Hot off the presses this week. On Sunday we unexpectedly came by some tickets for the Enchanted Forest, a light and sound show in Faskally Wood near Pitlochry. Some friends had to cancel at the last minute (like we had exactly enough time to get there, etc.)
Steady drizzle greeted us when we got off the bus from Pitlochry to the forest. Which turned out to be an excellent thing for the experience. All those tiny water droplets showed off the light in tangible beams. The photo has no filters applied and is very much a reflection of what I saw with my (nearly) naked eyes. The effect lighting is, of course, very effective, but to me it’s the ambient lighting within the forest that completely sells it.
As with last time I went, I’m on the fence between magic vibes and something more sci-fi. Presumably the artists who set up the show are aiming for magic and mystery. Last time I went there were chaser lights dripping down from above us which put me in mind of Under the Dome and its ‘pink stars falling in lines.’ I guess that stuck the sci-fi thing in my head. Perhaps I’m just weird.
Anyway, I figured that this week’s story might be a blend of the two…
Rough hands snatched me back from the searing beams and into the comforting shadows.
“You alright, Jay?” asked Jackan, my best friend.
“I think so,” I replied. I was lying. My arm hurt horribly where the light had touched it.
Humans are clever. Devilishly so. Viciously. Still, this new use of their barbaric ingenuity was an unwelcome surprise. My fingertips probed the beams although they even hurt to look at.
Pain. Pure and unrelenting. Unmistakable in its pitch and hue. They had managed to harness sunlight and deliver it on demand. Much worse than their Broad-Spectrum Blasters. Those hurt if they got you. Dad said the colours matched sunlight well enough to be dangerous. The bigger guns, like on the tanks and stuff, those were deadly. A couple of years ago I’d seen one rip through half my class before we’d got to safety. Ms MacAllan still had scars from where she’d shielded us from the blasts. I’d had my first taste of human weapons that day. Not one of the big guns, luckily. One of the soldiers had snapped off a shot as I tried to dash from one bush to another. The pain of that still made me feel sick and sort of woozy.
This new light was worse. Not just the light itself, although that too. I tapped my fingertip against the stark white beam and grimaced at the sizzling pain. The worst thing about it was, they’d set it as a trap. There weren’t any of them around. None to be heard or smelled anywhere. I was sure of it. We weren’t even close to any of their settlements. The ‘city’ they called ‘Dunfermline’ was a good half-day’s walk away. Not that any of us were stupid enough to go there. The guns I could understand. Kind of. They don’t want us sucking their blood. Which would be fair enough, except that I can’t imagine any of us want that either. That stuff is bogging. Even rabbit is way nicer. Sheep and cow are okay, which is just as well. Deer blood was my favourite. Human? No. Not even if I was starving.
I had a taste once, on a dare. Jackan has a cousin who’s… well, let’s just say Dad doesn’t like it when he’s hanging around. Well, Jackan’s cousin got some human blood from a really dodgy guy he knows. They say that taking human blood can give you special powers. I’m not sure what, exactly, but it’s supposed to be really cool. That’s what loads of folk say, anyway. Well, I had a taste and I can promise you they are wrong. I may have vomited all over both Jackan and his cousin. Served them right.
“What are we going to do now?” asked Jackan. I could hear the panic rising in his voice.
“Well,” I said as calmly as I could, which was not very, “we’re going to figure out a way to get away from here. Then we’re going to go home and never come here again.”
“Okay. A way away.” Jackan’s eyes were wide and frightened. Not even a hint of a smile at his own joke. I did my best to keep it together for my friend’s sake.
The burning white beams shone past both sides of the tree we were sheltering behind. You could see that as a problem. The upside was, there was only one choice for escape.
Listening in the darkness, I could hear the rain ticking against bushes about twenty metres away in that direction. Rhododendrons by the sound of it. Dense cover with thick leaves. That was good news. We just had to get there and we’d be okay.
I took Jackan’s hand and stood, readying myself to run. Jackan pulled back curling into a ball against the tree trunk.
“Oh, no. Oh no no no…” he whispered.
“Stay where you are or we’ll shoot,” said a harsh voice from off to the left. Humans.
“We have them Captain,” said another from the right. “Awaiting containment vehicle.”
“Hnggg!” shouted the one from the left.
“What the…” from the right. He was cut off by the swish-thud of a rock-slinger.
“Boys, run!” It was my dad. “Make for the bushes and then straight home. I’ll be right behind you.”
His rock-slinger sung out again. A blast of blue-white light flashed back in answer. For a grim moment, I saw Dad lit up by reflections from where the Broad-Spectrum Blast hit the tree he was hiding behind. He flashed me a grin, broke cover, and sent another stone straight up the beam.
Jackan and I ran. We ran until I felt my heart would burst through my chest. We didn’t stop until we were home.
Brandon Lim 