The Light in Aquala

The clicking grew louder, then quieter again, as it continued the same pattern of sounds.

The lights that had reappeared above the trees were now floating away from the village and moving deeper into the jungle. The sisters peered up through the cracks in the canopy’s heavy foliage to get glimpses of them as they walked.

“I definitely think the lights are showing us which way to go,” surmised Mara. Her curiosity kept her moving forward, as more questions kept popping into her mind that required scientific, logical answers.

Lena was continually looking up and down, always making sure they were keeping pace with the lights and heading in the same direction.

She wondered if the story that the old woman told had some truth in it.

Her and Mara had seen the records, but since they couldn’t actually understand the notes, who knew how much of the story was actual fact. She looked up again and admitted that at least the parts of the story about the lights and clicking sounds were accurate. So maybe other parts of the story were true too.

The vegetation kept responding stronger to their presence as they walked.

Leaves, tree trunks and flowers brightened, into orange and blue-green Neon colors. The colors were spreading and affecting the vegetation, not only along the trail, but the trees and plants deeper in the jungle too.

Mara looked back at the trail behind them and saw their footprints had left their Neon glows on the ground. Their colors blended together when they reached each other, turning into a new color and then a glowing white before fading away.

The usual sounds of the jungle had grown completely silent and only the clicking sounds could be heard. No birds were calling to each other, the troops of monkeys had disappeared and even the insects and small creatures could not be seen or heard.

The effect was eerie.

"Lena, look at that light ahead of us that’s coming from beyond those trees." exclaimed Mara, stopping suddenly and pointing.

Lena stopped and readjusted her backpack, making sure it was secure in case they had to run.

A new light with a strong glow had appeared, different from the lights above and nothing like the blue, silver and gold light that exploded at Aquala.

It was hard to believe that phenomena occurred just last night! So much had happened since then that their heads were spinning.

They both looked carefully at the new light, which was narrow and directional, a beam of bluish white that swept slowly from side to side through the vegetation, as if someone were holding a lantern and was searching.

"It’s a beam," Mara said quietly. “Someone is searching for something, and they are close."

The beam paused when it reached them. It steadied, centered on the two sisters, and held. The clicking stopped. For a moment, nothing moved in the jungle. Then the beam shifted, tilted slightly upward, and swept back the way it had come, as though inviting them to follow.

Lena let out a slow breath. "It is leading us somewhere." She once again secured her backpack, this time without thinking, and taking a deep breath, she began moving towards the beam cautiously.

Mara adjusted the box under her arm. "I guess we’ll find out where it is coming from.” She swallowed nervously as she continued her thought. “And who is doing the searching."

They followed the beam which kept sweeping upwards in slow arcs and then steadied on them again when they faltered.

This part of the jungle was not nearly as dense and the trail widened as they walked. The undergrowth continued to thin, and Lena realized they were no longer on any trail she recognized. The trees here were older, their trunks thicker, but for some reason, the canopy above was letting through way more sunlight than any other areas of the jungle she had explored.

All of a sudden, the trees ended and a large clearing was in front of them.