In Form

Encounter

It was in the car that I really realized all the green. The nature was beautiful! I couldn't believe my eyes, all the evergreens, maple, cotton trees, black berry, huckleberry, salmon berry bushes. Lots of black berry. Watching discovery and the history channel really payed off in the city after school. I looked up Concrete WA on my laptop last night and read about its history. Its first name came from a Native American name, Mini Ha-ha, then was named Cement City, for its cement factory, then finally was named Concrete, after Baker and Cement city joined their small towns. The wild life there was very abundant, lots of elk and deer, sightings of bear, a wolf or two. Grouse, rabbits, eagles, ducks, and coyotes.
    "When we get settled, can I get a pet, say... a dog?" I asked my mom.
     "Uh, that's a little...sudden... and soon. Don't you think?" she replied.
     "A friend around the house? He could be small, or she can be small?" I said.
    "I'll think about it..." she said with a caring smile.
    We were in the car for what seemed to be an eternity. We were on the part of highway that had thick evergreens on either side, and it was getting dark. So much so that all there was, was the light of the head lights, and whatever I could make out outside. The song Sail was playing on the radio in our little Honda. My mom and I sang with the song like rock stars hitting every note... badly.
    It began to rain. The water ran down the car as if it were crying.
    The headlights caught something brown and wet, I could make out a female elk crossing the road in a panic a ways head of us.
    "Oh, look Amber, it's an elk!" as she followed the animal with her finger. My mother's eyes were locked on the elk that passed ahead of us and continuing to other lane, she didn't break or swerve in anyway in caution. It could jump back into the cars way on a whim.
    "Mom slow down-"
    In a split second I saw something big move to cross in front us. There was a loud crunch of metal and a squeal of tires, and my body was yanked against the seat belt then back again, my head following loosely behind then hitting the ceiling. I could only gasp as I tried to brace myself against the sides of the car within the terrible seconds. Then the car stopped and settled on its side, the metal around me popping and clicking. After another minute I could hear a hissing sound from somewhere in the car and noticed the door ajar bell going off.
When my vision focused and I angled my hair out of my face, I could see outside the windshield that we were in a the ditch on the side of the road. A pain in my hip began to make itself known as I was hanging sideways in my seatbelt from the now highest point in the car. To see what felt sore on my head, I pulled down the little mirror in front of me to see my head was bleeding just above my hairline.
    I look to my mom who appeared to be passed out. "Mom?" I call to her. She doesn't wake up and I hold still and wait until I see her breath. When she takes a breath I sigh in relief and relax as best I can against the belt that's digging into my side.
Holding myself up barely with the grip above my door, I search for my phone. Patting my pockets I don't find it, and I begin scanning the littered floor and now bottom of the car for it.
There was a thud outside the car as something jumped into the ditch in front of us. The windshield was badly damaged from the impact, so I could just see a form of what looked like a person. They stood there for a moment before going out the other side of the ditch and into the road.
"Hey-" I clear my throat. "Help, please!" My throat feels scratchy and dry, I don't remember screaming, but my sharp inhale might've been too sharp.
Something overlaps my cry for help, and at first it sounds like an engine of another car or truck, but as it makes the sound again it sounds like an animal. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end when I hear the gurgled sound of something in the street. My immediate thought is that we got another elk crossing the road. It shrieks and I wince at the sudden noise, my mom stirring in her seat. My skin tingles and feel an itching to do something, like an adrenaline rush.
I hear another sound, a voice, someone talking in a harsh tone outside.
Wanting to catch this persons attention so bad, I brace myself with my feet against the dash and the center bump, holding onto the grip above my door, I unbuckle. Thankfully I don't fall into my unconscious mother. I place my free hand onto the door to try and get it open. The adrenaline feel still giving me pins and needles all over.
There's a warping sound and the door pops open without me having to grab the door handle. Before it can come back down on me, I catch and steady it so I can awkwardly climb out. I have one hand holding the door open, and my other arm holding me up outside the car on my forearm, my body comes halfway out when I look up towards the road.
"Hey-" I stop and take in what I'm seeing very carefully, because it couldn't be real. Lying in the road is a large ... dragon. It's a dragon. There's no other way to describe what I'm seeing but, dragon.
I close my eyes tight and shake my head.
