I sit lazily on the old deck, swirling my legs in the lake’s murky water and listen to the sound of children play. It’s a familiar lake, full of memories…and tangles of weeds. One bright green lily pad drifting across the water catches my attention. It reminds me of a clover, a giant vibrant four-leaf clover. I stretch my legs out towards it imagining its stem’s slime cooling my sunburnt skin. But I’m distracted by my sister’s call, “Sarah! Sarah!” she says. “Huh?” I mumble and glance in her direction. She stands knee deep in the water triumphantly waving her fishing pole above her head, a sunfish on the other end of it.

“I caught one. Saraaah, I caught one!” she sings giddily as she skips towards me and bounces onto the deck.

“You’re scaring the fish away”, I mutter, while reeling in my own line. But she doesn’t seem to notice.

I wonder about that 12 year old’s world, all bubbly and positive and… I add with a bit of spite, careless. I mean don’t get me wrong. She’s a good sister, or average… probably, but we’re just…3 years apart. I guess I was looking for a best friend, and all I got was a little sister. I watch as her fish flops across the wooden planks, sucking in large breaths of air frantically, and suddenly feel bad for the little guy. Escape, escape Kasey’s wrath I send telepathically. Of course, that kind of mind power just isn’t working, so I reach out, and flip the fish off the deck.

“Sarah!” Kasey wails, "Why did you do that?” I simply reply, "He wasn’t worth keeping anyway. Go get another one.” “Fine”, she sighs, and wades back into the water as noisily as possible. “Ok then. I’ll just go back to fishing.” I comment half to myself. My line goes far out. Seems to land effortlessly on calm waters. I admire my cast. The perfect sunlight, the perfect day, for MY perfect cast. A glimmer I see out of the corner of my eye makes me lose my train of thought; a fish randomly sailing across the sky does much more. The next moment was chaos. I screamed, Kasey squealed in laughter, and I swear that fish fainted dead away from exposure to us both.

“Ew, eww, ewwww! Kasey, arrgh! What? Why would you throw your fish at me?” Unexpectedly the fish seems to come back to life and forces its spikes into my soft palm. Red droplets seep through my hand, encouraging my temper. “Kasey! Perfectly sane people, like myself”, I raise my voice, “Do not go around throwing fish at PEOPLE!” I blast out the last word. Kasey giggles back, “It was just and accident.” I can’t help it, I couldn’t. “You know what!?” I reply. “I’m tired of your excuses. Sick and tired of your stupid, stupid, LAME, excuses!” I wish I had stopped there. She’s a forgiving girl. She looks up to me, but I continued. “You know what Kasey?”, I pause to look down on her. She murmurs quietly, the last shred of hope dies in her eyes as I finish, “Just go away.”

The last exasperated word. Phrase. The sparkles gone…I killed it. She slides away quietly, retreating. An overgrown field of grass now serves as a barrier, separating us. I’ve won the battle. I’ve made myself the bad guy, I know. All the critters around have stopped their merriment. Only silence remains.

An inner voice rebukes me. Sarah, tsk, tsk, no Sarah. I fight with myself. What do you know, I question. Can’t take it back now. The light part of me has gone; a heavy soul goes back to fishing. I convince myself to forget the matter. She doesn’t really care what I say anyway… does she?

A few minutes later I’m once again distracted by the thought of her. Why haven’t I heard her? I know she’s still on shore, just a little ways off from me. I listen, there’s nothing. Not the sound of children playing in the distance, not the splash of a fish, not the call of a frog. I set my pole down quietly on the deck. There’s not even-“Kasey!” I hear my own voice falter, she couldn’t have heard me. I order myself to see what she’s up to and leave the deck walking, but panic pushes me forward, faster until I’m thrashing through the weeds.

At yet a quicker pace my toes collide with an old tree root, bruising my feet and throwing me to the ground. As I lay there feeling disoriented, a small voice speaks. It’s Kasey. Who is she talking to? I wish to see but not be seen. My knees sting, creeping through the tall grass silently does not seem possible. But the light ahead shows me this odd terrain ends in just a couple feet. One more second passes and I crouch down to peer through the brush.

“Hello child!” an oddly cheery voice calls. I dart back quickly and almost reveal my hiding place. The man talks not to me, but to my sister. He grins, a ghastly toothy grin. His gaze fixed on her reminds me of a wolf watching its prey. In my mind I picture him diving in for the kill. I jump up. “Kasey. Let's go home." I say as calmly as possibly, and ignore the fact that I just popped out of nowhere, obviously spying, and grimy from it too. She looks at me and opens her mouth but closes it again.

My heart jumps wildly inside me wanting to run quickly, as we turn to walk ever so slowly towards home. I don't look back, I daren't. Keep going, you're close to home...close to home...close to home. But in truth we are close to the road, where we'll still face our two mile trek to the house. After a few dull minutes my paranoia settles down a bit and so does my heartbeat.


"Sarah?", Kasey finally inquires. "Yes Kasey?", I answer. " I-uh... who was that guy?", she manages to ask. What should I tell her. The truth.

"Well, I don't know, and I don't think I really want to know." "Sarah?" she says again. "Hmm?", I respond more calmly now. "Were you afraid of him?", she just about whispers. "I mean, don't you think there was something...different about him?" Yes, different I muse, but instead question, "Why?" Kasey starts fidgeting and her face pinches up before answering, " I think we're being followed."

Sure enough, I look back and see a dark figure about a half a mile away. A haze from the heat of the pavement surrounds it. Its long coat sweeps clouds of dust into the air, enveloping his presence. Focusing on the barren road in front of us, fear shoots through me and I think to myself what shall we do? What shall we do!? But moments later my thoughts are echoed. The air seems to thicken, choking us as a voice mocks, "Yes, what shall we do children?" Kasey flips around startled but I have no need to. I recognize the undeniable voice. An image of a toothy grin flickers in my mind. Chills run up my back.

"Satan", I say quickly, my tongue wielding a will of its own. "Satan", I spit at him once more. But he only smiles. A slight cackle escapes his lips as he replies," I wish, my dear. For alas, I am only a messenger." Confused and angered I question indignantly," And what do you bring us, messenger?" He towers over me and utters a single word as I'm kicked to the ground. "Death", he growls and lunges for Kasey. "Kasey! Kasey!", I scream, my legs pinned to the ground by an invisible force. I suck in large breathes trying to find my voice but the air seems unbreathable and my vision grows covered in black spots. "Help us , o God.", I let out exasperatedly in my final breath. A blast of light surges through the sky, my vision suddenly restored, I take in my surroundings. The vegetation by the side of the road seems to flourish, critters linger by and birds sing joyfully, except for in one patch.

Isolated to my left lies a pair of pale hands. Hands defeatedly resting over a column of light. Occasionally they twitch as if wanting to stop the light from piercing the darkness within its heart. But the body is still. Controlled by light's power, his face reveals evil intentions, and yet there's something even more unnerving. Protruding from his shoulders, two batlike wings rest bent in odd directions, stormy clouds seem to rage beneath the skin, continuously pulsating darkness.

Come to me Sarah, the darkness beckons. Instantly a single white feather drifts down from the sky, landing on him and silencing the call. A new voice speaks, holding power in every word as if subduing thunder. "Worry not Sarah. For where there is light, darkness cannot be. The greatest light lives within the heart. Love. For love does all things. I protects. It saves. Know this and you shall know the way." I close my eyes, and open them to the sound of my alarm clock. Whoo what a wild dream, I think. But movement across the room focuses my attention. A single white feather guides itself on unseen airs to my bed. I blink hard and lift it carefully in my hands. " Remember", it whispers, and is gone.