Sara hated how the wind prickled against her purple jacket. She blinked her eyes, already giving up the battle of trying to force her hair to stay put with her hands. Dusk had settled and the Summer sky had melted into a deep blue dotted with red from a blinking plane passing overhead.
As Sara strode along the sidewalk, she attempted to ignore the scuffling of animals darting around yards too dark to see and trees too shadowy to make out. Her rational mind knew the critters were just going about their nightly business just as she was, but her slightly more irrational mind played with more frightening fantasies. I’ve been spending too much time listening to Helena. Sara’s younger sister Helena was always going on about random magical things she claimed had happened to her. I really did see a theatre made out of rain, Helena protested. Yeah, and I saw a talking fox, Sara retorted. The things Helena saw never made any sense to Sara and they definitely would never make any sense to their parents, which was probably why Helena only told these fantasies to Sara and their younger brother Henry. Sara turned left down the street. She was only a couple of blocks from her house now. During the day, living on the far edge of Buchtton near the woods was an exciting adventure. When she was younger, she, Helena, and Henry would spend hours scouring the forest for materials to build hideouts for themselves and shelters for bunnies. Now that Sara was seventeen, playing in the woods wasn’t as appealing, but she still enjoyed taking walks there during her free time and observing the wildlife. In the dark though, the woods weren’t as much fun. She averted her gaze from the trees’ haunting silhouettes. And that was when she heard it. The trickle of water flowing to her right. Sara frowned. There shouldn’t have been any streams close by and she was too far away from the ocean. She blinked and turned to see a cobbled path jutting out from the sidewalk and into a darkened space between two neighboring houses. She could just make out the hint of something reflecting light toward what she assumed to be the end of the pathway. The trickling sound ceased. I’ve walked home this way so many times, but I’ve never seen this pathway. Her mind scoured to find a reason for this development. Maybe I was always so lost in my thoughts and never noticed. Maybe this was built just today. Before her thoughts could rationalize any further, a strange sensation wrapped around Sara’s body. She was being pulled. No, not physically, although it definitely felt physical. It was something…else. She had to see what was at the end of the path. Taking a shaky breath, she stepped off the sidewalk, letting her sneakers tap against the stone tiles. It felt like her body was ringing. Like a bell had been rung inside of her and now her energy just tumbled out in waves, colliding with the night air, the whispering creatures, the murmuring trees. She was part of it all and she could breathe. Then she was there. In front of a glistening…fountain? It wasn’t a glamorous fountain that rose above its visitors and spouted water onto shimmering pennies. No, it was a gray water fountain, similar to the ones Sara saw at school. Still, it glowed, its silver metallic surface possessing no hint of prior usage. It was a fountain built just for her. She waited for her breath to steady and then she stepped forward in front of the fountain. Hands shaking, she grasped the little button on the side, its polished texture cool to the touch. A jet of water bubbled in front of her. The liquid slithered down the side of the basin and slipped down the drain. It was so quiet, she wondered if it was even real. She dipped a finger into the stream of water and gasped. It was cold and slimy, just as real water should be. Sara yanked her finger away from the fountain, this strange fountain that shouldn’t have existed, and dashed back down the pathway. Once her feet struck the sidewalk, she paused. She turned back around. The stone steps, the gleam of the fountain, they were all gone. She stood there for a few seconds. The wind frolicked with her hair and jacket. The critters shuffled and yipped among the bushes and trees. I must be tired from being out all day. I must have imagined it. But a spark had been startled awake inside her. Because now, Sara knew everything her sister had said was true.
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Twilight blanketed the Summer trees and little wisps of wind crackled against branches. My sneakers sunk into the moist soil and I clenched my phone in my hand. My gaze swept the forest clearing. Where was the cauldron?
