At the top of a tall, grassy hill sat a wishing well that time forgot. Stone bricks, firm but moss-eaten, a thick rope woven by hands of bygone centuries, and a shining silver bucket eerily untarnished by time. If one were to draw water from this well, you would find it like any other drawn from such a depth. But this well held secrets. Secrets long forgotten. Secrets kept locked safely away in the deeps of the earth. Places so deep that only the shining silver bucket could go… However, to the young blonde boy trudging up the hill, it was an ordinary old well, out of use, and covered in moss.

…

Lukas was an average 13- year old boy, brown-eyed, with hair the style and color of a pile of straw. On his freckle – dusted face, he wore an expression of pure boyish boredom. He looked wistfully down the hill at the scattered oak and apple trees, then farther away at his grandparent’s quaint ranch-style house through the summer heat. Mom and Dad had gone somewhere to see an old friend in Florida (or somewhere…) for a few days, leaving him and his little sister here.  That would’ve been great if – he sighed wistfully – there were more things to do around here. Dragging a stick he’d found beneath one of the many apple trees, he looked mournfully up at the sky. Utter boredom was what there was to have around here – No friends to pillowfight with, no toy racecars, no video games. Just him, staring up at the wide blue sky, with his boredom. And this big stone thing.

Wait, what?

Looking down, he saw in front of him a large, moss-covered well, with an old rope and a bucket wound up to the top. It seemed.. out of place, like it belonged in medieval courtyard, or an abandoned garden, not here…

He sighed. Whatever.   … What was inside it..?

Peering down, Lukas gazed into an infinite bluish-blackness growing in thickness as it reached farther down into a seemingly bottomless hole. He put his hands in his pockets. Well, here was something interesting to look at at least…

suddenly, Lukas’s fingers closed around a nickel he’d slipped into the pocket of his jeans however many hours ago. Pulling the small, silver coin out of his pocket, Lukas remembered those stories about “wishing wells” where the person dropped their coin in, made a wish, and the next day, it came true. Grinning at the silliness of it, Lukas balanced the small silver nickel on his finger, then flipped it into the well with a quick jerk of his thumb.

“I wish something actually exciting would happen around here once in a while…”

He waited a long while to hear the minute ‘plink’ of the nickel splash against the faraway water.

…So the well did have a bottom after all…

He turned to leave. As an afterthought, Lukas leaned his stick up against the crank of the old well, just in case Grandpa would have run over it if he mowed today.  On his way back down the hill, Lukas pondered the old well. Why was it here in the first place? Who had put it here?

-While behind his back, the timeworn crank of the mysterious well, nudged just enough by the apple branch, finally gave way after being held back for so many years. The long rope began to unwind across the gnarled crossbeam, and the bright silver bucket lowered slowly down to the abyss.

…

Below the well was a cavern that only time knew existed. Centuries of cold, rippling water had rushed and swirled across the icy grey stone, molding it into shapes too beautiful to be crafted by any human mason. A small creature, lonesome and restless, wandered quietly across the wide expanse of gloamy tunnels and fissures, searching for a place to simply rest and think. It’s small webbed feet padding softly through the moss and glowing plants, it stopped at the edge of the pool of cold, clear water that he always went to when he felt this way, for as long as he could remember. There was  something… different about this place - a faint, glimmering light that shone through a hole, curiously formed into the smooth grey rock of the ceiling. The whistling noise that came from it, an eerie whispered song that streamed through with the light. Sighing, Varis (For that was the creature’s name) Plucked one of the faintly glowing flowers by the side of the pool, sitting on a rock nearest the water. Varis gazed thoughtfully at the flower’s long, white petals, his tadpole tail swishing thoughtfully.  Why WAS he drawn to this place? Why were there these soft lights, and strange comforting sounds? Sometimes they just seemed to be there, a place to sit with the gentle, clear light, completely peaceful …

