First, Will noticed the grass. It was hard to tell in the dark, and it wasn’t so very different than what he’d come accustomed to back home, but there were some slight oddities. It looked weary and old, maybe even dying. It reminded him of long locks of hay before they were cut down and bound into those giant round mounds. At the top of nearly every long stem was a bundle of grey-white knobs. Maybe the grass was ready to fall away and spread seeds throughout the long and open field. Kinda weird. Did that happen in the beginning of spring?

The next difference was far more startling. Once he’d gotten a bit bored of the grass, his eyes wandered up to see if he recognized any of the stars. Will didn’t know any constellations or anything so he started to give up the idea when he thought of the moon. There had been a full moon at home. Where was it now? He searched for several minutes and was again about to give up when his eyes settled on a particular dark circle. It was so dark, in fact, that it was blacker than than the rest of the night sky. Like an ink stain spilled across a dark piece of paper.

“Where’s the moon?” Will tried to sound casual.

Ezra didn’t answer but pointed upward to the very same spot where Will’s eyes were glued. Will decided to be bold.

“Why’s it black?” he said.

“Because moons are black,” Bet said. “Everyone knows that.”

“Not all of them.”

“Yeah they are.”

“Sometimes they’re white,” Will said.

“If they were white,” Ezra said, “how would anyone see them in the day?”

“Well, you still can.”

“Listen, that’s the moon. It’s black. It’s always been black. Arguing about it doesn’t keep it from being black.”

The crazy, confused look in Will’s eyes seemed to concern Bet, and she gave him a few extra feet of distance as she walked.

After this revelation, Will engaged all his senses. He noticed the temperature was cooler than what he was used too, and there was a faint smell in the air, almost like some exotic spice or something. He found himself taking long deep breaths in an attempt to get more of it into his nose. It seemed barely there.

Finally, as the night began to break and the sun stretched  into view, the grass gave way to trees. They were only small shrubs at first, and Will didn’t notice anything particularly odd about them, but eventually—as they got further in and the trees grew larger—he was again perplexed. Nearly every large twisting tree was covered in moss. So much so that it was hardly brown at all. This moss wasn’t green like he was used to, but instead vivid colors of blue, purple and pink, and it gave a sharp contrast to the leaves that still hung faintly in hues of gold, red and orange. It all reminded Will far more of Fall.

Once the landscape was sufficiently wooded, the forest came alive with the sounds of rising animals. For the most part, everything was what you’d expect, birds, and occasional rustling in the leaves, but more and more frequently, Will began to hear something in the distance. It started soft and infrequent, but eventually grew louder and louder. Something was howling. Will wondered if they should be alarmed, and he waited for the next long and slow call. When it happened he quickly shot his eyes toward Bet, he figured she would show her emotions a bit clearer than Ezra.

Are Bet and Ezra worried about the howling?

No

Yes

This Poll is Closed