Destiny's Path

Destiny’s Path

by

CalliopeNJO

School let out for the summer. That news caused excitement with everybody shouting and high fiving each other. For me, it meant I had to return to Meadow Grove.

I walked in the door surprised by red and pink balloons tied together on the chairs in the dining room. Happy Birthday banners draped from the ceiling that spanned wall-to-wall. I called out and searched but nobody answered. That marked my chance to take off. I enchanted the main entries so they forgot about me as soon as they walked inside. I could not bother with the lingering decorations. I had to go.

Tears pooled in my eyes. It had been a wonderful stay filled with learning experiences that might serve me later. If they only knew how much I treasured them.

I heard a jeep behind me. I watched as it pulled into the driveway and saw Alarik smiling. “Hey. Shrimpy,” Alarik said, as he stuck his head out the window.

No. He couldn’t be home yet. Not until tomorrow.

“Hey.” He got out. “What am I? Chopped liver?” He spread his arms out.

“Alarik, I don’t have time. I have to leave.” A solitary crow sat at the top of the tree.

Alarik gripped my arm. I whistled a spell to influence my feathered friend to bombard him. It worked and he let go.

Mortals ran slower than us so it would take him longer to catch up to me. I did not expect him to get back in his car so soon. I remembered the neighborhood and a field of fruit and Sycamore trees divided the upper and lower areas.

I ran to that and weaved in and out to avoid him. It also gave me the opportunity to ask the birds for help. They would fly in his direct path which might make it difficult for him to see.               

While I continued to Meadow Glen.

The sun rested about midway in the sky and I required rest. I walked from then on and saw a trailer park ahead. Most filled with senior citizens as this one advertised.

My desired destination lay in the direction of the central highway. If I knew Alarik, he would use it and I needed that path, so I did not have an alternative. Maybe wait until full dark to minimize the chance of being caught.

I waited in the city park. Homeless people, gang members, and a few wanderers passed through. I tried to stay hidden at the top of a tree. When the streetlights turned on, I continued my trek.

My parents should have come back home, confused by the decorations that lingered. I could not worry about that. I hoped that Alarik returned home too. It did not feel good to be forgotten, and they were wonderful people, but I did not have a choice.

I made it to the entrance at last. The sun had not risen yet. I sat under a sapling while I wondered where to put my mortal clothes. I should have taken them off when I started this journey.

I took them off and stashed them in a hollowed tree trunk. My true nature came through once I took the clothes off. My hair turned white. I felt horns brake through on each side of my head. My hands shifted from mortal to claws. A fine ivory fur grew on my skin. I imagined my eyes transformed to vertical pupils as I saw more color and more definition.

When the sun finished rising, I transformed into a Forest Helper. I looked to the right of me and the staircase appeared. I thought I would never see it again. It had been so long.

Trees canopied overhead as wooden steps led the way skyward. Home lay a few—

“Hey. Shrimpy. I know you’re here. It’s the only other place. Come on.”

I could not figure out why the persistence. He should have gone home to be with his Mother and Father.

Something a little stronger would help. I only needed ample time to climb the hill. He would never see it or me.

A female mountain lion roamed the territory, often in pursuit of food. I whistled a tune to encourage her to make herself known in voice only. Maybe that would scare him away.

“All right,” Alarik said. “That’s enough. I ain’t giving up. Never have. Never will. I will discover your secret. It’s gotta be about that prick, Steve.”

My— oh no. He could not have heard the whistles. The whistle spells occurred in a range beyond their hearing spectrum.  How did he hear them? I could not change back into a mortal. No regress once the final transformation took place. 

“Skye.”

“This has nothing to do with him. Strange you call him a prick without knowing him.” I had no choice. I walked out to show myself. “How did you find me? Why are you being so insistent?”

“S... S... Skye?” Alarik opened his eyes wide and blinked. He shook his head a couple times. “What the ...? You’re an animal?”

“There is no name for us. Forest Helpers seemed the closest description. You must go.” A mountain lion cub stepped out.

His mother made herself known as she growled. The cub looked at both of us before he left. Alarik stood there, transfixed on me.

Only a few of us had the ability to impress an idea into mortals. Those that did, remained with the group and never left. I never tried. I did not know.

I imagined him turning around and leaving the area. All that he experienced from the point of my arrival up to now would be forgotten. “Turn around, Alarik. Go home. Be with your parents.” I needed to rely on the spell I cast on the house to do the rest.

He did leave. I wondered, though, how long it would last before he got the idea to try again. The worst about all of this, I could not forget the experiences.

I walked up the hill and felt the air change. A new scent hinted in the breeze as I heard my people calling out. I returned home. A joyous moment meant to be celebrated, but much work had to be done. The Leprechauns would come soon.

