Therapy Bits

Thanks to Missy for hosting this challenge!

Missy’s MAD Challenge # 070 – M.A.D. Works

Out of the shadows, a creature unlike any seen before emerged, challenging the beliefs of those who dared to venture into the night. Its form shimmered between solid and smoke, as though reality hadn’t fully decided what it should be. Four luminous eyes blinked in slow sequence, each casting a different hue across the moss-covered forest floor.

Mira froze. She had ventured beyond the boundary fence countless times, chasing rumors of strange sightings, but nothing had prepared her for this—this quiet, graceful impossibility. The creature tilted its head, and the air around her vibrated with a low, harmonic hum. It wasn’t threatening. It was… curious.

Behind her, Rowan stepped forward, boots crunching twigs. “Mira,” he whispered, “we should go. Now.”

She raised a hand to silence him. The creature’s eyes shifted, the colors blending into an iridescent whirl. Mira sensed something—an emotion, a question—press gently against her thoughts. She didn’t understand the words, but the intent was unmistakable: Do you trust me?

Against every sensible instinct, she nodded.

The creature stepped closer. Its body rippled like wind across water, stretching into tendrils of light before reforming. It stopped a breath away from her, lowering itself until its eyes aligned with hers. Then, with a soft pulse of warmth, it shared a vision.

Forests thriving. Rivers clear. Cities quiet and bright. Humans walking beside beings like itself—no fear, no fences, no weapons. A world healed not by dominance, but understanding.

When the vision faded, the creature retreated, dissolving slowly into the night from which it had come. Mira exhaled shakily. Rowan, pale and wide-eyed, stared at her as though she had just spoken to a star.

“What was that?” he breathed.

Mira touched her chest, still warm.
“Hope,” she said.