Amber Skies

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. But there always should have been...

The stranger’s words felt like a throbbing wound, like an invader of my mind’s free space. As I walked through the fairgrounds, my fingers fiddled with the stone that weighed down my pocket. The sound of children’s laughter and carnival music filled the evening air. My hands trembled at my side, a knot filled my throat. As I bobbed between clusters of people, a hand grabbed my forearm.

I turned to meet Ellie’s large, blue eyes as she said, “Geesh, Mae. You were in there forever! I thought you ditched me.” Her playful expression shifted as she studied my face. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “I want to go home.” Cold sweat covered me despite the spring air. Stray hairs clung to my forehead, and it felt as if my cheeks lacked color.

She moved to block my path and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Did something happen? What did that lady say to you?” Her eyebrows furrowed, and I could see flickers of anger dance across her irises.

“I’ll tell you about it later. I’m just tired,” I lied.

“But Branley and Jacob said they were going to meet us,” Ellie said as she contorted her face into the most theatrical pout. “Please! This is my opportunity to get stuck on top of the ferris wheel with Jacob. It’s gonna be just like the movies.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped around her. “I’m not stopping you.” Before I could put any distance between us, she once again stood in front of me.

A devious smile crept across her face. “Come on, Mae. Branley’s coming specifically to see you.” She drew a heart in the air with her manicured fingertips.

“Ellie, I love you, but you’re being ridiculous. We’re graduating in like three weeks. I don’t have time to be a part of your matchmaking scheme.”

A drunk couple that danced along to a non-existent song tripped over Ellie. The distraction allowed me to make my way toward the exit. The young woman’s tipsy giggle filled the air behind me as her partner apologized on a loop. I physically shook Ellie’s quip about Branley from my mind. You don’t have time for this, Mae.

I looked over my shoulder to see if Ellie had followed me, but a sea of people separated us. Wisps of her copper hair peeked out from the other side of the crowd. When I turned to make my escape, I almost ran over Jacob. Plastered across his face was a grin as he asked, “Hey Mae. Have you seen Ellie?”

I pointed in her direction as I tried to step around him, only to face Branley. His eyes darted away, his cheeks burned a bright pink. Dang it.

“Hi, Jacob!” Ellie’s singsong voice emerged from beside me.

They embraced like long-lost lovers, leaving Branley and me to exchange uncomfortable smiles of acknowledgment. Ellie turned to me and mouthed, “That was rude.”

I shrugged and then said, “Well, I really gotta go. It was nice seeing everyone.” I managed one large step before Ellie took hold of my wrist.

Mischief riddled her face. “Oh, but you have to tell us what the palm reader said before you go.”

My eyes became sharp slits as I glared at her, but she retorted with a “gotcha” smirk.

“I can’t. My mom called and asked if I could come home. My brother’s sick. Maybe next time.”

Ellie rolled her eyes and pressed herself against Jacob. Before she could argue, I waved goodbye and headed to the exit. I looked over my shoulder to see Ellie whisper in Jacob’s ear, and Branley’s gaze locked onto me.

As I walked deeper into the parking lot, the roar of people and the cheerful music faded to a faint whisper. The lights of the fair created a golden cast against the indigo sky. Silence enveloped me as I sat in my car. I pulled out my phone as fast as I could, nearly ripping the pocket of my jeans, and I typed out the woman’s riddle to ensure I didn’t forget a single word.

As I drove home, what happened with the palm reader echoed in my head. What did she see? My heart battered the inside of my chest, my body shuttered as if it was December instead of May. With little thought, I took the long way to my home, letting the sound of the tires’ hum soothe my rattled bones. “It’s just a charade, a scheme. It doesn’t mean anything.” I whispered the mantra to myself until I arrived at the house.

The warm front porch light greeted me as I pulled into the driveway. An ensemble of moths and June bugs took turns pecking the glass bulb. I watched their display until my heart rate slowed and my lungs no longer burned from breathing too quickly.

