THE DARK WINTER OF MY SOUL by Jennifer F. Ingle PROLOGUE I awoke to darkness. I was unsure of where I was. I looked around. It was a dark, dark, forest, filled with towering trees...I couldn't place myself. My head throbbed. I reached up to touch it and my fingers came away sticky with blood. This surprised me, until I noticed my clothing was torn and dirty. "How did this happen?" I spoke into the silence, and no one answered me. I realized I was lying on several stones, and that it was rather uncomfortable. I sat up and took a better look at my surroundings. I was in a deep forest, and it was night. I saw not a creature...the stillness was deafening to my ears. I did not see a path, or even a trail...not a thing seemed disturbed in this place...I began to ponder how I had arrived here. I tried to remember a time before this and I remembered only blankness. It was if I was a newborn, and yet, a newborn with knowledge of how the world worked...what had happened to me? And then a chilling thought struck... Who was 'me'? I could not remember my name. I began to shake all over...I knew that I had a name, once...but what? A wave of fear passed over me. Just then I heard a noise, the rustling of leaves. Immediately I moved behind the nearest tree, not knowing what to expect. The noise got louder and louder in a crescendo of contradiction to the silence until I saw an arm reach through the brambles to my far right. It was an arm clad in an atrocious purple cloth! The arm was followed by the lean body of a man who was covered from head to toe in brilliant scarlet, purple, and orange. Unable to stop myself, I laughed aloud. He whipped around, knocking the odd bell topped hat from his head. "Who's there?" he whispered in a quavering voice. "I heard you, I know you're there! Come out, right now! I'm not afraid!!" "You certainly look rather afraid to me!" I said from the safety of the brambles. The man whirled around, searching for me. "I'm not!" he said, stooping to pick up his hat. As he did so his ridiculously large shoes got caught on one of the branches lying on the forest floor and he tripped, sprawling on his face. I could contain my mirth no longer. I exploded from the brambles, laughing so hard that I fell to my knees. The man rose and gave me a dirty look. "Now look, its not funny, you!" he said as he brandished his hat rather threateningly. I laughed harder. The man looked at the hat, then at me, and then at his shoes and his soiled costume, and began to laugh with me. We laughed together on the forest floor for several minutes. Then he offered his hand to me, and said, "I'm Jester." I took his hand and burst into tears. CHAPTER ONE Jester jumped away from me. "What's-what's wrong?" I began to cry harder. Jester, looking decidingly uncomfortable, sat down next to me once again. "There, there, it'll be alright...what is wrong?" "I don't know my name!!!" Jester was taken aback. "You don't know your own name?!" He then realized that this probably was not a very consoling remark, and so he said, "Well, look,lots of people don't know their names!" I just looked at him. "Well, you know, everyone has their own little problems, some don't know their names, some don't know where they live, some don't know..." he trailed off. Then he sighed, and scratched his head. Suddenly Jester jumped up. I looked at him with interest as he began to stand on his head. Then he jumped and did several cartwheels in a row, followed by other gymnastic feats I would've thought impossible for a man...and I began to smile, and then to laugh. Jester sat down, out of breath. "There! You happy now?" I laughed a little. "Well, I guess things COULD be worse...I could be acting like a fool!" Jester smiled. "That is my job! I'm good at it...but you shouldn't get too upset! Most people don't even like their given names! So now you have a chance to have the name you've always wanted!" "I didn't think of it that way!" I searched for a while for a name that I liked...and I really couldn't think of one name! I began to feel a little depressed again. "Look, how about I name you?" "You really would?" I smiled. "Yes! How about...how about...Laura!" "Laura? Well, okay...that sounds fine...but isn't that a common name?" Jester thought for a minute. "Okay...Laura Palmer." "Laura Palmer? What sort of a name is that?" "It is your name, that is what. Now, why don't you tell me how you got here?" "I don't know how! I just woke up and here I was...I don't know anything anymore!" Jester touched the gash in my head, and I winced. "You seemed to have amnesia." "Brilliant, Jester, just brilliant. Of COURSE I have amnesia! So what are we going to do about it?" I was at a loss for action. "Well, uh, well..."Jester stammered. "You could maybe start with telling me why you are here..." "Oh, yes, yes..well, you see, I am in a spot of trouble...I was kind of running away from some people who were, um, well, you see..." "I get the idea, Jester. Now how do we get out of this place? And what is this place?" An arrow shot past us just as Jester opened his mouth to speak. "RUN!!" he yelled, and grabbed my hand and pulled me quickly into the forest. and the story will continue....... (sadly)