Secret of the Wisps

Chapter 1

Melinda stared in wonder at the strange bright white wisps that floated through the dark trees. They twirled and swooped in slow motion, their movement ever so deliberate. The light was in the base of the wisp, pulsing slowly up the translucent strands that curled into a protective case for the middle. She reached out to touch one that was nearby, and it shrank away from her touch as if frightened. Another neared her outstretched fingers, beginning to change from the pure white to a bright red. One by one the others cast the same glow, bathing the trees with the eerie light. And then, they vanished, leaving her in the darkness of the moonlight.

"Melinda!" She faintly heard the yell of her grandmother from the house. The woods were only a mere few steps away from the safety of the lanterns' light. Melinda tried to glimpse another sight of the small wisps, but the darkness allowed nothing to show. As her grandfather called out for her as well, she turned away from the forest and walked out of the trees.

"Mindy, there you are," Her grandfather Jake said slowly as he saw her break out of the trees. "Almost thought the darkness had you swallowed up." Jake shifted in his porch chair, the old dark wood creaking as if acting as his bones. It was a wonder the chair didn't just give in, and it was the same with Jake. He was an old man in his eighties with a tired walk and slow talk, but too stubborn to give into anything. It was what let him survive while living next door to the forest.

"Hi Grandpa," Melinda replied with a smile, keeping a steady walk until she got to the lanterns light. They had electricity, but Jake wouldn't let go of being outside with the lanterns, and she found it to be comforting as well. The soft flickering glow of the candle was mesmerizing to watch, and the lanterns were dark and handcrafted by her grandfather himself. They stubbornly held together to light up the porch every night.

"What were you doing out there this time? Finding rabbits that talk and other nonsense?" Jake asked with one of his strange guesses. Melinda did a small laugh as she began to walk into the house through the dark wood door, and shook her head. He laughed, finding himself amusing. "Beavers that fly will be the day," He murmured as he looked out to the yard.

Melinda rolled her eyes at his odd humour, entering the house and shutting the door with a fierce push. The only way to close it properly was to slam it since it didn't fit very well into the frame. Grandmother Janette was fond of it, but Jake kicked it every chance he had. He said the door hated him.

"What were you doing in the forest, Mindy?" Grandmother questioned her as soon as the door accepted the hard push. Her grandmother was tidying up the kitchen with her blue woven cloth, running it over each dirty surface. She stopped to look at Melinda with an expectant expression.

"I saw the wisps again," Melinda answered, coming over to pick up the broom from the corner of the kitchen. She began to sweep the floor, quickly gathering a pile of dust and dirt from the floor. "I almost touched one too," She added quietly, knowing what her grandmother would say. Unlike Jake, Janette loved the stories that surrounded the forest, and paid a lot of attention to them.

Janette went back to cleaning the counters, and wiping down the wooden cabinets. "You almost touched one? Mindy, you know how dangerous that is," She told her. Her hearing was as sharp as ever, but luckily her tongue was not. "What colour were they?"

"They were white, but they all turned red when I almost touched one," Melinda explained, sweeping the pile towards the door. She tugged open the door, doing one last sweep to bring it all outside. "What do you think it means?" She asked, slamming the door closed with a resounding thud of wood on wood.

"The wisps turned green for your Aunt Laura," Her grandmother mused thoughtfully, placing her cloth gently on the edge of the sink. "And now look at her go in the garden. I'm certain there is something magical going on there," She said briskly, hurrying over to the table to inspect her flowers. "This plant was dying, and then Aunt Laura goes and does her gardening work."