“Hey, honey. You’re home early,” my mom’s voice floated from the kitchen as I walked through the weathered front door.

“Yeah, it was pretty lame.” I kicked my shoes off and made a beeline for the basement stairs. “I’m gonna go to bed. Goodnight.”

Before she could inquire about my premature arrival, I took the steps two at a time. We had converted the basement into my bedroom when I was a sophomore. The introduction of my new baby brother caused the need to reorganize. Our family of five didn’t fit in our three-bedroom house anymore. My twin sisters shared the room at the end of the hallway, my old room became Tommy’s room, and my mom inhabited the master bedroom on the opposite side of the house. I preferred the basement anyway. The walls weren’t scared by memories.

As I made my way to the shower, I left a trail of clothes in my wake. The water washed away the smell of popcorn and sweat that clung to my skin and hair. My jaw relaxed, my eyebrows softened as the warmth ran down my shoulders and spine. By the time the water ran cold, the old woman still plagued my mind. I threw myself onto the bed, my hair damp and a towel wrapped tightly around my body. As I looked up at the ceiling, I attempted to breathe away the anxiety that knotted my gut. Then, rhythmic knocks on one of the egress windows caused me to jump. My heart pounded as I looked over to see a petite hand smashed against the glass. Ellie appeared from the twilight. The lock clicked as I slid the panel open.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered, even though my mom couldn’t hear anything from the basement.

She mimicked my hush voice, “We wanted to say hi.”

We? Her breath smelt of liquor and her words slurred.

“Are you drunk?” I moved a chair under the window and helped her fumble her way inside.

“Maybe a little,” she giggled. “Hey, Jacob, are you drunk?”

I made my annoyance apparent as I said, “You did not bring them over here. Ellie, I’m naked!”

She gave me an airy smile and shrugged her shoulders innocently. I rushed into the closet and threw on the clothes closest to me. The next thing I knew, Jacob’s long limbs were halfway through the window and Ellie was attempting to guide him. I helped him down and tried not to make a scene as the smell of whiskey permeated from his mouth as he said hello. They both stumbled onto the small couch on the other end of the room and started to make out. Disgusting.

“I’m so sorry, Mae.” I peered into the darkness, Branley’s silhouette crouched by the window. The full moon created a silver outline around his body. “Ellie said her parents would kill her if she came home drunk and begged me to bring her here.”

I shook my head and motioned him in. “It’s fine.”

His shoulders scraped past the frame as he glided into the room. Vulnerability caused my face to flush as he looked around. My jaw clenched and I could feel my body temperature rise.

“Um, cool place,” he cleared his throat and moved a non-existent hair out of his face.

“Thanks.” I took a pillow off my bed and threw it at Ellie’s head, “Hey, lovebirds, cut it out.”

Jacob’s face turned bright pink, while Ellie stuck her tongue out at me. I returned the gesture.

She leaned forward, so much so I was afraid she might fall, as she asked, “Will you pretty please tell me what happened with the palm reader? I need to know.”

“You need to sober up.” I grabbed a water bottle from the mini-fridge and pitched it to Jacob. Once he opened the lid and handed it to Ellie, I asked, “Where did y’all even get the alcohol?”

She erupted into a giggle fit as she tried to answer, “We ran into Becca right after you left, and you know how she’s been dating that older guy? Well, he snuck in like an entire bottle of whiskey, and he started mixing it in our drinks, which was gross by the way... Wait a minute. Are you trying to change the subject?”

I could feel my cheeks and scalp grow warm. My heart banged against my sternum. “It doesn’t matter what happened. It’s all just a bunch of bullcrap to scam people. I only went in there because of you.”

“Hey, don’t act like I forced you. And if it’s really ‘just a bunch of bullcrap’, then why did it bother you so much?”

“She’s got a point.” Jacob smiled stupidly.

I could see Branley shake his head in my peripheral vision and mouth “shut up” to his oblivious friend. Jacob shot him a drunk wink.

