline knew she was just saying that keep her in the village. Nobody in Fairwood believed in ‘The Fey’. 
Emmeline sighed again, but not in exasperation.  Now she felt resigned. And trapped. From her perch she could see the dark undisturbed grass that slowly stretched all the way over to the something mountains. Emerald trees slowly specked the landscape until they thickened together to create an elegant looking forest. The dirt road that led from Fairwood to a nearby town slowly wound its way around the landscape and off into the distance. It only reminded Emmeline of how her horizons would never stretch that far. How it would never be acceptable for her to have that kind of freedom.

But then again, Emmeline had never been one for rules. One day she would learn to fight, and she would stretch her horizons. Just not before supper.