“What be-” I was beginning to ask, when I saw something come out of the forest. It was like hands, floating in the air and constantly moving, opening and clenching into fists. It constantly made a soft, quick ticking noise as the hands moved towards me. I backed away slowly.

“Um, girl? What are those?”

“You’ll see.” She tugged forcefully on the tassel hanging from the overhang of the roof on the wall. A deep bell tone pealed through the forest. It hit me almost like a physical force, throwing me off balance and making leaves on the ground flitter about. The hands stopped moving for a moment, then continued towards me. I pressed myself against the wall and looked around fearfully, flipping my hair out of my eyes as I did so.

“What now?” I asked.

“We wait.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t okay. The hands were close now, about a two yards or so away. I looked closely at them, and the animated hands appeared to be something like pictures on black, triangular pieces of material connected by stiff black wires.