“Fine.” There seemed to be no getting out of recounting the events of the evening. I moved the desk chair closer to the couch, offered it to Branley, and then retrieved my phone. An unsteady breath pushed past my chapped lips as I sat on the small ottoman. The memory of walking into the inconspicuous white tent played vividly in my mind. The inside looked like a different world. Red, gold, and forest green tapestries blanketed every inch of free space. Positioned in the middle of the room was a round mahogany table. A crimson runner covered in dehydrated flowers and the skulls of small animals adorned the table.

A shiver slithered down my spine as I looked at my friends, circled around, eager for the story I didn’t want to tell. “So I walked into the tent, paid the five bucks, and then I gave the lady my hand.” The palm reader had hypnotic green eyes. She beamed me with a pristine smile from the far side of the table. Complicated braids embellished her ebony hair and a strange symbol dangled from her pearl-colored neck.

“At first, she was super pleasant,” I continued, “And I expected her to tell me something vague like a fortune cookie, you know? Instead, as soon as she looked at my palm, she dropped my hand and called out behind her in some other language.” When she released my hand, as if poison coated my skin, the panic in her expression caused my stomach to drop.

Uneasiness filled the room like a fog. Branley tried to meet my eye, but I avoided his gaze. Ellie’s forehead crinkled, and she cocked her head to one side.

“That’s weird.” Jacob barely got the words out before Ellie placed her hand over his mouth to silence any additional commentary.

I ignored their antics as I recalled the elderly woman who emerged from behind a tapestry, her spine curved by the weight of a lifetime. A scar across the left side of her face caused the corner of her eye to droop significantly. Her left eye was blue with blindness, the other matched the green color of the younger woman. She wore a similar amulet, but her ash-colored hair was slicked back into a low ponytail that fell to her waist. “Then this old lady came out from the back room. She sat at the table and took my hand in hers. But she didn’t look at my palm. Instead, she closed her eyes and held my hand.” As I looked down at my trembling hands, I imagined the loose skin that draped over the arthritic joints of her skeletal fingers. “When I tried to pull away, she clamped down and looked at me. Her grip was so strong I couldn’t… I couldn’t get free.” A shiver caused pinpricks of anxiety to spot my arms as I imagined the woman’s penetrating gaze searching for something.

I stood up and made my way to the fridge. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth from the lack of saliva. “Then she said some incoherent stuff. It doesn’t even matter.” I inhaled half a bottle of water before I returned to my seat.

“Oh, come on, Mae. What did she say? I’m so curious!” Ellie’s voice teemed with excitement.

I didn’t need my notes. The words appeared in my mind, but my throat felt as if it was full of cement. I took another sip of my water to wash away my reservations. “She said, ‘There weren’t always dragons in the valley, but there always should have been. Ravens danced in amber skies, keeping righteous men at bay. But when stone meets stone, the birds will crow, and dragons will reign again.’ See, it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t even rhyme. And then when I tried to leave, she gave me a rock and I...” I couldn’t bring myself to admit that I saw something when the woman placed the cool stone in my hand. A vision of a u-shaped valley filled with corpses being picked clean by black birds. Severed and disemboweled bodies of men and women created a mosaic of limbs and torsos.

Ellie popped her knuckles, which she only did when she was anxious, as she asked, “And you what?”

“And then I walked out. The whole thing gave me the creeps.”

A collective sigh of relief washed over the space as if they were thankful the ghost story was over. Except for Branley. He tugged incessantly at his shirt.

“What?” Ellie seemed annoyed by the way he squirmed.

“Well, uh, what she said kind of reminds me of a nursery rhyme my mom used to sing to me when I was a kid.” Branley fidgeted with a stray thread on the bottom of his shirt as he spoke, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.

We all stared at him with curiosity and anticipation.

“Come on, Branley! Spit it out.” Ellie threw the pillow at him.

He caught it and squeezed it against his chest, “Um, I don’t remember the whole thing, but one part was, ‘Black birds fly through yellow skies, to peck at golden dragons.’ She would sing it in Gaelic and then English. It’s just an old Gaelic folk-tale.”

