When Lorelei opened her eyes she was laying on a bed, she was not familiar with such softness, but her little moment was interrupted when she turned and saw a weird looking man sitting beside her she quickly dashed back on the wall such as a wild animal seeing its predator, but the man stayed quiet and kept peeling the apple in a circular motion, once he was done he place the knife and the plate on the table and asked.
''What is your name?''
Lorelei did not understand. The man scratched his head.
''Guess we'll be starting from bottom.'' , he sighed
He got up from the wooden chair and slowly got close to Lorelei, but she was still wary of him. She thought he would harm her, so she backed up even more until she was on the edge of the bed. The man got closer to her, and before she could even fall off, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the bed.
He then got on the bed and, with a slow movement, repeated this time with hand signs and mouth articulations.
''W H A T I S Y O U R N A M E''
He made sure that he pronounced every letter well and shaped his mouth to make the sounds as if he were talking to a toddler.
Lorelei deduced from the man's movement that he was looking for the only word Lorelei knew how to pronounce well, her own name, the only remains she had left of her parents, Lorelei.
She answered, ''Lorelei. I'm Lorelei.''
Somewhat, the man didn't seem to emit any bad intentions against her, so she slowly got less wary of him. For the first time since her birth, she felt safe. It would be what she would say if she knew how to speak.
The man got up and handed her the apple he had cut into thin pieces so she would avoid choking. As soon as she smelled the food, she snatched it from his hands and devoured it; she hadn't had anything to eat since the townsfolk chased her away.
The man chuckled a bit.
''Slowly, slowly, it won't run away from you, I promise.''
He left the room Lorelei was in and closed the door behind him. From in there, she could hear footsteps slowly walking away.
When she was done eating, she glanced at her missing limb. It felt sore, but it didn't hurt. It was also tightly wrapped with long, thin herbs; it stung quite a bit, she thought when she got up and walked to the door. She stared at it for a second. It was weirdly shaped; it wasn't like the ones back in town. The doors back in town were round at the top, but this one was rectangular and made out of wood. It's the first time Lorelei had seen something like that. Other than what she had seen in town, everything else was new to her. It was like a whole new world being introduced to her the moment she set foot outside of town.
The door handle was round and woody, just like the rest of the house. It had a square-like design all around it. She also took time to inspect the rest of the room. There was a pot of red flowers on the table, the wooden chair the man was sitting on, as well as the stone knife he was peeling the apple with, and of course, the wooden plate she ate out of on the bed.
The room was pretty bland and empty. Lorelei, out of curiosity, lightly touched the handle, and the door slowly creaked open. She jumped away like a cat coming in contact with water for the first time. The man standing behind it laughed again and taught her with signs and movements how to open a door. Once she understood how to, he taught her the word door.
''T H I S I S A D O O R.''
She slowly repeated.
''Doror.''
The man shook his head in disapproval and repeated again and again until she finally said door.
''Good!'' , He commented.
He then turned around and walked away. Lorelei got up and followed him through the house, observing everything she could see. The house was filled with shelves everywhere on the wall, each containing and holding its own share of books; wherever she looked, all she saw were books and paintings. There were probably more books in this house than there were back in town. She then noticed weird-looking pendants on a table, and she approached them while observing them carefully. She did not know what they were; all she could do was observe them in awe. They looked beautiful, she thought.
The man sat down on a chair near a table, invited Lorelei to do so, and pointed with signs.
''T H I S I S A T A B L E.''
Lorelei repeated after him.
''T A B L E. ''
She was learning fast, and the man was really delighted about it, even patting her head before she sat down.
She felt like she could be at ease with him; he didn't glare at her, he didn't beat her, he didn't take advantage of her to kill another, he didn't even seem to be interested in what brought her so far into the forest. All she could see through the man's crystal clear eyes was pure kindness. She sat next to the man as he handed her a glass of milk.
She drank it all. Once she finished, a small mustache of milk traced her lips, the man giggled, and so did she. She soon fell asleep on that same table, repeating the words the man taught her .
''Table.. Door.... Table... Door... Table...''
The man observed her sleeping as he got up to cover her with a fluffy, warm blanket, as well as a stuffed animal that she clung to unconsciously during her sleep.