Edith's Song

    Edith's Song

Writing prompt by: The Annie For  

 she knows that hearing music in the woods at night was usually a bad thing, but it was such a pretty tune....

I grew up in a middle of nowhere town surrounded by woods for miles on end. I haven't been here since I left for college but now that my parents are dead I am returning to take over the family business.

It’s not an ideal situation, but it was a pact that my older brother and I made. I ran from there as fast as I could; not only from my first love that crushed my heart but the folklore that surrounded the town and was very prominent on our land. I was named after one of the main fables. Her name was Edith and she would lure people to the woods somehow and kill them in all sorts of horrific ways. I never wanted the details, and in reality I doubt I could stomach it.

I asked my parents to tell me why they named me after the eeriest story and they would simply say “you heard the legend of Edith, but what is not told is that she still roams the vast forest on our land because we are her descendants. It was said that for every fifth generation girl we are to name her Edith and she would one day be sacrificed and take over so that the previous Edith could rest. You would take over when Edith was ready for you.”

I knew from the time I was old enough to move away that I would not return. These are the memories swirling in my mind as I sit in front of the fireplace in my childhood home. There is a snow storm brewing outside and my brother should be here anytime. He told me the first flight from Georgia he could get was two days after I arrived. I am anxious because I haven’t seen him since I was 15, which was almost 11 years ago.

When I got here I took my old room mainly because I don’t know what he has planned for what rooms we are staying in but I don’t feel comfortable taking my parents old room. I love this house, but it never felt like home. It is a large log cabin with four bedrooms and four full bathrooms. We even have a guest bathroom, so I am not really worried about privacy.

The fire crackles and I hear a creaking sound come from the front porch, but I ignore it. I sit there and listen as different noises keep surrounding the house some I can dismiss as the old cabin settling or the wind from the storm but others are harder for me to push away. The front door opens suddenly and bangs against the wall. 

I see a figure standing in the doorway and a piercing scream fills the room.

“Edith, what the hell?”

“Jesus, Owen, you scared the crap out of me.”

I get up and help him bring in the bags that are piled on the porch. This has to be the noises I was hearing but I let my damn imagination carry me away.

After everything is brought in, and Owen takes his giant coat off, we give each other a hug.

“I am going to take everything up to my room and then we can have dinner.”

“Perfect, I have stew cooking; I'll make some cornbread to go with it.”

I walk into the kitchen and pull out my mom's recipe box. It is hand carved and intricate. I wonder how long it has been in the family, most of our belongings are family heirlooms.

As I am pulling the cornbread from the stove my brother comes in with wet hair, so I know he has taken a shower. He sits down and makes a big bowl of food and begins shoveling spoonful after spoonful.

“This is good sissy, I am starving.”

“Thank you,” I made a bowl and crumbled crackers in my stew.

“You still do that?” he chuckles. I know it was more of a statement then a question, so all I do is nod my head,

“Is your girlfriend still going to move up here with us?”

“Yeah, she is going to come when the house sells.”

We eat in uncomfortable silence. I don’t really know what to say to him. We have never been close and I don’t like small talk; it makes my eyes twitch.

I rinse my bowl and then gather the other dishes that need to be washed.

“You cooked, so I’ll clean.”

“Thanks, I’m going to go to bed, we can talk about everything tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.”

I go to my room and walk to my window. It is dark out but I can see big snowflakes right before they land on my window. The wind is howling and it sounds like a faint song playing a teasing but pretty tune. I close my drapes and go to my bathroom. I really want to soak in the tub before I crash for the night.

I turn on some music and lay back in the massive bath that my parents upgraded in my bathroom at some point. I stay there long after  the water loses all its heat, I know I need to get out so I don’t catch a chill, it gets into frigid temps here and there will be nights we are hunkered in the living room in front of the fire just to keep warm. I go into my room and I am shocked to see that my drapes are open.

I am astonished, I know I closed them. I walk to them and yank them closed. A chill creeps up my spine and I wrap my towel around me tighter and walk to my closet to put on some flannel pajamas.

