I sit out in the woods. I am alone; runaway from home because of my past. It's raining; the tiny droplets falling from the sky. Salty teardrops fall from my eyes. Mother is dead; father is dead; I am the only one left. Thunder rumbles through the grove of trees which surround me. I lay on the ground, facedown with my head resting on my arms.
Alone, all alone in this world.
I hear footsteps. I look up and there stands a boy about my age; 14. He sits next to me. His voice is calm and he asks me,
"Why do you wander here, love?"
I look at him confused. He beckons me to him, so I sit up and move closer to him.
"This is not a place for one like you," he says.
"I have nowhere else to go," I reply.
"Funny you should pick here to come; of all places in the world."
"How so?" I ask.
"It's just that people like you never come here."
"Why?" I inquire.
"It just doesn't happen."
I give a confused look but dismiss the situation. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I continued to look down at the ground.
"Come with me," he says.
I stand and take his outstretched hand. He leads me along the winding path. It seems never ending. Finally we come to the end of the path at which there is a small valley. The sun shines through the mist making a golden glow in the basin. It still rains here but not so much that it is unpleasant. Young children play in the valley, chasing one another around. They look so happy, nothing to worry about.
Something about the valley isn't normal though. There are no parents to watch the little children nor are there any houses nearby. How is it that this is possible? I barely made it up myself yet here are small children alone in this valley with no way to possibly get here. My thoughts are interrupted when my companion nudges my shoulder gently.
"You coming?" he asks.
I follow him down the incline into the depression in the earth. Two kids run past us playing tag. A smile crosses my features. There is nothing for them to do but have fun. How I miss the days like that. Before everything bad happened. I kneel on the grass and watch all the small children at play. The boy sits next to me.
"You like I here don't you?" he asks.
I nod. It is better than being back home where no one cares for me. I lie down and look up at the clouds which have kept their beautiful golden color. It was only a few moments until I fell asleep.
I awoke to voices calling my name. I pulled myself up from the damp grass. They came to me and informed me that they were taking me home. I looked around for my new friend and found him standing by the tree line, all the small children either holding his hand or wrapping their tiny arms around his legs. He gave me a smile and I smiled back. I could feel a breeze pick up. Then, something happened that would forever haunt me for the rest of my life.
Like the dust in the wind, the breeze took his form and that of the children's and blew it away just like the leaves on the forest floor. As I stared at the place where they had been the search party pulled me, beckoning me to follow them. They took me home, to live with my grandparents. I never spoke a word after that. The experience forever took my voice away. And to this day, I know that he was there. He was no more than a spirit, but he was there. I know who they are. They are the children who are lost in the spirit world and forgotten by their families. But I haven't forgotten, and I never will.
Ariella