The Midnight Casino

“My friend chainsaws trees in the middle of the night.”

“Why? Wouldn’t it be safer during the daytime? Why aren’t they sleeping or playing video games like a normal person?”

“They say it’s perfectly safe. They bike through the forest after dark, too.”

“That is befuddling.”

“I think they like the solitude.”

“There must be more to it than that.”

“I imagine there is.”

“We’re surrounded by forests here. You can get plenty of solitude during the daytime.”

“You are pretty much guaranteed not to run into somebody at night though. Most people don’t realize it is an option.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s an option. But not for me. I could never go out into the forest in the middle of the night. Not with my overactive imagination.”

“There is nothing out there to be scared of. We do not have poisonous snakes or spiders or even aggressive bears. Catamounts went extinct here decades ago.”

“It would still be terrifying to run into a bear alone in the middle of the night! Plus, there are other nocturnal predators and… and things you can’t see! Laugh all you want, but have you ever gone and spent time in the forest at night doing activities you could have done during the day?”

“No, but I have not had a reason to.”

I threw my hands in the air, “Because there is no reason to!”

~*~

That night, moonlight crept in through the bottom of my open shade and a gentle breeze set it moving.

Clunk… C-lunk.

I traded complete blackness for airflow but it was still dark enough to fall back asleep. And yet, my pillow was too warm to be comfortable. The dewy night air caressed my exposed skin, beckoning me. I knew the moment I heeded its call and stepped outside, the sweet coolness would feel so divine.

I sat atop the ruffled bedding and let my toes patter a few times on the floor, testing the waters.

Nothing grabbing me from under the bed. That was a promising start.

I found myself standing a moment later and, almost as though hypnotized, walked out of my bedroom without packing a bag. My muffled footsteps carried me down the hallway and across the threshold into the garage. The familiar sent of plywood, recycling, and dust met me there, soon replaced by the deeply soothing freshness of the summer night.

Before I took another step, I appraised the darkness. I hoped that the bigger I made my eyes, the more I could rely on them.

Something skittered nearby.

Click.

The backyard was suddenly flooded with light as a small creature set off the motion detector. Its brown body darted toward the shadows and dove beneath the shed. Not to be seen again.

I realized that I had backed into the garage, then freed my white-knuckled hand from the door frame to try again. I stepped forward once more into the halo of the flood light. In a few swift strides I was at the edge of the glowing area that shrouded me in a reassuring blanket of safety. My steps were nearly silent in the soft grass. Everything outside the light was cast in a blurry haze. I walked right to the edge and shielded my eyes, trying to get a good look and identify any potential threats that may be lurking nearby. Not saying that skunks lurk, but they are certainly a threat of some kind.

Click.

I had been standing there concentrating so long that the motion sensor no longer detected me. At once I was enveloped in impenetrable darkness and completely invisible. Exhilaration grabbed me then. Blood rushed from my heart to thud rapidly in my eardrums. I was not sure if I was breathing slowly or not at all. My neck popped a bit when I relaxed my shoulders and I wondered if all the trees could hear it.

By the time I had gathered my courage to step back toward the garage, I realized that the way forward was already illuminated. The nearly full moon filtered through the trees and showed me to the entrance of the trail at the far corner of our yard.

I walked slowly, listening to the very capacity of my hearing, and quickly realized that I was the noisiest thing out here.

Am I this loud during the daytime? I must be crashing around nonstop.

I leaned on a tree and admired the roughness of its bark. My hands had grown soft and free of calluses over the years of young-adulthood. Respect swelled in my chest at the heartiness of these old trees in our yard. My childhood companions waiting patiently to be seen and enjoyed by me once more, or not. They endure the unknown so boldly and steadfast. It inspired me. If they can stand out here every night, vulnerable yet flourishing, then I can last more than a few minutes.

Pine needles and small twigs pressed into my feet and I smiled at the prospect of finding black sap between my toes in the morning. I used to put peanut butter on the sap as a child. Someone told me once that was the best way to get it off.

We have some peanut butter in the cupboard.

I crunched along, my eyes now sensitive enough to the dark that I could avoid the small stumps and prickly plants in my path. Leafy beech branches hung low over the entrance to the winding trail of the public forest. This final gateway between myself and the lesser-known caused an apprehensive tightening in my chest. It was so dark under the canopy.

