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Lightening flashed in the forest, turning the trees into black silhouettes against the sky. Waves spilled between the tree trunks, washing out the tiny ferns and mushrooms that stood there. Sarah clung to a tall birch, slippery with rain, as she scanned the forest floor. Where was he? A small ‘Sarah’ reached her ears, yelled against the sound of the wind and rain and rushing river that swirled past Sarah’s ankles. She turned and saw Shonim. His lily pad leaf was stuck to his head, the brim falling into his eyes. He clung onto the stem of a fern that struggled in the current as if it too needed the air desperately, but his hands were slipping. Sarah reached out to him, but her foot slipped on the muddy earth and she had to grab the tree so as not to fall over. Shonim made one long gasp for breath and then disappeared under the water. His hands still curled around the fern stem, but Sarah could not see his face. Then, horribly, his hands too disappeared and all she could see of Shonim was a lily pad hat, freed from his head, spiralling around and around and floating off in another direction...
Sarah woke up sweating, and breathing hard. Her heart knocked against her. All was calm, even calmer than normal, not even a thin breeze came through the crack of her open window. Why did she dream of a storm?
She quickly sent her thoughts out to Shonim. She felt the tight panic curled up inside her chest unravel as she realised... he was alright. He was content, she could feel it. He was probably sleeping.
She pulled her covers close around her. Though it was a still autumn night, it was just coming to November, and the air was chill. Soon she would have to wear her heavier cardigans again, and her thick tights.
Sarah was not used to nightmares. She usually only had terrible dreams if she had a fever, or if there was a bad storm outside. The cold in her room did not explain her disturbing dream, she considered. Perhaps she was still upset by all that had happened that past year. Sarah and Shonim had found a box that had enchanted the cat, Sammy. He was a fierce threat to the fairy tribe and even to Sarah until the grandmother ancestor had saved them. But, that was nothing compared to the fact that Virella had forbidden Sarah to play with Shonim. His mother had tried to stand between their friendship and make Shonim fall in love with Breena, a cruel fairy that had chased Shonim’s best friend Firo into a cave. Though, Sarah had to admit, Breena was beautiful with her curling golden hair. Well, Sarah thought as she punched her pillow to fluff it up, atleast she and Shonim were back to normal and were now allowed to explore the forest together. Virella was even friendly to Sarah again. But why... why would she dream of Shonim drowning?
She stared forlornly at the window. A rectangular container of dirt sat on the sill, uninspired. Virella had asked her to plant mushrooms so that she and Shonim would have a place to rest when they came to visit her room. She had tried to plant them, but they did not grow at all. Shonim and Virella had told her to sing to the tray of dirt, and she had learned the words carefully, but nothing was happening.
Suddenly Sarah heard a low wind that almost sounded like... her name spoken in a whisper. She shuddered and moved deeper under the covers. It must have been a passing breeze, she thought, though the night still seemed calm. She wondered if Aunt Maude had come back to the house yet. She and Robert had gone for an ice cream after dinner. They had invited Sarah along, but she knew they had wanted to be alone. Besides, she had homework to do. But, Sarah shivered, she wished she hadn’t fallen asleep in the middle of her math assignment, which was still sprawled on the bed. Now she didn’t know if her aunt had come back or not. She usually stayed awake until she heard her aunt coming back into the house. Her aunt would pass by her room and say ‘good night’. She had the urge to walk down the dark hallway to Aunt Maude’s, room, but it was far too cold and very warm and snug in her bed...
Sarah felt the silence press through the room. It was too quiet, Sarah thought. That is why she was having all these thoughts. She almost wished the wind would come back, though of course, with a different sound to it...
Suddenly Sarah felt watched. She couldn’t put her finger on it, nothing had moved in the room. She stared outside into the black sky. No eyes met hers, no fairies on the window. Yet she felt... observed somehow. She crawled deep under the covers and turned from the window. It was just her imagination, she thought. Of course she would be upset from that dream. But she could not go to sleep until she turned on the light on her little bed side table, ran to the window and shut it, leapt back into the bed and hid again under the covers, with the light on. Then she slept quite well until morning.
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