6 February 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2639 (Part 5) | Prompt: a nice illusion

Part 4:

Undertaking Ophelia's demand to "show me!", Nathan slowly navigated her across the uneven patches of the pasture at his farm's boundary. The endeavor proved more difficult than extracting her from the house into his truck. Both were an ordeal, one he wouldn't accept again. But the situation was urgent.

Not yet daylight savings, evening darted across the sky, leaving the last rays of sunlight.

Cautiously, they approached the clearing. Dread seemed to blanket the pasture at its edge that led into the thick forest. Nathan and Ophelia stood close, gawking at the dark full of half shadows as wind banged the trees, making branches squeak. Without spring leaves, limbs pretended to crinkle and warp like alien claws.

They both stared at each other and understood the reason they hadn't ventured into the forest the past few years.

Ophelia gasped. "There!" she whispered, noticing some type of figure scurry nearby over the ground. Her cane flew up in the direction of a patch of thick brush in front of a lone tree. Nathan's flashlight followed, but only caught the tail end of something moving swiftly into the darkness of cover.

The bright light of the flash finally caught up with whatever was crouched in the bush. Immediately, Ophelia reached into her bosom, pulled out an incense, and waved it in the air in front of them.

Nathan frowned and jerked his head around in utter disbelief. Little good that will do, he thought if it's her solution for protection. One thing was certain, the appearance of a unified front might be the only defense from whatever lurked behind the trees.

That reasoning didn't work either.

Instantly, the brush rattled. A deep roar blasted the night's silence in a swirl of beastly sounds. A shadow projected from behind the tree that resembled a monolith in shape and size.*

No sooner than the roaring began, it ceased, replaced by whimpering. Nathan grabbed Ophelia's arm in protest, but she shook it off and moved toward the shadow.*

"Over here," she pointed toward another tree. Nathan followed with his flashlight. Hunched in a patch of brush, a hand with the same large prints they'd seen flew up to cover a face but didn't attempt to run and hide.*

Instead, a small figure stood, then emerged from the brush.

"Heaven forbid! What the heck is that?" Ophelia blurted as the flashlight in Nathan's trembling hand traveled the length of the the figure's body.*

On first glance, the outline from the light revealed that of a child. Harmless enough, they both assumed. After exchanging confused looks, Ophelia tugged on Nathan's shirt, and they both retreated a few steps.

"Again, what the hell is that!"

"A more useful question is, what should we do now?" Nathan asked, his voice shaking, not wanting to advance further to examine it.

Now, Part 5:

With eyes like lightbulbs, Nathan and Ophelia scoured the landscape trying to access the area of danger. Determining they were free of any predator waiting to pounce from behind the child, he lowered the flashlight.

"Obviously, it doesn't intend to harm us, fool," Ophelia hissed, then continued in a softer tone, "not a stitch on in this chilly air. Fetch a coat."

Nathan hurried to his vehicle to retrieve the only item available; a horse blanket. Upon returning, they both moved toward the child. Puzzled that the child didn't attempt to run or attack them, they led what looked like a female away from the edge of the pasture.

Although small in statue, Nathan struggled to get the child's body into his truck, While driving, he alternated between keeping his eye on the dark road and studying the interaction from the rear seat. He and Ophelia rode back to his farm in silence not knowing what to make of the child in their possession.

Once home, tires screeched like a wounded animal as Nathan swung the truck around in his yard, then aimed it in the direction of Ophelia's farm, eliciting an immediate reaction.

"I'm in no position to house her. "It'll have to be you until we figure out what we're dealing with," Ophelia protested.

Nathan slammed on the brakes near the fence separating his and Ophelia's property, jerking all occupants forward. He turned and stared angrily at Ophelia as though she were the cause of his new predicament.

"What! The girl was hiding on your property, not mine," she issued quickly as though attempting to extract herself from the situation.

"Doesn't matter where she was hiding. We both discovered her, and it's as much your problem as mine forced upon me by you...and Matilda, he added reluctantly.

Ophelia breathed in deeply for a long moment. Her shoulders heaved bringing with it fresh anger as she bared her teeth.

"I never understood what Matilda saw in your ignorant, spineless piece of a male arse. I'd never classified you as a man," Ophelia voice lowered as she shook her head, both forgetting their passenger.

Humiliated, Nathan sat razor sharp, but with a pained expression. All the while, the half-human child sat silent. Whether she understood their conversation, they had no clue.

He backed up the truck and headed toward his front porch.

The child neither spoke nor protested during Nathan's awkward attempt to usher her indoors. With the aid of her cane, Ophelia followed. An illuminated room provided the opportunity to examine the child. Nathan unwrapped the blanket.

Small in size and shape, but in a form resembling what could be identified as an adult had it been human. Dime-sized lumps raised prominently above the surface of its skin glowed a purplish color. Strands of long hair emitting orange and green hues mingled together as if flowing in opposite directions.

Shocked at the docile half-human mixed with an animal form they'd never encountered, Nathan retreated, unsure whether the child was perhaps in a state of shock and unable to retaliate. That she was capable of defending herself, he was certain.

Although the room was well lit, Nathan aimed the flashlight directly in the child's face. They weren't prepared for the piercing scream and hand clawing motion that ensued. He immediately lowered the flashlight.

Nathan opened the book. Neither of them were surprised to discover the prints on the page were an exact match to the ones on the child's hands. What was astonishing was that the prints also matched those of the child's feet.

Scratching his beard several times, he pushed hair back from his forehead. Not completely convinced, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Mumbling, he scratched his whiskers.

"Same prints you say that's on the Directory of Lost Things in the Museum Of Odd Things? That means her prints have been spotted by others; or at least the person who captured and reported them to the museum. Perhaps we can compare findings."

Through it all, the child maintained her silence.

Ophelia didn't answer the obvious she'd known for a few years.

From the child to the book to Nathan, she surveyed other sections of the living room several times, noticing the changes in the last several years. Forbidden to set foot on his property, her rushed visits occurred on his trips to town.

Nathan interrupted her thoughts when he asked timidly, "what is you name, child?"

"Fool, don't you think by now that if she could communicate with us, she would have?" Ophelia spat in his direction as her furrowed brows and head shaking acknowledged his naive question.

Nathan threw up his hands and made a helpless sound as if disgusted. But perplexed was a more accurate emotion he couldn't explain.

For a moment, they forgot about the child.

Ophelia cane slammed on the table broke the silence. In a scathing tone, she hissed, “you incompetent idiot! What the hell are you saying? Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all leaving her with you.”

Nostrils flaring, Nathan swirled around and faced Ophelia.

"You're a guest in my home. I'd appreciate a more civil tongue, else you won't be returning."

"And who will see to it you both live through the next six months?"

A hushed silence fell over the room. Nathan jerked his head back as if realizing he did need Ophelia's assistance in dealing with whatever they'd discovered in the pasture.

"Olivia will be her name." Nathan exclaimed with a slight curl of his lip, then continued, "and if anyone comes around snooping, she'll be hidden until we can figure something out. I'll say she's my adopted daughter."

"As good as any I suppose if she were human and all," Ophelia retorted without protest nonchalantly, then turned and headed toward the kitchen.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She didn't turn or immediately respond.

At the kitchen entrance, she announced, "Well, now that she has a human name. Let's see if she'll eat some human food. If not, then you've got your work cut out for you. And you can then take me home. I've had enough excitement to last me the rest of my life. And if anything else were to happen with regard to this Olivia mess, it'll probably end sooner than later."

[to be continued]