Love Month

February is here, and with it, we celebrate love. I don't write romance fiction. I'm horrible at it. However, this story does touch on it a bit. Not enough to categorize as romance but it is in there.

I hope you enjoy it.

Here it is.

My Inheritance

by

CalliopeNJO

I never heard of Briarsville. I received a map, key, and a renovation fund in the mail from a lawyer’s office from said place. In short, I got it because the deceased left it to me. The old lady liked me. I had no recollection of ever meeting someone other than in passing. I checked out the lawyer, and he had been practicing law for at least twelve years. So he seemed legit enough for me to believe him.

In between projects, with nothing else to do, I needed to have a look at my new place. Good thing I had my 4x4. The rocky unpaved road did make things a little bumpy, however. The trees had to be at least ten stories high with massive trunks. My GPS gave me an error message and the map applications sent me someplace else. I wouldn’t have been able to find it if nobody gave me a map.

The old line of being nestled in the woods fit the description of the property. A two-story wooden house with a big stone chimney. The wooden front door still remained in its place. All the shattered windows needed to be replaced.

The front door opened. I called out but nobody answered so how the H-E-Double hockey sticks did it open. All by itself. I went back to my 4x4 and scrounged for something. It gave me an activity while I figured out if I wanted to go in.

I couldn’t hesitate any longer so I entered. I thought I heard a woman tell me it’s about time you came in. I looked and like before, nobody. My mind drifted off into the unknown. I had to use logic and reasoning or risk losing my mind. If I didn’t already.

Careful steps needed to be taken or risk falling through the Swiss cheese floor. I stopped in a green room. The green wall contrasted with the red brick fireplace, and chances were some varmints set up house in the unused chimney.

The longer I stood there, the more the chair in the front rocked. An old lady appeared, looked at me, and disappeared. Maybe I should’ve left too but I couldn’t. My feet stayed attached.

Bizarre or mad, either word would best fit me at that moment. Some food would help to fuel my brain and stop the weird experiences.

I got in my truck and started down the long road again. Trees and boulders watched me as I drove past. I got to town and it looked nice. Kids running up and down, some on their bikes. Adults walked back and forth.

The diner on the corner sounded like the spot to refuel. I wandered in and sat down at the bar. Burger and coffee would hit the spot.

A skinny man sat next to me. The unmarked white baseball cap caught my attention. I smiled and nodded.

“Hey there,” he said. “The name’s Oliver. Say uh...I never saw you around these parts. New?”

“Yeah. Sort of.” I wasn’t sure who this guy was so I tried to keep things short.

“We don’t get much new ones. Where you at?”

“A cabin in the woods.” Not that far from the truth.

“Oh. I know that one. That’s the Kingston cabin. William Kingston was his name. Built it for his family so his younguns had space to grow up. Yeah. Nobody knows what happened, not really, but they say he got shot while out on a huntin’ trip. Yeah. ‘Cause nobody delivered the body, his wife kept on waitin’ for him. Some even say she still waitin’.” He turned around. “I gotta get. Good luck and may the Lord be with you.”

Not quite sure what to think about that bit of info, I mulled it over while I ate. I never believed in the afterlife. Once you’re dead you’re dead. After what I experienced though, it made me wonder if I should change my views.

After I finished, I went back to the cabin. Maybe I asked for it, but I couldn’t help but remember the story that man told me. I couldn’t get past the idea that someone waited for somebody else all this time. Unbelievable.

I walked in. “Hello? Mrs. Kingston?” What was I saying?

Maybe the floorboards were loose. That wouldn’t surprise me. What surprised me was a young woman appeared in front of me.

“Oh. There you are. You had me worried. I longed for your return.” She held me. “You seem surprised.”

“Uh....” That’s the understatement of the century.

“Come now, William.” She grabbed both my hands and kissed them.

I felt it. I felt her kiss me. Did I need to tell her the name’s Shawn? “Uh....” About the most intelligent thing, I could utter.

She took me to a room down the hall. I expected dilapidated furniture and holes in the wall. Instead, a perfect four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room. A clean and shiny window let the light in. OK, somebody had to have put something in my food because none of this could have been real.

She lay me down and stroked me. I had to admit I fell asleep. When I woke up though, I lay on the floor instead and the once unbroken window didn’t exist. The night sky shone through the framed hole.

I ran out of that house as fast as I could and high tailed it out of town. I got the house for free, yeah, and with a little bit of work, I could’ve made it livable. Not as long as those strange things were in there, I couldn’t do it, renovation fund or no renovation fund.

I made it back to the city. The nice congested, polluted, no trees existed in the backyard if there was a backyard city. I put the key away for safe keeping. Maybe in the future but that would have to be under extreme circumstances.

I took the car keys out of my pocket and put them on the nightstand. Along with it, a gold ring came up. Inside it read: To my only love. Two hearts. One soul.

The End