Beyond The Veil - Volume 1

Unknown Circumstance

For about 2 hours now we have been fishing, looking for more rocks and I did some reading about halfway through. I couldn't help the habit but made sure I didn't stay glued to my book for too long. There was way too much to see. I am trying my best to remember all the different types of fish we have seen as I don’t know all the names still and apparently there are hundreds of them, so I make a mental note to research them when we get home.

Fast forward about another hour and at this point, I had been sitting on a rock nearby with a stick drawing in light strokes what I couldn’t stop thinking of: the fox, for what felt like forever. Its deep colored eyes and cute pointy ears staring at me in the face and I wanted proof, but I knew it would be difficult to get. I had never seen one before, and the more I thought back to it, I swear it looked as if it was glowing? It was most likely the suns reflection but either way, I was hoping I would see it at least once more…

I know if I were to tell the kids back home they would never believe me. But who cares, I know what i saw.

As if someone heard my thoughts on the matter, I looked up and sure enough, huddled behind a tree looking scared but curious, was the little fox I saw earlier. I was seconds away from freaking out but quickly reminded myself that if I did, most likely it would run. I turned to look at my parents and my brother all in their own world and decided it would be best not to disturb them.

It peeked around the corner of the tree it was behind a few more times. It seemed unsure but it also wasn't leaving, which I thanked the universe for giving me this chance. I quickly tried to reach for my camera and I turned back around to see the fox had moved clear into the middle of the pathway and was just staring at me. Its paws facing forward and it tilted its head to the side as it still stared at me, like it was trying to see if I was okay or not.

“Hi little one, it’s okay” I said as I leaned down closer. I could see the coat was a beautiful orange color mixed with gold flecks occasionally shining from the sun peeking through the trees and white on the end of its tail. The fact it let me get close at all was amazing, and just as I put my hand out for it to chose whether it wanted to sniff me or run my mom called out to me,

“Kitara, you okay?”

“Yes! Just looking for more species here.” I said while trying my best to sound nonchalant and not fan girl over the fact that something I wished for had come true. And I peeked over my shoulder to see if they were coming and they never moved an inch. When I turned back to look at the fox, I noticed it had moved again but this time it was leaving. I held my breath and didn’t know what to say, because how do you ask an animal not to leave? How would you talk to them at all?

"Come on Kitara, get ahold of youself." I whispered to myself.

It looked back at me again and kept going and something inside told me that if i didn't follow it, I would never get another chance, so I started walking next to it. We started weaving through the trees and came upon a beautiful spring that looked straight out of a fairytale.

Thinking back I am surprised it did not run away when my mom yelled out for me and I yelled back, but I had this weird feeling that it could handle a lot more than we all thought of their species and again, I got that feeling that I was right where i needed to be. I looked down at the fox again as we were walking and weaving through the trees, fascinated by how elegant and majestic it looked.

We walked for a few more minutes and eventually it ran in front of me into a nearby bush and seemed like it was looking for something.

“What’s going on little one? What are you looking for?” I said confused at its behavior and then I wondered what was wrong with me, trying to talk to a fox thinking it could understand me, again. It reappeared but had something in its mouth that caught my eye as it gleamed.

As it began trotting closer to me, I asked, “What do you got there?” and just in front of my feet it dropped a rock, or more like an oval shaped with a design of a crescent moon on it and I lean down to pick it up and despite its rigid look it was soft to the touch. I run my finger over its hard exterior wondering what it means and I made another mental note to make sure to research what it was when I get home. I notice there is an engraving but it’s not English, it’s in another language that I feel like I have seen before in a book, Latin or Spanish maybe?

The writing was done in gold and shimmered beautifully, and I looked at the fox who again was just sitting there staring. A lot of staring, like it was trying to figure me out… but that’s crazy right? I looked again at the stone and tried my best to make out what it said, “It-er num-qu-am fin-itur”. I know I probably sound silly, but what the heck does that even mean?

I started to hear something, wind? Suddenly, the forest started spinning, leaves and branches started flying around me like whips, one hitting me in the face making me wince. Chaos erupted all around me with a force I never knew was possible. I heard a baby howl and looked up to see the fox staring at me terrified. I tried to yell and scream but everything was so loud, I don’t know if anyone could hear me. I tried to run but the force of the wind made me fly back so hard I hit my head and then everything went dark.