HUMAN REALM—AGE 13
Ever since I was little,I had a deep gut sense of things. An unexplainable sense you’d get when your stomach twisted in dread, knowing something bad was about to happen. I called it myinkling. As if the world was made up of invisible little strings, connecting everything and everyone together—and my inkling could feel them. Sometimes, I felt it too, as if my inkling was a living thing, getting my attention by tugging.
My house was just past the cemetery. An old stone wall acted as our fence, separating us from the tombstones.
The old graveyard was, by far, my favorite part of town and I often walked there. It was peaceful, like the ease you’d feel at home. But occasionally, I’d hear them—thewhispers.They started when I was little, just after having moved in with my foster mom. Summers were hard when the windows were always open. The mumblings would echo in my room. I was horrified at first. My foster mom and doctor thought it was just night terrors. But like pinching the same spot on your skin over and over, it numbed over time, whispers becoming just a normal part of my day. I kept quiet about it. I didn’t fitin at school already, so an extra target on my back was the last thing I wanted.
My feet crunched the gravel as I turned on my road. Thick forest surrounded me, rustling with life. Evergreens loomed above. I imagined them as my giant, piney protectors, guiding me safely home.
My eyes caught on some wildflowers, appreciating their red hues.
I’d always loved plants and flowers. Not that I was any good at growing them though. Part of me felt connected, as if each one was a living creature, holding meaning and emotion.
Then the back of my neck tickled. I spun around, catching a glimpse of a feathery, white wing disappearing behind a tree.
Strange. What kind of bird was that? Dove?
I crept forward, feeling an invisible rope in my gut go taut.
A faint child’s giggle echoed.
Ew! So creepy!
I envisioned a botched-faced, haunted doll dragging me into the woods.
Hell freaking no . . .
I took a step back, knowing all too well from all the horror movies I’d watched, what happened to the people who got too curious.
Tug.
Tug.
My hand clutched my stomach, hoping the pull would stop.
Darn it. It’s probably nothing. Don’t be a coward.
Tiptoeing forward, I looked around the trunk of the tree, then froze, stunned.
“What the?—”
A baby! It was a freaking baby!
I looked around, but no one was nearby.
Flashes of my own abandonment as a child stung my thoughts.
It looked up at me with big honey-gold eyes and a toothy smile.
Fair skin, tuffs of curly blonde peach fuzz, and red chubby cheeks. It was sostinking cute!Total cuteness overload. I wanted to kiss those big fat rosy cheeks! Oh my god—itsrolls! Its wrists had rolls! Itsrollshad rolls! How was that even possible?
I attempted to pull myself together.
“Hi,” I said sheepishly. “Are—are you okay?”
Golden eyes illuminated, staring into my soul. It studied my face, lips curling upward as its rosy cheeks protruded. The baby was on the ground in front of me wearing a strange white silky robe.
Weird.