In my minds eye, I pictured something crouching there. Grotesque and bloodthirsty, it waited for me just beyond the trees. My skin prickled and suddenly I felt ridiculous, but my thoughts were racing along regardless of my sensibilities.

If I turn and run now, would it chase me? Can I make it to the motion sensor in time and startle the beast with a flood of light?

My toes gripped the ground and adrenaline filled my legs with a hot rush as I prepared to run. Instead, I bent my knees and held my hands before me, ready to grab my assailant and defend myself. I twisted my face into a terrifying snarl and pounced forward through the trees with a “Ha!”

The tense moment split in two as I was fully ready for battle and at once realized that I was being utterly ridiculous. I straightened, snorting a laugh, and waited for my eyes to adjust once again.

This is not so bad. It is a lot less convenient than moving around in the daylight but…

I heard a faint squeaking and chittering as a mouse or mole or other small, slight creature continued about its business nearby. Either it was not bothered by my comparatively hulking form or it could not sense me there. What a small treat it was to be so close to Mother Nature’s goings on. I felt welcomed, even.

After the small visitor had finished its task and retreated into the nearest tree hole, I carried on. My eyes had a shocking ability to guide me through the near darkness, but I knew my capabilities were meek compared to true animals of the night. The rest of my senses got the opportunity to contribute more than they ever do as well.

I walked silently through pockets of moonlight among the trees. I was without fear, meditative and transient. Connected in a way I had never known before. To think I had been so scared of a place I loved just because there was less light than usual felt... sad.

Up ahead, there came an unfamiliar sound. A thrumming that faded in and out. And an eerie, foreign shade of light. Then, a voice. It was ethereal and irresistible, it called to me and me alone, and I answered that call. Fear forgotten, I approached the edge of the tree line and the clearing ahead. I was bathed in a warm, bluish light, and high above me the silhouette of a woman appeared. Her skin was technicolor: fluctuating between the crisp blue of a clear ocean day, the vibrant green of sun kissed grass, the deep violet of a freshly bloomed iris and the hot peach of a cloud after a clearing storm. She reached a slender hand toward me. Her song carried me along, a soulful rhythm with the weight of a thousand lifetimes.

The spell was broken when a loud grinding began in front of me. I looked down to see the imposing face of a frowning mossy boulder.

My head shook in disbelief as I crouched to get eye-level with the massive rock. Its mouth stretched ominously across the entirety of its face.

A thick squirming thing was dropped over my shoulders and I yelped, flailing, trying to get it off.

“Stop that! You’re going to hurt her!”

The rock was speaking now. To me.

I stilled, and slid my eyes to the side to find two pale skin flaps looking back from my shoulder. A white grub. It was tickling my ear and neck with her long antennae and translating.

“You’re not on the list.”

I slowly turned from the grub and back to the boulder.

“I’m sorry?”

There was a scraping sound as the boulder rolled its eyes and spoke again, more slowly.

“I said, you- are- not- on- the- list. I am going to have to ask you to step aside.”

“Step aside wh-?”

The question lodged in my throat as I took in the scene that I had stumbled upon.

Creatures of all shapes and unbelievable origin were idling about in the clearing, deciding where to sit. They materialized with muted flashes of light out of the knots of trees and dropped from the dark alcoves of the branches above. The “aside” that the boulder referenced appeared to be a giant sticky bubble with a variety of frazzled woodland creatures panicking inside.

“No, um, no. That’s alright. I’ll go.” I stepped backward toward the shadow of the trees from whence I came.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me bubbled up into a mound. I teetered to keep my balance as an earthworm the width of a horses back schlepped me back in front of the boulder.

“Thanks, buddy.” He winked at the worm. “Yeah, before you try anything, there is no escape. Into the bubble with your new friends.”

I tried to jump off the worm but its body was fleshy and made for unreliable footing. I toppled over and it rolled me along toward the bubble. All I could do was suck in air before I was pushed through the membrane. The inside of the bubble stank like wet dog and stress. I stepped on a snakes tail, leaped to the side only to land on a rabbit, who dug its teeth into my shirt fabric. Chaos ensued until a meaty hand pulled me back out to the fresh air on the other side with a suctioned pop. The hand was dry and warm but the creature holding my arm looked rather wet. It stood like a man but gills fluttered along the side of his green neck as he spoke.