Just then, a loud “plunk” followed by a huge cascade of ripples dominated the pool, making Varis jump away in surprise. However, surprise soon gave way to curiosity as his eyes caught something glimmering in the water. Maybe not so peaceful… Placing the cave flower gently on his rock, the creature slipped quietly into the icy cold water to investigate. Ignoring the cold that shot up his spine, Varis dove deeper into the deep, crystal-clear water to put his hand around the strange silver object, shining like a star at the silty bottom. Surfacing with the circular thing in his hand, Varis took a quick breath and looked down. A small, silver coin glimmered in his hand. The small point of his claw tapped against it in curiosity. Yes, definitely metal – with.. was that a human face on it..? Before Varis could look again to see if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, something hard, blunt, and metallic struck him on the forehead, forcing him back underwater. Dazedly swimming up to the side and surfacing, he saw it was a bucket, dangling from an old, tattered rope strung – he gazed in confusion and amazement - through the mysterious hole in the ceiling! Grasping the bucket warily, Varis peeked inside - Nothing. Then a thought struck him - Was there someone up there? Up beyond the hole? Perhaps he wanted his coin back? Varis quickly tossed the silver circle into the bucket as if it were a hot ember. Was it… a human?

He should definitely give it back. And maybe…  Varis’ large, catlike eyes darted to the flower laying on his rock…

Gently placing the flower alongside the coin, the small creature winced as he quickly tugged once on the rope…

Then twice…

No answer. Maybe.. He was gone and would come back for it later? Varis certainly wouldn’t stick around to find out. Slinking quietly out of the cavern, he glanced once over his shoulder… then returned to the depths of the caves beyond , wondering if he’d ever be curious enough to explore that spot again someday.

…

The next day, Lukas plodded back up the hill to the well,

This time, instead of a stick, he carried two apples, one half eaten in his hand, the other jammed into a pocket that was obviously not made for such a large object. He’d picked both of them from one of the nearby apple trees, assuring himself that no one would mind. Leaning on the rim of the well as he chewed, Lukas noted with mild surprise that the crank on the well had come loose, unwinding the rope and landing the bucket who knew where. With some inner urge to return things to their rightful place, (or boredom) Lukas set the two apples on the rim and began to crank the shaft on the well, slowly winding the __ rope back around the turning wooden pole. After a minute or so of turning, the shiny silver bucket came back into view. As it swung gently back and forth, Lukas heard an odd clinking noise coming from the slowly ascending bucket. Making sure the crank was FIRMLY locked in place this time, He peered inside.

His nickel?? And.. Gently, Lukas removed a large, delicate white flower, his eyes widening.

Had the well just returned his nickel?? With its best regards??

But… should he try something else…? Looking quizzically over at the unbitten apple on the stony rim of the well, he took it and placed it in the bucket as he munched thoughtfully on his own. Now he’d just lower the bucket down again, and – he searched for a reasonable enough term-

See what happened. Slowly unwinding the crank, Lukas let the silver bucket drop again down into the blackness, then returned to the house with a jittery sense of something… unusual happening. He didn’t tell anyone else, of course, (they wouldn’t ever believe him…) But he promised himself that the next morning, he’d be out bright and early to see if anything else happened with the well…

…

After a long, uneasy rest, Varis returned cautiously to the cavern with the pool. His curiosity had been too strong this time to be bayed by his fear. Padding quietly through the moss leading up to the water, Varis was both puzzled and slightly disappointed to find that the bucket was still hanging there, though he dipped once again into the icy water – “just to check”. To his surprise, (and maybe shock) the coin and flower had disappeared, to be replaced by a… fruit?

Removing it carefully from its bucket, the creature stared at it with wide, amber eyes. The fruit (or, at least, that’s what he thought it was…) was bright red – round, with light green speckles and hard inside. His small nostrils quivered as he smelled it. It certainly seemed  like something to eat… Was the human thanking  him…? Was it for him returning the coin? Or the flower…?  He took a small, timid bite of the fruit.

It was delicious.

“I should return the human for his kindness…” Varis thought as he swam out of the cold water, munching this new tasty treat. Maybe… His eyes settled on a spray of crystals growing from a nearby rock… Carefully setting his fruit aside, the creature grasped a sharp, black stone, chipping at the base of a bluish shard until it shattered and broke away. Grasping the crystal in his hand, Varis swam excitedly to the silver bucket and dropped it in. Underneath the dim light of the hole, it shimmered softly with blues and purples. He smiled, hoping it was a suitable gift. Not needing to tug on the rope, Varis curled up in the moss at the foot of the pool, awaiting the mysterious gift-givers’ response.