Of course, the moment I went looking for that mysterious object was when it was nowhere to be found. I grimaced. I could see the trees, the dirt, the sky, but not the cauldron my siblings and I had found two years ago. I need it. Days have been so hard lately. I flopped onto the ground and traced the silt with my finger. The grime clung to the little canyons running through my skin and cooled my tingling extremities. “Mystery?” I jerked upright. My older sibling Anonymous stood at the edge of the clearing. I hadn’t even heard Anonymous’ footsteps. “Pronouns?” I asked. “She/her.” She peered at me, her eyebrows furrowed. “You just ran out from dinner. Wanna talk about that?” I hugged my knees to my chest. The last thing I wanted was to talk about my feelings with my seventeen-year-old sibling. She’s going to judge me like she always does. I glared at an ant crawling over my bright blue sneaker. “Sixth grade is going to be starting for you in a week, Mystery,” Anonymous stated. “If you can’t even talk to me, how are you going to handle all the new people at middle school?” I shoved my glasses farther up the ridge of my nose. “It’s none of your business.” “Make it mine so I can help you.” The ant had left my foot and was now trekking towards the side of the clearing opposite of my sibling. Being an ant would make my life so easy. All I would care about is finding food and shelter. Not caring whether or not people like me or if I can fit in… “How’d you know I’d be here?” I spoke to distract myself from my circling thoughts. “I can read minds.” I frowned. “You can?” “No, silly! I followed you. Our parents aren’t going to let you go off on your own like that. You’re eleven. Remember how much they freaked out when Soo did that?” I winced. It had been my fault Soo ran away. Soo struggled with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behavior and I, jealous of all the attention she got from our parents, had stolen her bracelet. Anonymous and I had found her that night in this exact clearing. That was also when we had discovered the cauldron. Which isn’t here right now. I dragged my finger across the soil leaving dents in the earth. I shoved away the queasiness seeping into my body as sludge wriggled underneath my nails. “I want to be alone.” “If you come home, then I’ll leave you alone in your room, but I’m not going to let you sit here in the forest by yourself. It’s getting dark. What if a coyote eats you?” Anonymous plopped onto the ground beside me, causing the silt to tremble beneath my hand. I stared at my sibling. Was she really going to sit here with me? I sighed. “I’m just going to bore you.” Anonymous chuckled. “That’s true. You’re a very boring person.” “Am not!” “You just said that you are.” A smile flickered onto my lips and I peered up at the dusky orange sky swirling above us. “I’ll probably bore all my classmates.” “You’ll bore them by talking about how boring you are.” I shook the dirt from my fingers and nails. “Do you really not mind sitting here with me?” Anonymous was silent for a moment before meeting my gaze. Her dark brown eyes flickered with concern. “Hey, you’re my brother, and fine, you’re a bit boring and weird sometimes, but as your eldest sibling, I have to look out for you.” I sighed. “I came out here because I wanted to see that cauldron again. It seemed to make everything better last time with Soo.” Anonymous shrugged. “Nah, the cauldron just gave us some yummy soup. You apologizing and us going to find her was what helped.” “You really think so?” My sibling nodded. “Yeah, I do.” I scanned the clearing one last time, taking in the dark green bushes and the deep brown tree trunks. The chirping of crickets comforted my ears and the breeze seemed to carry a fresh aroma that wrapped around my body. I didn’t need the cauldron again. Anonymous was right, I did belong here. I returned my attention back to my sibling. “I’m ready to go back.” Last night, I saw a woman standing in the woods outside my window. She had light brown skin and long black hair. I frowned. We were supposed to be social distancing. Why would she be there? Yet, she swayed in the wind with her loose silver dress billowing around her slim body. Even when I blinked, I could still see her. Kylie, I told myself. You’re going crazy. Just go back to bed. And that’s what I did. The next morning, I woke up to see the April sun shimmering through my window. The green canopy of trees was barely visible from my vantage point. The woman. My heart pounding, I slipped out of my bed more quickly than any other seventeen-year-old would do on a no-school day. I pressed