It's still there. Wings, tail, scaly, long neck, fictional, mythical, dragon.
Another moment and I realize there's someone, a person, standing next to it, talking to it. A young woman with dirty blonde hair sounds like she's scolding this very large fictional creature.
The dragon groans and smoke starts to trail around it. Inky black smoke trails around it like food coloring into water, covering its entire body, then the smoke mass grows smaller until it dissipates, revealing another young woman with brown hair where the dragon once was.
I squint then widen my eyes to try and adjust to what I just saw, blinking several times. I must've hit my head hard. The more I think about though, even after the illusion was gone, the more it seemed real in a way. It was right there, after all, in front of me. I could feel it's presence, and the feeling of being small, like standing next to an elephant at the zoo.
The blonde one takes initiative once the smoke has cleared and drags the brunette over to the shoulder, while the one being dragged protests, closer to our car. The brunette eventually shoos her off and holds her left arm in pain, wincing and gritting her teeth.
Despite what I might've just seen, I wriggle out of the car door a little more, still holding it up. "Hey," they both look up at me quickly. "Could you call an ambulance? My mom is passed out."
They look at each other, then back at me, looking surprised and little worried. The blonde one hesitates to speak. She looks down towards the windshield then back up at me. "Are you two okay?"
I glance down at my mom. "I feel okay, but my mom is passed out. I can't find my phone, could you call an ambulance?" I glance down at the brunette still sitting on the ground. There was blood around her hand that was holding her arm. "Are you okay?" I asked her.
She looked back up at me as if she just remembered I was there, she shrugged and nodded. "Yeah." She said quietly, seemingly oblivious to the blood on her arm.
The blonde pats her pockets. "I don't have it on me." She looks up and down the empty dark road. "Let's just say you hit the elk instead and we're cool, you guys have insurance right?"
    I thought we did hit an elk, did we not hit an elk? I look back towards the street, but I don't see one lying dead anywhere. I look back towards them, confused. "Instead?" Is all I get out, while readjusting my arm that's still holding up the car door. I try to prop it up awkwardly so that it locks, but gravity seems to be against me.
    "Yeah," The blonde cocks her head, looking at me like I didn't get a joke. "Instead of..." her hand goes to gesture to her injured friend on the ground, but halfway through the motion she pauses briefly before putting her hands in her pockets. "...of a different elk. One that was protected by the county."
    I nod slowly, still confused about the situation.
    The brunette looks up and down the empty road, then gets up, gritting her teeth in pain. Holding her bloodied arm, she stares almost motionless into the trees across the road, only her eyes barely scanning each one.
    "Could you go tell someone that we're here, I don't think I can get out." I say, still holding the car door open.
    The brown haired one continues to stare off into the woods, but the blonde looks up at me and takes her time thinking it over. The brunette moves her head slightly as if the blonde had just said something to her, she then looks at me, then back at the trees. The blonde then speaks up. "You saw a dragon just now didn't you?"
I shake my head a blink rapidly in response, how did she know what I hallucinated? My instinct was to disregard it. "What? No." I lied terribly, still confused. "Wait what?"
She grins and places her hands on her hips. Turning to her friend they begin to converse in a language I couldn't place, maybe German? They would look at me knowing during their conversation, and the brunette now seemed to be on board with what the blonde was saying, and after taking a last look at me, she hobbles off across the street.
    The blonde nods to me, extending her hand like she's offering me a candy. "Hey, I'm magic." I jump when her hand burst into flame. Her fingers twirled and the orange flames followed suit, dancing around her hand without a single wince or singe on her end.
    Her hand looked as though it was actually on fire, could swear I can feel the heat from it, and see it's light bouncing off of her face and the foliage around it. If my mind was playing tricks on me, why was she playing into it?
    She waved her hands together, then apart to creat a rod of flame, moving her right hand back then through the rod, she created an arrow. As she pulled back with the flaming arrow, the rod became a fiery bow, pointing directly at me. The light from the flames illuminated the surrounding area, her gripping the living fire did not seem to bother her.
    My eyes were wide and my mouth went dry, as I had no words for what just happened. I remember gasping as the flames turned into a bow and arrow shape, but my mind could not register what I was seeing enough to use words. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again.
    Nope, she's still there, and she's still on fire.
