The Ebony Secret - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The tender click of hooves on stone was the only sound heard that night in July. Not one other sound awoke the sleep of Alexis Daly. She heard it in her sleep as well, a soft, heartfelt sound. The sound was slowly drawing her in for a reason she didn't understand. She became aware peacefully, and got out of bed; putting on her soft leather shoes she got from Gran last Christmas. She tiptoed downstairs. The house was starting to glow gold with the rise of the sun. She winced as the old wood floor creaked beneath her.
Opening the rusted door, she noticed the drops of sunlight on the new blades of grass. They sparkled with fire. The trees were just beginning to glow with a luminous halo. The click sound was still clearly audible, and her ears tried to lead her to the source. Deeper and deeper into the woods she went, stumbling and falling over vines and logs, to find her face-down in a sea of green and brown, the forest floor. She picked herself up, and brushed the dirt and mud off her nightgown.
After a while, she came to a little hill coated in small, fuzzy amounts of young grass. It had the texture of her kitten, Polly's face. Further down the sloping hill was a stream.  Alexis had never noticed it before. It ran with a sparkly brilliance; like that of a butterfly's wings. The banks were covered in small, blue-gray pebbles. She picked one up, and noticed underneath it an ivory-white piece of smooth bone. She brushed away all the pebbles around it and pried it out of the ground. It was a flute, and a rather small one. It had patterns engraved all along the sides. Putting it in her lacy nightgown pocket, she skipped away; still wondering what made the sound she woke up to and was still hearing.
The further away from the creek she got, the more confused she became. Her curiosity from the stream and finding the flute had nearly diminished her sense of how to return home. Walking the opposite direction of the stream, she found that somehow she did not panic, and stayed calm. She figured her father would come looking for her any minute now, so she sat on a rough boulder next to a tall oak tree.

~

The refreshing breeze ruffled her golden hair. The sun came out from behind the solemn clouds and spread glitter and warmth across the cold, empty clearing. She took the small instrument out of h her pocket and blew through the small hole in the end. As she blew, she noticed the intricate designs carved on it. There were twisting tree branches, flowers, and a little girl with butterfly wings the color of roses and the sunset. She finished playing it, which made a beautiful sound like rushing water and birdsong. It must have been pretty old; nobody made anything out of bone anymore. It had a shimmering luster, almost as if it was brand new. The birds clearly heard her flute; they twittered and frolicked in the air.
Not much happened for quite a while. The stream gurgled and the large oak trees dressed in moss swayed in the wind. Alexis became so weary, she decided to lie down in the grass and try to sleep. Her sleep came quickly and she dozed for several hours. When she awoke, she slowly looked next to her. Her heart leapt and she thought she was seeing things, for standing above her was a miniscule deer. Atop that tiny deer was a little girl with white-blonde hair dressed in a lilac dress of inch-long flower petals.
Alexis rubbed her eyes and tried to come back to reality. But still, when she opened her eyes again, the foot-tall girl was still there, a concerned look on her face. Alexis sat up abruptly, too surprised to run away.
"Are you alright, miss?" the little being asked in a rather young voice. Alexis didn't answer, but just looked at the girl's deer. He was around three feet tall at his head, but on top of it was around a foot of beautifully twisted, velvety antlers. He bowed his head down to lick her flushed face.
"I said, are you alright Miss?" Alexis nodded, still unable to speak; then she stood up and looked down on the peculiar little creature that just so happened to stumble upon her while she was napping. The girl offered a hand to Alexis to help her up, and she grabbed her small, but surprisingly strong hand. She picked her up, and helped her to stand.
"This way", the girl said. As she turned around on her exotic ride; Alexis noticed that on her back was a pair of perfect butterfly wings, silky pink and orange.