Free Muse Unexpected by V. C. Birlidis Page B

darker surroundings and she could make out a well-worn path of pine needles, fallen leaves and dirt.
    Although her muscles and lungs were burning, she kept on running. Her father appeared to be even farther away. She tripped over fallen limbs and struggled through branches and vines that lashed at her skin. The wind picked up again; pressing on her so hard she stumbled.
    Suddenly the act of running became easier and she realized she wasn’t running anymore. Her feet had stopped moving and her body hung limp, the wind carrying her forward at a terrifying rate. Her father’s body began to tremor as he rushed towards her with an inhuman speed. She cried out and closed her eyes, throwing her arms in front of her face, bracing herself for the painful collision.
    Her eyes flew open right as her father’s face loomed mere inches away. He laughed and dissolved into a cloud of smoke and ash as she passed right through him.
    Sophie fell with a thud onto the ground, the impact making her teeth chatter. She thrashed her arms and legs, trying to get the remains of her father’s ashes off of her. She lay still, terrified out of her mind, not sure what just happened.
    There has to be a logical explanation for this. Don’t know what it could possibly be, but I’m sure I will look back on all of this and… probably go bat poop crazy.
    She calmed down; almost laughing at how horrific it was that she was brushing her dead father’s ashes off of her clothes, face and hair.
    “This has to be a dream,” she said, glancing around. She was in some sort of large clearing in the middle of the woods.
    She got to her feet and attempted to walk back the way she came, when she discovered she must have gotten turned around because there didn’t appear to be an opening out of the clearing. She glanced to her right and then to her left to find the opening wasn’t there either.
    “Which means, stupid, the way home is behind you,” she said under her breath.
    She began walking, keeping her eyes towards the ground, watching for anything she might trip over and somehow stumbled into a woman. She was sure she hadn’t seen anyone else in the clearing. It was the woman from the chapel, wearing the same black hat and veil. She tried to avoid falling into her and fell backwards instead.
    “Oh great, you came just at the right time. I was just saying I need yet another person to throw me to the ground and here you are. Just what I needed, thank you very much.” Sophie said, not caring who heard her. Although she couldn’t make out the woman’s face behind her thick veil, she sensed the woman was frowning.
    “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” Sophie said, attempting to get back on her feet.
    Without hesitation, the woman grabbed her arm, helping her to stand.
    “Thank you, so much,” She tried politely to release herself, but the woman didn’t move. “I said I was sorry. Please let my arm go.”
    The woman stood there in silence. Sophie panicked, trying to get away, when a rumbling in the sky made her look up. She was surprised at how dark it had gotten.
    The stranger moved closer, bringing her face within inches of Sophie’s face.
    “My name is Aletheria. I am the Oracle serving your grandmother,” the woman said.
    “The what?” Sophie asked, attempting to scream over the wind.
    “I serve the Vasilikós of Greece and Italy.”
    Crazy. This woman has bought major property in crazy town.
    “Why am I not surprised Georgia has failed to prepare you for any of this? I’m sorry, dearest. I hope one day you will forgive me.”
    “What are you talking about?” Sophie croaked, her voice trapped in her throat.
    Aletheria raised her arms towards the sky as the wind rushed from behind her and whooshed upward, sounding like a freight train at full speed. Sophie lost her footing, stumbled and fell.
    Cowering on the ground, fearing she had somehow managed to end up in the path of a spring tornado, Sophie began crawling on her stomach. She made it