Merlin's Prophecy

Megan shut the door to her house behind her, wondering if she would ever see her family again.

Everything was different now. She could no longer return to life as she knew it because she understood the grave danger that loomed over the planet.

She would miss her mother most of all.

Earlier that day...

“Tag! You’re it!”

Megan’s little brother tapped her on the shoulder and then ran off into the woods behind their home.

“Brian! I’m too old for tag! Besides, I’m trying to read.”

“If you don’t play I’m going to tell mom you snagged that candy bar from the 7-11 last week.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Test me!”

He disappeared around a corner.

“Fine!”

Megan pulled the bookmark from the back cover of her novel and tucked it neatly into the crease to save her page. She slowly got to her feet, stretching sore limbs one at a time as she did so.

“Megan! What’s taking you so long?”

She didn’t respond. Instead, she snaked across the yard to access the woods from the other side, where she could sneak up on her little brother easier. She took off her shoes where the yard ended and the woods began, in order to walk across the leaves in silence.

She carefully placed her feet with every step to ensure she didn’t make a sound. Her brother was impatient and cocky, but she knew the woods better than him.

When she emerged, he stood in the middle of the trail, shouting back towards where he thought she was.

“Megan! You can’t get me, na-na-na-na-na!”

She snuck up behind him, slowly, hoping he didn’t catch on and turn back around.

“Megan? Come on, you have to play with me!”

She got to just within reach of her little brother, and then tapped his shoulder, hard.

“Boo!”

“Aaaahhhhh!”

“You’re it!”

And then Megan laughed as she turned and pounded down the trail as fast as she could. She rounded a corner and dove off the trail into the woods beyond. She hid behind a tree just as she heard her brother lumber past.

She considered heading back to the yard and her book, but something about the way the sunlight trickled through the trees above tempted her to explore instead. There was magic in these woods, even though her mother said she was too old for that. Megan felt it deep inside her.

She snuck off to the right, where she knew she could intercept the creek that ran behind their house. The beds of moss along its banks were the perfect place to spend a warm summer day. And a perfect place to hide from her brother.

Just as she reached the shore, something to the left caught her attention. She had never seen it before, which was surprising because she thought she knew every inch of the forest. And this was something truly special.

A ring of trees, almost perfectly spaced, surrounded an old oak tree. The old tree looked like it was ready to topple over, and it may have if it wasn’t for the surrounding trees growing into its branches and holding it up. The area around the tree was clear, covered only in the fallen leaves of years past. And there was an opening, almost as if a door appeared just for her.

It called to her and Megan could not resist answering.

She entered the grove and walked around it, marveling at how perfect this spot was.

Megan touched the bark of the old oak and imagined it buzzing with energy under her fingertips. She wondered how old the tree was, and what sort of things it had seen during its life. Then she noticed that the tree had a tremendous hole in its base, that almost looked as if one could curl up inside of it and take a nap.

Like the spirit of the tree wandered off and the other trees were holding it up until she returned.

Suddenly, Megan felt overcome with exhaustion. She plopped herself at the base of the old oak, rested her head on its massive trunk, and fell asleep.

She found herself in the center of a grove of trees with her arms stretched up to the sky, seeking the warmth of the sun. She swayed in the wind and felt the power of the trees that surrounded her. She felt at home.

Then, she was flying, not just through space but also through time. She watched as the images flew past her. Different continents, different time periods, but all familiar. As if they were memories of past lives.

Everything jerked to a stop so quickly that Megan thought she was going to puke. She was in the center of a grove of trees again. But this time, the trees were different. Bigger. Older. Ancient.

An elderly woman walked towards her, carrying a chalice.

“You have made the greatest sacrifice, dear, and we can’t thank you enough. But now it’s time to wake up.”

The woman handed her the chalice and she drank the bitter liquid inside.

“What’s happening?”

“You will remember soon enough dear, you must. The fate of the world depends on it.”

"What do you mean the fate of the world?"

But the woman was fading away and couldn't answer.

Megan opened her eyes to darkness. She slept all day!

“Megan!”

“Megan? Where are you?”

Her mom and dad called out into the woods looking for her. How long had they been looking? She pulled her phone out of her pocket. She had 37 missed calls and it was 9:15 pm.

“Mom! Dad! I’m here. I’m coming!”

How could she explain this to them? If she told them the truth, they would think she was crazy.

She headed towards the path slowly, half because she was still waking up, half because she needed time to think. But it still wasn't enough time. She stepped out onto the path and her mom came rushing towards her, enveloping her in a hug.

“Megan! Where have you been? We were so worried! Why didn’t you answer your phone? We thought something awful happened!”

Megan hugged her mom back and then gently extracted herself.

“I’m sorry mom. I found this grove of trees and it was so pretty…”

“Megan!”

Her dad came barreling into her, also enveloping her in a hug.

“Dad! I’m okay, really. I’m sorry.”

“You scared us. Don’t ever do that again.”

She pulled herself away.

“I didn’t mean to.”

Megan’s mom threw her arm over her daughter’s shoulder and led her back towards the house.

“Let’s go in and warm up your dinner. Then you can tell us what happened.”

“Am I in trouble?”

“You deserted your little brother, disappeared for seven hours, didn’t answer your phone, and scared the heck out of us,” her dad replied. “What do you think?”

