“Have a nice day!” I called to Mrs. Hanfel, the owner of the only bakery in town. With a population of 52 the community was close knit, with the exception of the Wilsons who preferred to stick to themselves.
A rusted, red, chevy truck parked not far from where I stood, belonging to a woman of unknown origins. She rolled into town two days before and she never seemed to leave the truck except to buy supplies. She stepped out of her truck, the first time I’d gotten a good look at her. Her waist length blonde hair was wavy, framing her face just to the side of her emerald green eyes. She scanned around herself, pausing when her gaze found me. A smile found its place as if she was seeing an old friend once more.
“You!” Aslender, manicured finger pointed to me as she approached at a brisk pace. I glanced over my shoulders but found no one around that she could possibly be talking to.
“Me?” I swallowed as dread crept up on me.
“Yes, you. Come with me.” She didn’t wait for a reply as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me to her truck. In my shock I didn’t think to pull against her. I couldn’t see what she was taking me to as she had a black truck tent covering the bed of it. She opened the latch, the door swinging open, and climbed inside with a firm grip still on my wrist.

There was hardly room for the both of us as she had books piled up along every wall, only leaving space for light to come in from the two windows. Most books had fading covers, yellow pages, and torn edges, though there were still some in mint condition. She also had a crate of folded papers that seemed to be maps.
“. . . -ther Nature.” She finished a sentence I had missed.
“Huh?” It was not the most intelligent reply but my mind was too muddled to speak intelligently.
“I need to find a child of Mother Nature. Are you one?” She seemed to think this explained what she was asking for though I found myself just as lost. She sighed in frustration and ran a hand through her hair before she took a deep breath and began again.
“My name is Emile, Emy. I’ve spent my life searching for something and I believe it’s not far from here. I must bring a child of Mother Nature to a spring revealed on a plant’s perfect day.”
“What is it that you’re looking for?” I couldn't help but feel intrigued.
“First introduce yourself.” Etiquette was suddenly important to her.
“Samuel, Sam.” I mimicked her introduction with me own. “What are you looking for?”
Emy grinned again which set off the familiar feeling of dread.
“I’m going to find The Fountain of Youth.”
She walked to pile of books and pulled one from the stack.
“Don’t look at me like I’m crazy! It’s real and I can prove it. My father spent his life searching for the fountain and everyone laughed but I’m going to finish his work for him.”
She set the book on a table with a thud and pulled me closer by the arm.
“In every culture, every religion, there is a story of immortal life gifted by a drink. The blood of a sacred animal, the spring in a holy forest, wine blessed by a goddess divine. There must be some truth to the story if every culture has it. Then I found this book. Written by the greek story teller Arthius, legends that have come true. The only one not yet complete is instructions on how to find the Fountain of Youth. Bring a child of Mother Nature to the Forest of the First Birth on a plant’s perfect day. The Spring will appear when…” She translated the Greek to English but stopped at the end of the page. “That’s all he wrote.”
I was transfixed for another moment as I attempted to process her words. She must be insane, if the Fountain of Youth existed someone would have found it by now, wouldn't they? Yet I found myself intrigued, what did I have to lose by helping her?
“And the forest of first birth…?”
“Long story. Too long. Trust me, the forest is just North of here,” She replied, dismissing the topic with a wave of her hand. “We need to figure out when a plants perfect day will arrive.”
“Do you mean a rainy day All plants really need is rain and sun to photosynthesize.”
“Sam, you’re a genius!Meet me at Pine Brook Path tomorrow at ten.”
Emy then pushed me towards the door, causing me to stumble slightly. Once I was out, she shut the door behind me. Tomorrow, ten a.m. at Pine Brook Trail? I began to question myself on my own sanity now as I knew I’d go to the trail despite every reason she had given me to be wary of her.

Emy beat me to the trail in the morning. She held an umbrella to protect herself from the misting rain. There was still light coming between the scattered clouds, a plants perfect day.
“Great you’re here!” Once again she grabbed my wrist without warning and began to pull me down the path.
“Do you even know where we’re going?” I asked her as I regained my balance and fell in pace with her.
“A path is supposed to show itself.” Just then a cloud moved away from the sun, the light that managed to trickle between the leaves cast rainbows through the water falling with it. “Like that.”
