Delphine And The Ancients (Fairy-Tale) Poem by Nika McGuin

Delphine, age 6
floating in space,
in a daze.
Her mind drifted
to a far away place:
a field of tall swaying grass
where a wrinkly old tree winked
its branches adorned with sweeping red ribbons
that glinted as they swayed in the mild summer breeze.

Not far from the winking tree
lay the ruins of a stone well
which seemed to be older
than father time himself.
There was something about the well -
omnicient, beyond human comprehension
It seemed to call unto her very soul!

The girl's subconscious drifted closer still
until she found the well's presence overwhelming
and thought better of it, quickly backpedaling into the grass.
Noting her fear, the well spoke! -
in a voice so loud it shook the earth's core,
A voice as sweet and as stern as an aged grandmother.
"Fear not child, for there is far worse to behold."

The well informed her that she, Delphine,
was born with the weight of the world
squarely on her delicate shoulders
as she was destined to not only view -
but to also change the fate of the world at large.

At this, Delphine wished for nothing more
and nothing less than two agile feet to run away on.
But she could not. It was too late
as she could already feel herself slipping away
down into the depths of the ancient stone well.

At first, it was far too dark to see anything.
And she was feeling more alone and afraid
than she had ever felt in her short six years of life -
when suddenly the well floor began to give off an eerie golden glow.

As the child's eyes adjusted to the underground lighting
she noted that all of the passageways that streched out before her,
all of the walls, and all of the ceilings
were made of bronze brick - and every brick
was etched with strange other-worldly symbols.

Stranger still, Delphine found herself in the very center
of a cylindrical labyrinth that seemed to sink inward
giving it the appearance of that of a giant bronze funnel.
As she looked about her, the girl spotted a round dias
with a diagonal trail of stairs leading to its surface.
Guided by her endless curiosity, Delphine wandered
up the glowing staircase.

Upon reaching the top she was nearly blinded
by a flickering sphere of light. Much like the old stone well
she'd fallen into, it emitted a similarly ominous energy.
What's more, it seemed to spin like a silver dime after each flicker.
And like a moth to a flame, the child couldn't help herself.
Before she knew it, she'd already reached out her hand to touch it!
In a flash, she was sucked into the portal.

Somewhere hurdling through space and time:
She felt a jolt of electricity run down her spine.
When she at last came to, the child was shocked to find
herself hovering millions of feet in the air.
Yet, the floor - however invisible - felt solid beneath her tiny feet.
She wasn't sure how or when it had happened but she was once again
in her body. She was no longer a wind-blown wandering particle
of consciousness. Just behind her was a silver door.
Eyes clenched shut in a mixture of fear and desperation
she tried escaping through it. But it would not budge.

"Not yet! " Delphine heard a voice echo from the corner of her mind.
She knew at once that it belonged to the ancient well
that had gobbled her up just moments ago.
"I wanna go home! ! " she shouted angrily, at the brink of tears.
"You have not yet witnessed what you are here to see."
the well echoed back with a tinge of melancholy.
This sudden display of emotion from her captor
caught Delphine off guard, causing her to open her eyes in surprise.
Then, she saw "It."

"This is the Earth in the year 3060." said the well.
"This is the Earth that must never come to be. Stopping it
is your mission and your destiny."
At this Delphine surveyed the scene with an expression of maturity
and understaning quite unbefitting of a six-year-old's face.
She inhaled sharply, closed her eyes, and nodded.

Somehow the well's spirit had sensed this small gesture.
At once, the girl's body began to shine
giving off a bronze glow much like that of the labyrinth's bricks.
Then, just above her eyebrows in the center of her forehead
a circular hyrogliphic flickered - eminating silver light!

Seconds later, her appearance returned to normal.
She looked like any other little girl
in her ruffled purple dress, her thick curly hair plaited
into two unruly braids with lilac ribbons streaming from either end.
She was back home at the dinner table with her parents
and her annoying baby brother. Everything seemed unchanged -
except Delphine herself.

That night, after Delphine's mother prepared her warm bubble bath,
she took a brief glance in the mirror and let out
a little gasp of surprise and delight!

There it was, the portal symbol, mysteriously flickering back at her
from the center of her forehead! Here was her proof that the day's
events had not been some strange daydream.
Surely, even her imagination could not run so wild.

She drew closer to the mirror whilst inspecting the mark,
touching it with her right index finger in awe. Suddenly,
there was a loud bang! Then, a golden glow escaping the threshold
of the bathroom door. And poof! - She'd disappeared again
into the great unknown.