The Old Cherry House was always a sore thumb in the midst of the surrounding neighborhood.  A handcrafted monolith laden with chipping bright pink paint. The 40 yard long procession of cherry trees lining the front walkway was by far the most beautiful feature of this long abandoned structure. Kirineth walked through the large sentinels every day on her way from school, casually picking any cherries within reach. Over the past 7 years she had become a self-proclaimed cherry expert, now able to tell in a glance if a cherry was ripe enough to be consumed. Today she had gotten out of school early, and once more took the short cut through the front lawn of the Old Cherry House. It was midsummer, and streams of sunlight poured like glimmering liquid through the cherry pink leaves. A breeze picked up the sweet scent of the small fruits, making her pause mid step as it reached her nose. Kirineth inhaled the obviously ripe scent, sighing solemnly as the smell faded slightly, yet didn’t entirely disappear.

She had never in all her time on this street actually entered the Old Cherry House, partially out of fear of spiders, and mostly out of fear of what she might find inside. What if the inside were disgusting and terrifying? She wouldn’t want to ruin the only beautiful memories she had of this place.

So true to her normal pleasure she strode under the velvet colored cherries, spotting one gorgeously ripe fruit after another.  Today however, one particular cherry stood out as prominently as the house did to the rest of the brown and white colored neighborhood. Sunlight gleamed brilliantly off the fruit, pulling her attention uncontestedly. Kirineth’s mouth watered slightly as her mind raced over how she might get the cherry down as unmarred as possible. Usually she might use a long stick to whack the fruit free, but that had led to a smashed cherry far too often for her to trust this method.

Throwing her school bag down to the ground, she drew back her sleeves and prepared to climb a tree for the first time ever. Kirineth grimaced inwardly as the rough bark brushed against her fingertips.

‘This is gonna hurt..’ she thought doubtfully.

The cherry hung proudly among the thinner of branches towards the top, and as she crouched at the base of said branch she was panting heavily. Kirineth rose slowly in her crouch, placing one foot in front of the other as she kept her hands hovering lightly above the bark beneath her.  The cherry was hanging innocently a mere four feet above her head when she dared not go any further on the branch.

Standing shakily, now elevated fifteen feet in the  tree, she reached up tentatively with one hand towards the fruit.

‘Closer..Closer..Almost there,’ she thought self-encouragingly.

Her fingers wrapped gingerly around the sunbathed cherry, and the branch beneath her creaked. Kirineth glanced down, suddenly realizing what a bad idea this was. Deciding there could be no turning back now, she tugged the cherry free of its stem.

The branch beneath her snapped.

As Kirineth plummeted like a stone towards the green grass below, the cherry in her hand grew searing hot in an instant. From the palm of her hand a sudden warmth flowed through her body, not painful, but strangely soothing, like she was being embraced by an old friend. The heat broke through her skin until every inch of her body glowed like a lantern, and she vanished.

Kirineth awoke on green grass, and sunlight still poured through the boughs of the cherry trees. She sat up, her head dizzy, her skin tingling like a thousand pins poked every pore. The Old Cherry House was no longer there. Her neighborhood was no longer there, her bag, her street, all was gone but the cherry in her hand and the clothes on her back.

She was in the center of a valley that stretched for miles on end to the mountains on every side. Cherry trees dotted the landscape, parting only for what she could see as bustling settlements, and deep down she knew.

The new Queen was here.