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, honest.”

“Let’s talk inside like I said before.” Her mom looked hard at her dad. “I’m sure Megan has a good explanation.”

Once they were inside the house, Megan’s mom served her a bowl of leftover tuna pasta salad that she devoured. She was starving, but it also gave her more time to think about what her explanation was going to be. She finished the last bite and washed it down with a glass of water.

“So? Are you going to tell us what happened now?” Her mom took her empty bowl and put it in the dishwasher.

“Yes. But it sounds crazy. I really didn’t mean to scare you. I was hiding from Brian, to tease him, when I found this beautiful grove of trees. There was a sunny patch of moss at the base of one of the trees and I sat down to feel the sun on my face. Somehow, I must have fallen asleep.”

It was close enough to the truth. She hoped they would buy it.

“You just fell asleep? In the middle of the day?” Megan’s mom walked over and held her hand to her forehead. “You’re not sick, are you?”

“No, mom. I’m not sick. I don’t know what happened. Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep last night or something.”

“She has been up late reading a lot this summer.” Megan’s dad spoke over her as if she wasn’t there.

“Dad, you know I hate it when you do that.”

“You don’t have much say here right now, young lady.”

“Les, I know you’re mad, but Megan still deserves our respect.”

“You’re too soft on them, Mads. I would have never disappeared into the woods and then fallen asleep as a kid because if I did I would have gotten a beating.”

“And you know we don’t do that. You know why. You agreed.”

He crossed his arms and glared at Megan’s mom.

“It’s times like this that I wonder if we made the right choice.”

Megan’s mom pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, holding her daughter’s hands in her own.

“Sweetie, you really scared us. I know you didn’t do it intentionally, but your father and I have been terrified for hours over your nap.”

Megan nodded.

“So maybe stay out of the woods for a while and try to get better rest at night. Let’s make sure you’re not so tired and you aren’t going to fall asleep like that again, okay?”

Megan nodded.

“I’m really sorry. I'll never do that again, I swear.”

Her dad uncrossed his arms. “And make sure your phone ringer is on whenever you’re away from the house.”

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at it. Then she looked at him sheepishly.

“Whoops. You probably would have found me if I had done that, huh?”

He gave her a withering look and then got up from the table.

“I have to go to bed. I’ve got a long day at work tomorrow. Madeleine, are you coming with me?”

“Yes, dear.” Her mother covered her mouth as she yawned. “It has been quite the tiring day.”

As her parents went to bed, Megan went to the kitchen to refill her glass of water and run the dishwasher. Then she grabbed her book from the hall and curled up on the couch to read.

The image of the old woman and the bitter taste from the chalice in her dream stuck with her. It felt as if it had really happened instead of just being a dream. The old woman said she had to remember something, that the fate of the world depended on it. What did she have to remember?

Megan realized she had gone through several pages of her book without actually reading any of it. She flipped back a few pages and put her bookmark back in. She was exhausted, in spite of her seven-hour mid-day nap. She brushed her teeth and went up to her room to change and go to bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She was flying through time and space again, just like before. The visions passing below were like memories, but they passed too quickly for her to examine them. She began to slow down as she approached the grove of trees once again. This time, there were 12 people standing in a circle within the grove. They held hands, chanting in a language Megan had never heard before. Yet, somehow, it was familiar.

They finished their chant and dropped their hands. Then one of them turned to her. It was the old lady again!

“You’re back. Good. It means you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To remember.”

The circle opened up and the old lady ushered Megan to its center. Megan floated to a seated position on the ground and the circle closed around her again. The twelve held hands and began chanting.

Megan closed her eyes and began to remember.

The memories came in flashes at first. A glimpse of a mother feeding her soup in an old shack. Fighting with a sword from the back of a horse. Then she was standing in this very grove of trees with 11 others, listening to a very old man with long white hair.

“Our kind has been forced into hiding by the Christians. I have done the best I can to ensure our ways do not disappear entirely. But it is prophesied that man will forget and lose connection with the earth entirely someday. When that day happens, we need people to lead them back before mankind destroys this planet entirely. You twelve will be those people.”

“But how?” Megan asked, although her voice wasn’t entirely her own.

“I will place a spell over your spirits. When the time comes, your reincarnated souls will remember and you will return here and join together. You are all very old souls and ready to move on. To do this, you are giving up your chance to do so, your spirits will stagnate until the time comes. This is the ultimate sacrifice."

The man walked around the circle and placed his thumb on the forehead of each person in the circle while he chanted. When he placed his thumb on Megan, every memory of every life she had lived came rushing back. And she knew exactly where she needed to go.

Megan awoke from her dream with a sense of purpose. She didn’t entirely know why, but she knew she needed to go to Scotland.

She got out of bed and pulled a sheet of paper from her desk.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I won’t even bother with explanations because you will never believe me or understand. Just know that I need to go to Scotland for a few weeks. I will be back, I’m not running away, I promise. I have my phone on me, so you can call me whenever you need to. Just please, trust me. Don’t try to stop me.

Love,

Megan

She then went online and booked the next flight to Scotland. She had just enough savings to cover the flight and still have money left for expenses. She packed her backpack with a few changes of clothes, a notebook, and her passport. Then she slipped downstairs and out the back door.

She would miss her mother most of all.

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