Everwild

Erin sat atop the roof of the lighthouse Her heart yearning, she looked out well beyond the horizon. Violent white waves came crashing into the sides of the rock beneath her. Erin was always drawn to the lulling sound of the waves. Winter was slowly disappearing, and frequently a chunk of ice would break off from the water's edge with a loud crack and float off into the sea. The sun was also disappearing on the horizon; Erin shifted and continued to look out across the water for a bit longer.

Erin fancied herself an adventurer despite the fact that she had never ventured outside of her hometown. That would surely change soon, she had been working in her parents' bakeshop for months and had finally saved enough money to pay for a voyage. Just thinking of this fact made her giddy. She crawled down from the lighthouse carefully and half ran, half skipped back to her house. Her parents were out, as usual, so she put on her nightgown, made herself dinner and settled in for the night.

As she was nodding off on the couch, her dinner plate still sitting next to her on the sofa, a thundering crash jolted her back to consciousness. She ran to the window to look outside. The sky was pitch black but a branch whipped violently into the window and the distinct sound of rain beating down on the roof was clear. Erin's heart leapt, could this be a hurricane? It was the wrong time of year but the storm was fierce.

Against her better judgement, Erin ran outside to look for her parents' car. They were still gone. In a sheer panic, she ran to the edge of the driveway. A massive oak tree lay fallen across the road. That must be what that crashing sound was Erin thought to herself. Getting her bearings and realizing how crazy that it was that she was out in this storm, Erin turned to run back to her house. To her amazement and terror, a towering wave was thundering towards her. She froze, there was nothing else she could do. The wave barreled into her and everything went black.

Erin opened her eyes to find herself lying face down on a black sandy beach. She heaved herself up to a sitting position painfully and looked around her. Where am I? She thought with a start. Scrambling to her feet, she spun a circle. She was at the edge of the ocean yes, but it was not her oceanfront. The waves lapped gently across the sand. Behind her was a twisting coniferous forest unlike anything that she had ever seen, and it was blanketed in something black. She walked up to it cautiously as though it might bite her. She touched it; it was cold. Is this.. Snow? She thought incredulously. Erin walked through the spruce trees in awe. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The black powder glittered brilliantly in the sunlight. She dragged her hand across a branch; the flakes fell to the ground, colorful light flickering through them as they caught the sunlight. Erin smiled at the beauty, forgetting for now how she had gotten to this strange place. She ran through the trees as though she were a wild animal, knocking the snow-like substance to the ground every chance she got.

She fell to the ground breathless and looked up at the sky through the trees. To her amazement, there were clouds far darker than any storm cloud that she had ever seen. This leaden atmosphere was both enchanting and alarming. For the first time since she had set off through the woods, Erin realized that she was still wearing nothing but a thin nightgown, and she was quickly growing cold. She returned to the waters edge and began walking along it, hoping to come across some clue as to where the stormy waters had brought her.

She looked around her as she went. She notices a gnarly looking cedar tree that had contorted itself into such a tight knot trying to chase the sun that it had ended up actually growing into the ground. Now it's roots were beginning to stick up into the air as the top of the tree dislodged them from the ground. A squirrel began to chatter. Erin spotted it sitting in a spruce tree. It was as black as the snow stuff around it. She watched as the creature flicked it's tail with displeasure at her presence. She chuckled to herself at the cuteness of the creature.

She continued walking, allowing the water to lap on her feet as she walked down the dark beach. The water was much warmer than the sand and Erin welcomed it. As she walked, Erin noticed that even the needles and trunks of the trees were quite darkly colored, in fact, everything surrounding her was as well. The water on her feet was dark, as was the sky. Off in the far distance the sky was blue and the water shined as it normally would, but it was very distant.

Soon, Erin spotted the knotty cedar again. Her heart sank; she had walked in a circle. This was an island. Trying not to panic, she walked back into the trees. The forest was less enchanting now that Erin was aware that she was trapped. The squirrel began to chatter again, but this time it only annoyed Erin. She took deep deliberate breaths, feeling her heart pounding uncontrollably in her chest. She had no idea what to do, she was in the middle of the ocean.

