Princess April was dashing into the forbidden forest, her tiara dropping from her head while salty tears streamed down her face. She was running away from her problems of being a noble of her village, the harsh words of her father’s displeasure with her replaying through her head; she has had enough with the stress that she had to intake.

Growing tired, she slowed down her running before eventually stopping, gasping for breath as she was still sobbing. April wiped her eyes, smudging her makeup messily as she took in her surroundings; there was an ominous, damp fog that covered the entire woods, yet there were vibrant flowers that graced some bushes. Though, there were supposedly baleful rumors of witches and entities who roam the land, and because the king sheltered her of all evil of the outside world, she had no idea what she could be in for…

Out of the corner of her eyes, the princess noticed that by her feet was a tattered piece of paper that was surrounded by a circle of pale daisy petals; it was a surprise that she could even see it through the thick fog. She furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity and when she had finished crying, she slowly reached down to grab the paper, observing the cursive words that stained the paper.

_“What’s this…?” _April thought, reading the heading of the paper named, “The Ghost Of The Forest.”Oblivious as to what might occur as her curiosity was overcoming her, she softly uttered the words;

_“I call upon the ghost_

_That roams this deep woodland,_

_As I wish to forever befriend the dead,_

_And give me more contentment than anyone could understand..”_

Then, gusts of wind spun in the circle of petals, making a tiny, weak tornado in the middle. April gasped with astonishment as she clutched the battered sheet of paper, her chocolate brown hair flowing with her pink dress in the breeze. Suddenly, the princess noticed a figure begin to emerge from thin air as the hazy air still once again; it seemed to be an towering, eerie being with long, ink-colored hair covering its face.

“Who are you?” April asked with a shocked expression, hiding her fear just in case it might trigger the entity.

“I am the Ghost of the Forest, like how the spell is named. Is there any reason as to why you summoned me?” The ghost questioned in a calm, unnerving voice that had hints of femininity in it.

It took just a couple of moments only for April to answer, having numerous queries forming in her head.

“Oh- no…it was only out of intrigue. Excuse me for wasting your time…well, if it is even possible to waste a spirit’s time.” The girl tried her best to hide her anxiety, and her body tensed as she apologized.

The ghost gave a small, almost unnoticeable nod before replying again. “It is alright; I understand. To repay me for my moments wasted, you should sit and talk with me.”

What it said had no trace of suggestion in its request for April to join it, and the girl herself has caught onto that fact. Her wish to stay safe, combined with her naivety, made her utter a small “Okay..” before sitting down in the petal circle with the sheet of paper in her lap. The Ghost of the Forest sat across from April, its lofty height still being immense compared to her.

The two had a surprisingly nice conversation that lasted for a long while, telling their stories to one another: the princess enlightening the spirit of the hardships of nobility while the ghost illustrates how its forced to drift through the murky woods in lonely solitude. It was a nice, comforting discussion, both of them relating to each other in a way, since they are both trapped in lives that they were forced into. Though April was feeling a bit of contentment about the talk, the entire situation still seemed a bit off…

A knight of the kingdom was rushing through the same foggy woodlands on his steed, desperate to find the missing princess. Finally, the man finally halted his horse as he found her.

“April! It has been months! Where have you-”

The knight abruptly stops his words as he notices princess April herself sitting alone in a circle of daisy petals with the roots of a nearby tree was trapping her legs in place, her face pale and her appearance grubby. She was speaking as if a friend was having an amusing chat with her, and she also had a contented smile on her weathered face, which was strange and concerning to him.

“Princess?”

No matter how many times he had called her name, she would never look his way; it was almost as if she was in a psychological trance, but the knight had no clue why…