Scion

"Scion..."

The voice whispered in the wind. Scion turned around, her ebony hair blowing across her pale face and shining like onyx stones in the dimming sun as clouds moved slowly over its face. She stood for a moment and listened. She'd heard that voice before since she was a child. Her eighteenth birthday was drawing near. The first time she could remember hearing that voice was on her eighth birthday. The second time was on her thirteenth, then her sixteenth, and now, it seemed her eighteenth.

"Come on, Scion, we'll be late," Letti said with childish exuberance. She grabbed Scion's hand and pulled her towards the Atrium's entrance. Scion's adoptive parents stood at the ticket booth, purchasing three adult and one child tickets. Adopted when she was just a baby, her mother had told the story like a fairy tale come true, how she just seemed to appear when they got the call from the agency that a child was available. They said that the parents had abandoned their child at the door of the Whispering Woods Atrium. Her little sister came some years later after years of fertility treatments. "My beautiful miracles," their mother would call them.

The silvery skies above swirled into a rainy haze. Scion looked back at the sky before entering the Atrium with her family. Today felt different; something was in the air, a feeling of reality shifting. Scion had felt it before, but not this strong. Scion took a deep breath as they walked into a large room with ten to thirty-foot trees. The signs said Myrtle, Quince, and the tallest trees were Bottlebrush, standing thirty feet high. Pink, white, and red foliage illuminated the room with unspeakable brilliance. The garish light streaming mundanely through the glass caused the bright foliage to pop breathlessly against the gloom.

Scion stopped in front of a smaller Myrtle tree. Its glowing white blossoms created a ghostly effect in the gray light, protected by the low-hanging branches of the red Bottlebrush clusters. The contrast in color was mesmerizing.

Somewhere, a breeze blew in from a neglected window, and dozens of white petals came loose from off the Myrtle tree, cascading around her.

"Scion…"

She reached out a hand and caught the petals, looking up into the mesmerizing display, breathing in the heady scent of fragrant blooms. The low-hanging BottheBrush branches swayed rhythmically and seemed to reach closer to her, brushing against her cheek with the gentle touch of a mother's hand.

Scion closed her eyes. She felt its touch before each time her parents brought her back every few years for her birthday. She felt at home here, like this is where she truly belonged. This experience today was different, though more real than imagined.

She opened her eyes and beheld more luscious trees and flowers, trees she’d never seen before. The Myrtle and Bottlebrush were gone, as was the atrium, and the floor was no longer there but soft moss. The forest floor breathed slow and steady as though it were alive, yet she could walk without falling.

Scion shivered, wrapping her arms across her chest and glancing wide-eyed around her as panic set in.

The trees breathed with the rhythm of the earth. The flowers swayed to an unheard song; even the rocks and stumps glowed with life.

"Hello?" she called nervously. Her voice came out quiet and slow, as if in a dream. It didn’t feel real. Was this a new virtual show with high-definition three-D effects? "Mom, Dad, Letti?" she cried, her voice quivering.

There was no reply.

Something moved from behind a tree, swiftly peeking out, then back again, hiding.

"Whose there?" Scion asked, stepping forward and leaning closer to the tree it ducked behind.

A young sapling child stepped out from behind the protective trunk of a tree that must have been at least a hundred feet tall, its branches bowed out high above the earth, reaching endlessly to the sky. The child’s branches grew out of its head like locks of thin, wooden, braided hair dotted with tiny pink and white blooms, its face slender and eyes wide and curious. Its arms were long, and its branches trim, with fingers like twigs and blossoms sprouting from the tips. Its body, a slim trunk covered in a green lichen blouse, and its legs are equally strong but bowed and skirted in the same green and yellow lichen.

Scion stood mesmerized and quiet, wondering if this apparition was part of the show.

“Hello,” she said and kneeled on the mossy earth, reaching out a hand to seem less threatening. She’d learned this about children when her sister was a toddler. It seemed to work. The sapling child smiled, and its hazel eyes widened with glee; it ran towards her and wrapped its twig-like arms around her, squeezing her tight. Scion thought this must be what it feels like to be hugged by a willow tree. It let go and grabbed her hand, wrapping its vine-like fingers around her hand and pulling her forward.

“You want me to come with you?” Scion asked, her voice wavering nervously. The creature nodded its head, and Scion obeyed, letting the creature pull her along. The forest got darker as they walked deeper, but a gentle, bluish-white glow remained, like the light of a full moon. However, the trees' canopy blocked her view of the sky.

“Where are we going?” she asked, and the sapling child turned its head and smiled cheerfully at her while continuing to pull her forward.

Strange shadows moved in the dark, and even the rocks rolled silently or slid out of the way. They sparkled and glimmered as though they could not contain the life within them. Once, she thought the trees were watching her from behind and turned to see them slowly bend back into place. The whole thing felt like a living dream.

“This way,” the sapling child chimed. Scion was startled to hear its gentle and serene voice, like a babbling brook gurgling over rocks. Her voice was just as beautiful as this place.

It wasn’t long before they stepped into a glade. The same glow enchanted the sky. The trees surrounded the glade all around, and two majestic trees stood in the center. Their topmost branches bowed out over the glade, protective and smooth with leaves and petals, unlike anything Scion had ever seen. Hundreds of tiny lights danced and sparkled, creating a breathtaking scene. Scion thought they were lightning bugs until one flew by her, and she saw the distinct details of human-like features, with a face, arms, and legs much like the sapling childs'. Their heads were like seedlings, and their bodies were like tiny stems. Wispy white tufts like dandelion fluff sprouted out of their heads, and a white glow emanated from the center of their stem-like chest, beating rhythmically where their heart might be. The combined effect of their twinkling lights created a mystical feeling in the glade.

