Page 139 of Conjure

James curses, slamming his hand down on the wheel. Then he exits the car and throws the door shut so hard that the car jostles.

He’s leaning over the open hood, swearing up a storm as he touches something smoldering hot, but I tune him out when the trees by the roadside catch my attention.

“Guys,” I whisper, opening the passenger door. My friends are too busy talking about what happened back at the house to hear me, so I raise my voice. “Guys!”

Timothy and Brielle finally look at me from the backseat.

“Listen…”

They look at each other, confused, and then at me. “Listen to what?”

“Can you not hear that?” I exit the car and walk closer to the forest’s edge. The fir trees stretch out before me, their branches moving softly in the late-night summer breeze.

Brielle slides down her window and pokes her head out. “What is it, Grace?”

I’m transfixed, listening to the wind shifting through the branches. “The trees whisper.”

THE END