my face against the cool glass. No woman was there. I sighed. I must have imagined everything. “Kylie,” I heard my mother’s voice come from downstairs. “It’s your turn to take out the trash!” Groaning, I headed out of my bedroom. ~~~ That night, I waited by my window. I craved to see the woman again. There was something so eerie, but entrancing about her. All this COVID-19 stuff is going to my brain, I thought. Lately, I’d been anxious for my mother’s side of the family who were Mashpee Wampanoag. The tribe’s reservation was struggling with lack of government support and resources. My parents had been sending as much virtual aid as possible, but it still hurt being physically isolated from one side of my family. Then, of course, my dad’s side of the family were all in Shanghai and we hadn’t had much contact with them either. I just need a distraction from all this stress. The moon glistened in the sky above me. It was so round and golden. A super full moon, my dad had said earlier. I closed my eyes just for a moment to allow the yellow light to bathe me with its invisible warmth. I could almost imagine myself dancing on the moon’s dusty surface with my feet bounding through the air. Stars glinted around me and the Earth bobbed in the distance. Beside me was the woman, her red lips parted in a smile and her dark brown eyes were alight with euphoria. I blinked. She was still there and I was still on the moon. My heart soared in my chest and I, feeling like I could catch the stars, sprung through the air. “The moon is beautiful,” the woman said. It took me a moment to recognize she was speaking Shanghainese, my father’s first language. “Yeah,” I replied in the same tongue. I paused beside her. “Who are you?” “Someone who is alone.” “I get that.” I fiddled with the sleeve of my pink pajama top. It had been weeks since I had last seen my friends in person. I missed how Isla would doodle on my arm and how Christie talked so much at lunch that she always forgot to eat. I longed to meet up at the beach again with Amber and have vibrant discussions about the books we were reading. The woman nodded at me and held out her right hand. “Let me show you.” Normally, I would never take a stranger’s hand, but things were weird enough tonight. I was on the moon and exceptions could be made. I clenched her cool grasp. A light sparked between us and the ground swiveled underneath my feet. My stomach lurched in my body and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Take a look,” the woman’s voice filtered through my ears. I gazed at the scene before me. I was back in my town of Buchtton, Massachusetts, I realized. The night air tangled around my legs and I could feel the concrete driveway underneath my feet. Before me sat the colonial of my friend Isla Yue. Through the front window, I could see Isla with her back to us and her head bowed. I smiled. I knew that pose anywhere. She was drawing. Even with quarantine, my friend was still finding the strength to do the activity that made her happy. “Why are you showing me this?” I asked in Shanghainese. The woman did not answer. She held out her right hand again and I clasped it. This time, I was prepared for my stomach to feel like it was being tossed around. When I regained my composure, I noticed we were in front of a different colonial in Buchtton. “This is Christie’s house.” I spotted my friend’s red hair and pale skin through the window. She was in her kitchen with her sisters and mothers. I gazed as the family ate and laughed together. A pang of sadness shot though me as I remembered how isolated I was from my extended family and how they did not have the financial privileges of my friends. Then again, I knew things were complicated for Christie, too, because she was adopted and had no idea how her birth family was doing. I turned away from the sight. A cold breeze dragged across my arms and I shivered. The woman offered her hand. I embraced it and the ground shuddered under my feet. When the shaking stopped, I was not surprised to be standing in front of Amber’s house. He lived right across from the beach. Salty air flew through my nostrils and the thrumming of the waves soothed me. I grinned. My anxiety for my family lifting, I closed my eyes. I could almost picture myself with Amber on the beach with books gripped in our hands and smiles plastered on our cheeks. I opened my eyes. Through the window of Amber’s home, I could make out my friend reading on his bunk bed. The light of the lamp beside him made his curly black hair glimmer and illuminated his deep brown skin. His sister Ayana entered the room and he looked up and beamed at her. For a final time, the woman held out her right hand. Sighing, I obliged and grasped her palm. The world once more swirled around me and my stomach tumbled inside of me. We landed in front of my small cape house. The downstairs light was on and I could see my parents talking to each other in our little living room. My younger siblings, Stacey and Dan, were nowhere to be seen. My parents’ heads were bent together and they seemed to be looking at something. I turned to the woman. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Who are you?” The woman smiled. In a flash of golden light, she was gone. I went up the stone steps to my house and creaked open the door. My parents, sitting on the couch by the window, gaped at me. The warm air of my home enveloped me and it struck me how chilly the weather had been outside. “Where were you?” my mother asked. Her dark brown eyes were wide. My father just stared at me. “Oh, taking a walk.” I meandered over to my parents. A book lay on the coffee table in front of them. “What’re you looking at?” “Just an old scrapbook from when you kids were younger.” My mother was still frowning at me, but both of my parents seemed to have accepted I wasn’t going to tell them any more information. I slid onto the sofa beside my mother and leaned on her shoulder. I peered down at the scrapbook before us. A picture from when I was in elementary school gleamed back up at me. It was an image from Winter Break of second grade, the one time relatives from both my Chinese and Mashpee Wampanoag sides of my family had visited Buchtton. Swaddled in thick jackets and scarves, we all huddled in front of the house for a photo. Everyone was smiling, even my younger brother Dan who had been five at the time and obsessed with scowling. “Mom,” I murmured. “Are we going to be okay?” “I don’t know, Kylie, but your father and I are here for you.” She massaged my back. I twisted my head around to look out the window at the glittering full moon. My mother was right. There was no way to be certain of the future, but I understood, thanks to the moon, that my friends and family would be there for me. And I will be there for them, too. Even if we’re apart. Thank you for reading! If you like my story, please don’t be afraid to give it a share. Comments are always welcome and I love hearing your thoughts. Question: How do you stay connected to your friends across distance?
Finally, to learn more about the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and how to support them, I highly recommend checking out their official website: https://mashpeewampanoagtribe-nsn.gov/. I see fish flying in the night. As I tiptoe out from under my covers and into the cool evening air, I can see starry fish dancing in the sky outside my window. The way the lights flicker emboldens me and soon I'm not fifteen-year-old Isabelle Huff stuck at home with a mom who doesn't understand and two little sisters who incessantly argue. No, I am an explorer in a dazzling spacesuit, ready to leap from star to star. I can stare up at space and float. Although I can feel my eyelids sink and my mouth yawn, I am free. Inside my house, only little taps resound from the fridge and the radiator. No yelling can be heard. No disappointments, mess-ups, conflicts. In the sky, there are only the fish. They glow purple and bronze and blue. Their sleek bodies twirl among the stars. The moon guides them with its luminescence and Earth's green hills roll like distant oceans underneath them. As I lean against my window and my slow breath fogs the glass, I am suddenly struck by how distant these magnificent creatures are from my house and me. Do they even know that Buchtton, the small town I inhabit, exists? For them, none of us really matter. My struggles with my mother are nothing to them. Sibling squabbles slip by their attention. They journey the whole universe to the point that little things that alarm me are pointless to them. My heart yanks at my chest and loneliness sinks in. Maybe they don't care, I think to myself. I sigh. The fish look so beautiful among the twinkling stars. Their scales appear sturdy and thick. Their eyes, large as houses, radiate with warmth and sadness. They've seen too much of the world, I realize. Maybe the point is that I care about them. With that, I grin and continue gazing at fish flying in the night. Thank you for reading! If you like my story, please don't be afraid to give it a share. Comments are always welcome and I love hearing your thoughts. Question: If you saw giant fish flying in the night, what would you think?
