Skeleton in the Sky

The air was still and all was quiet.

This was the night Brady decided to sneak out of his house. The sky was a brilliant violet with tiny white stars scattered across it, like drops of glitter on a canvas. He carried a candle with him, whose orange glow accompanied Brady as he ventured away from home and outside into the unknowing. Any other thirteen-year-old boy wouldn't dare attempt this, their mothers would constantly chide them;

"Strange things happen in the dark!"

"Don't you stay out late, you know what'll happen!"

"Never go out in the dark, you must always stay in the light!"

"Awful things have happened to kiddies who left their bed at night!"

But Brady liked the dark.

He already felt at ease under the blanket of the sky and felt sure he had to be somewhere. He felt it in his bones.

Fortunately, he knew exactly where.

The echoes of his footsteps seemed to bounce off the brick walls which surrounded the path that led to Obitus Grove, the old graveyard, a place of decay which was on the outskirts of town, and joined to the Great Forest, a site that was most feared. But Brady liked visiting it, it was like his very own cove. He had never gone there in the darkness of the night. The gloomy, mystery of the place only drew Brady in, almost reflective of himself. Almost as if they were alike. The puppet-like figures he called his family made those spider-webbed tombs and dark woods feel more like a proper home. Maybe Brady was a peculiar child, but then, it was those peculiar things that called out to him. He had no reason not to follow.

The boy's shadow was cast on the road ahead from the moon as she loomed over, watching with her gleaming eye. This made Brady feel as if he had stepped into an apocalyptic world, and he was the only human left to explore the barren Earth alone. This strange thought excited him, and his brain whirred with thoughts of the adventures he would have.

He continued down that very familiar path and the darkness which enveloped the small town of Malum had been transformed in the shadows, the houses looked like crooked castles, and the thickened trees twisted into figures all around, closing around him like a cave. Brady had never felt more alive. His head buzzed and he held his pale hand up as he walked, which looked almost invisible in the soft candlelight.

Brady was a ghoul, floating around this abandoned wasteland, haunting the old church, spooking the town's hall, a spirit of the forest, switching between worlds of purple skies and green firepits below.

Brady felt transformed.

This town of Malum was his for the taking. He was with the creatures of the night, the uncanny shapes of the dark joined him. His candle's flame withered as the wind blew through his hair, but Brady didn't notice. He wasn't interested in the light anymore. He carried on along his path for a short time, only the crunching of leaves under his feet could be heard. Then, emerging into a clearing, he had found his destination.

The black, rotten sign read: "OBITUS GROVE," and was planted in the soil beneath an old Wisping Willow. The silvery outline of cobwebs and feathers peppered along the branches lead the way in, through a deep thicket which was almost hidden as the clouds shrouded the sky's lamp.

An eerie quietness once again wrapped Brady up as he entered the Grove. The breeze whispered in his ears and webs tickled his face and he didn't mind, but he came to an abrupt halt as he was greeted by the first living thing of the night. Or so he thought.

And it was in the form of two golden orbs on a high branch. The eyes of the sky. To anyone regular, they may just see a barn owl perched in a tree.

But as Brady came closer, he saw a small figure of milky white bones and a large skull illuminated from his dying flame and was immersed with an odd feeling in his chest. As the candle flickered, this ghostly owl's speckled, blue, and brown feathers were like shadows around her. It was like an optical illusion, and Brady had read myths and legends about the Birds of the Night in his leather fairytale book he stashed under his bed. The words suddenly drummed in his head:

"The Skeleton in The Sky- she is often found in magical forests and haunts those whose fate nears, known to be part of the Mystical Arts and the Undead, she can lead any creature to a place of transformation just like her own. Her flame-like eyes are powerful and full of wisdom, she is kind, but this famed Skeleton in the Sky is the darkest omen of the Night, if she speaks to you, it may be too late..."

The words swam from his brain as he continued to peer up at this magical creature and wondered what other entities hid in the darkness of the night.

But then, Brady's thoughts were interrupted as the owl spread her bony wings and raised her white beak,

"Ah. I knew you would come eventually, child. What is your name?"

Her voice was soothing and entrancing. Brady felt just as strange as this skeleton of a bird in front of him and heard himself answer back.

"Brady Ales. You're a Sky Skeleton, aren't you? I've read about you in my book of special things."

"That I am, Brady Ales. You seem to have an eye for special things don't you?"

The owl's voice was calming and Brady felt himself relax more than he ever had before.

"How did you know I would come here tonight?"

The Skeleton in the Sky's eyes twinkled like a witch's crystal ball.

