The Stepping Path

I awoke today to the sound of thunder. My favorite. I’ve always been a dark humorous individual with a touch of sadness. Perhaps the two go hand in hand. I’ve suffered from insomnia I imagine since birth so the crashing alarm clock was befitting for the nightmares I had been awoken from. Dreams of monstrous creatures chasing me was nothing new. I’ve learned to shake these feelings immediately upon awakening, but something was strange this day. I could not for the life of me remember where I had just been in the dream world.

I looked out my window and peered upon a dark grey sky. Everything slick and glistening from the rain pour that had just passed. To me one of the most beautiful sights given in this life. There’s something vampiric about a dark, gloomy morning. I shuffled myself to the bathroom to brush this taste from my mouth; my mouth being so dry from the likely intense dream I had just been in. Mark still laid on his side of the bed, snoring as loud as ever. I’ve always wondered what that kind of peace was like. I finished my morning routine and went to wake him. This was supposed to be our vacation as we’d never left the country before. Scotland had always been a goal of mine yet I had not anticipated just how glorious the weather would be; to me anyways. “It looks awful out there, better grab your jacket” Mark says. We were venturing today to see what we could see.

I stepped outside and took a deep breath of the cool air. I couldn’t help but think as I looked upon the Edinburgh skyline about how short life is. Just a speck on this earth. “Time to put a smile on” I told myself as Mark grabbed my hand. We started to make our way down a small path hoping to eventually make our way over to the castle. The point was to take our time as was the opposite of our usual busy American life. Id spent near 30 years in America having never seen the rest of the world and was just about to give up hope when this opportunity arose. Soon we came across a small stand serving sandwiches, I assume to appease to the tourists preferences. We decided to stop and grab something to drink as we had a bit of a ways to go. We stood in line & went over the small menu. I notice a girl behind the counter with a broken arm, as a man so rudely complains of her lack of mobility. “Huh” I thought.. “Being inconsiderate must be a global thing”. I told Mark what I had wanted and then walked away a few steps just to peer into this beautiful country while I could.

As I stood observing the small group around me, I notice a small girl maybe around 11 years old. She was a brunette with olive toned skin. I looked around again to see if anyone had been watching her, or noticed her starting to venture the small paved path & began wondering if she would stop and come back. Maybe her parents had lived close by hidden by a tree or something. “Casey” I heard Mark call from behind me. I turned around to accept my drink and we began to talk about our surroundings happily.

Suddenly I hear a woman scream “Olivia!“. I turned to the voice and saw a woman likely in her 30s becoming a bit nervous as she spun slow circles continuing to scream. I walked forward and asked “Mam, are you looking for a small girl with brown hair?“. “Yes!” she said “My Olivia. She was just here. Have you seen her?“. “Yes, I just saw her down that path. I’m sure she couldn’t have gotten very far”. Mark and I watched sipping from our drink as the woman and a few men had gone in different directions calling for the girl, hoping for her to pop out from behind a tree. “You know I almost said something when I first saw her. I sure hope she turns up quickly” I said to Mark. Something felt a bit eerie I thought. I looked over towards the stand and saw the older man behind the counter subtly looking at me. “That’s weird” I said. Mark turned and looked at him. He gave a small laugh and said “he probably just thinks you’re pretty”. I gave a small laugh in return but as I connected eyes with the man something had just felt off.

The woman returned shortly, this time growing increasingly frantic. “Oh my God where is she?! She’s gone I just know it!“. “Hmmm I wonder what sort of wildlife may be out here” Mark said. “Hope she hasn’t been eaten.” as he laughed. “Wow that’s a bit dark don’t you think? I’m sure she’s fine”. I finished my drink & stood to throw it in the tiny trash can near the stand as I continued to watch and began to feel for this woman. Such a short period had passed. Could you imagine? I wondered to myself what all could’ve happened so quickly. Mark and I decided to look down both ends of the path a bit hoping we could catch a glimpse of the girl in the distance. Maybe she’d just wandered a bit too far from ear shot. I could see nothing resembling what I had saw her wearing.

I looked over at Mark and saw him staring down at his feet. “What are you looking at?” I asked. “Do you see it?“. I looked at his feet and saw just the paved path beneath. I stared and stared and stared even harder. Suddenly a green, transparent almost moving patch appeared. I blinked as hard as I could, stunned. Was it the light? Perhaps something like the floating patches you see when you’ve stared at the sun? It disappeared. I looked up at Mark and could see the confusion on his face. At that moment I knew that he had seen it too. Suddenly it appeared again, this time a little further away. “What the fuck?” I said. “Am I dreaming?“. “You’re definitely awake” Mark said, both of us never taking our eyes away from the luminescent patch. We started to inch towards it when it disappeared. We looked at each other again with concern on our faces. I looked back at the man in the stand who was still staring at me as he cleaned his counter, face as straight as could be. He looked away from me. I turn my focus once again to the path. Mark and I searching with our eyes trying not to blink. “There!” it appeared again. This time Mark jumps & lands directly in the patch. I look up, him looking at me with the expression of “ah ha!” on his face but all within a split second turned to eyebrows raising in worry when I blinked... and Mark was gone.

“Huh?” I rubbed my eyes. I turned my head in every direction as quickly as I could. “Mark!” I screamed. “MARK!” I started to run forward. I could see nothing. I ran to the stand and said “excuse me!” the man looked at me with the same annoyed expression as before. “Excuse me I know you were watching me. Did you see him?? Where is Mark? What is happening?“. The man ignored me and turned his back. “HEY!” I demanded. “Tell me right now!“. The girl with the broken arm, looking as though she were not sure if she had the permission says “The only way in is through”.

“What?” I said now beyond confused. The man snapped his head in her direction, silencing her with his glare. She looks at me with sympathetic eyes and then leaves my sight. “What the fuck does that mean?!” I demanded with no response. I turned and went towards the path again. I then realized the small crowd of people had dissipated and there I stood alone. I ran. I ran my way to the cottage we had just came from. I ran inside and tried to catch my breath. I slapped myself. I ran to the bathroom and splashed water into my face. “Come on Casey!” I yelled to myself. I always felt a little crazy but had I finally lost it?

I sat for a few minutes thinking of the girl. Ok. I got myself together. I grabbed my pocket knife and made my way back down. I reached the stand where the old man was serving another patron. I kept myself at a distance to not make eye contact with him and walked around the back. I waited next to a small stone fence watching for the girl. Finally she appeared, making her way back to the stand. Right as she began to cross my path I jumped out shushing her. “Please” I begged. “I’m not crazy and I know what I just saw. Please tell me what you meant!“.

She sighed and looked around, making sure we were alone. “Look for the light, and there you will find your door. Beware though... I only know the way in.” I looked into her eyes more lost than ever. “The green light?” I questioned. She stared into my eyes for a second, and replied “On the stepping path”.