A True Luna

Moonlight

Evee woke up laying on soft moss, she gripped it in her hands as she tried to push herself up. She sat there taking in her surroundings: The place was dark but oddly lit at the same time from the full moon hanging low in the night sky. She seemed to be on a large moss-covered rock over hanging a pond a foot or two below. The water was nearly pitch black, with the moon and stars perfectly reflected in the still water. If the air hadn’t smelled of wet earth at first glance you might think the pond was just a massive mirror. She looked around more to see that about 10 ft away from the edges of the pond there was a thick tree line aside from a dark path leading into the woods just behind her. It was quiet, no animal sounds or crickets just a light rustle of the trees gently moving in the breeze. The calmness was a nice change, even if she had just woken up in a strange forest in clothes she doesn’t own. As she ran her hand over the simple fabric of the white dress a soft splash broke the tranquility. Across the now rippling pond she saw a woman sitting on a rock on the opposite shore maybe a bit more than fifty yards away. Next to the woman sat huge pearlescent white wolf slowly wagging its tail as the woman stroked its fur. The wolf shimmered in the moonlight, every color imaginable translucently glazed over its perfect white fur. The wolf’s head turned toward her and locked its deep scarlet eyes on her steely blue ones, they were such a dark red they were almost purple, she couldn’t look away. The woman smiled and lightly tossed another rock into the pond. Evee stood up and began walking forward straight off the rock unable to break the hold of the wolf’s gaze. She tried to call out to the woman but the words made no sound. As she was about to fall off the edge into the pond below everything turned black and cold.

The air was no longer peaceful and calm, her heart pounded inside her chest. She tried to run but though her legs moved she got nowhere, nor could she even feel the ground beneath her feet. She rubbed her eyes hard pleading with the darkness to let her out. When she opened them, she saw a bright white glow growing in front of her. From the glow the woman from the pond drifted toward her, she seemed stoic and troubled, much less carefree than she had seemed at the pond. She stood much taller than Evee, and very thin with porcelain white skin. She had waves of long dark black hair almost levitating around her reaching nearly to her knees. The white glow seemed to be coming from the woman herself. She parted her lips slightly and spoke, the sound projecting directly into Evee’s mind.

“Strange that you made it here, this was not the plan.” A small smile touched her lips, but her crystal blue eyes looked sad. Evee stared in confusion blinking repeatedly at a loss for what kind of dream this might be. She wanted to ask a hundred questions but she could not put them to words properly. “I know you have questions child, but I fear that any answer I could give would just worsen your situation.” The woman looked at Evee with pity and a flash of fear seemed to glint in her eyes for just a moment before she blinked it away. “You are not a child of the moon, but it would seem you are more than human if you were able to break into this realm and see me before you. It would have taken powers far beyond mine to bring you to this place.” The woman studied Evee for a long time, seemingly unable to make up her mind about something. Evee suddenly thought of the fire, the fighting… the girl! “Mam, I’m very sorry but I need to get back, there was a fire and this girl and we were surrounded by… I don’t know what, but she needs help, can you please help me get out of here?” The sadness faded from the woman’s eyes and they became light once more. “Lost in the dark between life and death, but your heart pulls you to help another.” Evee stared at her confused, had she not heard that people were hurt? She did not seem concerned or even like she noticed Evee’s urgency.

The woman put her hands out in front of her, opening her left, it gave off a soft green glow, it felt safe, all the panic from the fire and confusion fading away. “I propose a choice” The woman said with a sincere look. “This path will take you far away from the road you are headed down, back to the known, and I can make sure my world will never intrude upon yours again.” Evee leaned forward slightly; the green glow made all this seem like the dream it was. “Or” The woman said as she opened her other hand, a deep scarlet enveloped her palm. That same deep scarlet that held her gaze at the pond called out to her. “You can continue down the path of the unknown, seek out who you are and help bring balance to a world in turmoil.” Evee felt the pull of the green light, the safe feeling brushing the sides of her face. She glanced over at the scarlet glow for just a second and the safe feeling washed off her instantly, as if it were always a lie. She raised her hand, then paused;

What do I want? Safety and reassurance sound nice, but it feels fake. What did she mean seek out who I am?

The pull of the unknown put a hollow fear in her chest, but it was real. She thought about her new life, the people she had, her job, the girl she had tried to help, was it worth it to go back to? She looked up at the woman, “I want what’s real, even if its hard, I’ve dealt with too many lies, I want the truth and I want to make a difference, can either of these give me that?” The woman smiled, “Your decisions are your own, all I can say is that I am glad to have crossed paths with you.” Evee closed her eyes tight tilted her head down and grasped the woman’s hand. The scarlet glow enveloped everything in the darkness. She felt like she was being pulled down so forcefully that she fell onto her back just trying to stop herself from diving into the ground. The scarlet glow dissolved back to darkness, as she lay there a faint beeping sound chimed in the distance.