1 The bloodied girl

A sweat covered man slashed through each branch deep in the dark forest. His loose white shirt half undone revealing his toned upper body and if any ladies were to walk past him they would surely faint.

But he would pay no heed to them.

As dawn approached, he shackled all the firewoods he cut and loaded them onto his wagon. He hopped on his horse and rode towards the small town. He had named his horse "Blackbeauty" due to her luxurious black fur-coat.

His hair flattered as the wind bounced off his shirt. He rode till the sun kissed his chiseled face and soon enough the bustling sounds of the townspeople could be heard. They stopped on their usual space in the busy marketplace and prepared for another day of busty ladies who'd chase his real customers.

As more customers piled up howls and clamor of each stall owner could be heard. Every single one of them fighting for attention.

Onto his right stood the calligraphy stall, onto his left were all the appetizing foods you could think of. Crepes, Ramen, dumplings, sushi, sweets and the list could go on…

His starving stomach twisted and turned at the tasty smell. Around him were stalls selling clothes, jewelry, shoes, fruits, vegetables and more.

The scene was heavily filled with purchasers more than ever today which made him regret not bringing all the furniture he built. He ran his fingers through his dark hair in frustration while he waited patiently for his customers. Blackbeauty whined beside him as her hunger climaxed and she nudged him with her head indicating she needed food urgently. He checked his pocket and managed to find one silver coin, only just enough to buy him one apple. He left his stall and walked towards the fruits stall, where the beautiful Amy waited for him. She knew as always, he would only buy one green apple for Blackbeauty and starve himself. She hid her concerned emotions and greeted him with her bright smile.

As he approached he felt a splash of warm liquid onto his forehead causing Amy to burst out laughing.

"Hey, you know my grandmother always tells me it's a good omen when a bird shits on you. Something good is going to happen." Amy tells him teasingly while handing him two apples and her worn out brown napkin.

"Oh and no payment needed. Just marry me." She adds, a bit seriously this time.

"Bloody hell!" He shouts up at the long gone bird completely ignoring her second sentence and her.

He returns back to his stall filled with busty ladies. All of them waiting for him.

"Hey Handsome. How long were you planning to make us wait?" They all surround him. Each trying to get his attention but of course they would all fail.

And just like every other day they all left dejectedly. It wasn't because he didn't want to help them, it was because his situation was very similar to them. Making money had become impossible, especially for a man who grew up an orphan. His only skills were cutting trees for a living and if not for a kind old man he met during his teen years he wouldn't have learnt any building skills.

Not only his skills, before his final days the older man had also gifted him his beautiful granddaughter's hand "Amelia".

"Tch, still the same poor man..." a voice mocked behind him. Bringing him back to reality.

When he faced her his stone heart threatened to crumble against his will. He watched her as she walked around his stall in her dazzling green gown. She was different now, she belonged to the rich category. Or what they would like to call it the higher class society.

"Amelia darling, I don't understand why you would want to come to a place like this?" Her husband said as he came closer. Her maid chased behind them as she hurriedly covered Amelia with the beautifully designed umbrella.

"Buy these firewoods for me darling" Amelia said to her husband and to which he agreed as he seemed to be in a hurry. And just as impatiently he brought every last firewood from the stall and they left.

"That greedy girl still thinks she can get you!" Amy chimes in after they leave.

"Well, good day today. I'm off." He exclaims and swiftly packs.

Then off he went with Blackbeauty leaving Amy hanging.

Through twist and turns at every corner. Deep in the forest lies a majestic cottage residing a man known as the woodcutter. Every sunset he'd come back disappointed from his long day at the market but today, he had managed to sell every bit of his wood. With his pocket full of silver and gold one would expect him to be overjoyed but instead what he felt was pure grief. Seeing Amelia, seeing her with another man almost brought back his memories all over again.

He made porridge for Blackbeauty and himself for dinner and set off to sleep for he awoke every morning at 3am to cut his wood.

The storm raged outside, the heavy rain abused his roof and the lightning screamed of terror. Somewhere out in the forest a being was chased and abused by its predator. She managed to escape somehow and limped towards the only shelter her eyes could see.

"Knock, Knock"

"Bang, Bang!"

The sudden banging sound awoke the sleeping man. He hurried downstairs and reached out to open his front door confusion residing him.

"Yes!" He grumbled before looking up.

"Can you please help me?" The sweetest voice sounded from an unknown girl.

Which made him clear his eyes and take a proper look at this stranger who had disturbed his sleep.

The girl was drenched and her hair was a mess.

As he looked further down he gasped and widened his eyes in shock. His new stranger was bloodied.

Red blood was dripping from her arms and all the way down to her legs. Her white dress stained an aggressive red and if one didn't take a closer look you would think it was purely the colour of her dress. Although the rain washed away her blood and she could be healed but never her sorrow.

She held onto her heart and quietly whispered

"If you help me, I shall return the favour ten fold."

"What's your name?" The man asked

"Weaver" She replies

"I'm Andy, Come in"