The Beginning of the End

Will-O-Wisps are cunning, deceitful, and rude little creatures. They spend the fun parts of their days leading strangers down dark paths that end in dismay. Any sane person fears coming across these strange lights, until one day they do and they no longer fright. See, Will-O-Wisps have a way of distracting the mind. With their swirling of lights and whispering words. They hypnotize creatures to no longer think. Only of thoughts that will follow the thrill. They find loads of joy in the dread of others. They are often heard laughing from the edge of the forest. Laughing at those that are now "properly lost".

They wander around all day and all night looking and searching for someone, anyone. But there lies a twist. The Will-O-Wisp does not prey on just any old soul. They watch for a while and decide what to do. The souls that will laugh at anything rude, make fun of their peers, and torture the good. This just so happens to be most of the people that come stumbling down their paths, and henceforth, how they got their previous description. Cunning. Deceitful. Rude. These all could seem true to the immoral heart. But to those of true nature the Wisps play no part. Upon assessing the situation where a kind soul is seen they step back and encourage to lead them back home. However this is rare. More rare than some may hope. For the truly warm-hearted is a hard thing to find. Very scarce in the world of the human mind. But still every day they search for the right. They will never forget when a kind soul is in flight.

Leaves struck his face as he raced through the trees. Cuts and bruises covered his body from where branches had caught him. The people behind him wanted his blood. The thing he'd become was far from human but still close enough to be used in their war. Suddenly, his foot hit rock and down he went. His head hit the hardest, and out went the lights.

The first thing he heard was a strong, solemn song. It rose on the piercing night air. His eyes flittered open. He scrambled away. Huddled all around were strange little creatures. Floating and humming and humming and floating. He wondered; How long had they been there? How long had he been there passed out on the ground? Their curious pale faces stared down with concern, and his looked right back, equally anxious. He felt scared. He had never seen creatures so strange. They seemed to be beings purely of light. With a daunting color that made them unique. The color of a blueberry that’s just started to ripen. Or the color of a bruise like those that covered his body. The way that they floated and the tune of their hum, made the whole of the forest seem almost unreal. They watched him sit up and prop against a tree. They were closing in on him. He shut his eyes and covered his face. He feared that this was the end...

But the humming soon faded. He peeked through his fingers. Many of the Wisps had wandered off. They had deemed him unnecessary of their time. Perhaps because of this they really were quite rude. He noticed there was left just one Wisp. It hovered a few feet away, looking curiously out from behind a tree.

This one little wisp sensed he was much like itself. A monster. In pain. Destined to lead a life of fear. This made it curious. Seeing something that reflected its own immortality. It then made it sad. The wisp then decided that this man, or monster rather, was worth disobeying the law. After an entire life of being led down the wrong path, he was worthy of being led somewhere good. And so, the wisp led, and the man followed. Through creeks and rivers, forests and swamps, all the way back to a place that felt somehow familiar to him. The wisp then shot off. It's task was complete. The man sprinted after it. He could no longer see it but still he ran.

However, his run was disrupted… his foot slammed straight into something metallic. He flew through the air and smacked face first in mud. It was raining. He could barely see anything around him. He looked up and there hovered the Wisp. It glowed right over the thing that had tripped him. He crawled closer. Rising, he stood just a few feet away, but the sight stopped him dead in his tracks. It wasn't just any old scrap piece of metal. It was the door to a bunker. 

This door and this bunker were awfully familiar. He knew them before. He'd lived here before. He'd finally found it. A place that was good. A place that was home. A place he could stay until all bad was gone.

He looked back up, but the wisp was gone. He spun all around. Nothing in sight. In the shy light of dawn, the Wisp was nowhere. The man looked back down at the bunker and sighed. Hoping that one day they would meet again. He had heard stories of Will-O-Wisps that lead people back home. He felt highly of honor knowing he was one they deemed good. With everything that happened, he was beginning to doubt it. But this made him sure. He was a good person. A good, kind soul, whom bad things had happened to. It brought tears to his eyes.

Taking one last glance around him, he thought he caught a glimmer of blue light shooting away behind a tree. Maybe it was a trick, played by the morning light. But he felt as though he was okay for a while. Opposing his earlier feeling of fear, the light felt quite warm now. It made him feel safe. He opened the bunker and crawled down the ladder. He dragged his feet all the way to the bed. He finally collapsed into the warmth. He rested assured that he was protected. For he knew, somehow, that the Wisp knew him now. It was keeping an eye on the friend it had made.