The Light in Aquala

The jungle’s nocturnal creatures were now fully awake.

A chorus of insects created a shifting song, harmonizing with each other as they started glowing in the undergrowth. Somewhere far above them, a night bird called and was answered from a distant ridge. Leaves rustled overhead as something moved through the canopy and moments later, the unmistakable sound of wings beating rapidly through the darkness. The wings activated hundreds of tiny, glittering Neon lights which sparkled in the air, as they drifted downwards, settling around them.

Something made a soft scraping sound, and was coming towards them from the vegetation farther along the trail. It was moving cautiously through the grasses when all of a sudden, a tiny reptilian creature emerged from beneath a fern.

Its body was Neon yellow and if that wasn’t strange enough, a moment later the glow changed to a vibrant green and then into the electric turquoise color they had seen on the lizard and the clusters of flowers. The creature looked up at them and then scampered off, disappearing into the foliage on the other side of the path.

Mara stared after it. "The animals are being affected in a brand new way. This is incredible!"

"They're always affected by the Season changes."

"Not like this. Their colors seem to be responding to us and changing to completely different colors when we are near them. They are not just glowing stronger in their original color."

Lara looked at Mara as the tiny glowing Neon lights in the air continued to settle on everything around them. Neither sister said anything for a while after continuing running.

They would never forget this night.

The path sloped downward, forcing them to concentrate on their footing. Roots crossed the trail like thick ropes, covered in moisture from the constant humidity under the canopy. The ground became increasingly soft as they approached a lower section where water collected during the rainy season. Lena extended her arm when Mara slipped, catching her just before her boot slid sideways.

"Careful Mara."

"I'm fine."

"You nearly went into that mud."

"You almost pushed me into the mud."

Lena smiled faintly. "You're welcome."

Mara couldn't help smiling back and chuckling. It was such an ordinary exchange that for a moment all of the strange events of the night were forgotten. They jogged on for hours and the salty scent of the ocean became noticeable even here in the jungle. They were almost back at the village and sped up their pace once again.

Mara breathed deeply. She hadn't realized how tense she had become until that familiar scent freed something inside her chest. Suddenly, the weight of their backpacks as they ran throughout the night was creating a weariness in her that was almost overwhelming.

In front of her, Lena had turned her head to see if she was still keeping up and stopped without warning. She stared at the trail causing Mara to look too.

Their footprints had started glowing strong enough to illuminate the trail and their glows were spreading outwards without dimming. Where Mara had stepped, the grass surrounding her footprints were a deep blue-green glow and Lena’s footprints were a hot orange. The colors should have faded swiftly, like they usually did during the Season change.

Instead, their Neon colors were slowly spreading, following the trail behind them and lighting up everything in their path.

The colors started moving towards one another and when they met, they didn't cancel each other out. They blended and created a brand-new color that wasn't any color they had ever seen before. The blended glow then turned white and vanished, then the grasses returned to ordinary green.

Lena exhaled slowly. "Let's keep going. There are way too many weird things happening tonight. It’s going to be morning soon and everything will make more sense in the daylight."

Mara didn't answer immediately. When she finally spoke, her voice was unusually subdued. "You’re right… we just need to get back."

They jogged as fast as they could without tripping over the wandering tree roots and the skittering glowing Neon creatures that kept stepping out in front of them. It was becoming much easier to move quickly now that their Neon glows were spreading out in every direction from their footprints and the sun was just starting to rise.

The sound of them gasping for air as they jogged was echoing throughout the jungle.