The sapling child let go of Scion's hand and ran to the trees in the center of the glade, hugging them both in turn. Then, stepping back, the child spoke in a language Scion didn’t understand, but it was familiar somehow. The child looked back at her, then back at the trees.

Scion watched in wonder as the trees transformed before her eyes. Their branches retracted, pulling themselves back into what now appeared to be the trees' heads, and their trunks changed into human-like forms, dressed in pink, green, and blue moss draping over their trunks like robes. They approached her with the sapling child walking alongside them.

“Scion?” they said.

It was the same voice she’d heard over the years. She looked up into their amber and green eyes, wet with dew or tears; she couldn’t be sure, and then they caressed her face again with their blossom-tipped fingers.

“Welcome home,” they whispered.

The sapling child hugged her again.

“What do you mean?” Scion asked, feeling perplexed. Her voice sounded strange and slow in this place.

“You’re our child,” they said in unison. “You drifted to the other side as a seedling and blossomed into a human child. Every spring equinox, the veil between our worlds is thin. If the seedlings stay in this glade, they are safe, but occasionally, a curious seedling drifts into the forest and the human world. We try to call them home, but time moves more quickly there. By the time they come home, they are grown like you are now, but it's not too late. You can still return and join the forest, returning to your true form and family.”

Scion looked into their eyes, wide, hazel, blue, and green…innocent and honest. She could feel the love emanating from them, and the collective glow in the glade gleamed brighter.

“I have another family now. They love me too,” Scion explained.

The sapling child's eyes glistened. It hugged her again and whimpered.

Scions’ heart ached.

“We will not force your decision. It is yours to make. If you return, you will return to your true form as a tree of this forest, like your brothers and sisters. In time, you will take root in the woods and stay connected with us for all eternity. We do not die here. We are gnolaum or eternal.”

“What is this place?” Scion asked.

“This is the Whispering Woods. It is where the spirits of all nature go when they die from the human world. We are the shepherds of their spirits. The guardians of the natural spirit world.”

The other tree, who had stood silent most of the time, took her by her hands, and she knew in her heart that this one was her father. “Though you are living a mortal human life, your soul is as ours.” He placed a hand on her chest, and to Scions’ amazement, her heart began to glow from within, larger and brighter than the others. “Whether you stay now or not, Your spirit will return here when you die and share your knowledge with the forest.”

“We love you, Scion. It's a name I’m glad your human mother gave you. Some humans are more in tune with nature than they realize. She is a special woman, and your family is special. We love you and will wait for you, no matter your choice.”

Scion looked from one to the other, then at the sapling child. A yearning to stay and learn the secrets of this magical place burned within her heart and mind. She knelt on the soft earth again and took the child's twiglike hands in hers, the silky petals of the blossoms pressed against her palms.

“I am sorry, I cannot stay. I have another sister in the human world. She would be all alone if I left her,” she tried to explain. “If time is as fast as they say, then it won’t be long before I return, and I promise we will spend time and play,” Scion smiled.

The sapling child smiled and hugged her once more, squeezing her tight.

“I wish I could bring you with me to meet her, “ Scion said with sincerity.

“We’re afraid that would be impossible,” The elder trees explained. “As a sapling child in our world, she would be a sapling tree in yours, and her spirit wouldn’t return until her natural, earthly life ended. Only seedlings that drift through the veil can change to a human form because their chosen form has not yet been decided.”

“I understand,” Scion said.

“Then this is goodbye until I return,” Scion promised.

“In that case, we shall send you back to learn what you can do with this form.”

Scion could feel their sadness and marveled at what she had learned. It felt like a dream, yet she knew it was real.

The sapling child pulled a vine from her arm and fashioned it into a necklace chain. She then took a glowing, white stone from the earth and, with a twig, fashioned a bezel where she placed the stone. She draped the necklace around Scions’ neck, fastening it in the back with a knot.

“Thank you,” Scion said. “It’s beautiful.” She kissed the sapling child on the cheek and returned a warm hug before leaving.

The luminescent trees at the glade's edge reached their glowing bows up high, creating an arch. A path cleared, marking her way back.

Scion began to walk towards the path and turned briefly to wave goodbye before continuing forward, but the elder trees and the sapling had returned to the center of the glade and resumed their natural forms, connected with the earth and reaching their tall, wide bows back out, creating a canopy of protection for the seedlings drifting, and floating, glowing with life. The sapling child was smaller than the elders, and the bright pink and white blossoms shone more delicate and brightly against the elder trees' prominent blooms. She could feel their joy as they returned their roots to the gently breathing earth.

As she walked down the path, she took in as much as she could see. She felt her heart race faster as she neared the clearing where she had first entered. Dark shadows moved quickly in and out of view from behind the trees and rocks. Strange chittering sounds and a whispered language she did not understand echoed in the still air.

She stopped walking momentarily and wrapped her arms around herself as a familiar chill set in. She closed her eyes and took a breath.

“Scion?”

She opened her eyes and looked into the bewildered stare of her sister Letti.

“Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Letti grabbed her arm and rushed her toward an adjoining room filled with exotic flower beds.

“I think I fell asleep,” Scion said.

“Standing on your feet, yeah, right," Letti laughed. "Hey, where'd you get that necklace? That's pretty. Are they in the gift shop?" Letti asked.

Scion looked down and lifted the necklace off her chest, caressing the intricate weaving of twigs around the white stone. Had it all been real? She thought.

“How long was I asleep?” Scion asked.

“Not long, Letti said. I want to show you something cool.” Letti stopped in front of a large glass case lit by silvery light pouring in through the glass ceiling.

Inside the display was a little tree with pink and white blossoms.