When I walk back into my room and find my drapes are opened again. I go and close them without looking through the window but I pause at the noise that is coming from somewhere in the woods. I never heard music or even a tune like this before. It’s pretty but something doesn’t feel right. I swallow the lump in my throat and shove the uneasiness that I am feeling away.

I crawl in bed and pull the blankets over my head like I used to do as a girl. When I was living in New Orleans I never had these feelings and I slept soundly at night, but something about this place makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand and I feel like someone is watching me.

The song is still playing outside in the wind almost like it’s on repeat; the melody changes slightly but the prettiness of it never changes. I don’t know where it’s coming from but the more it plays the more I want to find out. I push myself further into my mattress trying to keep myself in my bed instead of going to find the person responsible for such a lovely tone.

I am eventually lulled to sleep by the mysterious tune playing in the wind.

I had crazy dreams that night. I go into the woods and follow the melody in a dream like trance. I am wearing the pajamas I fell asleep in last night and I am surprisingly not feeling the bite of the frost licking at my skin. I stumble and fall making my clothes wet and caking them with mud.

I stop in a huge clearing and look around to see that there is no snow but that it is warm and the field is covered in beautiful wildflowers. I am admiring my surroundings when I feel a feather light caress down my arm. I look down and see that I am now wearing a white flowy nightgown.

“EDITH…” I hear my name whispered in a hissing tone.

I try to run away but my feet are rooted where they are.

“EDITH… IT'S ALMOST TIME!...”

I want to leave. Almost time for what?

“Who's out there? Show yourself!” I sound brave but I am anything but that.

“I AM READY FOR YOU, BUT YOU'RE NOT READY YET. YOU’RE ALMOST THERE!” still the voice hisses in the wind not showing me any other signs of who they are.

I jolt awake and I am surprised to see that I am in my bed under my cozy cover. I let out a breath and am shocked to see that I can see that my exhale has turned into a cloud meaning that it is freezing in my room

I look around and see that not only are my curtains open again but my window is as well. I throw the covers off me and stand up. I feel fabric brush my feet and I think that it is just the pant leg of my pajamas. I walk to the window but the pit in my stomach grows larger threatening to swallow me up.

There is mud covering the windowsill and it's dried on the floor. I slam the window shut and rush to the bathroom. I looked at my face and saw that the water going down the drain was brown. I look up at the mirror and the reflection that I see is of me but in a stranger's white silky nightgown covered in mud,

I begin clawing at the gown trying desperately to get it off of me. Once it is piled on the ground I pick it up and throw it into the trash can that is in the cabinet under the sink. I turn on the water and wait a few minutes before I climb in. I scrub my skin until it is red and raw. I get out of the shower and change into working clothes so I can go tend to the animals on the farm.

We don’t have a lot of animals but we have the ones we need for when the weather is too bad to go to town. We have cows for milk, chickens for eggs, and horses if we can’t drive.our family business is farming wheat and corn. It will be hard work but I think between Owen and me we can do it.

I make my way through my chores and go into the kitchen for coffee and breakfast. I am shocked to see that Owen is in there wearing his pajamas still.

“I was going to help with the chores but I saw that you were feeding the chickens and gathering eggs which we learned to do last.” he says turning the stove off and picking up two plates to take to the table.

The day is fast and the work is hard. We retire after dinner and we will do the same thing in a mindless loop day after day. Working on the farm we will hardly ever have a day off, and it is something we had to endure as a kid and teenager. That was the strain between my first love and my friends. They couldn’t deal with me never being able to hang out because of my chores and life on the farm.

I walk up the stairs to my room leaving the dishes for Owen to do since I cooked. I am looking forward to soaking my sore muscle in the tub for as long as I can. I open my bedroom door and my room is freezing despite the fire that is going.

I look over to see my curtains flowing in front of me from the strong wind coming from the open window. I wonder if the latch is broken. All of our windows open out instead of the ones you have to lift up, it was one of my moms favorite things about this house.

I close it again and add another log to the fireplace then I go straight to the bathroom for my bath. This is my favorite part of the day. I get to unwind from the body numbing work that I did that day.

