Page 115 of When the Woods Go Silent

And I wonder if maybe the trees don’t even need words to communicate with me. Something tickles my wrist, and I look down to see a slim vine curling gently around it, tapping at my palm. The me from yesterday would have snatched her hand away in fear, but now, I watch the vines move, my eyes and ears open, ready to learn.

More vines crawl over the railing and they thicken and twine together, looping around the railing of the balcony and dangling down into the night. A startled smile crosses my face as a new image arrives, me climbing down the vines like Rapunzel from the tower.

“Okay. I’ll come down. But I’m using the stairs,” I say, for once ignoring the logical, practical side of me that says I’m losing my mind and talking to plants is way beyond the first sign.

I wiggle my wrist free from the vines, relieved that they don’t tighten or tug. Slipping back inside, I grab my tennis shoes, phone, and keys, then tiptoe down the stairs to the back door. I lock up behind me, hesitating on the grass as guilt for leaving Ruby alone washes over me.

But I need to know more.

Looking up at the balcony from below, I tug on my shoes and take a deep breath, whispering a plea to the woods to continue to keep Ruby safe. The vines release the balcony railing and tumble down around me, unknotting themselves and slithering into the forest like a mess of tangled green snakes, and I shiver at the unwelcome image. Hopefully, that’s justmyimagination and not a message from the forest.

Trees and vines are okay, but if I start seeing snakes and spiders? Nope, I’m done.

I enter the tree line, immediately noting a hint of electricity - almost a hum, like I’m standing in a room full of computers orbanks of servers. When I close my eyes briefly, I imagine I can see glowing outlines of individual trees. It reminds me of night vision images, and I wonder what exactly I’m experiencing.

Is it just in my head, or is this a sort of magic? Am I seeing the energy of the trees or imagining things?

I experiment with tiny steps, eyes closed again, and a mix of unease and bright curiosity swirls through me as I realize I can actually navigate around the trunks without seeing them. It’s definitely not just in my head. Then I trip on a root, and I snort at myself, opening my eyes again. Leaves rustle above me, and in an odd way, the sounds remind me of childish laughter.

“Did you do that on purpose?” I ask the tree whose root almost took me to the ground. Of course, there’s no answer, and I shake my head. This is all too strange. If Kier hadn’t already shown me so many magical things, I would assume I was hallucinating and check myself into a mental ward.

Instead, here I am, fumbling my way into rebuilding my reality.

Finding a fallen log cushioned with soft moss, I sit and press my palms to the wood, closing my eyes and letting my breathing get slower. I’ve done a fair amount of meditation in my healing journey, and it’s not long before I slip into the stillness around me, floating on the gentle idea of an open, empty mind.

My awareness expands as I imagine the forest as a whole, then the state, then a broader and broader world, until my mind is lost in the stars. Then I narrow it back down to my senses - the rough bark under the pads of my fingers, the crinkle of dried leaves at my feet. The scent of pine and impending rain, fresh green growth and the musk of animals that crawl through the nighttime forest.

The rustling of the leaves intensifies, and the patterns become clearer to me as my mind organizes the sounds, methodically solving the puzzle like a math equation. Therepetition makes more sense, like hearing a language I learned years ago, but have mostly forgotten.

Then the raindrops begin, pattering the leaves above, dripping slowly through the canopy until a few cold drops land on my hands and face. I give in to the world around me, willing my brain to open wider and remember I’m just another animal in the forest at night. I’m part of this world, not separate like humans often believe.

I’m part of the spring growth and the winter decay. My body came from these molecules, and my energy was transferred from other energy around me.

As the rustle of the leaves merges with the images in my mind, I start to feel the shift from nonsense to sense. From confusion to order.

Take back your power, the trees whisper to me, and I finally, truly, understand them, deep inside my soul, beyond any organized syllables of language.

Take back the power that was locked away inside of you. The power that was stolen from you and hidden in order to keep you safe. Take back your true nature. Open yourself, Rose. Bloom.

The whole universe seems to spin around me in ever-expanding whorls as the rustles of leaves turn themselves into whispers in an ancient language, then filter into understanding in my brain. It feels impossible, but so does everything else that’s happened in the last few days.

“I’m listening,” I whisper, taking a line from Ruby. She’s always told the trees this, and they protected her today. Maybe they’ll do the same for me.

Take back your power.

The command swirls in my mind, repeating and multiplying, as though there are a thousand soft voices encouraging me. Idon’t know how to do what they’re asking, but the allure of having any kind of power in all this craziness is irresistible.

Feeling a little silly, I spread my arms wide, palms to the dark night, and will myself to be open to whatever magic waits for me, scuffling in the shadows.

Nothing happens, though.

The breeze slides along my skin, more raindrops fall, and the trees continue to whisper, but I don’t feel anything inside me change. I do, however, sense the footfalls coming toward me through the maze of trunks, too far away to hear. A pulse, low in my belly, somehow recognizes Kier long before he steps into view, and I wonder if this isn’t also a sort of magic.

Like with the trees, I can feel him as a source of energy now, and although my open eyes only see him, the sight behind closed eyelids shows me his aura. I’ve never been one to put much belief in that sort of mysticism, but there’s no other word for it. In my mind’s eye, I see him glowing bright and clean, with a green aura and a pit of golden fire in his center, wrapped around with green tendrils.

I suck in a breath, opening my eyes to meet his, and he cocks his head at me.

“Scared?”

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