"She thought of her mother's mind as if there were balloons floating inside and sometimes she grabs one. Sometimes she grabs them all and the stories come out."- Candy Crowler

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"Catch a cold, they will." Gran said, her low tone disapproving. "Playing outside in that weather."

Sylvia peered out the window. Streaks of water raced down the window and puddles filled the potholes in the gravel driveway leading to her grandmother's home. The steadfast drumming of raindrops on the roof and thunder that chimed in periodically told her that the storm was far from over. Lightning illuminated the yard; the water well and her grandmother's pristine flowerbed, but there wasn't a child in sight.

"Where are their parents?" Gran sounded more aggravated, then straightened as her decision was proclaimed. "I'm going out there!"

Gran adjusted her glasses to see the children better and Sylvia's heart panged.

She glanced at her siblings and knew they were all thinking the same thing. It was futile explaining to Gran that there was nothing wrong with her eyes, but rather the children were a figment of her mind. They knew this from experience. If they tried to tell Gran that what she saw wasn't real, it would only aggravate her more. It was safer to play along, so that's what they did.

"Where's my umbrella?" Gran pondered as she started out of the living room.

"Oh!" Meadow said, thinking fast. She placed a hand on Gran's shoulder, making Gran pause in her steps. "No, Gran! I know those kids, they live just down the street. I have their parents' phone number! Here, let me call them."

"But they're not even dressed appropriately! No raincoats, boots, or umbrellas!" Gran said, her eyes trained on a puddle in the yard. "We should invite them inside."

Gran started walking to her mudroom again, but Sylvia sprang to her feet this time. "I'll go, Gran! You look so cozy in your pajamas right now, it would be a shame to ruin them in the rain and mud."

"Make sure to tell them we have warm tea and caramels, too!"

"I will!" Sylvia promised, before heading to the mudroom, just down the hall. She had no intentions of actually going outside, but she had to pretend at least until Meadow acted like she had called the children's parents or Brynlee and Forrest got her mind onto a new topic.

Sylvia and Bynlee used to love putting on their grandmother's old clothes and pretending that they were from another time period, but the two sisters had known it was all an act. They could switch back to being regular girls in the twenty-first century as they pleased. Gran's case was different. Over the last year, Gran's dementia had progressed to a point where she could no longer tell what was real and what her mind had breathed to life. Some days she was reliving the past and imagining family and friends. Other days, it was little things like imaging children playing in the rain that weren't really there.

Gran often questioned why her son's family had moved in with her, but they knew better than to explain that it was because her own mind was a danger to her well being. Even if they did explain it to her, she wouldn't remember the answer in a few hours.

"So their parents are coming to pick them up?" Sylvia could hear Gran's voice ask.

"Yes, they'll be here soon." Meadow dismissed Gran's concern. "Now, we should get to bed. Dad and Mom are already asleep, and it's getting pretty late."

Taking that as her cue, Sylvia crept back into the living room.

"You don't need to go out there, sweet Syl." Gran said, her eyes wide and serious. "Their parents are coming to get them."

"Oh, good!" She gushed, her right hand covering heart in a show of relief. "Off to bed then?"

"I suppose so." Gran's eyes drifted back to the puddle one last time before she allowed her grandchildren to help her into bed.

Once Gran was fast asleep, the four siblings went to the second level of the house, where their bedrooms and another bathroom were located.

"Does Gran's flowerbed have lights?" Brynlee asked, seemingly out of the blue.

Sylvia spit her toothpaste out into the sink in the utmost unladylike fashion. "What?"

Brynlee leaned against the counter. "Does Gran's flowerbed have lights?"

Meadow paused her brushing and from the corner of her mouth mumbled unintelligently, "Uh nah."

"I don't think so either." Sylvia said as she envisioned the flowerbed she had seen countless times before. Images of magnolias, peonies, and lilies filled her mind, but she didn't recall ever seeing a light of any sort near the array of plants.

"Are you guys almost done in there?" Forrest asked impatiently while he leaned against the doorframe. "Why do girls take so long in the bathroom? I want to shower yet tonight."

"You should have gotten up here before us then." Brynlee said smugly, before returning to her original question. "Does Gran's flowerbed have lights?"

"What?" Forrest looked at his sister like she had grown a third eye. "I don't know. Why?"

"I didn't think she had lights on her flowerbed, but when I was changing into my PJs I kept on seeing a white light coming from over there. I can see it from my bedroom window."

"And we should care about this, why?" Forrest enquired.

"It's so bright, like a fire."

"What?" Sylvia deadpanned.

"There's a bright light that grows and fades like a fire coming from somewhere near her flowerbed."

