I heard her scream pierce through the roaring wind but the sound only lasted a matter of seconds, not long enough so that I could pursue it and find my dear sister. I stood in front of our house, looking in all directions for a clue that might tell me in which direction she’d gone and listening through the wind for any sound that might help, but all I could hear was the wind.
I had no idea which way to go, so I picked up my coat and ran in the general direction from whence the screaming of my sister had emanated. I could see the sun creeping into the horizon and from its position I knew that I had only a few hours left before it sank behind the nearby mountains. I needed to find her before sundown or I would have no other option than to retreat back to our home and resume the search the next morning.
Only once before had I been seized by darkness while outside of the house, and that was enough for me to learn my lesson. I had been playing outdoors as a small child and chose to go explore the woods, despite my mother’s warnings. I knew that I should listen, but I was too stubborn and curious, and I wanted to find out what was so dangerous about the woods. I was no fool, I knew that the sun rises on the East and sets on the west, so using this I knew which way I was going and how to get back, and just in case, I made sure to leave a mark on the trunk of every three trees with a knife my father had given me. As a precaution, I also cut down a branch every once in a while and planted it firmly into the ground, making sure that the previous branch was still visible from where I was standing. This way if I couldn’t find the small marking, I could search the ground for a branch sticking out in middle of the path, which was in the most part clear with the exception of a few fallen branches, pine needles, and patches of grass, which only grew where the ground was able to receive an adequate amount of sunlight.
I was rather young and my body was easily drained of energy, which unfortunately for me, forced me to seek repose in a small clearing which I found on a small hill. I had been walking for what must have been an hour if not more, and I thought I deserved a break, so I sat down at the edge of the forest and made of the lovely plush grass a bed in which to lie for a brief moment before heading back home. The sun had been high in the sky when I closed my eyes, and I wasn’t known to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time, which is why I was so surprised to find a dark canvas sprinkled with stars when I finally reopened my eyes. I was also surprised to find myself in middle of the clearing, when I was completely sure that I had chosen a spot directly ahead of the path, next to the forest, specifically selecting that spot because I knew if I strayed too far, it would make it more difficult to find my way back.
Out of instinct I began to walk forward in the direction I’d been facing when I woke up, recalling that my feet had been pointing towards the path. I was only planning on walking forward a few feet or yards to search for the markings on the trees or for the branches I’d been planting along the way, and if I couldn’t find them, I’d come back to the clearing and think of another way to get home.
I was a small child and even though I had been raised in the forest, I had always been rather sheltered and didn’t know how to get by without my parents. I’d never been out long enough to see the sunset and there had always been a steady supply of light in the cabin, at least until I was able to get to sleep, which was when my parents would turn out the lamp so I wasn’t used to the dark. Here, lost in the woods, I found it frightening-- I found it the most horrible of punishments, and was driven to terror by a world that had seemed so magical and interesting to me when the sun was out.
The sounds were foreign to me, the sights as well, and walking between the trees I felt myself pursued by the shadows of the trees, and although the moon was bright, its light was dreary and pale, bathing the forest with a feeble color which reminded me of the faded colors of a lifeless corpse. I had only seen one in my life, but even at my young age I knew it was a sight that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
