Whispering Voices

          Looking at the stars and moon they were shining so bright, it lit up the woods, Kylee was determined to discover where the whispering voices were coming from. Sometimes they were as quiet as a mouse and on those nights Kylee slept.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Her older sister, Jaimee, was fast asleep and snoring quite loudly. You see, here is the thing that Kylee hates the most; she hates that her sister is so afraid of losing her that she never allows her to do anything fun & or alone. Well, Kylee snuck a sleeping pill into Jaimee’s drink so she could sneak out into the forest. She knew it was wrong, she felt terrible, but the whispering voices were waiting for her.

    Twelve-year-old Kylee Marie Perry could barely contain her excitement while she slowly snuck out of her house. Her grandmother was away for the weekend and asked Jaimee her older sister was asked to keep an eye out on her. What her grandma did not know was that Kylee had a plan. She was always told to never go beyond the fence that closes off the woods from their back yard. She always had to be inside before dark while her friends got to ride their bikes past dark. She could never go spend the night at a friend’s house or go camping, she felt trapped in a world that she did not understand.

    The whispering voices were beginning to get louder as she grabbed her bookbag, her flashlight, a snack, a bottle of water, her lucky marble and her handmade map that she made the night before. She grabbed her key that hung by the door and noticed at how the moonlight reflected off of it. She slowly opened the front door and creeped out onto the front porch, breathing heavily, she closed and locked the door behind her, so her sister would be safe. Kylee had to remind herself why she was going into the unknown as her fear began to manifest her every fiber of her being. Keep going Kylee, she thought, you can do this!

    She stepped out into the night for the first time since her parents had disappeared when she was 3 years old! Her body began to shake as she took each step carefully on the crisp grass, she could see her breath, it was a chilly night. She noticed the surroundings of her neighborhood seemed extra silent on this night. She was chilled to the bone, that is when she heard the whispering voices, “Come and Find us Kylee."

She started to run across the grass, she knew if she didn't she would never finish her quest. She broke a piece of the wooden fence and climbed through from underneath, her backpack got stuck at one point and she struggled, but managed. She heard a soft laughter and decided not to let the whispering voices make her change her mind. She could do anything that she put her mind too, no matter what her older sister says, She was finally beyond the dreaded fence that she could never, ever climb over, go under, go through...she always had to be very far away from the fence.

She felt empowered, excited but extremely scared, that's when she began to hear the owls and the surrounding creatures that she didn't hear when she was in her backyard.

The whispering voices carried through the rustling trees and wind, "Follow the path Kylee". What in the world did the voices mean by a path, she grabbed her flashlight and slowly pointed it into the forest. Off to the right of her there were flat rocks that were carefully placed though the bigger trees then she couldn't see any farther then the 6th rock. She stepped on each rock with a trembling breath and by the time she got to the 6th rock, she felt unusual but was not afraid anymore, the chill was gone and it almost looked as though the sun was shining through towards what sounded like a creek. She wanted to make sure that she was not imagining things, so she looked up into the night sky and yes there they were, billions of stars all shining brightly....she felt light headed and had to hold on to the nearest tree. The stars were the answer, so she thought, there was much more that she didn't understand while gazing at the stars, she heard someone giggle. She felt at peace and started to giggle as well, she suddenly forgot about the voices and the stars, she had forgotten who she was and why she was there....a little girl said, "Hi. Will you come play with me?" Kylee did not know what to say, she forgot to speak, couldn't find the words...but she knew this was her home all along-with or without the stars to guide her. Kylee finally found the words, "Sure, what is your name?" The little girl giggled yet again and yelled, "Follow meeeeee!!!!!" She started to follow her but the little girl was running to fast in the forest and Kylee didn't know the forest at all, she kept stumbling and falling and had to catch her breath many times. She could see the little girls white dress glittering as she laughed, almost taunting her to find her. Kylee was in no mood to deal with her, she had to remember why she was here and what those whispering voices were, what did they want and who was she? That's when she heard the little girl sya,"Kylee don't you want to play with me? Isn't that why you came to the forest?" Kylee couldn't remember, everything was so fuzzy in her mind, she didn't know what was happening. She was trying to regain her balance when she lost her footing jumping on a rock. She could tell she was getting closer to the creek and the sun was brighter and seemed closer to her now, but wait, wasn't it night time a short time ago. Something didn't seem right, weren't there stars shining bright? Where did she come from? What are stars? She was starting to panic and ran towards the water, she felt something touch her arm while she ran, the little girl was right next to her, she screamed and she became sweaty from fear and sweating. The little girl said, "Kylee, don't you want to play with me?" Kylee yelled, "Leave me alone, I have to find the stars, I have to find the stars." That's when Kylee woke up screaming, her older sister came running in her room and said Kylee it's ok honey your okay, you had a bad dream. Kylee kept mumbling it was about the stars Jaimee and the forest….Jamiee held her sister and rocked her back and forth saying it's okay, the stars come back every night. The next night, as Kylee lay in her bed, she looked up at the stars.