Golden Halo

Written for #missysmadchallenge.

A faint light flickered in the distance, leading a group of friends down a trail they had never noticed before. Betty peers into the golden halo, following the brittle leaves. They hover, mid breeze, before drifting daintily among their fallen comrades.

‘We should head back,’ Alan said. ‘Mum wanted us home before dinner, and we don’t know where this could lead us.’

Betty dances forward, her arms spread, flying like a kite, with hope on its tail.

‘Exactly, I’m up for an adventure before its dark. Look! It’s so lovely. We could be home before sunset, if we go now. Please . . . I won’t ask you for anything else.’

‘Alright, but just for an hour, and then we’ll go home.’

‘Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!’

‘We can’t be long, Mum told us to walk straight home and not to veer off the path.’

‘We won’t, besides, I want to get her something for her birthday. She loves buttercups, and there is a bunch of them over there.’

Alan went first, his hesitant movements in front of his little sister; as his black school shoes disappears, he lets go.

‘Go home Betty …’ he whispers, as the trees fold into their normal way home.