Prompt: https://siobhanmuir.com/thursthreads-tying-tales-together-week-533/
“They aren’t real, the monsters.” But Nana whispered when she said that. I knew that if I asked her why she was being quiet, she’d tell me that she was trying to keep me calm.
She’d intended to comfort me until I fell asleep, but she drifted off before I did, and good thing she did. I’d no sooner heard her first soft snores than I caught their scent.
I gently extricated myself from her embrace and padded outside. The moon was merely a crescent, but I wasn’t going to find the monsters with my eyes. Even if they weren’t diaphanous, they moved so quickly that most of the time you’d swear you’d seen was a waving branch or, if you were unlucky enough to have them in your home, the passing of a shadow.
Their nest was up the road and into the pines. The straw cushioned my steps, and I entered the sacred circle without being accosted.
The night air was damp here under the trees, and I breathed deep, letting it fill me. This was a place of power.
My power.
I fingered the necklace I wore, purple amethyst in the shape of a star, then unclasped it. As it fell to the ground, my body went with it, and I joined my family for their nightly hunt.
By morning, I was back in Nana’s arms, and when she stirred, we shared a smile.
I hoped her turn wouldn’t come for a long, long time.
Project Gemini 