Lights in the Distance

And, in a sense, they were dead.

I attended the funeral, under the guise of being one of their college professors. I stared at their weeping mother, and wished I could comfort her in some way, while still fully well knowing that that even this deception was better than the truth.

The truth was that the world she knew was a lie. That monsters were real, and could be hiding in your bed or in your closet every night when you lay down to sleep. That every time you went out on some mundane errand, there actually was a chance you'd suddenly disappear into thin air, in the short walk between the door to the grocery store and your car. That your children weren't really safe playing outside, even when they stayed confined to your backyard, and away from the forest. That witches, vampires, ghosts, and werewolves were not only real, but were actually among the least of your concerns.

Yes, this poor woman had to believe her sons were killed in a car crash, so every other mother could still comfortably place their newborns in their cribs and not have to worry that elves would come in the night and replace them with a changeling.

After that, it was time to move. During the investigation, we had kept the children under strict supervision, not allowing them anywhere near where I had chanced up that cursed town. But, realistically, we knew we couldn't keep it up forever.

Eventually, they would be more and more on their own, and what if, for example, one late December, my son found himself driving his girlfriend home for the holiday, eager for us to meet her? Then, when none were ever forecasted by the weather, a sudden snowstorm was to strike. And what if, desperate to find shelter from the wind and sleet, they were to see a sign for a town called "Noel", and all they had to do was make that fateful turn to reach its shelter?

The risk was too great, so we moved out of state, and into Timberridge, where we have lived since.

But I still think about Noel, especially around this time of year. I have not suffered many failures in my life, or my career, but I still consider this to be the worst of them. I couldn't save those people, and that is something I still cannot make peace with.

And what exactly was Noel, anyway? I still wonder. The company released a memo laying out all of the theories that the boys back in the office had come up with. They ranged from "incursion from a parallel universe," to "a glitch in the simulation that is our known reality." I never did come up with my own personal hypothesis, but I suspect that the Company hadn't even come close with any of theirs.

Whatever Noel really was, I'd wager it was something so fantastic and terrible that it's beyond our human imagining. That's why, no matter how powerful you all might grow to become, and despite my personal regrets, I still hope and pray that you never stumble upon the town of Noel, or that the Company never tries to restart the hunt for it.

You must never see those terrible lights in the distance yourselves.

...

With that, their grandfather stopped talking, and turned back to the fireplace. The children knew that this meant he was done for the night. They slowly got up, one by one, and made their way back to their rooms.

Christmas was only a few days away, but the promise of it was not as enticing as it had been just a few hours ago.