“I have her, my lady.”

“Lovely, she can sit next to me. Here doll, drink up.”

A woman was sitting atop the tufted petals of a massive white flower. Another tuft sprouted suddenly from the stem beside her and I was hoisted up and placed upon it. The delicate blossoms were sturdier than they looked because I sank down only slightly, as though it were a cushioned chair. Somehow, it was comfortable and supportive.

A large barrel-shaped mug filled with bright pink liquid was placed before me on the tabletop portion of the giant flower. I picked up the cup and tilted it, watching the thick fluid move lazily around. I eyed it nervously.

“It’s just Grule,” she said kindly. “Goop that teaches you the rules so you can play the game.”

“Why are you taking in this pet, Gaia? I thought you despised humans.”

Across the table, a very average looking man pried. His only distinguishing features were his bushy eyebrows and a ridiculous, lumpy hat. The flower sprouted sudden vines that grabbed the man tightly around the shoulders and pulled him closer to the woman.

“Not all humans are like you, Columbus. This girl here can call me Gaia, but you need to remember who you are talking to.”

“Christopher Columbus?” I blurted, incredulous, “You’re still alive?”

Gaia rolled her eyes, “Unfortunately. Davinci is here too.”

A bearded man at another table turned and bowed his head in our direction.

“Oh, well, that actually makes sense.” I thought aloud.

Gaia laughed and squeezed Columbus tighter.

He attempted bravado but it came out as forced and childish as the veins began popping out of his neck. His cheeks glowed red and he muttered to himself.

The only other man-looking person at the table chuckled and sharp incisors gleamed out from beneath his lips.

“You got something to say, Drac? I swear I can bring on the sunrise right now.”

That got the attention of the other tables and there was a rousing of general protest.

“Can you all please restrain yourselves and respect Mother Nature so we can get on with our evening?” said a man-sized frog with a top hat and midnight blue suit at the next nearest table. His eyes and cuff links twinkled menacingly.

I sat up a little straighter, pleased that I was on Gaia’s good side and intending to keep it that way. I gave the cup one more slosh and drank. The texture was predictably unpleasant, but the effects were immediate. I suddenly felt like I could see the creatures’ faces a bit clearer and the blue lights shining above each flower were dazzling. They were not just lights, either, I realized. They were airborne jellyfish casting the light of their bioluminescent glow down like spotlights on the floral tables.

And the games began.

They were as bizarre as anything I had experienced before. The gambling chips changed with every game. I laughed and chatted and connected with my table-mates. I listened to their stories of distant lands and far-flung adventures, whether they took place on this planet or elsewhere.

There was a hedgehog person who was at the cutting edge of quill fashion in the next galaxy over.

Next to me, a turtle with an island on his back was happy to tell a few of his countless stories. At one point, I got up to admire the inhabitants living on his shell in a microcosm of peace. They waved up at me and I waved back.

I learned that the bouncer was a man-eating rock. He was local to this area but has not been hungry for hundreds of years- since the days of colonization and clearcut logging spoiled his appetite.

The singer that lured me here was a siren who favored soulful classics. It was only after her spell was broken that I noticed her sparkling scaly skin.

A gooble was evidently an undiscovered reptilian blob-like creature that lives far beneath the earth’s crust, up-side-down, between the bedrock and the magma. They seemed kind of lonely and glad for the excuse to get out.

I heard grumbles of displeasure as a sentient book ran the far table throughout the night.

For one game, the gambling chips were pieces of clay, then viles of dark liquids, then dazzling palm-sized rocks. Once, they were red hot balls and Gaia had to move them around for me, warning me that they would burn through my bones. I kept my hands in my lap after that.

I was doing well enough, I think, trying my best not to question what was at stake until the chips for one game were small bipedal creatures. I could have held five in my hand but I did not pick them up because they looked horribly frightened. I had not spoken much up to that point, but there was a lull in the conversation and I felt uneasy about betting these chips.

“So…” I started, and all eyes turned to me. Whoops. “Do you all come here often?”

“You probably wont catch the next one, if that’s what you’re hoping,” the gooble moaned.

