Some People Dream Of Success
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Some people dream of success while others make it happen.
“I’m telling you, I saw someone walk into the woods with a knife in her hand.”
The words hung heavy in the air for a few seconds before they could be absorbed or even believed. “Who?” Alyssa asked as she walked over to take a look at what my grandmother had drawn on the ground. She crouched down and studied it. “No way.” Her eyes widened when she looked up from the drawing.
“What is it?” I asked as my gaze swept over what seemed like an impossible image. It was one thing to imagine that there might have been some supernatural being in our midst; this was something else entirely. If this wasn’t real, then I wanted no part of any such existence.
My grandmother’s hands shook slightly as she reached out to place hers against the drawing. “It looks so much like me, doesn’t it? But not just me but you, too.” A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek, glinting brightly in the sunlight that poured through the kitchen window. She brushed it away before she said anything more.
“We should go find her,” I told my grandma. My mind swam as I tried to figure out what this meant. Was this some sort of test that God or the Devil had put upon us? Or was this a test that we’d brought upon ourselves?
“You can’t go out there by yourself again,” my father said from his chair where he sat watching the news, although I couldn’t tell if that was real news or a show. He didn’t look up when he spoke and neither did anyone else. They all knew something was wrong, that the mood had changed.
“I want to find this person who took these things from her and bring them back.” There were no tears left in my voice now as I tried to convince everyone in the room. No one disagreed, least of all myself, but no one wanted to do anything about it. We were all afraid that the woman in the woods would get angry or hurt us if we tried to help her.
The silence grew thick around us, and I finally turned to my brother-in-law. “Can we go out there?” I begged him as I stared into his big brown eyes. “Will it bother her if we try to help her? Is she dangerous?” He shrugged his shoulders and stood up, taking a step toward the door, which meant that he’d decided to let us go, but only because I hadn’t demanded his permission.
“Be careful,” he warned.
“And be quiet,” Dad added.
“Do you think she’ll still be there tonight?” I asked as we headed outside to start the hike to the forest. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent a text message to my brother asking him to come over and join us. I’d been hoping he’d agree since last night when it was obvious that he hadn’t taken the whole situation seriously.
I’d hoped that the two of them could work together and come up with a plan of action, but the truth was that I needed help just as badly as they did. Whatever this woman was, whatever evil force had entered our home, none of us really knew what to expect.
My cell rang as soon as I’d put my phone back in my pocket, so I quickly stepped forward to answer it. “Yes?”
“Are you okay? You sound strange.” It was my brother, Sam. His concern made me feel better as I realized how much I relied on him to keep me sane. Even though he and my dad both worked long hours and often traveled, he always managed to be around during those times when the rest of us were stuck at home, feeling useless and alone.
“I’m fine. How are you?”
“Not great. Dad just told us to stay here tonight. Said he didn’t want anyone to be out walking around after dark. What are you guys doing right now?”
“I’ve been out looking for whoever stole those things from Grandma.”
“Did you find her? Do you know where she lives?” I didn’t want to lie to him, but I also needed him to understand exactly why we were trying to do this.
“She’s out in the woods, near where her house used to be.” The wind blew across my face as we continued along the old path toward the trees and the clearing. The leaves rustled softly around us, making my hair swirl wildly in front of my face as we approached our destination.
“Is that the same thing that your dad saw?”
“Yeah. We don’t think she’s dangerous, but we’re going to take precautions and be sure before we approach her.”
Sam paused for a second. “Why aren’t you coming inside? Can I come with you?”
“No.” I looked up through the leafy canopy to see that we were nearly there. If this wasn’t the woman from last night, then I hoped the next one would at least talk to me instead of running away every time I got within twenty yards of her. “Don’t worry about it.”
I pushed the branches aside, revealing an area of land that looked almost deserted. Only a few fallen trees, broken limbs, and weeds marked its perimeter. The grass was short and green, and not a single insect droned above our heads. In fact, nothing moved anywhere in sight, other than the three of us.
A soft moan escaped my lips as we came up to the edge of the forest, and I turned to look ahead and behind us, waiting for someone to jump out at us. But there were no sounds, no smells, and no signs of any life except for the three of us. As we passed through the opening in the trees, I felt a little more comfortable, until my eyes landed on the large oak tree standing beside the pathway.
“What is that?” I whispered. “It looks like something from a horror movie.”
The bark was black and rough against my skin as I reached up and brushed some of it off my shirt. It reminded me of snakeskin, the way the scales were layered, overlapping each other. And although it wasn’t smooth enough to make out any patterns, the shape of the tree was oddly familiar.
A shiver ran down my spine. I thought for sure we’d seen it somewhere else earlier in our lives, but neither Dad nor Sam was able to remember.
“We need to hurry,” Sam said suddenly as he pointed past me to the right side of the pathway. “Something’s wrong.”
“What?” I spun around, but I saw no sign of danger. There was only the empty path, leading into the deep forest. I heard a faint noise, like leaves being crushed between rocks. “Come here!” I called, grabbed Dad by the arm, and yanked him toward me. “Look! Something’s moving over there.”
