by R.N. Feldman
She followed his lead. “Mmm!” she cooed. “These are amazing!”
Michael told her that he had never eaten more than half a giant raspberry in his life, but his thirst and hunger were so great this time that he finished two of them. Maya matched him, fruit for blissful fruit. She was about to tuck into a third when she heard the unmistakable sound of several large dogs howling in the distance.
“They’re coming!” Michael said.
She forlornly let the succulent fruit tumble into the duff. With the fear of pursuit drumming in her chest, she ignored all prior foreboding and followed Michael into the woods.
•••
They scrambled over rocks and fallen trees through the nigh impenetrable darkness. The starlight could not penetrate the boughs, so they used their hands to feel their way through the blackness. Thorns and brambles tugged at their clothes and tore at their exposed arms, but they ignored each cut and abrasion as they fled the advancing soldiers.
The barking became muffled as they put more trees between themselves and their pursuers. After a while, they didn’t hear them at all. Nevertheless, they kept moving deeper into the heart of the forest.
As they ascended a short hill and pushed through a bush wet with dew, Maya slowed to a halt. “Do you see that?” she asked, pointing ahead. Down the hill and through the trees, she could make out a faint glow.
“That might be my uncle’s house. I always remember a warm light from his kitchen window.”
But this glow was not warm. It was cool, greenish, and ethereal. However, it was rather inviting. Michael started down the hill towards it. Maya was about to argue against it, but the words clung in her throat, so she chased after him.
As she reached the bottom of the hill, it seemed that the light was moving, though she still could not make out what it was. She hoped that it was Michael’s uncle carrying a lantern, but regardless, it seemed better than the creatures pursuing them.
Progress was exasperating through the thick underbrush, but they slowly edged closer to the light. She could soon see that it was definitely moving slowly through the trees and now seemed to be held high, a little above their heads. It was too high to be a lantern, but she could not imagine what else it could be. She wanted to call out to whoever was holding it, but still could not find her voice. Something about the light told her not to worry. It urged her to keep walking and see for herself.
As she approached, she heard the beacon emit a faint buzz. She was so engrossed by it that she didn’t notice the sound of crunching leaves and twigs, nor the snap of a large branch as it was torn from a tree bough. Heavy footsteps tromped through the undergrowth.
Maya suddenly found herself impeded by a wall of shaggy brown fur. A massive sphinx bear, twice as tall as a human, stood between them and the light. Its neck was so thick that its face seemed set into its muscular shoulders. A patch of golden fur gleamed from its chest. Maya knew that this was one of the most dangerous animals of the forest. They were known to eat people, or simply trample them to death under their gargantuan paws.
To Maya’s surprise, she was not afraid― the bear did not even seem to notice that she or Michael were there. It too was following the mysterious light, which Maya could now see was not held by anyone at all. It was just a floating bulb of swirling effulgence that appeared to move by its own will. This did not frighten Maya either, but simply intrigued her. She did not even care where it was going. She just wanted to touch it. She reached out for it, but it glided forward gently, staying just ahead of her fingertips. She walked faster to try again, but it sped up accordingly, staying just out of her reach. She decided to follow it and let it lead her where it may.
As the bear and the two fugitives continued their slow amble through the woods, other green flares periodically flew by. They whizzed through the forest at great speeds, going who knows where. They did not distract Maya though. She just wanted to follow this one wonderful light.
She lost track of time and how far they had walked, but she noticed a brighter glow up ahead. A warm, yellow light gleamed through the trees. Soon her little luminous friend led them into a grassy clearing where stood a house. It was a two-story, grey stone cottage with a thatched roof. A lamp illuminated the front door and the windows were awash with an inviting radiance. The house passed before her like the vaguest of dreams as the floating green bulb turned and began to circle the lawn, leading its three followers dumbly after it.