Imagine this: you are on the school lawn and everything is paused around you-- the cars on the road, the people on the sidewalk, and even the leaves on the trees. Not a horn is honked, a whisper uttered, or a branch shifted. The only two things moving are me and an amber cat and I am chasing said amber cat across the grounds. This is what will happen in, say, ten minutes after my math class. Anyways, my day had been going well. I had totally led my team to victory in my history class' Vietnam War debate. I had managed to get to twenty-five push-ups in my 9th grade PE class. I even won a lollipop in my Spanish class for using proper grammar. My life had only started to get weird as I was leaving my math class, my last lesson of the day, and I observed an orange glow coming from my locker. My eyebrows raised, I paused in the middle of the hallway. "Evelyn!" a classmate hissed behind me as they nearly crashed into my backpack. Other students glared at me as they wove around me. "Sorry," I muttered and stalked over to my locker. The orange light was still there, but no one seemed to notice it except me. All the other teenagers continued lumbering down the hallway talking to their friends or staring at their phones. No one even glanced in my direction. I grasped the cool lock in my hand and slowly attempted to twist in my combination. It had been a while since I last used my locker. Finally, after a few minutes of struggle, the lock slid open. My heart soaring and my fingers thrumming, I opened the door. There on the metal floor of my locker sat a small orange orb. Its glow entranced me and I reached out to hold the object. The orb blossomed with a warmth that tickled my palm and just for a moment, I squatted on the tiles clutching this unnatural, but beautiful item. Throughout the school day, I had been so busy trying to impress my friends and teachers that this tiny chance to simply relax by myself was rejuvenating. I had no idea what the orb was or what it could do, but only that it wanted to belong to me. Then I heard screaming. The few students left in the math hallway were shouting and pointing at an amber shape hurtling in my path. I tried to stand up quickly, but my heavy backpack slowed me down. Before I could comprehend what was happening, the amber creature had snatched my orange orb from my hand and had dashed off toward the staircase at the end of the hall. Without pausing to think, I scrambled to my feet and pursued the thief. I could see the creature, a cat, I realized, racing down the stairs. I followed after it, skipping two steps at a time. I could feel my veins pulsing and my hands tightening into fists. That cat had no right to take my orb. I took a corner on the stairs. The robber with the orb still gripped in its mouth stayed in my view. In front of me, classmates and teachers on the staircase screeched and leaped out of my way. I didn't care what they thought of me. My long black hair swung in my face and my backpack thumped against my body. I jerked to the right and followed the burglar across the bustling main lobby. I shoved past fellow students who were already jumping and yelling because of the cat. The doors were propped open with wooden blocks, making the creature's escape easy. The cat paused on the front steps and I scampered over to try to yank the orb from its mouth. Before my fingers could make contact with my possession, the cat bit down hard on the orb and with a pop, the object burst into a dozen rays of light. I squeezed my eyes shut. I expected to hear more hollering from my classmates, but instead, I heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. I couldn't even feel any late Spring wind tangling around my arms. Cautiously, I opened my eyes to see the cat standing innocently in front of me and peering at me with deep brown eyes. The orb was nowhere to be seen. "You stupid cat!" I yowled. The cat bounded down the rest of the steps and toward the lawn of the school. Disregarding all the silent people standing around me, I sprinted after the devil. I'm going to get that cat, I thought to myself. It's going to regret destroying my orb. Speed dug its way into my legs and my strides lengthened. I could almost reach out to grab the animal. A stone wobbled underneath my sneaker and I collapsed onto the grass. Silt burrowed into my mouth and pain charged through my knees. Tears stung my eyes and through my watery gaze, I could see the amber shape of the cat moving farther and farther into the distance. Panting, I wiped away my tears. Everything was so still around me. There was no wind. The cars on the road did not stir. The people on the sidewalk and on the steps of the school were sedentary. The trees on the lawn were serene. Then noises trickled into my ears and the cars, people, and leaves began to move again. Meanwhile, I lay on the grass shivering. Imagine this: the world had given a girl the gift of pausing and she ruined it over a cat. Thank you for reading! If you like my story, please don't be afraid to give it a share. Comments are always welcome and I love hearing your thoughts. Question: When was a time you forgot to be mindful?