She found as she walked that although she had circled the island fairly quickly walking along the beach that the forest seemed to be much more vast. Of course, this didn't make any sense because the beach surrounded the forest on all sides. Nonetheless, she walked further and further into the woods with no sign of the beach on the other side. She found this concerning, but seeing that she was out of options, she decided to travel deeper into the trees anyway.

As she made her way through the undergrowth, she realized that she was walking downhill. She looked behind her, a mountain now towered up where she had come from. The feeling of panic arose within her again, but she pushed it back down into her gut. She fought back tears as she thought about her parents. They were probably trying helplessly to find her, or worse, maybe something had happened to them during the storm. She wanted to curl up into a ball and feel sorry for herself, but she knew she had to find somewhere to warm herself up.

She kept walking down, mountains now jutted up from all sides. The terrain was becoming very steep and rocky as Erin carefully continued downward. She realized that she was coming to the lowest point, and she thought she saw a pond at the bottom. Deciding that it would be wise to drink some water, she headed for it.

When she got to water, which was pitch black, she found that it was covered in a layer of black ice. Around the water, rocks were circled high as though it were a giant well. Erin looked around and found a rock. She chucked the rock at the pond, easily breaking the ice. She cupped her hands in the water. No, Erin thought, This isn't right. Despite the layer of ice covering the pond, the water was steaming hot.

Erin rose from the water's edge, thinking it best not to drink the water. She startled, finding herself suddenly face to face with a man who had somehow crept up behind her. She screamed but the man put a had over her mouth, gently but sternly. "Don't." He hissed. Erin looked at him with fear, but shut her mouth.

She looked at the man, he was very handsome. "Where am I?" She asked quietly. He raised an eyebrow at her, "You haven't figured that out yet?" He genuinely seemed surprised that she didn't know. Erin shook her head, suddenly feeling embarrassed. The man gave a huff of a laugh. "I guess you haven't run into anything yet." Erin wanted to ask him what he meant but before she got the chance he continued. "You look like you're freezing, come with me." He began to walk off but Erin did not follow. He stopped and looked at her, laughing and muttering something under his breath. "Look, I don't expect you to trust me, obviously you shouldn't trust random men in the magic woods, but if you don't get warm soon you're going to die, look at your reflection, you're turning blue." Erin glanced into the water, it was true, her lips were a dark blue, almost purple color. She decided to take her chances and follow the man.

To Erin's surprise, the man crawled through a rather small crack in the stone circle surrounding the pond. She went after him hesitantly. After squeezing her way through the stones, she found that she was no longer in the black forest. Now everything was incredibly colorful and lively. She was astonished by the transformation. As she took in the dramatic change of surroundings, the man called to her from far ahead. "Don't stop yet, you're still in danger." Erin again wondered what he meant, but ran to catch up with the man.

This new hidden area was a massive rain forest. Birds squawked gleefully in the towering trees. Despite the fact that they seemed to have crawled into a cave, Erin saw the sun shining above. The man led her to a brilliant crystal clear stream. Green moss on the rocks in the water created a beautiful contrast. "Drink." The man commanded. Erin did cautiously, watching the man out of the corner of her eye.

She suddenly realized how thirsty she was. She drank and drank until she had had more than her fill of the delicious cold water. She gave the man a look of thanks. "Do you know where I can find food?" Erin asked, her stomach growling in agreement with the suggestion of food. He nodded and gestured for her to follow him once more. To her surprise, the man went to the base of a giant tree and opened a door in its' trunk. She hadn't even been able to see the door when it was closed. They walked up a spiraling wooden staircase that gradually got tighter as they made their way up the huge tree. They came out another door towards the top of of the tree, and Erin found that they were in a grand wooden room. A vaulted ceiling high above held a beautiful crystal chandelier adorned with gold and emerald fixings. A grand window offered a view of the treetops, which this particular tree had towered above. Erin could see farther than she would have imagined possible.

She became so entranced by the beautiful surroundings that Erin forgot that she had asked for food when the man presented her A gorgeous silver plate covered in many delicious looking foods. As she ate, Erin pried for answers to her questions. "Who are you?" She asked the man. "I'm the keeper of this place." He answered plainly. Ok, Erin thought, That doesn't tell me much. "What is this place?" She tried. "It's whatever you want it to be." Erin was beginning to get annoyed. "How do I get off this island?" Erin couldn't hide her irritation. "You cannot leave." The man answered, looking her dead in the eyes. Erin's heart jumped as she dropped the platter of food. It crashed loudly to the ground. She turned and ran.

