That's No Woodpecker

a story about a girl who thinks that a woodpecker is just knocking on the side og the house, but it's actually a man from a mystical world

It was not a spectacular, or even odd, day. It was  early afternoon. I had woken up, had eggs for breakfast, read some of my book in the kitchen; an uneventful day so far. Parents were at work, I had the house to myself.

            When a knock came on the door, I set my book down reluctantly and dutifully answered it.

            A strange woman stood at the door, absent-mindedly looking at my doorbell. But she did not come across as absent-minded; on the contrary, she seemed very there.

            At first, I thought that she had plainly brown hair, but it was many different colors. It had red and gold in it, maybe some teal. How did it do that?

            She was wearing a very colorful dress with a kind of maroon cloak over it. The woman's dress reminded me of watercolor splashes.

            "Good afternoon!" she said cheerily. Her eyes were big and beautiful. A purple-y color. But I'd never seen purple eyes before.

            "Um, hello," I replied, not opening the door all the way.

            "How are you, girl?"

            "Just fine, thanks. And yourself?" I'm sure that I had been eyeing her warily.

            She threw her hands up in the air and laughed. "I'm fantastic!"

            Was she drunk?

            "How may I help you, ma'am?" I asked.

            "Inviting me in would be nice," she was direct, this one.

            The woman seemed harmless. A voice in the back of my head piped up and said, "Ever since you were a little girl, your parents told you not to let strangers inside. And this is definitely a stranger."

            But I hushed it and opened the door wider. About time for a little excitement around here.

            "Ooh!" The woman squealed. "What a lovely home!"

            "Thank you," I said. "Do you live around here?"

            She laughed. "Oh, no, dear. I live far away. But not as far as you'd think,"

            That's weird.

            "Um, would you like something to drink?" I asked, trying to stay polite.

            "No, thank you." the woman kept looking around my living room and kitchen, cautiously wandering down one of the halls.

            "Are you looking for something?" I wondered innocently.

            "No, no," then she looked at me with a smile. "Is that someone at the door?"

            I was about to ask what she was talking about, but then I realized she must've meant the woodpecker that had been tapping on the side of our house for weeks. I had been used to it, and put it out of my head.

            "No, I think you're mistaken. That's an insistent wood-pecker on the side of our house," I replied.

            The woman smiled slyly. "How are you sure?"

            I looked at her quizzically. "No one's at the door."

            "Have you checked before?"

            I guess there was some logic in that. "Not really, but I've seen the woodpecker."

            She had a response ready. "Maybe he was just announcing your guest's arrival,"

            "Okay, what is going on here?" I finally asked.

            The woman laid a hand on my arm, calming me. "Answer the door,"

            I don't know what compelled me, but I went to the door and, sure enough, a man stood behind it.

            "Oh," I said. Had he been there the whole time the woodpecker was knocking?

            "I've been trying to get your attention for weeks!" was the first thing he said. "We had to send Cecelia here."

            I looked over at the woman, Cecelia, and she bowed her head slightly.

            The man was dressed in red, black, and white. He reminded me of a woodpecker. He was wearing a black hat with turquoise feathers on the side. When he took it off politely, I saw that his hair was wine red and a little tufted up.

            "So," I finally said. "Why did you have to send someone? Or why were you knocking?"

            "Well, I was knocking because I wanted your attention, but I believe you put me out of your mind. So we sent Cecelia," he explained. Not very helpful.

            "Who is 'we'?"

            Cecelia and the man looked at each other mischievously. "Quite a few people,"

            "People like you?" I didn't mean for it to sound mean, but, at the time, I didn't know how to ask another way.

            However, they didn't seem offended. "Yes, people like us." The man said proudly.

            "But," Cecelia added. "One person is never like another."

            "Quite right," the man nodded. After a moment, he asked, "May I step in for a moment?"

            I shrugged defeatedly. I don't think there was any stopping this. And, like I said earlier, it was about time for some excitement. Beneath my initial skepticism, I was very curious and excited.

            The man stepped in and closed the door behind him. "This will only take a second, dear."

            "Okay," I mumbled.

            The man and woman stared at the door expectantly after he closed it. What did they expect to happen?

            And nothing did happen. But they sighed with relief and opened the door.

            I could've never prepared myself for what lie ahead.

            It was no longer my porch or my driveway.  

            There were giant trees with golden light cascading down on the leaves. A path lie before me. Before us. I had momentarily forgotten that there were people by my side.

            "What is this?" I asked, and I could hear the awe in my voice.

            "Our home," Cecelia said simply.   

            "I love these trees!" I told them. I almost stepped through the door, but something held me back. Fear.

            Everything I knew was behind me, in my comfortable home. What was this world like? I had no idea. Where would this path take me? My curiosity roared inside me, something it rarely does. I felt like it was going to take over my body if I didn't step through the door myself.

            I looked over my shoulder at my kitchen, and then thought of my book lying on the table. How many times have I read about a different world and wished I was there? I  can't miss this opportunity.

            "I can come back, right?" I asked Cecelia.

            She laughed airily. "Do you think we're going to steal you away?"

            "Hopefully not," I replied with a hint of a smile. I was starting to like these people.

            Cecelia put a hand on my shoulder with motherly protection. It startled me at first,  how much I felt that small gesture. But when I settled into it, I made my decision.

            From the first foot step, I felt different. A tingle went up through my leg, and a playful wind tossed my hair around. The air was crisp and invigorating. I felt like I could run 1000 miles.

            The man offered me his arm, so I looped mine through his. Then Cecelia took my other hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

            It felt like everything had a life there. The trees smiled in their tree-like way, which I can't even describe. I just know they were smiling.

            A few minutes into the walk, I had to ask. "Why me?"

            "Why not you, dear?" Cecelia replied.

            "I--I'm ordinary. I read and take walks sometimes. I don't have any whimsical powers or anything."

            "Of course you do." Cecelia said.

            Then the man pointed out, "You shouldn't underestimate yourself."

            "You have an open mind, and that counts for a lot." Cecelia told me softly.

            An open mind? I don't think mine was as closed as a lot of people, but surely there were more people who they could've chosen.

            "Well, alright," I said, instead. I wasn't going to analyze every possible thing. A voice in my head told me to just enjoy the walk.

 

           

 

 

Author's Note

Obviously, I'm not finished with this. I don't really know where to go from here, or if I should just backtrack and change the point of this!! So your suggestions are welcome!