In the Woods by Anna Anykieenko

Emily was in the woods,

it would be great to know how she ended up here, however, even she doesn’t know.

She had no feelings, no thoughts at that moment, only emptiness was following her through the darkness of the blue trees. Hour through hour, she was wondering around, only sensing the wetness and coldness of the dirt mixed with grass. Pale night color blinded the atmosphere, Emily searched for something she didn’t know. 

Why did she come here?

Night was cruel but friendly at the same time, the deepness of its horror and calmness brought the feeling of the girding hands. The Moon was leaning blue and white path, sometimes they were gone, as trees were hiding it as it’s their only treasure, but in other second they generously shared the trampled tracking.

Emily was like a ghost which is trying to escape from earthly problems, but could not leave its unfinished business after his death.  Blue and white shades started to mix with yellow lights.

“That is something”- Emily said to herself in exhausted voice.

She threw her body towards beige flickers and her heels softly landed on the cold sand which covered her feet in a delicate and sharply way. 

“More colors - more truth.. But what truth should I know? “- the young woman thought to herself.

Her road was long or maybe not. She could not tell the time, but she didn’t feel the fatigue. Her thought were interrupted by the voices. Those voices were loud and came up from nowhere, Emily went to investigate them.

Each step she had done towards those speeches- she heard them louder and louder. That was some kind of… argument? 

The young woman saw the faintly-green fireflies hiding in the black grass. Those bugs looked like a spilled glitter, that was mapping the path towards the strangers speech.  By each step- Emily could recognize those voices better, until the moment she saw them. This noisy place was a pale clearing with three creatures by the campfire. This patch of forest was bright and empty of trees — it resembled an oasis in a World of Darkness. There was a feeling that this place was wandering, and at times did not stay in one spot; it seemed to drift through mountains and bushes, to paddle through burrows and pits. The sharp light stung Emily’s eyes — she had been wandering through darkness for who knows how long. But the warm orange campfire helped steady her vision a little.

When the girl's eyes adjusted to the change in scenery and the blur lifted, she was finally able to make out the strange figures sitting and arguing. This noisy place was a pale clearing with three creatures by the fire. This patch of forest was bright and empty of trees-it resembled an oasis in a World of Darkness. There was a feeling that this place was wandering, and at times did not stay in one spot; it seemed to drift through mountains and bushes, to paddle through burrows and pits.The sharp light stung Emily’s eyes- she had been wandering through darkness for who knows how long.

But the warm orange campfire helped steady her vision a little. When the girl's eyes adjusted to the change in scenery and the blur lifted, she was finally able to make out the strange figures sitting and arguing. The first figure sitting there — it wasn't human. It was the silhouette of some kind of creature, moving quickly and jerkily, as if it were a digital glitch. It was trembling with fear, yet it forced a smile onto its face. Emily looked at it and reached out her hand in greeting. The figure lifted its gaze toward her and said cheerfully:

"Hello, Emily, we've been waiting for you for so long! Honestly, I don’t even know how long anymore, but... does it really matter?"

The figure smiled, its eyes were tired.

"And what's your name? How do you know mine?" Emily asked in surprise, though she wasn’t frightened.

"Oh, sorry! I’ve been preparing for this meeting for so long that I forgot what I was supposed to say.

My name is Nerve. I’m responsible for keeping order here, making sure no one argues or wanders off.

As for your name — we've known you your whole life. Just like you've known us. You just forgot..."

"Hey, hey! You forgot to mention me!"

"And me too, introduce me first- I’m the older one!"

Emily turned her gaze and saw a skeleton.

This skeleton had two heads, constantly staring at each other and shouting. Its bones reflected the yellow glow of the fire, though even that couldn't hide their worn, gray appearance.

“Wow, how should I address you?”

The skeletons started speaking in unison, but it was impossible to understand them. They were constantly arguing about whose head was bigger, whose hand was less cracked, why they were more right, and whose voice was nicer...Their argument was an endless cycle of conversation that, if you tried to follow it, would only give you a headache. 

Nerve decided to make things easier for the traveler and explained:

“Sorry about them, they’re always like this. Look, the head on the right is Thought, and the one on the left is Action.

You can see that Thought always talks more, and Action keeps hitting his brother whenever he doesn’t like something — that’s how you can tell them apart.”

“Interesting...” Emily squinted her eyes and fell silent for a moment.

“And who is that?” — the girl slowly pointed her finger at the third member of the gathered meeting.

“That’s the Soul,” Nerve answered briefly.

“Can I talk to him?” Emily asked quietly.

“Try, but he won’t say anything to you,” Nerve looked at the girl helplessly and then started calming the noisy brothers down.

Emily slowly approached the Soul, a shiver running down her spine.

The creature was a small ball of blue light that carried a subtle, subconscious threat, yet at the same time felt as familiar as a beloved childhood toy.

“Hello, can you hear me?” Emily said with a voice both joyful and cautious.

The Soul responded only with a quiet, blue flicker.

“Better not touch it, it will talk to you later,”

As soon as Emily turned away, she saw a bright blue light dazzling her back, casting a shadowy imprint on the ground.

Emily turned back to the Soul, and it had grown three times larger.

The stump it had been sitting on became tiny and barely held its weight.All the noise around- the skeleton brothers’ arguing and Nerve’s hissing- fell silent.

Everyone watched as the glowing color of the Soul expanded across the clearing.

With every second, the ball of ocean-blue grew larger, enveloping the creatures present with its presence.

In just a few seconds, the blue light immersed everyone who was there, and Emily stood with her head raised, mouth slightly open.

She felt calmness…

Everything that had been dark around now turned light blue and bright.

A calm warmth settled in Emily’s heart.

The Soul grew to the size of the entire boundless forest and seemed to keep growing.

Emily felt as if waves were embracing her.

She had no more questions- now she saw the whole truth.