Grace and little brother
odd woman
The Ability
“Crawling, on the planet's face, some insects, called the Human Race.”
–Rocky Horror Picture show
One Girl had the power, the power to what ever she pleased. This was a privilege she was born with. Only a select few are born with these powers, those who receive the privilege of possessing these powers serve a special purpose in the world, but their purpose is unknown until they learn how to use thee abilities responsibly.
Grace Locket was nothing more then a present girl, living in a small town just out side of the castle walls. The people of Grace’s village lived hard lives. The King and Queen looked down on them. And the people living within the castle walls saw the villagers as filthy rats. Grace’s family was one of the poorest families living the village. Despite their poverity, her parents always told her to dream big and never give up. Grace carried this wisdom with her every where she went. Especially, after her mother passed away during the winter. Her father worked nonstop to provide for Grace and her three brothers. He barely made enough to pay taxes to the king, let alone feed all five of them. Two of her brothers were all older, so they also work often, although not as much as their father, and Grace was forced to stay home and take care of her little brother. He had just turned four before their mother passed away.
Grace was short, and had long blond hair. She often wore dirty and torn clothes because she had nothing else to wear. She was rarely seen with a pair of shoes on either. She had out grown her old ones, and could not afford to buy new. A smile was always found upon her face and her big blue eyes always seemed to have a shine to them, even in the worse of times. The villagers admired her for always being able to smile so much. Shop owners often gave her more then she would ask for when she would shop for the family, simply because they loved to see her smiling face come in once or twice a week.
In late spring the village was in worse shape then it had ever been in. The King had raised taxes out of his own greed. Even the people that lived in the castle walls were forced to leave their homes. Most of them moved to the village. Grace’s father was effect greatly by the tax raise. His boss could not afford to raise his pay, and her father could not pay the king. Not only Grace’s family was having this problem though. Many were kicked out of there homes to make room for those how had to leave their homes within the castle walls. These were people who could still afford a house of some sort.
Soon everyone around Grace was getting kicked out of there homes, and many of her friends were forced to live on the streets. For the first time Grace felt fear and she stop smiling. Her father would come home, along with her brothers and not say a word. They would simply sit down, eat what little they had and go to bed. Then one night her father told his kids, I’m sorry but I have failed you, all of you. He had lost his job. The boys told him to not take it all upon his self because they too had lost there jobs. Grace soon stopped coming out of her bed room. She didn’t want to see what was going on out side. She couldn’t stand the sight of her friends living in the streets.
Late one night, Grace had a dream. It was a dream like she had never experienced before. She saw herself standing in the middle of an open field. The sky was dark and empty. A cold breeze blew through and a bright light shined from one spot in the sky. The light started to change colors as it got closer. For some reason Grace had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. The light was nearly in her face when it looked as though it exploded. Grace crouched down in fear. Standing in front of her was a woman dressed in black. She had an eerie essence to her; her hair was long and messy. She had finger nails curled and looked like they were starting to rot. Grace stood up and tried to run but her legs were numb, and she was unable to move them. The women got close to Grace’s face, and spoke, your time has COME, in a loud harsh voice. At that moment Grace woke up. She was breathing heavy and sweat was running down her face. She was scared, and started to cry. She grabbed a hold of the teddy bear next to her and refused to fall a sleep the rest of the night.
The next morning some one knocked at the door of Grace’s house. She slowly went to the door and opened to. As soon as she opened the door she screamed in horror. It was the woman from her dream. She stood with a small grin on her face, as Grace fell to the floor in fear. The woman held out her hand and once more said, your time has come, but this time in a softer voice. Before Grace could even stand up the woman had snapped her fingers ad they were standing in an open field, vary similar to the one in Grace’s dream. Grace didn’t understand she was still scared and afraid to ask any questions.
“Like I have said, it is your time Grace.”
“But, what do you mean my time?” Graced asked as her voice shacked.
“You hold an extraordinary power within you Grace. One that few are able to receive. You have the opportunity to make this world a better place, but you must first learn to control your abilities. I am here to teach you.”
Grace still looked at the woman in an uneasy fashion. She didn’t know weather to believe her or not, but She was unsure of how to get home and figured she had no choice to believe her. Grace nodded in agreement to the woman. She explained to Grace that every five years a child is born with the ability to do something amazing. The ability of the child would remain unknown until their time has come, and Grace’s time had finally come.
“Grace, you were always a very happy child, am I right?” she asked.
“Well, I suppose, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“Everything,” the woman replied, “Your ability will allow you to spread your happiness to others.”
“How do you know this? Why should I believe you?”
“Because Grace, I know all,” and the questions stopped.
Grace spent a week with the odd woman, and during that week, she began to lean of her amazing ability. After the week was over she took Grace back to her village.
“You know what to do, now go, go do what is right.”
Grace nodded, and took off. She first ran home, and gave her father a hug. At first he was confused, but a smile soon came to his face. He did the same to each of her brothers and all ready it seemed like they had hope. As Grace started down towards the shops, she found a basket of flowers. She gave one flower to every person she passed. People who were fighting before were smiling, and giving each other friendly hugs. Her ability was working it magic. After she had gone threw her village she had two flowers left, and she knew exactly who to give them to.
Grace skipped towards the castle walls, and as she smiled at the guards, they simply smiled back and aloud her to go in. Grace continued to smile and the guard continued to let her pass. She soon was standing in the Kings thrown room. He was sitting next to his wife counting the money he had made from the high taxes.
“How did you get in here!” he protested. Grace never said a word. She simply walked up, handed him one flower, then his wife the other and walked out.
As Grace walked back she was sure that the king would have a change of heart. When she was almost to the village she could see her father standing waiting for her. She ran towards him with her arms out and gave him a big hug. Grace was happy again, along with her family. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the odd woman walking along side a horse, but she looked different. Her messy hair was now tamed and beautiful. Her nails trimmed and healthy and she had a smile upon her face. For a second Grace thought she saw her mother when she looked at the woman, but before she could get to her to even thank her, she had disappeared. Then Grace simply smiled and walked back to her house with her father and brothers.
