Aurora Borealis

Prologue

The only thing I wanted to know was how to bring my mother back to life. If you found out a way to bring back anyone you loved, you would be exactly where I was, climbing a mountain. You would feel dirty, sweaty, and dehydrated despite drinking water not even ten minutes ago. It feels pitiful, but you would do it. You would be exactly where I was.

I came to a stop when I saw the ground fade into a paved cement sidewalk, my heart had skipped a beat. I was almost there. I had started to walk faster, the pain in my legs and the ache in my back dissipating. They had been right, there was a place hidden at the top of the mountain. No wonder people weren't crazy enough to risk it, it took you to hell and back. But, at the time, I had felt like there was nothing to lose. I believed in the saying that from the bottom you can only go up. I just didn't think it would be so literal as I lugged my body to the top and found a dome situated perfectly at the peak.

I had to squint at first, the night making it harder to process the gravity of the situation. This was it. This was the single place I could bring my world together again. To say I was hopeful would be a understatement, it was this or giving up entirely and giving up would not be an option at this point. I moved forward swiftly, looking down as I saw the dome was built on a jutted piece of land over a cliff. Before, I would be frightened by the idea of being on such a height, but I felt no fear. All I felt was continuing forward as I had opened the doors.

The two wooden doors had opened easier than I thought they would. They looked like they belonged to a castle than this observatory. I walked in quietly, not sure what to expect as the spotless white tiles on the floor blinded me. Outside, the building looked so dirty and abandoned. Inside it felt like I had walked into a mansion. I had closed the doors slowly behind me, flinching as they locked. Which made me wonder why they were locked in the first place. I turned back around and tightened my hold on my backpack straps. "Hello?" I said, but my voice didn't resound much. It was like I hadn't said anything at all.

I walked inside more, my eyes falling onto white pillars next to beautiful vases with golden touches. No way this was an observatory, I had thought until I walked under the dome. When I looked up, I saw a mural. This mural looked like the night sky, with stars brushing the darkness away. Yet, the dark sky was interrupted by burst of colors swirling around. The yellow color formed faces while the red colors hugged these yellow bursts. They flowed together until their colors changed like a mood ring circling round and round until the center revealed the real sky. As I stared at it more, my breath was taken away. It started to move before me, peeling itself from the ceiling and dipping towards me. I blinked a bit, unsure if what I was seeing was real. But the colors were indeed coming closer. My hand started to move seemingly on its own. I wanted to feel it.

There was a gasp. The colors disappeared and my head turned to the noise in fear. A young girl watched me from a room to the side, her hands over her hands over her mouth. Immediately I started blabbering, "hi! I'm here to ask for some..." she ran away as soon as I started speaking. She had ran to the side of the room and I planned on following until I heard a door slam open. I halted walking, instead I had walked backward wearily. "Hello?"

A old woman appeared from the room, a shotgun in hand. Immediately, my heart jumped to my throat and I quickly walked backwards more. She cocked the gun and walked towards me the barrel aimed right at my heart. "Scram or I'll shoot you right where you're standing, boy."

"Wait, wait, wait!" I waved my hands and held them up in surrender. "I'm sorry for entering unannounced! I only came here looking for Spirit Dancers!" I frantically said, my eyes not daring to move from the gun.

"Don't they always. I demand you leave."

A part of me wanted to run. But, the louder part of myself knew not to back down after scaling a mountain all this time. "I didn't come to hurt you, or expose you, or any of that! The only thing I want is to get my mother back." I said slowly, lowering my hands as I looked to the old woman's eyes.