Uriel's Machine Part 6

 by Mitzi Danielson-Kaslik

forest spring water 

But that made no sense, for I already had my eyes closed. Then I realized perhaps I had to allow the idea that none of this could be real from my mind so my sleepy imagination could take over my senses. I delicately let go of the idea that this was no reality because it was my reality now and I did indeed see it all. At first, a view of twinkling lights swan into my vision and became to focus and for blobs. Then they became more delicate and I found myself inside a ring. I turned around to see that I was in a ring of young women with knee length waves of hair and sparkling bright eyes and sweeping dresses in a multitude of shades. I was captured inside their ring and my soul was captured inside their wonderful song and I was happy. I could stay here forever. They continued to sing and I soon found myself dancing in time with their magical melody until I felt myself become one with it. It was inside me. It became the song of my soul. All thought of fear or The Shadow Master disappeared with the notes from their lips and I was truly content. The girls danced and danced in their ring around me and soon I wanted nothing more than to join them in their dance. Their hair flicked and swayed as they moved and their gowns leaped as they did. Was this heaven? Had I died in the night?

And soon I found myself rising into the air. I was enchanted and spellbound by their magic and -. One girl reached her hand out to me with her gossamer wings shimmering in the light of the moon and suddenly I remembered. I was supposed to be defeating evil not joining girls in a dance of the night. The Wild Fairie Dance. This was The Wild Fairie Dance. I snatched myself away from the girl with her hand reached out and tried to scream and open my eyes but I could not. I was trapped. The ring around me grew smaller and smaller and soon I felt I could suffocate beneath them. Suddenly, a tiny ray of a different kind of luminescence fell across the floor. It was warm and comforting, a stark comparison to the cold unfeeling light of the crescent moon. As the light fell on the fairies, they vanished. The ring disappeared and I found myself on my knees in the clearing. The ring was gone. Had I imagined it? The ray remained on the floor, so I couldn’t have imagined it all. Following the ray up, I found it was the sun. It was dawn. I was safe. Yet I was so unhappy. My soul was left empty and I sobbed that the ring was gone. It was cold within me now the music was gone. Picking up the book I opened it to the page I was on and I saw Gillidore. Alone. In the hollow tree. Searching for me. I had to get back to him for he would be worried. I stood up and grabbed all my things and trotted back towards the tree to find him at the entrance with a beaming smile to see me. “Where was thee?” he shouted rather angrily.
“I couldn’t sleep so I took a walk” I lied. I did not wish to tell him I had been stupid enough to fall for The Wild Fairie Dance.

We had slept for a little while longer until the warm morning light was fully upon us and the horizon glistened and twlinked ahead of us. As we continued along the path at the direction of the compass, we began to hear a strange sound which seemed to echo through our minds and slither into the darkest passages of our memories.  The sound came and went, and unable to discern what it was, we both pushed it from our minds. Gillidore said little to me as we walked and I suspected he was angry with me for not listening to him the previous evening and sneaking off anyway. As he stopped to shake a multicolored butterfly from the bridge of his nose, I whispered “I’m sorry Gillidore, I know I should’ve listened to you” and he nodded, gently tilting his head as he did when he drank. I felt I was forgiven. We continued at a slightly greater speed with a few more words exchanged. As we walked further and further, the forest began to change. What had started as green mossy tree trunks and great thick canopies of waxy emerald leaves soon turned into a much darker terrain with the trees growing closer together and becoming more gnarled and twisted in their desperate search for subtenants. Tiny streams ran between the trees but made no sound and soon all bird song had died out.