Fiction | Short Story | Fascinate Me Fiction
The Unseen Guardians
A fiction about the unseen and the unknown.
Oh the Prodigal son returns,” said my dad, without lifting his head from his non-fiction about how doomsday is right in the corner. Typical Dad.
“It is good to see you too, Dad,” I said, while I went inside the kitchen looking for my mom.
“You are here!!” my mom exclaimed, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her lavender scent with hints of jasmine wafted around me, instantly calming me down. My mom has a petite frame but the energy of all the universe combines and then some. She has this constant smile, while she fussed around everyone. Though, I think she is due for a big, long loud, and gut-wrenching scream to get stuff out of her system.
But she won’t.
“How are you? Why did you have to walk from the station to home? You know I don’t like it when you are taking a shortcut through the woods.”
“ Oh, I wanted to get your favorite flowers for you. It’s in my bag. Wait a minute!” and I rushed to get it for her from my bag.
As I shuffled through my bag to get her violets, I saw my leather-bound journal missing. I searched through my bag turning it upside down, looking in my coat pockets, but it was nowhere to be found.
“I will be back, Mom”, I said as I rushed out to retrace my steps. But I bumped into my best friend Jacob.
“Whoa slow down. It is fine. I am here to meet you, man.” Jacob said pulling me into a side hug.
“Not now, bro. I lost my diary. I need to go find it. Would you come?” I was almost in a panic.
“The DIARY?? You mean the one that I am holding here.” He laughed as he held out that diary to me.
I breathed easy after seeing it, as I snatched it from his hands. “Thanks for finding it. I was so worried.”
“Oh, the credit doesn’t belong to me. It was lying here on your doorstep, with this flower and note. I swear I didn’t read it.” He said with one hand on his heart. I didn’t doubt him. Growing up, he was an Eagle Scout. This tall, six-feet-two lanky, awkward adult was as loyal as the ten-year-old Jacob was.
I saw the bunch of violets he was holding, exactly like the ones I picked for Mom from the woods. I snatched the note from him, and it said, “Welcome back! The Woods don’t forget.”
“Oooooohh is it an admirer?” Jacob teased as I went inside with him, laughing. Before closing the door, I looked outside and saw giant rocks crowded near the fence. I smiled.
The rocks were back.
After lunch, while I was doing some of my office work, I saw my Dad standing next to me, shuffling from one foot to another. I knew that Mom was at it again. Trying to fix us for father-son time and my dad was trying to find the words.
To save us time, I grabbed my jacket and asked my Dad, “How about we go into the new cafe?”
His face lit up and his shoulders heaved a sigh of relief. He grabbed his jacket and car keys, though I would have preferred to walk.
To break the awkward silence, I asked, “Dad, the rocks were around the fence.”
He didn’t answer but his face tightened. I left the conversation at that. As we reached the cafe, my dad asked me to grab the coffee to go while he sat in the parking.
The tiny cafe was pretty empty, but the smells of scones and bread were plenty. It was magnetizing people from the streets to come into the cafe. When my turn came up, the barista looked at me and smiled, a smile that you give to the people you know, to the people you love and I was blown by it.
Her olive green eyes with tiny gold specks could see right into my soul as she smiled. She was talking to me, and I was smiling but I couldn’t understand what she was talking about.
The guy behind me tapped on my back and said, “Bro, she is asking you a question.”
“Sorry. I was zoned out. Yes, what can I do for you?” I asked her, still mesmerized by the familiar eyes.
She laughed like twinkling bells. “That is my question. But before that, was your diary all okay? I called you when I saw you dropped it, but you were in a hurry. So I dropped off at your place.”
“You know me?” My eyes were wide as my brain backtracked to who she could be. Her eyes were familiar, but I couldn’t remember her.
“Ha Ha Ha! Very funny. I will have your order up at the other counter. I will see you later around the woods. Next!” And she dismissed me.
Dazed, I grabbed my order, my cappuccino with one extra shot of expresso and oat milk and a black coffee for my dad. I didn’t remember ordering. Heck, I didn’t remember paying.
I went back to the counter, but this time there was another girl. I told her that I had forgotten to pay, but she looked at the order number and said, no, it was already paid.
My dad saw me coming back, looking all pale and bewildered. He took the coffee and waited for me to settle down. He looked at me and said,
“ The rocks never left. Since that night in the woods, when you chased out those people from breaking the moving rocks. Your mom and I do not come to the city anymore because no one takes money from us. The rocks have been watching over us.”
I felt silent, as I remembered those olive eyes. Those eyes that I saw on the rocks. Those eyes that have always watched over me as I played in the woods. Only once I had seen a tiny furry, moss-covered hand shoot out of the rock to catch me when I had tripped over some branches once.
That night when those young drunks were smashing the rocks, I had gone after them with my dad’s rifle. I had felt as if my own family had been attacked. It was such a long time ago.
As Dad crossed through the woods driving home, I saw the rocks rolling around following us, as if to welcome me back.
The Woods never forget.
Fascinate Me Fiction prompt was “One cold December night, a lost young man trips in the woods and one of his most precious possessions falls out of his bag. The next day it reappears on his doorstep… with a little something attached.” And it just made my brain write this. I hope you enjoyed it.