The Clearing and the Cottage
Thorn White keep stumbling in and out of things. Finally, he slipped and fell (from the layer of moss on the ground) into a damp swamp of cold, grimy water, but he never stopped running not until he was outside of the forest and in the clearing. He so was exhausted from running that he clasped to the ground.
Thorn White huffed heavily from exhaustion. All the creatures in the forest came out to greet him. His eyes were closed and his breath was heavy. A stag came over to nuzzle Thorn White from his rest. The prince opened one eye, yet still felt so weak that he uttered out words in a whisper tone, "Why, hi there, boy." The stag licked his face this cause Thorn to sputter and gasp in startled shock. "Alright, alright… I'm up, boy," he said sitting up and wiping his face with his cape. "Now where am I going to stay?" he said aloud.
The animals nuzzled him to follow them through the forest clearing to a small cottage in the forest: the house of the seven Klarr. The Klarr was not home at the moment. They were off working at different jobs: some worked at the quarry, others at a tailor's shop, and the last few worked in a bakery. They all were due home by nightfall. By that time, Thorn White could help out with any household chores that was over-looked.
Their house was spick-and-span to some degree, but it still needed some aid in places that were missed: the dishes needed cleaning, the laundry was left in a heap for Saturday free time, and the table was left underdressed. "Perhaps, whoever lives here must be too busy to give this place the keep it needs," Thorn thought. So, he decided to help clean the house just a bit.
Once the chores were done, Thorn White started dinner and headed upstairs to the bedroom to rest a bit. There were seven little beds; none of which would have fit his tall height and on these beds were seven names carved into the base of the bed frames. He read the names that were on the bed frames from the doorway to the wall: Amethyst, Beryl, Crystal, Onyx, Opal, Ruby, and Sapphire.
"Interesting names," he thought as he took it into consideration. He began to lay down onto all of the beds. In the meantime, the Klarrs were heading home from work and beginning to head homeward bound, singing their song as they meet each other on the way home.
It's time to set off at home, we go. The day is done. The day is over. It's time to go off to home, we go! Ooh, ooh (ooh, ooh) It's time to go. off to home, we go! Ooh, ooh (ooh, ooh) It's off to home, we go!