   

    My mother awoke from the sudden noise, and looked confused, then worried.
    "What...? What, wait..." she said looking around confused. "Oh my gosh! How could I be so stupid!" she said worriedly. Then focused on me. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Oh your pour head..." she said examining my forehead.
    "It's not your fault..." I said trying to calm her down.
    "Who did I hit? Did you see?" she asked. Then started out of the car.
    "Wait!" I said trying to stop her she could have had internal bleeding or something, walking on a broken leg or worse. But once she got out of the car, she didn't look like she was hurt in any way.
    I went out my side, and followed my mother to the side of road. She was paying attention to something on the side of the road, a dead female elk. I quickly turned to find the middle of the road clear of people.
     "Oh no... I hit the elk..." my mom said. Disappointment in her voice.
     I examined the body from a distance. I know we didn't hit the elk, because it stopped on the side of the road, and I saw what we hit, and it wasn't the elk. The elk had very strange wounds. On its shoulder it looked like an alligator bit it, a very large alligator. An alligator with very large jaws and thick teeth.
     There were shards of glass from our car in the elk as well. But It looked like the glass was stabbed into it, like a forged signature, it was made up. I know we didn't hit that elk, the elk was on the side of the road the whole time. I bet a million bucks that those two girls made it look like it was the elk that got hit.
     I inspected the elk more. If the elk was still alive when we hit the thing, then how did they kill it? The alligator like bite mark on its withers was very strange. I ran towards the woods trying to see anything else that would make sense to this. I ran the way the girls did.
      I was a few yards into the woods when I felt a strange presence. I looked around cautiously. Suddenly I saw an orange light, getting closer, and closer. It was an arrow with a flaming arrow head, heading straight for me. I shielded my face, when I realized, the arrow had hit the tree behind me. I couldn't see who shot it, but I had a pretty good idea who it was. The arrow head had stopped flaming. An echo started in my head suddenly, a voice came, and it didn't sound familiar.
     "I gave you a warning..." a female voice began. "I even counted to five for you... you saw nothing... and you will say nothing." The voice said. Then the sounds in my head ceased.
     "Amber?" my mother yelled from a distance.
    I didn't move though, I fixated on the arrow. I heard a noise in the brush ahead of me. It was very familiar, a low growl. Like a lion about to pounce, or a wolves growl times ten. The same growl from the woods at the sheep farm. I ran back to the highway. As I turned I saw that the arrow was gone from the tree.
    "Where did you go?" She asked worried.
    "I went into the woods to..." I started.
   A car came down the road and slowed to a stop on the side of the road. The person inside the car got out and accompanied my mom. My mom didn't seem to be listening to me anyway. "I'll call the police, my phone didn't get damaged in the wreck, thank goodness." She put her phone to her ear as it rang. "I'm surprised that the cars still on in its condition. Do you know how that happened?" she asked me. Then I was itturupted again and she began to talk to the police on the phone.
    I wondered, how did the car start? I remember the hurt girl, standing behind the car, with her hand up facing the car when it mysteriously turned on. Could she have turned it on? How? The same growling in the woods as well, this had to connect somehow.
     I felt like a detective putting all these clues together sitting in the waiting room of the doctors office. The police inssited that we go there, considered our condisions. I was fine, they were checking on my mom, while I had a hand mirror in front of my face looking at the scratch on my forehead. It healed faster than expected. The doctors even thought that the scratch was from the day before.
    My mom came out of a door and down the hallway.
    "What did they say?" I said standing up. "Can we go now?" I was really anxious to go, and tell her about the two girls I saw.
    My mother took in a deep breath. "Well, they said I may have a minor concusion, but there's nothing to worry about."
     As we walked out the doors to our car I had my chance to tell her.
     "Mom, I have to tell you something... When the car crashed, I got out because I thought I saw something-"
     My mom looked at me skeptically. "I didn't know you got out?"
     I tried to get over the fact that she interupted me. "Ya- anyway, when I got out there were two girls there. One was hurt."
     "No- I hit the elk, you saw it too. Maybe you got a concusion too." she said, sure of herself.
     As we got into the car I wanted to argue about what I thought, yet... I didn't want to lose the arguement. So I just mumbled to myself.
     "I know what I saw..." I breathed into the window.