…

Returning in the morning to the well, Lukas couldn’t wait to see what had happened. After nearly slipping on the grass leading up to it, he quickly wound the crank once again. He locked it in place and peered into the shiny silver bucket – and stared.

Reaching into it, Lukas removed an enormous shard of purple crystal, shimmering blue and indigo in the sunlight. For a while, he was too stunned for words. What on earth was this? What was really down there in that well? This… THING he’d just gotten from it was priceless! Gazing farther down, all that he could see was a bluish-blackness reaching farther down. Pulling himself even farther over the edge, Lukas was only dimly aware of his stomach pressing against the cold stone. Squinting, he thought he could make out a glimmer of water down below. Lukas leaned *just* a bit farther….

And found himself slipping over air.

No.

Falling through the air.

Quickly.

In the dark.

Down a presumably magic well.

Lukas began to scream as the dark wind rushed past him through his hair, and the slick stone walls seemed to be shooting upwards around him in a hazy blur. In an instant, he had hit the cold, icy water beneath before he could even finish screaming. The frigid water stung his cheeks as he hit the clear pool with a watery, distorted crash. Bubbles pinched at him from all directions as Lukas wildly flailed his arms in a blind attempt to surface. He felt a pair of cold, scaly hands dragging him upwards.

Lukas quickly finished the scream that he had begun.

A cascade of white, frothing bubbles escaped his mouth, releasing a distorted and watery version of his scream to the icy surface above. The creature’s sharp claws dug deeper into his shirt and arms as it dragged him like a dead thing to the surface.

So THIS is what lives down here…..

As soon as Lukas’s head broke the surface of the frigid water, he screamed even louder as he stared wide-eyed at his assailant. To his surprise, the Thing screamed too, both echoing eerily across the cavern’s walls.

It was green, like a plant sprout, It stood on two legs, had two arms with fins attached to them, a webbed tail, and a human(ish?) face with three long earlike fins on either side of its head. It’s huge, amber eyes stared at him like it had just seen a ghost, pointing a clawed finger at it and putting one hand to its face.

….........

Varis pointed involuntarily at the pale, yellow-haired, red-shirted human as he screamed. Had it just fallen down the shaft in the ceiling?? Was it an accident? Or worse, was the human angry at him and coming to punish him?!

Then Varis noticed that the human he’d just rescued (mostly out of instinct) was just as frightened as he was… oh dear…

….......

Lukas suddenly heard the creature speak – Its voice was small and frightened, much different from the hideous growl or bubbling snarl that he’d expected.

“ Please don’t be scared… I, uh, my name’s Varis… I, um, don’t want to hurt you…. I was the one who sent you the crystal? And the flower…? Returned your coin?

What!? Was this thing… friendly? This was the creature who’d sent all those gifts…?

“Uhh… I’m Lukas… I sent you the apple?”

He said timidly as he climbed out of the icy water, squeezing it out of his red T-shirt and shivering.

“Oh! So that’s what it’s called - It was very nice, thank you - um… sooo…why did you come here?” The creature asked, his head cocked to the side.

“Uhhh, I fell down the well, I guess… so you’re not going to eat me?”

“What’s a ‘well’? And NO, I’d never eat a human… *They’re usually too scary anyways…*”

Lukas looked again at the strange creature, with its sheepish, amber-colored eyes and whiskery cheeks. This was so, so, so, SO weird… and yet it was happening.

“You, scared by me?” Lukas asked in disbelief, “I was scared by you!... And if it, uh, makes you feel any better, I don’t want to hurt you… This was all a huge mistake…”

Varis’ eyes widened as his lips turned up in a slight, nervous smile.

“You got scared by me?”, the creature gave a small laugh, “ There are much creepier-looking things down here… with gills, and fins, and big pointy teeth!” He put two clawed fingers downward over his mouth like fangs, managing a small giggle.

“Greaaaaat…” Lukas half-laughed, “But… what about my Grandparents? And my mom and dad? And my sister? How do I get back there? Y’know, up?” He pointed to the well shaft above his head. Varis looked troubled and confused at the same time…

“Follow me… I might be able to find you a way out of here..” Varis winced, his long, earlike fins flattened to his head.

“Maybe.”