"I have seen you here many times, Brady Ales. You are different than the rest of Malum's townspeople. You don't belong with them, so you find comfort in the darkness of Obitus, with the strange and unusual, rather like myself. Come child, follow me."

With that, the Undead owl flew into the air and through the dark path that led to the heart of the ancient graveyard. Brady followed immediately. The floor began to fade into a navy colour as they continued the journey further and further away from town. The air began to thicken, snowflakes started to fall, and there were whispers and hums fluttering from the trees.

The majestic Skeleton Owl landed on the nearby mossy brick wall as the path lead out to the entrance of the graveyard. The scene seemed to have transformed in the nighttime. Brady saw two black butterflies dance under the moonlight and a beautiful black wolf sat atop a large tomb, his lightning strike eyes met Brady's and were filled with unnatural knowing. The moon herself had grown enormous in the sky, her dainty red lips curling into a smile as her glow warmed the decaying little world Brady had stepped into.

There were dark pixies flitting about the midnight sky, their wings sounded almost like music. The Grove seemed to be full of all the strange creatures Brady had read about and he wasn't afraid. He was intrigued as the Owl had said, he felt comfort from this supernatural place. The strange boy already fell in love with the abandoned, mysterious feeling of Obitus Grove, and this was only heightened as he clearly saw the true magic of it, uncovered by the night.

He felt at home.

Brady was even more confused as to why going out in the dark was so forbidden, but also a little relieved as it meant this could be his secret little world all to himself.

There were more skeletons Brady could see in the shadows, they seemed to sway to the forest's rhythm. They had blue and purple skin, and their shiny bones peeked out and glistened from the moonbeams. As Brady explored the graveyard further, he found even more fascinating creatures. There was a cluster of silver elves perched on a large scatter of pink and brown mushrooms which seemed to glow. He also saw some skeleton skunks, a flash of white and black as they ran along the cobbled floor.

The Sky Skeleton had continued to observe Brady from her perch on the wall and started circling the graves, whistling a strange tune. As she did this, something happened that almost knocked Brady down.

Brilliant pale, luminescent ghosts burst from their stony beds like mermaids out of a deadly ocean. They were glittering in the night and showed colours of pearly white and gentle blue.

"Wow.." Brady breathed as he sat down on a crumbling wall, "How did I never see this?"

The Sky Skeleton floated down and fixed Brady once again with those luminous globes that lit up her skull.

"You can see now Brady Ales, you can see what happens in the dark. Don't you want to stay here?" Her soft whisper rang through Brady's ears.

"Stay here..." He whispered, once again lifting his head to the wondrous scene he had become part of. He hadn't noticed a green headstone growing from the earth in a patch not far from him. The stripy vines began coiling around it, the moon grew once more and flooded the yard with a splash of silver light which made the creatures around Brady glimmer as brightly as the Owl's eyes.

Brady thought of Malum, already a fading memory. He thought of the townspeople, a band of dull grey marionettes who cowered from the dark. That was no place for him. He looked down at his hands again, which shone a purple hue and his bones glowed faintly.

Brady felt transformed.

Didn't that book say the Skeleton in the Sky will lead you to a place of transformation?

He turned his eyes to the Undead Owl next to him, whose own were already searching his. Her feathers ruffled as she spoke again,

"Join us."

Her mystical eyes spun like deep whirlpools and Brady was transfixed by the beauty, the flames mirrored in his own.

"Yes." Brady churned out, his mind reeling.

The Undead butterflies and dark pixies began to swarm around the newly erected headstone, an ancient coffin lay open, dressed with a royal violet cushioning.

The striped vines glided across the cobwebbed floor and led little Brady towards his new grave.

The Sky Skeleton stood on top of it, and scarlet dripped across the stone which marked it,

Home of Brady Ales

"Welcome, Brady," came the hum of her delicate voice.

The boy climbed in and with a magnificent green flash and rumbling of the Earth, the grave was covered over, he was gone. As though he'd never been there at all.

When that eccentric night bled into the morning, the creatures of the night faded into wisps, Obitus Grove fell into the gloom of the day, as the early sun dared to touch it.

The air was still and all was quiet.

And Brady Ales felt transformed.

The dreary townspeople of Malum would never find exactly what happened to that little Ales boy, his disappearance was almost as mysterious as the boy himself. The fear in the darkness of the night only worsened however, terrible stories were spewed out, haunted with three-headed monsters that snatch you from your beds at night, evil witches that turn you into frogs, or shadow people who eat naughty children if they stay up late.

But as Brady Ales grew to become part of that curious, dark, magical Obitus Grove on the outskirts of Malum Town, he heard the whispers and myths carried by the trees, but he never did hear about the real dementor of the Night.

That Skeleton in the Sky.