Just Breathe

Salutations, reader. This is my modern retelling of The Legend of Knocksheogowna. We all have escapes during the craziness that is 2020. Some people's are just a little more literal than others.

 

If sunsets make you happy, watch a lot of them.

It's funny. People say they don't believe in magic, but no one will go near that oddly conical hill. Kids will dare each other to climb it, but even the bravest won't go there at night. Every so often, a tourist or hiker goes up there accidentally after the sun goes down. They're usually found in the morning, scared stiff. Usually literally. It really sucks for the guy who owns the hill, but what are you going to do?

Me, I stay away from it. I don't need to know what kind of craziness goes on there after night. The world's crazy enough these days. And it's not like I leave my house for much now. Not without a mask and six feet of distance between me and everyone else. But, I found one way to get myself out of the house was to go hiking and watch the sunset from the hills. It was soothing and breathing the fresh air with no one else around helped me relax.

One night, I underestimated how long it would take me to get back to my car after a hike, so I was scrabbling around in the dark. I managed to fall and mess up my ankle. I really didn't want to walk on it. Luckily, I'd found a good walking stick earlier in my hike, but that was no replacement for two good legs on this terrain.

In the distance, I saw a light. Hopefully that was someone who either had cell signal, or would drive me somewhere that had a signal. I hobbled toward it, not paying attention to much besides the light and where I was putting my feet and stick. It wasn't until I was nearly at the top that I realized I was on the magic hill. Once I realized that, the light went out.

I swore and tried to figure out if I could manage the climb down. But there was a rock nearby and I really needed a rest. I sat down and sighed. I figured an introduction couldn't hurt. "Hello," I said. "I'm sorry about intruding. I didn't mean to. Once I have a quick rest, I'll head back down the hill."

Silence.

Well, what did I expect, really? It occurred to me that I might have alerted whatever haunted this hill that I was here. Not a happy thought. Maybe it would appreciate that I wasn't planning to stay. I hoped so.

A light appeared in front of me and turned into a gigantic black cat. Well, apparently I had annoyed whatever lived here. "I'm sorry," I began, but I never got farther. The black cat began to change. It twisted and turned in ways that a thing shouldn't. My stomach turned with it and I realized I was breathing too fast.

Without thinking about it, I started counting and breathing. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. Repeat. It gave me something to focus on besides the shapeshifting taking place in front of me. I had been curious what happened up here, but now I realized why no one has been able to describe it well. It was horrendous, and I wouldn't want to tell people exactly what was happening even if I could.

After too many shapes, it settled on a white calf. It was really cute, like any baby animal. An unsettling change from what had come before. It looked at me with trusting eyes and began to walk closer. I didn't want it to get closer. It might eat me or something. I had to do something. Maybe I'd seen too many rodeos or read too many fairy tales, but when it got close enough, I jumped up and got on its back.

The calf did not like that. It began to buck and I looked down to see the ground far, far below us. It jumped or flew, I'm not sure which one. It took us several miles deeper into the woods before it finally landed and got me off its back.

"I see you're a human with some fire in you!" The calf spoke, somehow.

I couldn't respond. I was trying to remember my breathing again.

"You didn't even scream when I changed," the calf continued.

I managed a nod. Hold for seven, out for eight. In for four.

The cow smiled. It looked wrong on that face. "Very well then, my taciturn human. What do you want?"

A thousand things crowded my mind. Chiefly, to get away from here and be home safe. "The hill," I managed. "Why do you haunt it?"

The cow laughed. "Because my people live under it. Fairies always live under a hill. Didn't you know that?"

 Fairies. My disbelief had been overworked since I saw that cat began to twist into a new shape. Why not fairies? "Is it nice?" I asked.

"Of course," the fairy sounded offended. Then a cunning look came into its cow eyes. Don't ask me how i knew this facial expression of a cow, but I knew that's what the fairy was feeling. "You could come look. See for yourself."

"Is it safe?"

"Is anything safe?" the cow countered.

So that was a no. Then again, it was probably amazing. That's the the stories said. And besides, this fairy could shapeshift into anything it wanted. Why would it live in a dump? And why would it protect a home it hated? I remembered something from those fairy tales about time passing differently on a fairy hill. One day could be decades in the human world. But it would be so nice to see others in person, even if they weren't human. To be able to hug a stranger. Breathe the same air as someone else without worry.

I had to word this carefully. "I would like your promise that you will let me visit your home, that no harm will come to me, and, when I ask, I will be returned to the human world."

The cow grinned. It wasn't threatening, but it didn't look quite right. "Agreed," it said. "Well? Hop on."

As I hopped on its back, the pain in my ankle went away. I hung on tightly as the cow jumped again. We went up and up, until we started angling down to the conical hill. Faster and faster. I shut my eyes tightly, until I could see light through my eyelids. I opened them, surprised to see what looked like daylight underground. And looking around, it was just as lovely as I'd imagined.