The silver beatle

Once upon a time a knight in shining armor walked along a path that wound down along the edge of the forest. Unknown to him, a fairy woman spied him as she looked over the field from a tree limb. And as she saw him, she fell in love. She contrived to meet him by disguising herself as a mortal woman who'd fallen on the path. As the knight came around the bend, he saw the fairy woman and fell in love. They built a tiny house on the edge of the forest. In time, they had a little girl. They named her Severine.

Severine loved to play in the woods and splash in the creek. Every day she would tend her wilderness of mayapples and tall beech trees. One summer evening, she looked up to see that it was time to go... her mother would be waiting. She walked out of the creek and then suddenly stopped because she'd heard a voice. She was uncertain whether it was just a trick of the wind, until she heard it again:

"Severine..." it said. She spun around to look. But saw no one. The forest was quiet except for the whisper of the wind.

"Severine..." she heard again. She looked up now and saw in the branches: a black owl. Startled by the sight.. it took a moment for it to come into focus. "Was that you?" she asked.

"Severine.... I have something to show you." said the black owl. Stunned, Severine just stared. "To show me?" she repeated.

"Severine... I have something to show you... follow me" said the owl as it spread its massive black wings and flew to a branch on the other side of the creek. Now Severine, without thinking... followed the owl. She came up the other side of the creek bank to see what it had to show.

"Severine... follow me." said the owl as it lifted off again and flew deeper into the forest. Severine now paused.. she thought of her mother.. waiting for her in the kitchen, but she wasn't ready to leave this mystery behind just yet. It shouldn't take long, she thought as she followed the owl again. And as she approached, it lifted off again. Now Severine began to be irritated. "Now! How long is this going to take?" she asked. "Not much longer...follow me" replied the owl.

Severine followed on... as the owl lifted from branch to branch... deeper and deeper into the forest. And the grey twilight turned to black... the moon was new. Severine stopped now and said, "OK. I'll have to look at this some other time. I have to go back now."

"Severine... look around you." said the owl. And as she looked around, she saw that the shadows of the trees were unfamiliar. She wasn't sure she'd ever been in this part of the forest. And in fact... she wasn't sure now which was the way back. A vein of panic began to rise in her belly.

"Severine... follow me a little further, and I'll take you back home... I have something to show you." said the owl. Unpersuaded, but not sure of the alternative, Severine followed the owl as it lifted from tree to tree. Severine could only follow the sound of its wings above her. She followed and fell.. scraped by the branches and vines... she struggled to follow the owl... angry at the owl, but not wanting to be left behind... for fear of being lost in the darkness. And then, tired and confused... her mind a raging storm of fear and grief at her own foolishness, she dropped to her knees and wept. And as Severine's heart was breaking for the loving arms of her mother... the black owl descended and grabbed her clothes and lifted off into the night. Severine lost consciousness.

She woke. She was in a bed... but not her bed. She was in a room. The walls were made of grey stone. And as she looked around she saw a woman in a rocking chair. The woman wore a black cloak that went from her head to her feet. The woman looked at Severine.

"Who are you?" she asked.
"Oh, Severine... " said the woman. "You know who I am."
"Where is this?" asked Severine. The woman stared without any sign of humor.
"Stop this, Severine." said the woman. "You're in your bed." Severine started to cry, even though she tried not to. At this, the woman in the black cloak closed her eyes and looked away.
"You've been sick, Severine. You're my only daughter. It's made me very worried." said the woman accusingly. Severine didn't know what to say. Was the woman crazy? But she thought she'd better play along until she knew what to do. She followed the woman's instructions to get dressed... she followed the woman down the stone stairs. She tried not to show that the place was alien to her. The woman in the black cloak would shoot an angry look at her if she hesitated. Through the day, Severine picked up on the rules of this place as she tried to fit in. After the evening meal, Severine stared out the window at the lawn. The castle was on a hill. Far off, down the hill was the edge of the forest. The woman caught Severine staring at the forest and said, as if repeating something for the hundredth time:

"You never go into the forest, Severine. You know that. Never." said the woman in the black cloak. Severine bit her lip and her belly tightened from the stress. Tears came into her eyes and she blinked them back. It hurt so much she tried not to think at all.

In time, it became easier... not to think at all. The woman was cold, but not cruel. Much of the day Severine was alone with her chores. In the evening she played on the grass lawn. And looking down at her from the battlement of the castle, was a big black owl.

One summer evening, when the memory of the creek and the beech trees was shrouded with pain and blackness, Severine was playing on the grass... dancing round in circles. Round and round... as the day turned to twilight. She danced round and round... closer and closer to the edge of the forest. Not thinking at all... only spinning. As, from the battlements the owl looked on. As the twilight dimmed, Severine spun and danced until suddenly, without thinking at all... she leapt

into the forest. And in that moment the owl cursed her... "from now to the end of your life... a grey demon will live in your soul..." was the curse. And it was true.. as Severine was still in mid air, a grey demon entered her soul. She landed in the woods and ran and ran and ran... onward, further, through the darkness, out of her mind... she fell on the ground and curled up in a ball and wept. And then... she fell into a deep sleep.

In a dream, she looked up from the forest floor to see: her heart leapt! it was the house at the edge of the forest!!! She was beside the creek. Her poor heart burst for love. She ran to the house and stood on the porch. And stopped. She had a blank feeling. As if it was asking too much... much too much. She walked into the house and knew that no one was there. Tears tried to come into her eyes, but only tears of sadness at the fact that she was numb. She looked at her tiny bedroom... dusty and abandoned. She walked into her parent's bedroom... her heart a void. She sat down at a dressing table that had belonged to her mother and she looked up into the mirror on the wall... and there in the mirror... where her face should have been... was the image of a black, dog-like beast. Severine spun around in shock and ran out of the house, running in blankness... running no where. She woke on the forest floor now and saw that it was dawn.

She looked up at the light coming through the branches which were covered in green leaves.. As she sat, empty and peaceful, she felt something crawling on her leg. She looked down and saw a tiny silver beatle. It carefully crawled up her calf to sit on her knee. She looked down at it with the strange notion that it might speak. She smiled at the stupid notion.

And she heard in her mind a voice. And she knew it was the voice of the beatle.

"You see my shiny armor? This is the armor of your father." And the beetle shook its tiny body and opened up the silver shell. Out from below came green and purple wings, twinkling in the dawn light.
"You see my wings? These are the wings of your mother. I am your ally. I am always with you." said the beatle as it lifted off from her knee and flew off. And Severine looked up to see the forest air was filled with silver beatles. She stood up...

And smiled.