The light in the swamp that wasn’t

Sometimes the swamp releases a belch through its silver mirrors. They disturb the perfect reflection of black deltas branching away to touch as many stars they can. The belch reaches my nostrils: a smell of life long gone. I feel home again.

A single dark cloud hides the light of the full moon. I don’t care. The darkness allows me to better see what I seek. I don’t want to be distracted by the reflections of the moon. They all tell me that’s what I saw. That my mind has distorted my memory over all those years. But it is the last clear memory I have: the green orb the day she died.

It is so cold that the trees shiver in the wind. I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. Just a couple more hours. Then next month again till I can prove them all wrong!

“She didn’t kill herself,” I whisper.

The only reply in the surrounding loneliness is another belch. The moonlight returns and puts everything in a black and silver contrast.

Suddenly it is there. Bright like the searchlight of a boat. Green as a traffic light. My breath stocks and I freeze. It cannot be. I stare at it, trying to find the silhouette of the boat around it; trying to find a logical explanation. But there is none. This is the end of my search. It hovers over the silver water like a drone. Shooting left and right before slowly moving forward again. Then it stops as if it notices me. We stare at each other till my burning eyes ask for a quick blink. That’s all it needs to suddenly be right in front of my face. I stare into the green light as if it’s life itself. There’s a boy’s face hidden in there. Is that me?

The wisp slowly starts drifting away and I have to follow it. The swamp dances underneath my feet. Sometimes it tries to eat me, sucking my leg into one of its many wet holes. I don’t let it distract me and keep my eyes on the green light that starts fading in the light of the moon. I cannot lose it! It slides over the silver water without a reflection. I work my way through some trees that try to grab me with softly snapping fingers. The heavy cold starts working its way up my legs, clamping on to my feet till I can barely move. I need to get out of this mirror. The cold angers me while I struggle to get my feet moving.

Suddenly the wisp moves brightly toward me before it is sucked away like dust into a vacuum cleaner. Now it is only me and the moon. I look up at it and lose my balance. My hands try to grab anything around me for support but there is nothing there. I plunge into the cold darkness and give up. Slowly I sink to the bottom of the swamp where I will remain for eternity.

Something decides to alter my faith. A hand grabs my collar and pulls me back into the light. It drags me onto the shore where I cough out the black water and take a deep breath. My nose fills with the stench of rotten cabbages and fish. I look up into a leathery face looking down on me. It takes a step back, staring.

“Did you see it? Did you see the wisp?” I ask.

It just stands there bent and dressed in black like the trees surrounding it. The moon reveals the three remaining teeth in his smile.

“Did you see the wisp?!” I shout this time.

I cannot have another one that doesn’t believe me, not when I was this close. It shakes his head, still smiling. It steps towards me, close enough to be my shadow.

“Souls…” I hear, not sure if from his mouth or the wind in the trees.

He opens the big leather bag hanging from his shoulder. In it are glass orbs each filled with a green wisp.

“How did you get them? Whose souls are they?”

I feel this anger inside me. Anger that someone else not only knew about the wisps but even has them in his bag, hidden from the world, hidden from me for all those years!

His hand shoots forwards and grabs my shoulder, fingers painfully pressing into my flesh like a hawk’s claw. I try to take his hand off but he doesn’t give in. Instead he pushes me down. He grabs my other shoulders and starts dragging me back into the black water. I stomp and kick but he cannot be stopped. He pushes me down and I look into his dull eyes for mercy. There is none. I scream and scream, while black water envelops my body and steals my air. I grab his claws with one hand while my other frantically searches for something to pull me back up. His claw doesn’t move, but my other hand feels his leather bag. I reach in and grab one of the glass orbs. I squeeze as hard as I can till it bursts open and shards slice my hand. The pain is a reminder that I am alive. So I reach for another orb and do the same. Suddenly his grip loosens and I manage to surface. I cough out the water and try to replace it with air while bursting another orb. I can’t feel my hand anymore, its tendons sliced and muscles cut. The third green soul stops in front of my face and I lose myself in its light.

“Mother?”

She smiles at me. One last silent smile before she compresses to a brightly glowing marble and launches herself at the distracted creature. He stops flailing his arm at the other two souls as he sees the bright mother shooting towards him. She hits his eyes and burns herself though it into his screeching skull. The air fills with a toxic black smoke that seems to drain life faster than drowning. With my last bit of energy I swim and crawl away from it till I can finally breath again. I grab some slithery branches and pull myself from the water. With all the courage I ever had I turn around and face the fading smoke. A dozen green souls emerge from it and shoot up to the moon. I drop down and rest my head against a tree trunk. I feel silver tears running down my face. Then, I fall asleep.