chapter 1

The crisp autumn air brought a slight redness to Dulcie's round pink cheeks as she pulled a folded up map from her coat pocket with one hand, and nursed a creamy cup of hot chocolate in the other.

"Let's see, the map says, uh, go left......I think?" she pondered as she took a sip of her drink, a quizzical expression on her round face. Looking this way and that, the twenty-two year old college dropout decided to chance left, and so she set off.

The road was quiet, no cars or bikes or travelers aside from Dulcie disturbing the serenity of the early morning. Drinking her delicious beverage while she walked, she gazed around at her surroundings, though it was difficult as many trees lined the sides of the road, their crowns adorned with lush and numerous leaves that blocked out most of the sky from view. Given that the sun was just beginning to rise the sky was still rather dark, and combined with the humongous trees it gifted the area a spooky, even a bit sinister kind of flavour.

Dulcie shivered. In this light the trees almost seemed to be giants, hovering over the chubby girl, awaiting their chance to snatch her from the ground and gobble her right up. And the forest behind those trees, obscured in shadows, left her imagination to run wild as to what frightening creatures lurked behind every tree, stalking her every move, biding their time until she would grow tired, and seek a moment of rest below one of the trees, its shaded comfort tempting her to fall asleep. That's when they would strike, approaching the helpless woman with malicious intent, sharpened claws poised to sink into her plump young flesh...

Too scary! Dulcie pulled her coat tighter around her body, as if to shield it from the view of those imaginary monsters, and went to take another sip of hot chocolate.

Unfortunately, there was not a single drop left. Peering into the cup with dismay, Dulcie decided this was, in fact, the scariest moment of her entire journey.



"I made it," Dulcie breathed with a sigh of relief, when after at least an hour or two of walking she finally came upon the sign bearing the name of what would become her new home: Wolfsweibchen, a small village nestled deep in the heart of Pennsylvania.

So deep, it wasn't even featured on any modern maps of the area; if not for the grainy scan of an old map attached to the anonymous email she received that alerted her to the existence of the village in the first place, Dulcie would have never found it. Then she might've ended up forever lost in the woods, at the mercy of her own imagination--and whatever fearsome real wild animals lived in the forest.

No, no more scary thoughts! She was here, she'd found it, now it was time to focus on the future.

Pocketing the map, Dulcie looked up at the sign with determination, and made her way into the village.

It was very quiet, though that was not really a surprise given the early hours of the morning. The houses were still dark, Closed signs hung on every storefront, and aside from Dulcie there was not a soul to be seen.

It was a bit spooky, but she felt much safer being near civilization than in the boundless woods. Hugging herself against the cool morning breeze, Dulcie ambled down the empty sidewalk, gazing into every store window, admiring every quaint, cozy home. There were so many stores she was incredibly excited to check out--the lone bakey, naturally, at the top of her list--and all of the houses looked plucked from a fairy tale.

She couldn't wait for her new life to begin!

Eventually, walking became a tiresome activity. Luckiky, in front of the bakery was a small table and chairs. Huffing and puffing, Dulcie slid herself into one of the chairs, grateful for the chance to put her feet up.

It only took a few minutes for her to fall asleep, golden head tipped back, a sleepy and happy smile on her lips.