When I open my eyes, I find myself in the woods. As my head scans the area, a gray blanket of fog creeps up on me from behind, engulfing my surroundings. Next thing I know, my feet are moving, each blade of grass kisses my bare toes, guiding me towards something. I think I’m trying to escape the fog. The grass leads me further and further until I reach a clearing with a small ring of sand colored mushrooms in the center. I blink once and suddenly a creature appears directly in front of me. Staring in awe, I begin to take it all in. The being is barefoot like me except their skin was so pale it almost looked gray, and wings poured from their back like silver cobwebs covered in dew. They had on clothes, but it looked more like strips of white fabric thrown over their body carelessly. Wild, wavy hair the color of flames frames the being’s face. Above their blush colored lips are bright blue icicle eyes that stab into mine. Before I can form words, the forest goes silent. The leaves on every tree cease their rustling, the bird chirps end, and the patter of various animals stops. For a few seconds, the forest is completely motionless. It’s like we’re bracing for impact, I thought. A maniacal buzzing rips through the air, causing the being and I to spin around. Just in the distance, I see countless people sawing at the trees with chainsaws. Trunks start slamming onto the ground, and animals erupt from everywhere trying to flee the disaster that was now unfolding on them. A cold hand grips my wrist, and the being is looking straight into my eyes again. This time there is more to them than the glacier of observation and curiosity I just saw. Now within the being’s eyes I can see it all: fear, pleading, desperation.
For the first time, the being opens their lips, “Stop them or we will take matters into our own hands, and there will be much bloodshed.”
“Who’s we?”
“The fair folk and the spirits that reside in these woods. They sent us here because they won’t allow any more destruction. You have to stop them. We choose you”. Those icy eyes were the last thing I saw before it all faded into mist.
Gasping, I woke up in my bedroom and was met with the sun against my face. Stretching, I got out of bed and headed into the living room where my roommate Liz was already eating breakfast.
“Nightmare again?” she asked, looking up from her plate. As the word “nightmare” left her lips, I was flooded with the memory of what I just experienced.
“Not quite. I had a weird dream, and for some reason I think it was prophetic.”
Liz bit into her biscuit and chuckled before speaking again with a mouthful of food, “Hera can see the future now, can she?” I rolled my eyes and went back into my room to get ready for the day.
New York City streets are always bustling especially at this time of the morning. Stepping out of my apartment building, I fell into the crowd as I made my way to my favorite cafe a few blocks over. The wind chimes sang when I walked through the door, and the smell of coffee and pastries embraced me. “Good morning Hera. How are you feeling today?” Blake, the barista who worked the mornings, greeted me as I approached the register. The cafe was pretty much empty as usual, so we were able to have an actual conversation while he made my regular order.
“I’m kind of in a state of confusion actually.”
“And why is that?”
“Well, I had this dream, and in it, a faerie was begging me to save the forest.”
“I’m all for caring about the environment to an extent, but don’t tell me you’re becoming a tree hugger now, Hera.” He shuffled around making more drinks as he responded.
“No, no it’s not exactly like that. I think it was a prophetic dream. I have this feeling like I’m really meant to save that specific forest.”
Blake handed me my coffee and croissant while saying, “So what? You think you’re a psychic or something?” I shrugged, took my breakfast from him, and pulled my phone out to check the time. It was 11:11 AM. “Shit. I was supposed to meet my friend at 11. Thanks for the coffee Blake, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I quickly walked to my friend’s apartment complex and saw her standing outside.
“Hey Talia. Sorry I’m late. I got caught up telling a barista at the cafe about this weird dream I had last night.”
“No worries. I’m just glad you were able to come with me on my little roadtrip, photoshoot adventure. Can you grab some of this equipment? My car is parked around the corner,” she replied kindly. Once we were in the car and started up our drive, I began telling Talia about my dream, and I made sure to include every detail.
“So you see? I think it was a prophecy. Maybe I’m the new Oracle of Delphi.”
“We live in New York though. I don’t know, all that psychic stuff is kind of hard to believe. It could’ve just been a really detailed dream or something.” Talia’s eyes never left the rode, but I could tell from her voice exactly how she felt; she wanted to believe me and she just couldn’t.
For the next hour I was silent. I stared out the window and just listened to the music on the radio. As we got further from the city, I started to notice more trees. A thick forest came into view, and a piercing ringing felt like it was being blasted into my ears with a speaker.
“Pull over.”
The words barely escaped my mouth while I pressed my fingers to my temple in an attempt to quiet the noise.
“Are you okay? We’re still an hour or so from the spot I want to photograph. I don’t want to spend the whole day driving, you were already la-”.
“Pull over Talia. Now.”
Without another word Talia pulled the car to the side of the road. I didn’t even wait to come to a complete stop before hopping out and heading towards the forest. I heard Talia’s voice behind me, but once I touched the first tree I knew exactly where I was and what to do. The ringing had quieted down, and when I took off my shoes and socks it stopped completely. Just like in my dream, I allowed the grass to lead me.
After about ten minutes, I arrived at the same clearing, and that was when I saw them. On the other side, a group of men with chainsaws and hard hats were standing amongst the trees. Without thinking, I ran into the middle of the clearing and yelled, “Hey! Whatever this is, stop it all, now.” One of the men looked at me and then back at the group before they all erupted into laughter.
“Go home little hippie. We’re working here,” another spoke up. They continued chuckling and started up their chainsaws. I took another step forward and raised my hand. I didn’t know what I was expecting to happen, but the chainsaws were pulled out of the workers’ hands and floated above their heads. Am I doing this? How am I doing this? I thought.
“What the fuck is happening?” one of the workers said, causing me to snap back into focus. I wasn’t in control anymore. My hand closed into a fist, and the chainsaws crinkled like empty soda cans. When I threw my fist down, they crashed into the ground leaving dents. The workers stared in shocked silence and fear. For some reason that made my lips pull into a tight smile.
“Are you boys going to leave now or did you want to be next?”
I watched them scatter like roaches. When I looked back at the clearing, a bunch of deer, chipmunks, bear cubs, and birds were seated in the center seemingly staring at me.
“It’s okay now. We’re safe,” I told them.
“You did it,” a voice from behind me spoke, and when I spun around again I was face to face with the ice blue eyes of the faerie from my dream.
“Why did the spirits choose me?”
“We knew you were gifted and had a pure heart. Those who rely on this forest and live in it are grateful. You’re one of us now, even the animals will acknowledge you.”
“No one believed me. I doubt they ever will.”
“Human minds are trained to disregard the supernatural and pretend that anything beyond their physical reality does not exist. Pay no mind. You know who you are.”
I nodded, and the faerie turned to walk away.
“Wait! What’s your name? Mine is Hera.”
“I’m called Dianthe,” they turned around and continued speaking, “It means divine flower. My people are very connected to nature and forests. Especially this one.” I smiled, nodded again, and watched as Dianthe disappeared into the trees like the fog.