Chapter 5

A Chapter by CassieLynne

I stroked the horse’s ear with my finger. It was securely attached, I was sure of that. I held the horse away from me and stared at it in bewilderment. How? How did this happen? Perhaps I just needed to catch up on my sleep. I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll all be just a dream. I shakily set the horse back down on the desk and curled up under my quilt.

“Shoot,” I muttered as I realized that I had left the light on. I felt so lazy and tired I didn’t want to get up to turn it off. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to block out the light and almost willing the light to turn off by itself. I suddenly heard that same humming sound that I heard in the clearing. It was coming from my laundry basket. I opened my eyes and stifled a scream. My room was dark! I shot out of bed and found the light switch. It had been switched off, so the light bulb hadn’t died. I quickly turned the light back on and scanned the room for anyone who could have done it. Nothing. I couldn’t even hear that strange humming sound anymore. Then I remembered it came from the laundry basket. Inching towards it, I lifted the lid off carefully and peered inside. All that was in there was my sweater and clothes from today. My sweater was covered in dirt from the clearing, probably from when I threw it. Besides the clothes, there was nothing else. I moved the clothes around with my hand just to make sure, but there really was nothing else there. Puzzled, and a little freaked out, I turned off my light and got under the covers again. It was not until a couple of hours later that I finally fell asleep, but when I did, I had the strangest dreams. Dreams that included me stumbling upon a secret that I knew was horrible, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I shifted through different places, different scenes, but nothing really made sense. I finally woke up, drenched in perspiration.

As the sun shone through my window the next morning, last night’s events hardly seemed real. I took my dirty clothes from the hamper, sorting the colors and throwing the first half in the laundry machine. I wanted my sweater to be clean for the next trip I would take out to the clearing. The laundry room was cluttered, having just moved in, so I clambered over cords and boxes to get back to my room. Even though the sun lit up the room, I decided to figure out how the light had turned off by itself. I switched on the light and went back to my bed. I squeezed my eyes shut and willed the light to turn off. I listened for some sort of noise or identification that something was happening, but I couldn’t hear or sense anything. I opened one eye to see if anything happened, but the light was still on.

“I must’ve dreamt it then,” I decided, muttering to myself. Then my eye caught my grandmother’s horse, and the ear was still in place. I was sure that it had been broken before. I clearly remembered rescuing the piece from the box and putting the horse and ear in my pocket. I thought back to yesterday’s occurrences and went through the day in my mind. Finding the horse broken, picking up the ear from the box, placing both items in my sweater pocket. Walking down the road, finding the trail, hiking into the forest and finding that strange clearing. It was starting to make sense. I had to go back and examine the clearing. There was obviously something at work there! I wasn’t one to believe in magic and such, but at least I had one theory. Besides, how did the horse fix itself, if it weren’t for some unexplained force? I shook my head dazedly. I went to my window and opened it. A rush off cold air hit me, and I knew that if I was planning to go out today, I would need to dress warmly. While waiting for my sweater to wash, I went downstairs to see what my mother was making for breakfast. Peering into the kitchen, I discovered that it was empty.

“Mom?” I called as I walked into the deserted room.

“Out here honey!” I heard her voice coming from outside the kitchen window, and I walked over to look out. My mom was kneeling under the window, weeding what looked to be a garden. She peered up at me as she removed her sunglasses.

“Morning dear. There are some pancakes in the fridge, if you’d like. I’m trying to get started on this thing.” She gestured to the patch of dirt with her tiny shovel. I smirked.

“Thanks mom. Good luck with that. After I’m done eating, I think I’m going to go back into the forest for a bit, if that’s okay with you?” I looked at her hopefully. She frowned momentarily, and then sighed a sigh of defeat.

“Well, I guess I can’t keep you out of there. It’d be safer if you just left it alone. Why not try the little row boat your dad brought home yesterday?”

“I didn’t even see dad yesterday. He brought home a boat?” My mom laughed.

“Yep, a small, metal motor boat, without the motor. It only has two oars and a paddle, but I’m sure you could learn how to use them.” I thought for a moment.

“Alright, I might give it a try. Just let me go for a walk in the forest first, alright?” My mom rolled her eyes.

“Fine. Leave me be now, I have to get this finished.” She went back to her gardening and I smiled a successful smile.

With my newly washed sweater and my horse figure in my pocket, I set off down the forest trail. I was hoping that I would remember which way I took to get to the clearing. All I knew was that it was off to the left when I came to the fork in the path. After a bit of walking, I finally reached the fork. I stood still for a second, trying to sense the same feeling that I had felt before. Not feeling anything, I turned to the left and scanned the trees for the withered, hidden trail. I moved aside branches but only revealed tree trunks and large rocks.

“There has got to be a way in,” I muttered, furrowing my brow in concentration. All of a sudden, I heard a light chuckle.

“Looking for something?” I froze. My heart was in my throat as I slowly turned around and stood face to face with the most gorgeous boy I had ever seen.

“W-w-what?” I managed to choke out as he looked at me in amusement.

“Are you looking for something?” He spoke each word as if it were its own sentence. I swallowed the lump in my throat and backed away from him.

“N-no.” I stammered, my heart beating wildly. I wasn’t sure if it was beating because I was frightened, or if I was just captivated by his beauty. He frowned, but then the corners of his mouth turned up into a perfect grin.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you.” He stated shyly. “I saw you here yesterday, and you looked pretty upset. I was wondering if I could help?” I stared at him stupidly.

“You saw me yesterday?” I asked in horror. I must’ve looked like a fright, I realized to myself. He nodded as I asked, “Who are you?”

“My name is Liam.” He smiled. “And who, may I ask, are you?” It took me a minute to find my voice.

“I’m Audrey.”

He held out his hand, and I stared at it blankly, feeling the awkward silence that followed. He didn’t seem to feel the awkwardness as he dropped his hand and said,

“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way.” He turned to go, but looked back at me. “The clearing is that way.” He pointed to a sparse place in the brush that I had overlooked. He headed off down the right trail as I turned to look in the direction he pointed.

“But how did you know what I was looking for?” I asked. When I turned to look back at him, he was gone. I let out my breath sharply, realizing that I had been holding it in, breathing shallowly. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset that he had gone without any further goodbyes.

“Liam…” I tested the name on my tongue. I smiled to myself, and looked back to the path that must lead to the clearing. I wasn’t sure if I should follow it, or return home, concerning the circumstances.

“I doubt I’ll ever find the way in again. Might as well search around one last time.” I gathered my courage and made my way down the hidden path to the clearing. I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake.

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