Zilphia and the Silent Crow | Episode 2 of the Zilphia Series

As moonlight settled over Glimmerwood Forest, strange things began stirring in the crisp night air. Mysterious notes appeared, and Zilphia slowly realized something around her had changed in ways she didn’t understand.

Sometimes children sense that something is different long before they can explain it. They may notice pieces of a problem without seeing the whole picture, leaving them confused, frustrated, or alone with questions they don't know how to ask.

As the mystery deepens, Zilphia begins discovering that some of the most difficult moments aren't the ones we understand—they're the ones that make us wonder if we're missing something everyone else can see.

Glimmerwood Forest quietly slept outside Zilphia’s window. Flowers gently bent their petals in the crisp night air. The cicadas weren’t buzzing, and the crickets had already hopped home. Glimmerwood Stream flowed lazily between the trees deep into the forest, disappearing beneath thick vegetation under a glowing moon.

Zilphia’s room wasn’t as quiet. Outside was calm, but papers on her desk began to move, trembling slowly at first. Suddenly, they twirled into the air, then fell to the floor. The little sleeping fairy rubbed her nose and rolled over.

The papers stood up in a row facing the window. The shadow was back. It slid across each page like a snail, leaving a ghastly trail of black debris behind it. As it reached the end of the last page, a loud sound screeched from within the forest. The shadow stopped quickly and slid backwards out the window, knocking over Zilphia’s chair as it did. The loud clamor woke up her mom who rushed into her room.

“Zilphia! Are you okay?” her mother asked. She was amazed to see her daughter still sleeping peacefully in bed. She saw the papers lying on the floor. A cryptic message was written in large, black chalk-like letters: I’ll be back!

A sickening feeling gnawed at her stomach. “What does this mean?” she whispered to herself.

Zilphia’s mom looked around the room trying to see what made the note because she knew her daughter didn’t. She knew Zilphia’s penmanship, and this wasn’t it. Tiny pieces of black feathers were embedded in each letter.

She decided not to wake Zilphia, and hid the papers as she moved her chair closer to Zilphia’s open door. She waited… and listened. The silence was gone. Outside the forest began to hum with cicadas and crickets buzzing and chirping in the night air while wind rustled through the trees.

The next morning Zilphia smiled at the sun shining through her window. She stretched, then turned and saw her mother asleep sitting in her doorway.

“Good morning, mom! What are you doing?”

Dark bags rested beneath her mother’s tired eyes as she yawned. “Oh, nothing dear. I thought I heard something last night, and I wanted to keep an eye on you.”

Zilphia noticed her chair lying on the floor and gave her mother a puzzled look.

“Did you hear it fall?” her mother asked.

“No ma’am.”

“Waah! Waah!”

“Get ready for breakfast, sweetheart, while I take care of your brother.”

The door closed slowly as Zilphia’s mom flew away.  She could hear her little brother screaming, but she didn’t hear the crow sitting on her windowsill. He watched her with a piercing gaze as she placed a flower in her hair.

An uneasy chill covered Zilphia. She turned towards her window and saw him sitting there. His deep black feathers glistened in the morning sun, but his eyes were eerily strange. Zilphia had never seen a crow with yellow eyes before. And she had never seen one open and close his mouth without making a sound.

“Choo! Go away!” screamed Millie as she hopped onto the bed. “Get away from here!”

Zilphia looked at her strangely wondering why she was waving her hands at the bird.

“Don’t you hear him cawing?” asked Millie as she leaned out the window.

Zilphia was still brushing her hair and adjusting her flower.

“Zilphia! Did you hear me?” The little energetic fairy danced around the room and sat on the chair.

“Ouch!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Zilphia.

“It’s hot! Why is it hot?”

“I don’t know. It fell on the floor, but it shouldn’t be hot.”

“It is… it is to me! Your seat is full of heat!” sang the little fairy as she flew out the room.

Zilphia scratched her head, then hurried to make sure her bun was still neatly centered on top. She looked at the chair and slowly rubbed her hand across it. If it had been hot, it wasn’t now. She scratched her head again. None of it made sense. Her mother sitting by her door… the crow on her windowsill… and now her little sister saying her chair was hot.

Zilphia sat on her bed looking at the image of her fairy godmother. She wished she were there because she was so wise. Zilphia thought her godmother knew everything and was sure she would know why everyone was acting so strangely.

She flew across the room reaching for the door, but she could feel something watching her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the black crow. This time he landed on her desk and knocked over her books.  He sat oddly on a stack of papers and stared. Not just at her. Zilphia could feel him staring through her.

“Choo bird! Get out of here!” Millie screamed again.

Their mother entered the door holding Kyron. “What’s going on in here?”

“That nasty old crow won’t leave,” said Millie as she crawled between her mother’s legs.

Zilphia picked up the paper the crow sat on. A small, black prickly feather was on her desk beside the note: I TOLD YOU I’D BE BACK!

“Mom!” screamed Zilphia in terror. “What does it mean?”

Her mother held her close as she held Kyron, while Millie held their legs. “I’m not sure. But it’s going to be okay. I’m here and we’re together. The crow flew away. So come on, your breakfast is ready.”

Millie bounced into the other room in front of her mother. Zilphia followed slowly behind them. She wasn’t convinced everything was okay. She still had an eerie feeling, and she wondered if the crow would return. She also wondered about the dark shadow, and if it was just her imagination.

Zilphia sat quietly at the table looking at her bowl of cream. She pushed it aside and rested her head on her arms as she watched her mother and Millie talking. She felt like she did at school. They were with her, but somehow, she still felt alone and she didn’t know why.

Her mother reached her hand out to rub her back, but Millie grabbed it and did a pirouette. Zilphia felt humiliated again. Not because someone embarrassed her, but because things had happened around her that she didn’t notice. And worst of all, she didn’t know why.

She slid deeply into her seat and hid her face, wondering why the crow kept returning to her room. Her mother’s voice was muffled, and Millie’s giggles were too. Only the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge. They were as prickly as the small black feather that laid next to the weird note.

 

Follow Zilphia as she discovers hidden truths within Glimmerwood Forest, where the darkness has only just begun to awaken.

— Written with care by W. L. Shaw, creator of Fanciful Tales