The colors hit the ground and formed a broken path over the forest floor. We quickly followed them though were forced to stop as another cloud hid the sun. We continued on like that for nearly two hours, follow the rainbows, stop and wait, repeat. It seemed all we were doing was getting lost. The path of colors ended when we got to a dense patch of willows around a small pond. Despite the now heavier rain, the grass under the willows was dry. Birds hidden in the limbs sang softly to each other across the circle, only falling silent when we entered.
“Look.” I pointed ahead. Just under the water of the small pond there seemed to be a faint glow of light. As soon as I pointed it out the light vanished, appearing again much deeper under the surface.
“Thieves.” A voice seemed to echo from every tree.
“Be gone.”
“The Fountain is not yours.”
The voices stacked on top of one another until I could no longer tell one voice apart from the others. As suddenly as the voices had started, they fell silent once more.
“Someone else is here.” Emy said in a whisper as she peered across the clearing. Hidden in the shadows I too could make out the shape of something bi-pedal though I wouldn’t call it human.
The creature stepped into the light. Its body seemed to change, taking one shape after another and eventually settling. The one that stood before us seemed human and harmless. A feminine human form with skin tan as the earth and white ridges to look like bark. Its yellow eyes peered deep into our souls. Its clothing was nothing more than animal skins, I could spot no weapons.
“You’ve come for the Fountain of Youth?”
Its voice reminded me of a young child, high yet soft like velvet. It tilted its head as it waited for an answer. A stunned silence followed and It seemed to take Its answer from that.
“Shed blood for the child of Mother Nature, your souls are not worthy of Her magic.”
Emy glanced between the pond then the creature. “Distract the guardian. As soon as I get to the Fountain of Youth, It’ll vanish.” Emy then ran for the lake.
“What!?” I never agreed to fighting an ancient beast. The guardian raised Its hand and the earth seemed to shake beneath our feet. Suddenly it split open in front of Emy.
“You have tried and failed before, Emile. You shall meet the same fate as your father.” The guardian spoke with hatred in Its voice.
“Distract It or It’ll kill us both!” Emy shouted to me as she lept over the crack in the ground, catching the far side and pulling herself up.
I knew she was right, this creature would never let us escape alive.
I looked for a weapon, finding only sticks and stones lying on the ground. I grabbed one of the rocks and threw it at the guardian. The rock caused her no harm, of course, and only drew her attention towards me. She waved her hand and a pillar of soil shot up from about ten feet in front of me. It rammed me in the chest before I could react and sent me flying back into one of the willow trees. Emy had been struck by a similar pillar as the Guardian’s attention was back on her. She was closer to the Fountain, she was the greater threat. I looked at the pond where it was hidden and ran towards it. If I could get there first, the guardian would be too busy with Emy to stop me.
The ancient beast could not be so easily fooled. She controlled the earth with the simplest of motions, making the ground shake under my feet and causing me to stumble in my run.
“You have become a nuisance,” The guardian stated approaching me. Emy was on the ground, unmoving.
I prayed she was only unconscious and not dead. Vines crept down from the trees and through the grass, reminding me of green snakes. They wrapped around my arms as I struggled to tear them off. The magic of the guardian was stronger, the vines turning to stone once they were wrapped around me. I couldn’t move.
I looked to where Emy lay. “Wake up!”
The cries reached her ears as she opened her eyes with a smirk. She held a finger to her lips in a motion for me to be quiet as she got to her feet. She had been faking so the guardian went after me!
The guardian walked to my side and looked down at me with a pitiful gaze. “She always tricks men into coming to help her. She can’t take anymore lives now.” It believed It had killed her.
“So you don’t have to kill me, I won't tell anyone.” I tried to get It talking, to give Emy more time. She walked to the lake in no rush before slipping into the clear water and swimming down to retrieve the glowing light.
“I cannot take that risk,” the guardian replied with a shake of Its head. “I will give you a painless death.” It held out Its hand and a large square of rock rose through the dirt. It slowly moved through the air until it hovered a foot or so above my head.
Emy emerged from the lake with a golden chalice in her hand. She had the Fountain of Youth! The guardian should vanish now! Emy met my eyes as she held the chalice to her lips, downing the miracle waters to give herself eternal life. The last thing I saw was a dark smile take the place of her usually friendly one.
‘Fool,’ she mouthed as she dropped the now empty chalice. It didn't hit the ground before the rock crushed me.
THE END