Dad followed my gaze and gasped. He took hold of his sword, gripping it tightly. “That’s the same creature from last night. She must have gotten loose again.”
He started to step forward to follow us when he froze. “Wait, wait, wait.” I glanced behind me and saw his hand drop away from the hilt of the sword. “This might not be a bad thing.”
“But what if—”
“Do you see her?” He motioned with his head toward the place where we’d all seen her before. “If she’s not attacking us, then she can’t be very dangerous, right?”
I nodded. “Right.”
“Good. Then let’s go meet her.” Dad strode forward as he spoke, taking a firm grip on his sword.
My heart was pounding as we walked toward the trees, but I had no fear of this thing or any others who might be lurking within their shadows. Whatever they wanted, I would give them whatever they asked for. They couldn’t hurt me anymore.
***
When we entered the woods, Sam and I stayed well back from Dad while we waited for him to get to wherever it was he was headed. I kept my eyes peeled for anything that might be following us, but we saw nothing other than a few birds fluttering overhead, which I could tell hadn’t been there before. After several minutes of silence, we finally spotted the creature. Or rather, two of them.
They sat side-by-side in front of a tree with their backs resting against its massive trunk. One was much larger than the other, maybe fifteen feet tall, while the other looked closer to eight or nine. They both wore the same clothing as last night, and they were holding hands so that their intertwined fingers formed a perfect circle around them.
Their bodies swayed gently with the breeze coming down from the top of the hill but otherwise seemed completely still and unmoving.
As we approached, I realized that it was not only the one who had attacked us that morning wearing those clothes but also the one who was now sitting beside her, keeping watch over her with his eyes closed.
I wondered how long they had been there; it looked as though it had been weeks since any sunlight shone on the hills surrounding us, yet their faces and hair remained clean, without even a hint of dirt or dust. Even their clothing didn’t seem torn anywhere.
Sam cleared his throat loudly. Both of the figures raised their heads slightly, looking at us with glowing golden eyes.
“Hello,” I greeted them in a loud voice, trying to be heard over the wind that blew around us.
“You’re welcome here.” The taller figure opened its eyes, and the light of the sun reflected off its lenses.
“Why thank you!” Dad stepped closer to join us.
The shorter figure lowered itself to its knees, pressing its forearms against the ground as it bowed deeply. “Please accept our thanks for bringing them back safely.”
Dad shook his head. “No thank you is necessary. We did exactly what we promised you we would do.”
“Then why are they thanking us?” Sam’s tone was confused, and I knew he didn’t understand why these people were bowing before him.
There was a pause, and then the taller figure spoke, sounding apologetic. “We never meant to bring harm to you,” she said, and for an instant, I thought I saw a flash of regret in her eyes. But then they returned to the dark amber color of a reptile’s eyes and the sadness was gone.
“Forgive us for having brought such trouble upon you. It’s just that we found them so fascinating. We wanted to learn more about them.”
I stared at them. They sounded sincere.
“And how do you know what we looked like?” Dad asked.
“Oh, we’ve known your kind for centuries.” The woman stood up straight, pulling her arms from beneath hers and letting them hang at her sides. “We know everything there is to know about every type of living creature.”
“How?” I interrupted her as soon as we arrived close enough to hear. “Where did you find this knowledge? Is this information stored in books?”
She smiled brightly, flashing her pointed teeth and showing off her yellow fangs. Her tongue flicked out briefly and I shivered as it ran along her upper lip and over her cheek and jawline, sending a chill up my spine. “What do you think books are made of?” She laughed. “It’s all contained inside our minds—just as you can store things in yours.”
A book! That explained the pages and ink. There really were libraries hidden away somewhere on earth, and the information they housed was passed down generation after generation among the creatures of Earth.
I took a step back. These monsters were real. And they existed right under the noses of the humans who lived on this planet. How many millions of years had we been living amongst them without realizing it?
Dad grabbed my arm and held me firmly as he turned to face the strange woman. I noticed the way his fingers gripped tightly into my flesh, digging in through layers of the shirt until they reached something far softer and more precious than skin. He must have felt the heat emanating from my hand.
His face was pale, and his pupils were wide. His eyes glowed red in the sunlight as he glared at the pair of women. “Who are you?” he demanded. “Tell us your names.”
The woman named Grace answered first, her words flowing easily as she spoke. “We are the Keepers of Light. Our ancestors were brought to this world from another planet by the Great Creator when he created humanity.” She tilted her head slightly toward one of the other creatures. “And this is our leader, our most ancient ancestor.”
I glanced at the short, squat-looking creature next to Grace. Its long grayish-green tail curled around one of its ankles and its eyes flashed yellow again. I suddenly remembered what the monster’s daughter had called these beings—she had said “the ones who were always watching over us.”
I turned to Sam, and his eyes widened as he stared back at the two creatures. I could tell that he understood what they meant and why they were staring at each other with glowing eyes.
I also sensed that Sam was thinking the same thing I was: If these creatures had somehow survived the great catastrophe that wiped out all the rest of life on Earth, where did they go now? Where did they hide?
The End