Everglow: Friend From Far Away

19 - River Of Lights

"Ko."

"Wake up Ko."

"Ko, wake up."

Without hesitation, her eyes snapped open at the sound of the command. She sat up in a flurry of panic and screaming, expecting to be met with the demonic voice and a flash of static.

"Hey hey hey! Ko it's alright! It's just me!"

She looked around the shed, her eyes filled with dread and fear. But instead of being bombarded by different images in her head, she was still in the shed and laying on her mattress, Fischer holding her shoulder and staring right at her, worry written all over his face.

"I. . . I thought you. . . I. . . thought it was another one of those. . . things. . . sorry," she panted, her breathing stuttered and heavy.

"Well, no, not this time. I've got something to show you," he said, pointing at the door. Ko looked around again, noticing that it was still very dark outside. The light of the shed was on, but the windows were filled with the empty blackness of the night.

"Wait. . . what time is it? Shouldn't you be at work?" she asked groggily, rubbing both her heavy eyes wearily.

"Uh, it's almost eleven o'clock. And no, I've got tonight off. Sorry for waking you, but I think you'll really enjoy this. Call it. . . call it a gift for helping me out last night," he eagerly stated, standing back up straight.

Ko looked up at him with her azure eyes. She blinked innocently, like a child would at it's parent.

"You don't need to thank me, but ok. What do you want to show me?"

A smile spread across his face as she asked. "C'mon, I'll show you."

---\/---

"Where are we going exactly?" Ko asked, ducking under what seemed like the millionth tree branch that tried to clothesline her.

"You'll see. It's not far from here. Trust me, it'll be worth the walk," Fischer responded back, weaving and bobbing through the trees and shrubbery. He knew this area a lot better than his alien friend, and so it was a lot easier for him to slither through the forest. Looking back to see how she was doing, he noticed a severe lack of energy in her.

"You alright?" he questioned, slowing down to let her catch up.

"Yea. . . just not used to being woken up in the middle of the night and told to walk through a forest. . . not even Detritha did that," she huffed, her steps less than graceful. If Fischer was like a deer moving through the wall of plants, Ko was more akin to a bull.

"Yea sorry about that, it won't happen again. But this is the only chance I'll get to show you this,"

A slight breeze wafted through the forest, chilling the already freezing air to what felt like absolute zero. The trees swayed gently in the breeze, casting all sorts of eerie shadows around them.

Eventually, the two of them approached the edge of the forest, the tree line halting a few meters before a brick road, wooden pylons marking the edge of the grass.

"Hold up, we won't go any further," he stated, holding his arm out to halt Ko just before they broke through the tree line. However, she didn't respond. Instead she was stuck in place, her jaw drooping slightly, her eyes wide open in awe of the scene in front of her.

The brick road curved into a straight line that ran parallel to where they faced. On either side of it were rows of houses, each one engulfed in different coloured flashing lights, signs, stars and all sorts of magical Christmas decorations. The road stretched on for about five hundred meters, each and every house on it shining proudly as hundreds of people walked about, enjoying the scene in front of them.