“Like, I’ll be dead?”

Gaia pulled her lips into a sad smile.

“That’s alright! I was just wondering,” I assured them. “You are either ancient creatures of myth or something I have never imagined from outer space, so I figured you were on a different sort of time line.”

“But UFOs do visit pretty often, you might be able to keep a pen pal. Or you can come visit me, we’ll have tea sometime.”

It seemed like an earnest invitation and I decided in that moment that I quite enjoyed the company of The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

“I would like that very much.”

I tried not to look too relieved when the table was cleared of the small creature gambling chips. They were replaced by spheres of pure blackness, wreathed by spiraling white light.

“I am guessing I should not touch these either?”

“Very keen,” Gaia winked, “these are black holes.” Then her face hardened as she eyed her competitors at the table. “And I’m going for the lot.”

The turtle with the island gulped audibly.

I was handed a stack of thin stones with symbols on one side and started when I realized that this prize, holding galaxies in the balance, was going to be decided over a game of Go Fish.

The Grule was wearing off though, because the cards started to look jumbled and I had trouble distinguishing them. I became flustered and described the images at length to complete my turn without showing my whole hand. Dracula became inpatient and I had trouble sitting still when I realized he was looking at me rather hungrily. Tile by tile, I lost. I stared at the empty flower table in front of me and held my breath, waiting to see what came next. I got the unnerving feeling that I was fastened to the table, unable to make a quiet getaway.

One by one the competitors fell out of the running.

With a long sigh, the gooble folded, and then it was just Columbus and Gaia left.

He was so close, and he knew it. A twisted expression bloomed across his face as he stared at the pile of black holes. A bead of sweat collected at his temple. He was more than eager for the chance to reign victorious over Mother Nature.

I jumped as the frog in the top hat cackled, wrapping both arms around the pot at his table, dropping the black holes soundlessly into his open suitcase.

Gaia’s eyes were sharp, catching both the fading blue of the jellyfish lantern and the cool pink of the oncoming sun.

The siren let out a long, splendid parting note that echoed deep into the forest.

Columbus’s grin faltered, then his head dropped onto the table with a thunk.

“Better luck next time, you chump!”

Gaia chuckled with pure delight, like the sound of a creek dancing between river rocks, as she pulled her winnings toward her.

She turned to me grinning broadly and nodded before she faded.

The giant bubble popped and the captured wildlife skittered away into the shrubbery. I turned only fast enough to see their tails disappear into the underbrush.

The sun of a new day had crested the treetops and I watched as the shadows of my company turned to mist.

I fell to the ground with a thump and found myself in a very normal looking meadow of Queen Anne’s Lace.

My mouth hung open.

I stood.

I walked around the man-eating boulder to find his face was no longer there and in all perceivable ways, it was a typical rock.

I stepped around quietly a little longer, feeling the dew collecting on my shins, and picked a single tufted flower. The one I had been sitting on all night.

As I walked home I realized I had only made it a five minute journey from the yard. How, in the darkness it had seemed like so much farther, I did not understand. But I decided without a doubt that there was a lot I did not understand. From now on when I walk through nature, I will go slower so I do not miss witnessing its many mysteries.

I arrived in my parents backyard when the grub on my shoulders stretched and yawned.

“You’re still here!” I whispered excitedly.

The grub nodded, “Mhm, I live here.”

“Oh, right. Well, I live here, too. You are welcome to stay in the garden if you would like.”

I removed her from my shoulders like a cord of soft rope and placed her beneath a hydrangea bush.

The grub reared its soft head up at me. “That is very kind. I think I will stay.”

~*~

Many years and adventures later, my joints have swollen and my skin has grown thin. I cannot make it along the trails anymore like I used to. I bought a cottage, when I was old enough, deep in the woods and Grub and I designed the most wonderful, elaborate garden. Grub died a few years back, but I still stroll through the garden at night when I can. Waiting to see what happens. The kids in the town down the mountain call me a witch and pass along tales of my wickedness. I enjoy their theories, and how they sneak glances at my home with wonder in their eyes. One day, one of them will be brave enough to meet me here at night, and I will teach them all I know about the secrets of the forest. I will brew them a hot pink tea, invite them to sit among the flowers, and tell them the story of how it all started with me and the Midnight Casino.