Reunion

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay



She dipped a strip of cloth into the refreshing pool

beneath the waterfall, and dabbed at her neck. The beauty of the glade was overwhelming.

A swarm of nearly invisible bugs held a rave in a shaft of sunlight, sparking long-forgotten memories. She missed even the bugs.

Missed them? How could she miss them? Until a month ago, she
was a corporate auditor. She’d never even been to the home her great grandmother
left a hundred years earlier.

And yet, she felt this compulsion. Strong enough to take a sabbatical,
to sell her condo and jump on the first available flight. And since then, she’s
been moving on instinct, seeing the familiar all along the way. Tracing her
great grandmother’s path as if it had been her own.

Like that spiky yellow fruit growing on that vine. She’d
never seen one before, but she knew it was edible.

She scrambled up the ancient tree roots that flowed like a
second waterfall over the cliff face.

Grandmother had told such stories of her mother’s village,
but everyone in the city said it was just jungle out this way. Even if it no
longer existed, she felt sure she’d find remains. Something drew her
here.

She was close. There would be a clearing just past these
trees…

But the clearing was empty. No sign of the village. She felt dizzy, nearly falling to her knees.  When she looked again, the village was all around her, the villagers going about their day. A woman saw her and smiled. “Truc,” the woman said, coming toward her.

“That was my great-grandmother’s name.” She’d been told she
was Truc’s spitting image.

“My apologies. The village only appears in the mortal world once every fifty years. For me, it’s only been two days since my sister left.”

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