Phantom of Life

Ceremony

The surrounding sounds of nature cradled the young boy who padded through the forest leading to his destination on bare feet. His infantile doe eyes caught sight of the place he so longed to be at, with a smile the boy scurried to the base of the shrine. Cool stone steps underneath him was a comforting change from the warm dirt and gravel he journeyed on. It was a sure sign that he made it. Kneeling in front of the rocks that acted as a catalyst for the trickling water, the boy clasped his small hands together and squeezed his eyes shut. Incoherent whispering joined the outside sounds before the boy hurriedly reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a single match- his mother only allowed him to bring one along. He placed the match to his heart, murmuring a short prayer then slid it across the top of the shrine to the inferno below. With the now burning match the boy dropped it into the water that pooled at the bottom of the shrine. In a quick spark, the pool burst into a fiery blaze. The boy took in the beautiful sight of the water that flowed from the top of the shrine to the inferno below; a burning puddle, and how the rocks that carried the water glowed cyan and pulsated to the beat of his heart. The boy once again clasped his hands and closed his eyes. Nature's music was drowned out as the boy focused, he could no longer hear the birds twiddling, or the leaves on trees dance in the slight breeze which was also muted out.
The boy concluded his ceremony by collecting the trickling water into his small palms and dropped it into the fire which spiraled up into the air and flew around him, he giggled as if being tickled. The boy smiled wide once the fire dissipated and he stood from his knees dusting off invisible debris. Knowing he had a short time left over, the boy sat down on the stone steps and closed his eyes feeling the sun kiss his skin and the sounds of nature returning to sing him a sweet tune. Suddenly the boy heard a different tune, a singular sound that tuned itself into an orchestra- a single whistle. Entranced, the boy stood and began searching for the creator of the song. He followed the whistling to a hill, below it there was a cave; the cave emanated an emerald glow from within itself: this is where the song was coming from. The boy knew better than to travel off so he stood in place watching the pulsing glow from deep within. Abruptly, the tune stopped but before the boy could begin to wonder he heard the gravel being disturbed from behind. He quickly looked back towards the shrine where he heard the movement but regrettably found nothing. The boy squinted his eyes in question and took the weariness he felt as a sign to return home, but he heard the whistle back in the direction of the cave. The boy swung his head forward and instead of meeting the mouth of the cave, he gazed at a smiling one. He knew panic should have been rushing through him, but all he felt was a wave of calm and security. To get a better view of what was smiling at him he raised his face and immediately felt wonder and excitement. Staring back at him was the very being he had been praying to only moments ago. No words were exchanged, presence alone seemed to be a full conversation on its own. The boy knew that his prayers would be answered and now everything would be at peace. After a moment, the being looked past the boy over his shoulder and gave him a knowing smile. He heard the voice of his mother soon after call for him, he turned to look at her arriving figure before spinning to thank the divinity before him but he only saw the mouth of the cave that had ceased to glow. Soft whistling flowed past his ears with the gentle wind before his name was called again. With a rush of excitement, the boy sprinted to his mother engulfing her with his tiny arms in a wild embrace. The boy was hurriedly telling his mother of the events that had just transpired and that everything would be okay now. The mother laughed and sent her son forward for dinner was ready, but lingered behind. She gazed at the shrine before leaving after her son as he called out to her.

They watched the mother turn and leave with a smile on their face. Looking down, in their hand was a single match that had previously been soaking in the wet blaze of their shrine. With a final glance they turned and entered the glowing cave while whistling a nameless tune.