Fear in the Shadows

A young girl lay flat on her back, her pale skin shimmering in the bright moonlight, her dark hair barely visible in the dewy grass. As her shiny eyes snapped open, she didn’t see what she had expected. The last thing she remembered was sitting in between her best friends with a notepad balanced on her lap and a pen in between her index and middle fingers. Then it was blank. As if a chunk had been taken out of her memory.

Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet and looked around, skimming her surroundings for other signs of life. White light blossomed through the trees above, stars twinkling through the leafy foliage.
She walked northwards, then back, then looped around a giant oak.

Her slender body moved gracefully and silently, a mixture of decaying leaves and wet grass blowing at her feet. Her hair, silky and straight, hung to her waist, her long fringe concealed a pair of big dark glossy eyes.

As she ducked under another branch, she looked up at a pair of large blue eyes. Almost at once, she was captivated. She moved slowly to the left. At the exact same time, he seemed to echo her movements. She moved to the right, slightly quicker this time. But once again, he did the same thing, as if he was a reflection from a mirror.

She reached both of her long arms upwards until her hands touched the crumbly bark from the branch above her head. Without any warning, she closed her elegant fingers around it and pulled herself onto the damp wood. Her long legs dangled down just far enough to brush the hair of the stranger.

He looked up at her dark eyes, made even darker by the shadows of the trees. Meanwhile, he also took hold of the branch and pulled himself up so that he was sitting close to her. Too close for her liking. She felt intimidated, even more intensely so due to the fact that she could hardly see his face except for the points that were bathed in the starlight above.

He reached out and touched her face, stroking it gently. He then tilted his head slightly, a furrow appeared in his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to speak, but his breath caught in his throat, and he coughed loudly. As he finished, he leant backwards, allowing the light to illuminate his shiny blonde hair. It was a dark blonde, more brown in the present lighting.

She reached out her hand to him, which he took cautiously. Smiling, she jumped down from the branch, catching him as he fell. Once they were safely on the ground, he found her actions very funny. He laughed so loud that his soft voice echoed through the trees, causing an uproar of wildlife.

From the shadows, another crept out towards the two happy people. This time, it was a female. She ran straight to the tall girl standing there. A notebook was in her shaking hands. She held it out to the girl, head bowed in silent respect.

She smiled and asked the tall girl for her name. The girl was speechless for a second. The lack of words had lured her into the false illusion that neither stranger could speak. But then she realised that she was terribly wrong about it. She looked at the girl, who was only a small amount shorter than she was, and quietly replied,
“My name is Luna.”

It was soon found out that the boy was named Micki, and the other girl, Tsuki.
However, the night was only growing darker, and all three humans voiced the need for sleep. All three curled up tightly, feeling safe in the company of each other. Peacefully, they napped, on the damp foliage, until the sun arrived, and took away the fear that lurked in the dominating shadows.