I had always been one to long for knowledge. The secrets of the world, whispered in every breeze, sung into the gentle evening air by every nightjar, and scrawled unto every blade of grass in the alphabet of the frosts. My mother, Jadwiga, had strictly forbidden me from accessing some of the secrets she had access to. She’d always said they were too dangerous.
It was midnight; the moon was high in the sky. I threw on a shawl and mantle over my nightgown and tied my long, brown hair back with a small white scarf over my head, as I thought of what I had to do. I prepared to sneak my way into the study and finally see what forbidden knowledge was contained in the books myself.
I stepped out of my room, feeling the cold of the air around me—seeing my breath hang in front of me. I slowly made my way down the cold stone stairs, my bare feet not making a sound. I opened the door, eyes scanning the room to make sure not a soul was around. I could feel myself shivering and hear my joints crack and pop. I slowly stepped by my mother’s room, hearing her loud snoring through the mahogany door. My teeth chattered as I passed by, and as I went further down the hall, I entered the foyer.
I saw the doors to the kitchen, the forest outside, the garden, and the study. I saw the small carvings above each door: a bat, a cat, a rat, and a toad. I stepped towards the study’s door, slowly opening it and entering. I swiftly crept further in, going to the strange curtain towards the back. I slid it back and stepped in. Finally, for once, I could look back here. I went over and began to flip through some of the tomes, seeing strange diagrams, rituals, and other such things detailed in them. I suddenly began to hear footsteps approach the study; Panickedly, I hid behind one of the nearby bookshelves.
“Ryszarda...Ryszarda!” my mother called for me, growing more incensed; I didn’t respond.
I heard her approach the section I was hiding in. She got very close, and then, she began to slowly walk away; I didn’t let go of the breath I was holding until she was much further away.
I had only until dawn to think of what to do. If she knew that I had finally gotten into those books, finally seen this knowledge, finally gotten to what she’d always forbidden me from looking upon . . . I would surely not be capable of hiding this if I stayed here. I knew what I had to do, so I fled. I grabbed some of the tomes, a few of my things, and ran far, far away as I saw the sun begin to rise, cloaked in beautiful reds, oranges, and violets.
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