Maybe one evening I can talk Owen into cutting the day short and we go have a few beers at the local bar. The water turned chilly early tonight, so I lifted my body out of the water. The soft tune that played the previous night begins to play. I find myself humming to the pretty song as I get in my night clothes.

Mindlessly I grab my coat and walk to the back door. I feel compelled to follow this tune and find the source. Before leaving I walk to the fridge and leave Owen a note. 

Going for a short stroll to stretch my aching muscles; I’ll be back in about 30 minutes.

I walk back to the open door. I thought I left it shut. Oh well, I walk outside and I gasp when I feel warm instead of cold. The lulling of the tune get louder and stronger with each step. It is such a pretty tune, what is the worst thing that happens if I follow it through the forest.

The deeper I walk the lighter I feel lighter with each step and in my heart I feel like this is what I am supposed to be doing. I have this carefree, almost childlike energy that is pumping through my blood. I begin to skip and sing to unknown lyrics to the music playing from the trees.

I know I am far from the cabin now because I can’t see the light but it's not completely black outside. The full moon is casting an almost romantic glow around me. I again look back toward the direction of the cabin and all I can see is the smoke coming from the chimney.

I walk for several more miles when there is a break in the trees. I shield my eyes from a blinding light that is shining through.

“Come my child, at last you are finally ready.”

The voice is calming and encourages me to keep going.

“I am ready for my final rest, and it is your time to take my place.”

My night clothes are replaced by a white flowy nightgown and my inside is radiating a heat that would normally burn someone but for me it makes me feel weightless.

My feet leave the ground and I begin to hover over the wildflowers that were once at my feet.

“You will one day have another Edith take your place; the process for you to take my is now beginning,” she says in a gleeful cry.

“What do you mean?”

“Your brother is the only one in our blood line that can carry us forward. He will be expecting a boy in the fall.”

“I’m going to have a nephew?”

“You will be looking over his family and making sure that the people that are after our land and after the people that tend to this land are safe. You will do things that you never thought you would ever do but it is for the greater good.”

“How will I know that they are bad people?”

“My dear, you will know you will appear in a song to lure them here like I did you. We must begin our transition while the full moon is at its peak. Are you ready?”

“I am ready. What do I have to do?”

“Just relax, you will know what to do; you were born for this. Instinct will kick in and you will never worry about feeling pain or heart break again.”

The music gets louder and the warmth spreads through my whole body. I get lifted higher and higher above the ground, I feel like I am flying. My fingers and toes begin tingling and I look at them. My skin that was once there is turning into an sapphire blue with gold flecks shining through making me glow even brighter.

“You my dear will have powers that correlate with your colors. These colors have only been talked about. You, my child have been blessed and you will be the strongest Edith yet!”

“I’m not ready!”

“You are, Edith dear, you came on your own free will. You only come to me when you are awake when you are ready to take my place.”

“You’re the reason I would sleep walk at night.”

“Yes, the tune you hear is made just for you. All my knowledge will go to you after the transition is complete. Don’t fret, you will understand.”

My body slowly disappears and is completely taken over by a sparkling blue mist.

The last thing I hear is the slow lull of my song before it plays its last note and a quietness falls over the field of flowers..

The legend of my ancestors was true. I will be out in the vast forest protecting my family and the land that's been passed down from generation to generation. My brother will tend to our land and raise his family here. I am excited for this journey of his and I am saddened that I will miss so much of his family's life, but I will watch from afar.

I learned things from our family history when I became the Edith that is not told in the books or in the folklore but I am to keep them a secret and protect it from getting to the wrong hands.

A Lot of my life makes sense as well as what traditions we hold with secrets that were bestowed upon me. I will do my job until the next Edith and I will get to rest like a queen for the rest of eternity.

Author note

This story is from a writing prompt I found on Pinterest. It is said that she know that hearing music in the woods at night was usually a bad thing, but it was such a pretty tune.... By The Annie Fox.  It is a complete work of fiction and any names, events or places are completely coincidental.