Meadow spit out her toothpaste and raised an eyebrow at her youngest sister. "Show us."

And she did. Brynlee led her siblings into her room and over to her window. Sure enough, a line of white light rose and sank near their grandmother's flowerbed.

"That wasn't there before." Sylvia confirmed, squinting to see better. "What is that?"

"Do we have to check it out tonight?" Meadow questioned. "I am tired."

Then the light grew again, but this time, sparks flew from it and fell onto the lawn and flowers.

"Fine, because the last thing we need is that thing starting a fire." Meadow made up her mind.

Meadow was the eldest of the siblings and least impulsive of the group. She would have much rather waited until they had daylight on their side, but the sparks concerned her and even her curiosity won out.

The siblings crept down the stairs, mindful to not wake their parents or Gran, and threw on their rain gear hastily. Sylvia was still tugging on her boots as she walked out the door and nearly tripped on the porch steps.

The light continued to pulse, but as the siblings drew closer, they realized that the light was in the shape of a square.

Forrest kicked at the dirt in the middle of the glowing box.

Meadow gasped. "Don't touch it! We don't know what it is!"

"Well it's not a fire, it has no heat." Forrest said, drawing his foot back through the glow.

Sylvia pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight. She held it over the box and noticed a silver patch in the middle of the dirt. "What is that?"

None of the siblings had an answer.

"Only one way to find out." Brynlee said, and reached for the silver patch.

Silver links - chains - Sylvia realized, clanked as they followed the first link Brynlee took hold of. Then the square which the light surrounded was being lifted open. Light flooded out of the now open trap door. It was blinding, but it only lasted a moment before the glow vanished completely, leeching the world of color. Even Sylvia's phone light turned off.

"What the-"

"A trapdoor." Meadow cut Sylvia off. "Gran has a trapdoor under her flowerbed?"

"Bodies or wine?" Forrest asked.

"My money's on wine!" Sylvia placed her bet.

"Bodies!" Brynlee responded.

"One way to find out. Ladies first." Forrest gestured his three older sisters forward.

Sylvia smiled kindly, but her voice was laced with sarcasm. "How considerate of you."

"Do we have to do this tonight?" Meadow asked. "We know where the door is now. We can check it out in the morning."

"Or now." Brynlee said. She turned her phone's flashlight on and began to climb down the wooden ladder before anyone could talk her out of it.

Sylvia, Forrest, and a reluctant Meadow followed, each with their phone's on flashlight mode.

The underground room was moderately large. Stone walls with paint peeling surrounded the siblings. Despite how spacious it was, there was only a wooden table against the wall and a door with a large clock hanging over it on the adjacent wall for decor.

"No bodies or wine in this section." Sylvia joshed.

"Obviously, they're behind that door." Forrest pointed to the door across the room.

"Guys." Meadow called from the table. "There's letters here. Addressed to us."

The group gathered at the table and sure enough, each of the siblings had letters with their names written in ink on the envelope. They all had a wax seal with a design of a crown over a distorted tree.

Sylvia swept her finger over her name, and scanned the dust that her finger collected. "I think the dust layers are thicker than the actual letter. These must have been written ages ago."

Did their grandmother write these before her short term memory started to worsen? What could they possibly say?

"The door's unlocked!" Brynlee yelled over her shoulder.

"Great." Meadow muttered.

Brynlee pushed it open and the four had to cover their eyes with their arms. Daylight flooded in through the now open door and scorched their unprepared eyes.

When their eyes adjusted, the siblings stared through the doorway in shock, neither of them daring to pass through the threshold.

"Is this where the light was coming from?" Meadow pondered.

"It almost has to be, but what is it exactly?" Sylvia wondered.

Sylvia heard Brynlee say under breath, "I must be high."

"An illusion." Forrest suggested half-heartedly, but there was no electronic equipment in the room outside of their cell phones, nothing that could work as a projector of sorts.

Sylvia was still dripping wet from walking to her grandmother's flowerbed, but the weather here was completely different. Not a raincloud was in sight. White clouds drifted across a baby blue canvas and wild flowers swayed in the soft breeze. Trees reached into the sky with outstretched arms as if trying to soak in every inch of the sun's warmth.

Sylvia reached her arm out, half expecting her fingers to connect with the stone wall. Instead, a breeze filtered through her fingers, the smell of pine needles and lilacs was whisked through the air, and Sylvia found herself stepping over the threshold and into this new land.

Meadow, Brynlee, and Forrest shuffled through the door after her, each wanting to make their initial impression of the place.

"And just when I think I've seen it all, I see more." A raspy voice said.

The siblings stilled in their tracks, before turning around to meet the owner of the new voice.

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