The nightingale offered a sort of smile, though birds aren’t designed for such things. There was a warm and comfortable pause as a group of friendly fireflies gathered around them, flashing and dancing in the night air.

After a moment, the nightingale turned serious.

“We need your help,” he said.

“Okay,” Leila said, as though she understood.

“I want to show you something in the woods.”

“I’m not supposed to,” Leila answered with a sigh.

“Then come to the very edge,” the nightingale said. “It’s important.”

Leila looked at her house. There was no movement anywhere that she could see. She stood up carefully and began to walk toward the woods as the nightingale flew ahead. She didn’t look back, knowing her mother would yell if she saw her getting too close.

When she arrived at the very edge of the forest, she paused and listened.

“Just a few more steps,” the nightingale called. “I’m in the tall oak tree straight ahead.”

“What’s that?” Leila asked.

“It meant something in their language, but wouldn’t mean anything to you now. As time passed, we were lost to the world of humans. They became rational and built empires and wrote books filled with their knowledge. Humans can no longer see us even though we live alongside them, just as we always have.”

“You’re a Gelkandar,” Leila said, smiling at the sound of the word.

 “Not just any Gelkandar. Your Gelkandar. Every person has one. My name is Amnay.”

“That’s a funny name,” Leila laughed.

“Human names sound funny to us, too.”

“How come I can see you if other people can’t?”

“Because you’re a very special girl,” he answered. And because I’ve chosen to reveal myself to you, in my most true form. Sometimes Gelkandar need to just be who we are. You can understand that, can’t you?”

Leila nodded, because she most certainly did.

“We have the ability to alter our size, to slide through matter, even to transcend space,” he continued. “And as you can see, we don’t need much more than a few inches on a bookshelf to be comfortable. Or we can just drift with the clouds.”

Leila looked up at the sky. “Wow!”

 “Trees are our favorite places to inhabit,” he said. “Once upon a time, people loved trees, too. But now they flock to the cities. We don’t really like cities.”

“Thank you,” Leila said.

“For what?” Amnay asked, looking genuinely surprised.

“For showing me who you really are.”

Amnay smiled a funny little smile. “Let’s keep it a secret for now,” he said.

“Just between us,” Leila said solemnly.

Amnay floated from the tree and hung in the air quite close to Leila’s face. “Strange things are going to happen,” he said. “You might get scared, but if you trust me you’ll be all right. Can you do that, Leila?”

“Bad things?”

“It might seem that way. But you’ll have friends who will help you.”

“I’m not very good at making friends,” Leila offered sadly. “The other kids think I’m weird.”

“These will be grown up friends. People who are special, just like you. There have always been humans who are more aware of things. They help us with our work.”

“You have a job?” Leila asked, wide-eyed.

“We all have work to do,” Amnay explained. “The special people will all be brought together.”

“How will I know them?”

Amnay scratched his head and looked up, as though waiting for the answer to float down from the treetops.

“You don’t always remember your dreams, but the ones you do are different, more vivid,” he told her. “They make an impression. You’ll meet these friends in your dreams.”

“In my dreams,” Leila repeated, as if in a trance.

 “In the meantime, you need to avoid watching television, listening to the radio, talking on the phone or playing on the computer. You need to spend as much time as you can in complete silence, in the fields or here in the woods. And always remember, we are here with you.”

Leila sat rapt, staring at him, her eyes as big as saucers and her mouth as wide as the outdoors.

“Leila!”

She started and turned to see her father standing on the porch.

Amnay flew across the place where Leila’s shadow merged with the shadow of the oak tree.

“Always remember, we are here with you,” he whispered, and then he was a nightingale once more, flying off into the night.

Leila ducked down and quickly crawled out of the woods to the edge of the field before popping up to reveal herself in the midst of the poppies and tall grasses.

“I’m right here, Daddy!” she called.

“Time to come in, Sweetheart!”

Amnay slipped into the hollow of a tree and returned to his true form, watching the girl run towards her father. Leila had great potential for one so young. Her innate wisdom would be invaluable to the great work that lay ahead, and he was determined to help her realize that potential.

A great shadow was falling over the earth, and The Turning was upon them.