The People of the Light

Chapter One

Bri hated the stereotypes about librarians. She was neither the sexy stereotype nor the frumpy one. Bri finally got her masters in library science last spring. She had been working in her local library since she was sixteen. She was an expert in her local history.

She was currently gathering resources of local history for a grad student who was going to come in today. Oliver Flint was working on getting a doctorate in cultural anthropology. He was looking into summer solstice celebrations.

Bri’s little town had had a revival of interest in the early 1900s in everything ancient. The fine houses in town were being decorated with ancient Egypt accents. The ladies’ society were doing statue-posing, tableaux, and pantomimes of ancient Greece to raise money for a local orphanage. One of the great ladies, Mrs. Meredith Fairbanks, had just returned from her Grand Tour. She had seen Stonehenge. Mrs. Fairbanks decided that their town needed their own replica and that something so ancient would give the town the gravitas that the town needed.

So the town built their own henge. For years, they’d have picnics there on the longest day of the year. They’d have the band play during the day and fireworks at night. But years go by and budget cuts happen and traditions die over time sometimes.

Oliver had called into the library asking for sources. He was scouting the region for different celebrations. He was looking for prehistoric to recent history information. Bri pulled all kinds of sources for him. This was the pet section of her library. She added to it constantly. Bri pulled out copies of other research articles and theses. She pulled newspaper articles for Oliver about how their town’s henge was built. There were books on local history that she knew had relevant information.

There was so much information that Bri was able to gather that despite Oliver getting to the library early that they were still working as the library was closing. They even skipped lunch. Bri then asked Oliver if he wanted to grab a bite with her. He agreed.

Over dinner at the local diner, Oliver further discussed his project. He was hoping to find patterns in local history and cultures in the summer solstice. The early white settlers in the area had myths about the forest and unusual lights in the forest on the summer solstice. There were stories about the people of the light, but not a lot of details about what the people of the light were. Oliver said he was planning on going back to the library in the morning and would see Bri there if she was working.

The next day, Oliver and Bri were back at their research. Bri pointed out that Friday was going to be the summer solstice. She asked if he wanted to meet her at the town’s henge at sunrise. Bri always loved the henge at sunrise. Oliver agreed to meet her there.

They both showed up fifteen minutes before dawn at the henge. Oliver brought coffee and Bri brought them donuts. Then the sun came up and a bright light shot through the henge. Suddenly through the henge they saw the people of the light.