She flew down the staircase and out of the tree. Without slowing down or looking back, she squeezed her way back through the crack in the stone wall, gashing her hand in the process. She climbed frantically back up the rock wall and up the mountain. She was well out of breath at this point, but didn't slow as she sprinted through the black snow. Blood droplets flew out out of the cut on her hand onto the snow, shining a brilliant scarlet red atop it. She finally made her way out of the trees. The squirrel chattered furiously as she waded her way into the ocean water. She looked at the blue sky so far off in the distance as she began towards it.

She swam madly out into the ocean, giving it every ounce of effort she had left. Her attempts to escape from this place seemed in vain. Though she was making it away from the shoreline, she didn't seem to be getting any closer to the edge of the darkness. Erin didn't stop swimming, she couldn't. As the last of her energy drained from her body, Erin's tired arms ceased to be able to keep her above the water. She spat the salty water out of her mouth violently as she began to go under. Maybe she was just losing it, but the water also seemed to have a metallic taste to it as it forced its' way down her throat. Suddenly, her body gave up on her, and Erin sank into the water, inhaling it painfully into her lungs.

Erin opened her eyes slowly. She looked at her arm stretched out in front of her. Black sand. She ran it through her fingers, noticing that her hand was no longer cut. She stood and looked into the ocean water. She went over to it and cupped her hands in it. She repulsed in terror, it was blood red and thick. She backed away from the waters edge quickly, and then remembering the man in the woods, she spun around quickly. He was standing in the trees. Adrenaline rushed through Erin's veins, and before she could think about what she was doing, she ran at him.

She picked up a rock at the edge of the trees and continued towards the man. He stood staring at her as she neared. She reared the hand holding the rock back and then swung it at his face with all her might. As the rock made contact with his cheek, he turned his face away momentarily. When he looked back towards Erin, he wiped his now bloody cheek on his arm. The blood smeared across his face, but Erin saw that the wound had already healed.

Erin dropped the rock and stared at the man helplessly. She expected him to rush her, strangle her, kill her. Instead, he shook his head. "You're dead Erin." No, She thought, No I can't be. "You are," said the man, answering her thought. Erin fell to the ground and wept. "Of course I am," she whispered, remembering the flood of water that had swept her away. "This land is between the world of the living and the world of the dead." Said the man. "I am here to keep you safe while your soul figures out where it's going." Erin realized he meant she had a choice between heaven and hell.

"Well, of course, I want to go to heaven." Erin managed to say through her tears. The man smiled and shook his head. "You are going to go to heaven Erin, but not because you said so." She was confused, "What do you mean?" "You decided your fate at the black pond. When you cracked the ice, I thought that you were going to drink the water. If you had, you would have gone to hell, but you dropped the water and stood up to walk away, so you're going to heaven." Erin still didn't understand. The man saw the confusion on her face. "An evil soul wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with the water, but you realized that you shouldn't drink it." Erin was shocked. She had sealed her fate for eternity without even realizing that she had done so.

She went back with the man into the rain forest. He fixed her another feast, which she devoured. Dead or not, she was starving. When she finished, he put his hand on her shoulder, "It's time for me to say goodbye." The man said. He kissed her gently on the lips, and everything went black.

Erin opened her eyes and looked around. She couldn't believe it, she was laying on the ground in front of her house in the mess that the storm had caused. She coughed some water out of her lungs and found that she couldn't move because she was pinned to the ground by debris. "Erin!" Her mom and dad's voices shouted in unison behind her. They rushed over to her side. "Oh honey there you are! You're going to be okay." Her mother assured. Soon paramedics came and the debris was hoisted off of Erin. She was rushed to the hospital.

As she closed her eyes, Erin drifted off. There sat the man, in the grand room in the tree. "I don't understand," Erin said, "I thought you said I was dead." The man smiled, "You were, but your time isn't over Erin, you've got some living to do." with that, Erin closed her eyes and opened them again. She was met with the loving faces of her parents. Erin smiled, She had gone on a grand adventure and now she was at peace, and finally happy to be where she belonged.