Inktober 2020 |Day 2: Wisp|
Okay, so it’s pretty late but I swear I’m going to get caught back up!!
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For most following the little twinkling blue lights through the trees would be a death sentence. You weren’t sure why you were the exception. They had always led you exactly where you needed to be. Though, often you felt rather odd following the wisps. The hair on the back of your neck would stand up and you’d find yourself subconsciously scanning your surroundings. You’d never actually seen anything but you just had this unwavering feeling that there was something you were missing.
Though, today it was worse than it ever had been before. Perhaps it was the fact that you hadn’t been back into these woods in ages that was making your nerves run haywire. You hadn’t been back in the area since your great aunt was alive and living in the cottage near the edge of the forest. She had passed long ago when you were still a small child. Recently, to both your delight and surprise your great aunt’s daughter was putting the cottage up for sale after deciding to start her own family. You snatched it up as soon as it had been put on the market and had moved all of your boxes into the house within a week. Moments before now, you had been putting off packing and were relaxing in the back garden. The smell of the forest and somehow always chilly breeze never failed to settle you down.
That was when you’d spotted one at the edge of the garden. The blue flame flickered tauntingly as you stared at it from your comfortable spot. You didn’t really want to get up, but the wisps always had something cool to show you. You had found memories of the little things lighting your way through the dark forest, bringing you to patches of glowing mushrooms, little waterfalls, and fields of white flowers that only bloomed in the dead of night. Your fondest memories of this place consisted of you sneaking out in the dead of night to go chasing after a wisp you’d seen from your window. For the longest time you’d felt guilty about going behind your great aunt’s back. That was, until you’d found her journal detailing her daily life after she’d passed. You hadn’t understood some of the things she wrote or talked about in it, but she knew you were sneaking out to follow the wisps at night. She’d called you ‘touched’ in the journal but you’d never quite figured out what she meant by that.
Anyhow, you’d begun to follow the wisp. The sense of familiarity that flooded you when you took a step into the treeline was overwhelming. Crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl or rustling in the underbrush brought back such nostalgia towards your childhood. You remembered the path you were following until suddenly, you didn’t. The part of the forest you were in now you were sure you’d never been in before. Above you the canopy thickened to the point where you were sure if the wisps were not lighting your way you would not be able to see. The nostalgia you’d been feeling as you’d reminisced was replaced by that odd paranoia. Sure, it was alarming but you didn’t really want to turn back. You were curious to see where they were taking you and also didn’t think you could find your way back without them at this point.
Before you had a chance to panic again you came upon the largest tree you’d ever seen. It dwarfed the oaks and even the evergreens around you, but didn’t provide more than a small gap for moonlight to seep in. Like they always did, the wisps disappeared as you began to explore where they’d led you. You thought you’d be tripping over roots as you struggled in the dim light until as if on cue what had to be thousands of fireflies lit up the area. Or at least, that’s what you had assumed they were before one landed on your outstretched palm. You blinked slowly before you could ever begin to process the small creature in your hand.
Their wings emitted a gentle yellow light, and they smiled up at you revealing a mouth full of strangely pointed teeth. The skin on their shoulders and face was a pale grey dappled with freckles. Light auburn hair fell past their hips, though for you it was merely a few inches long. With a striking determination they grabbed at your hair. Huffing in annoyance when the wind blew it from their grasp. The tiny snow white fur coat that they wore drew your attention momentarily. Compared to the rest, this one was also decked in far more jewelry. It was a bit odd, but you didn’t think much of it as you placed your hair back into their hands. They made what you could only describe as an excited cooing noise before twirling your hair and wrapping it around themself like a giant scarf.
Never before had you felt such a strange sense of familiarity for something you’d never seen before. Something about their presence brought such a strong feeling of nostalgia that crashed over you like a wave. Then, it clicked. How you’d always felt while following the wisps through the forest as a child is how you felt in this very moment. A gentle, comforting warmth that permeated around you as though you were the source of it made you more relaxed than you should have been in that moment.
“It was you, was it not? All these years, you’ve been the one leading me through the forest, haven’t you?” you questioned, looking down at what you could only call a faery. The faery looked up at you from the palm of your hand. Mischief gleamed in its eyes as it grinned, showing of those pointy inhuman teeth. The words were not spoken out loud, but you heard the confirmation in their expression. Still, that only left you with more questions to be answered.
“Why?” you asked only growing more curious. A lilting laugh slipped from them as they tucked a strand of their auburn hair behind one of their pointed ears. Shrugging playfully, the faery fluttered up and sat down on your shoulder. For the first time since you they had landed on your palm, you looked around at the other faeries. Some were becoming more brave with each passing second and it looked like you would have more little friends soon. Yet, before that could happen the faery perched upon your shoulder made a loud chittering noise that made the others disperse, some rather slowly. Then, they planted a delicate kiss to your cheek. Even without words, the message was clear. You were theirs and theirs alone.
