The Time Capsule

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

SHADOWSTREAM, 2014

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? One would assume it would produce a series of shockwaves that would travel to the listener. But what if there was no one around to hear it? Would the sound be merely a whisper? Or perhaps it wouldn't exist at all? After all, how would one know a tree made a loud thump if no one was there to hear it?

It was rather the same with stories, Angelica Sparrow supposed as she stepped over cracked branches and overgrown bramble of the never-ending woods. The tall oaks rose to the height of sky scrapers, and Angelica liked to think they rose beyond the clouds. What wonders they must see, she mused as she circled one of the tallest trees in the forest. The freezing snow cooled her upper lip as she reached out with gloved hands to trace the many lines she had made on the tree bark. One for each year since her father had disappeared. 

Shadowstream was a small town where everyone knew each other, and went about their daily lives without a care in the world. 

Arguably, the most interesting thing that caused a buzz this week was that the lawn keepers didn't trim the grass to the precise 2.5 inches that they were usually very precise with. This should be the first warning that bad things were about to happen. Angelica kicked aside a chunk of said snow covered grass to get a firm footing, the snow spiraling into the air as she bent down to have a look at the tree rings. The forest creaked and ticked around her in protest, or perhaps in warning. The latter sounded more likely to Angelica; she had avoided the dark woods since her father...but she didn't want to think about that. 

The trees loomed in her backyard, tall and unforgiving for most of her childhood. But not today. Today, she would conquer her fear of what could be nothing more than dead leaves, brambles, and the occasional frightened deer. The rings on the tree stretched out much further than the average oak, and for a wild instant, Angelica wished they could talk. What stories would they tell, she wondered? Would they tell of jousting knights? Of evil queens and lost fairies? Stop it, Angelica scolded herself. You are almost a lady, you shouldn't be inducing in such fantasies. 

A rustle of feathers sounded nearby as if on cue, and Angelica jumped back in surprise as a group of starlings took flight from a tree nearby, chirping in unison as they fled. Angelica moved her foot aside to see she had unearthed a chunk of the tree base covered in moss and felt a pang of sadness. Her father always told her stories of how some trees were fairy trees, and the fairy kingdom resided in the tree's heart. She imagined fairy dances and was about to turn away in shame when a blue glow nearby caught her eye. 

She hesitated, what if she got in trouble for this? Shaking herself, she moved a chunk of earth aside and the glow grew brighter. Before she knew it, her hands were covered in dirt and old snow. What she unearthed only made her more curious and she was sure that more visits to her therapist would be on the way if she showed this to anyone. 

For she now held a small, pentagonal box, the weight seeming to come from everywhere all at once. What entranced her most was the blue swirl on top that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Did the box...she dared to think...have a soul? Was it alive? It certainly seemed to be so to her, as the swirl was now pulsing in and out like a heartbeat. 

Angelica looked out at the dark woods, then tucked the box back in her long black coat, then raced back to her house, the trees growing smaller and younger and the wintery sunlight gracing the tips of her skin as she made her way towards her house. If she had looked back, she would have seen the leaning tree move by just an *inch* with a tiny creak. If Angelica knew more about the flight patterns of starlings, she would have known that they flew out of their nesting place in warning.