This short story is a retelling of the Bible story from Luke 1:26-38. Readers do not need to be familiar with the Bible to understand and in no way am I trying to convince people to convert to Christianity. Direct quotes from the Easy-to-Read version of the Bible are present. Mary had never considered herself special. She was like most girls her age in Nazareth. She was a dutiful daughter. She tried her best to be faithful to God. Like many of her friends, she was about to be married to an older man. There was one thing Mary did that she thought made her unique, but she wouldn't go as far as to claim she was "special." Some days, when the sun was searing the rough, dusty earth and her parents did not need her assistance, Mary would slip off to the cool shade of the palm tree hidden behind her father's shop. Her father had paid a fortune for this little refuge and Mary was determined to make good use of the haven. She would often see the other girls in the city with sweat slipping down their foreheads and she would feel grateful, although guiltily, for her hideout. Today though, more than just the desire to escape from the sun hovered in the back of her mind. The future was finally sinking in. She was being married. She threw herself onto the gravel. Pebbles buried themselves into her belly, but Mary hardly cared. Although the familiar shadows of the palm tree embraced her small body and painted her simple brown tunic a richer shade, she felt like she was burning. This retreat was usually a place of content and coolness, a location only she and her parents knew, but on this day, this shelter could not console her. She watched an ant crawl across a stone. I'm being silly, Mary thought to herself. Most of my friends are being married, too. Some of them already are and they're fine. A pang of sadness launched into her stomach. She would be separated from her parents, from this tree. "Hey, are you okay?" Mary's heart jumped in her chest and she whirled around to see who had spoken. A glowing figure floated a few feet above her. Terror rushed into her brain and she backed up against the scaly bark of the palm tree. Trembling, she gazed up at the person. "Wh-who are you?" she stammered. The figure, which Mary now noticed had large white wings, smiled down at her and continued to glisten warmly in the air. "I am a messenger. The Lord has sent me. You are very special to him." "What?" Mary breathed. She gripped onto her tunic in hopes to calm her quivering hands. "I'm sorry. I don't understand." The messenger, still shimmering, lowered to the ground and crouched before her. They peered up at her, their dark brown eyes gentle. "It's okay that you are frightened, Mary. I am here to comfort you. God is very pleased. Listen! You will become pregnant and have a baby boy. You will name him Jesus. People will call him the Son of the Most High God, and the Lord God will make him king like his ancestor David. He will rule over the people of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Still shivering, Mary knelt in front of the messenger. She stared at the coarse ground. "I don't think that is possible. I've never had a baby before," she whispered. "I'm still a virgin." Plus, she thought, there's nothing fascinating about me. All I have is a palm tree. Mary expected the messenger to laugh, but instead they shook their head. "The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High God will cover you. The baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God." The messenger glanced around them, as if to check for eavesdroppers, before continuing. "And here's something else: Your relative Elizabeth is pregnant. She is very old, but she is going to have a son. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant now for six months. God can do anything!" Mary chuckled and the messenger grinned at her. "Really?" she asked. Her body had stopped shaking. "It's true," they said. Mary sat down on her bottom. She knew what the messenger was saying was preposterous. How could she, an average girl from Nazareth, ever become the mother of someone so great? Then again, Mary had been taught at a young age to listen to and respect God's wishes. Only God would have the ability to send a sparkling messenger to Earth. "Okay." Mary looked up and met the messenger's kind eyes. "I am the Lord's servant. Let this thing you have said happen to me." The messenger beamed at her and then faded away. With that, Mary was, once again, alone at the base of the palm tree. Thank you for reading! If you like my story, please don't be afraid to give it a share. Comments are always welcome and I love hearing your thoughts. Question: When was a time you felt scared of the future?
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AuthorI'm Darcy Ridge, creating stories that all revolve around family and identity in a myriad of ways. In the past, I have shared multiple stories and published a novella online. You can find me on Wattpad and many other social media websites. They/them [Image Description: black background with the words "Social Justice and Mental Health Resources" in white in the center /end ID]
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