A Cry for Help

The cold air woke Dani up one morning. Fall was here, and she quickly put on her warm clothes, and went into the warmth of the kitchen to sit and visit with her mother.  It was going to be a cold day, with many more to follow, and her mom told her about making extra bread for the winter, and storing some of the food, in case it actually snowed this year.

Dani was enjoying some nuts while taking all this in when there was a cry outside the door. Someone was coming to their home. Dani's mother quickly went to the door to greet the guest and met them outside. Dani helped herself to some of the bread her mom was preparing for her anyway, and took a seat at the table, thinking about how the dragon would fare this winter.

She heard her mother give the person outside a good bye, and looked at Dani with confusion when she came back into the house. "Dani, what is this about?!" she asked thrusting a folded piece of paper at Dani.

Dani examined the paper. It had her name elegantly written on it. Opening it, in a contrasting manner, was a single word.

"HELP"

Quickly letting go of the paper, Dani's mind raced. Where did this come from? Who sent it? Who knew she could help?

"Dani," her mother persisted, "What is this about?!" She picked up the paper again looking at it. "Do you think this is for you? The guy at the mill said it was in a bunch of papers and packages that came from the north a couple weeks ago, and he had no idea who you were until one of your dad's friends saw it, and thought of you apparently. Do you think this was meant for you?"

Dani turned from her mother, slowly bit a piece of bread in her mouth and thought for a moment. "No mother, why would someone send that to me?"

"I agree." Dani's mother crumpled up the note and threw it in the fireplace and she went back to her work.

Dani sat in silence, staring at the crumpled paper s it started to catch fire. She could still see her name in it's beautiful lettering, and a strange symbol after the "i" in her name. It looked like a letter "C" with a slash through it. It's image burned in Dani's eyes for a moment, and the paper quickly burned completely up.