“Bro, that’s practically the same thing. Wait... amber is yellow, right?” Jacob’s eyes were enormous. One could almost see his mind attempt to comprehend each piece of prose.

Ellie jumped to her feet and said, “We have to go back to that old lady and let her read your palm, Branley!”

He sunk deeper into his chair. “I don’t know. I don’t think- “

She cut him off before he could finish. “We have to! This whole thing can’t be a coincidence!”

The idea of going back to the palm reader made me nauseous. “Ellie, once you’re a hundred percent sober, we’ll go back. Deal?” I lied again.

“Deal.” A satisfied smile filled her face as she plopped back down on the couch. She and Jacob resumed their cuddling. A wave of relief washed over me as she yawned and snuggled herself against his chest.

I smiled at Branley, with the hope he’d realize they’d both be asleep before too long, and we’d avoid a trip back to the fair. After a moment, I attempted to fill the uncomfortable silence between Branley and myself. “So, um, your mom speaks Gaelic?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah. She’s from Ireland. She and my dad met there while he was studying abroad in college.”

“That’s cool.” I tried to ignore the discomfort that made the ceiling feel lower than it was. “Do you speak Gaelic? The old woman kinda had an Irish accent. I wonder if that’s the language the younger lady was speaking.”

“A little. Do you remember what she said?”

With my best effort, I mimicked the strange words, but the unfamiliar string of consonants and vowels felt odd. We both chuckled at my sorry attempt.

Branley grinned as he said, “Well, I think she said, ‘Grandma, she is the one.’ Either that or you just said, ‘Grandma, she is upside down.’” He chuckled, “But I think the first one makes a little more sense.”

As he laughed, the adrenaline in my body subsided. My hands ceased to shake and the knots in my stomach dissipated. My gaze gravitated to his hazel eyes. I asked, “Do you think it’s possible that the old lady butchered the nursery rhyme and all of that was to scare me? You know, maybe to create some buzz for their tent?” Perhaps the hallucination was a fabrication. I didn’t know how, but I didn’t want to believe it happened either.

He seemed to study me as he spoke as if he knew I wasn’t being transparent about my feelings and thoughts. “Maybe. That’s pretty cruel of them, if so.”

The sound of snoring broke the tension. I looked up to see Ellie and Jacob intertwined on the couch, unconscious and untroubled.

“Is that Ellie?” Branley covered his mouth to suppress a laugh.

“Yeah. She snores like an old man and always has.”

We both chuckled into our palms to avoid waking the pair. Laughter melted into silence. Ellie’s words about Branley’s feelings for me made the air in my lungs thick. I couldn’t think of something to say to fill the void.

Branley cleared his throat, then said, “Um, can I see the rock she gave you?”

After scanning the room, I found my pants sprawled out near the nightstand. I tried to shove my bra and underwear under the bed before Branley noticed. A rush of energy flowed through my arm as I retrieved the polished red stone from its hiding place. Fog filled my mind and dizziness nearly caused me to stumble. The flash of an image filled my vision: marron blood covered a slab of sandstone. I blinked away the picture and attempted to regain my composure. As I placed the rock in Branley’s palm, I was hyper-aware of his inquisitive gaze.

“Strange,” he turned the stone over as he furrowed his brow and studied each side. His finger traced the sliver of black with golden flecks sliced through the middle.

“What do you mean?” I asked as butterflies invaded my torso.

“Well, the nursery rhyme talks about a dragon eye that looks kinda like this. That’s what the entire thing is about, actually. A raven steals a dragon’s eye.”

Bile burned the back of my throat as an image from my first vision filled my mind. A raven pecked the eyeball out of a young man and swallowed it whole. Once Branley returned the stone to my hand, the room began to spin. Gravity pulled on the front of my skull.

Branley’s face filled with concern. “Mae, are you okay? You look like you’re about to pass-”

Darkness crept across my vision. Then, nothingness.