The young girl, Fena, had finally dug a small tunnel underneath the wall of the village. It was already evening and the lights within the village houses had already begun to turn on. She looked around. No one had noticed her squatting near the rose bushes with a shovel in hand. The wall towered over here, thick concrete with barbed wire at the top dissuading anyone who would think to climb over. Her father had always said that only idiots would want to explore outside the village, but Fena knew she was not an idiot. Her parents and teachers had warned of the monsters that lived outside the walls in the forest, but her classmates told a different story. Supposedly there were no monsters but rather treasure hidden in the forest. The only reason they were not allowed out was because the forest was a deadly maze that let nobody return from its grasp. Fena was not going to let some rumors stop her. 

Many months ago she had discovered a small crack at the base of the wall. With her hands digging the soil out of the way, she discovered that the crack led to a hole. Her ticket to explore the outside world was in her hands. With her hole now finished, she decided that she would squeeze through and take a small peek outside before returning back home before it became too dark. Tomorrow she will explore more in depth at the break of dawn. She would use the excuse to go to the bakery to buy bread, so that her parents would not suspect a thing. It was the perfect plan. She placed her head into the hole, the loose dirt filling her eyes and mouth. She wriggled and squirmed her way through to the other side. She took a deep breath of fresh air as she took in her surroundings.

It was a pine forest before her. The tree branches waved as the wind blew, welcoming her. She looked around, the forest was engulfed in darkness, except for one part. Fena’s heart stopped. Yellow eyes were staring right at her. 

Fena was too terrified to move, as the eyes moved closer. She pressed her back against the wall hoping that what was coming towards her would go away. Once the eyes reached the edge of the forest, out of the shadows of the trees, did its true form emerge. A woman with long black hair and pale skin. Her red lips in a tight smile as her yellow eyes stared down at the girl.

“Hello little one.”

Fena could not speak. Her mouth was shut tight. The woman leaned down, facing the girl. Her black hair was draped around her face like a veil. As she opened her mouth to speak, her sharp teeth glinted.

“What are you doing here?” She asked. “This is no place for a human like you.” 

“I want to go home.” Fena said. She pushed her head against the wall, in the vain hope that she could fall through to the safer side.

“Go home? But you wanted to come here to see my home. I need to give you what you seek, for a curious one like you.”

“Leave me alone! I want to go home.”

The woman’s smile ceased. Face became elongated, her fingers curled into claws. Her eyes glowed with the ferocity of the summer sun. 

“Go home you will, if you answer my one question correctly. If you don’t, you will come with me.”

The girl nodded. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her legs shook.

“This is what I desire more than coins, more than gold, more than your wishes untold, It follows your first cry and last breath, It is free with your death. What is it?”

The girl thought. The woman wanted her to come with her. What did she have that could be free if she died? Realizing the answer, the girl became even more scared of the woman. She could only whisper the answer,

“My soul.”  

“Hurry home little one.” 

The woman’s form faded back into the shadows from where she came. Fena, free from the terror, crawled back through the hole. She scraped the dirt with her fingers and filled in the hole. She would not dream of going beyond the wall again.