“Hello?” She called out, her throat aching from yelling the same thing over and over again with no reply. “Hello?” She cried out once again trying to be as loud as she could, tears rolling down her pink cheeks as the breeze nipped at her hands and face. Her brown eyes glistened as the white light of the bright moon reflected off of them, and her lip quivered as her ears throbbed with the sound of her thumping heart.

 “Please,” the girl screamed with a voice sharp like glass, “Please, somebody help me…” she continued screaming as her knees gave out beneath her, and within seconds screaming turned into sobbing. The girl's hands, knees, and shins were covered in dirt along with a few scrapes here and there. She sat there and sobbed on the ground as the wind bit her and the trees sat with their arms outstretched, ready to grab her at any moment. All the sounds of the forest combined into one growling, screeching, silence; all except for one hollowed-out call that had emitted from a small bird with a white body along with a black head and wings. The sound that came from this little creature was unearthly. It was hollow like that of an echo yet so musical at the same time, hitting high and low notes similar to the way a flute sounds when played. 

The girl looked at this bird in terror and awe as she heard the ghostly sounds that it had sung, then from beyond a few trees she heard the same hollow tune sing back. She looked back up at the first bird, trying to focus on something other than the fact that she was lost and cold. “Hello,” she said to the bird. 

“My name is Mara. What’s yours?” The bird cocked its black head at her and then continued its song. She imagined what the bird must be saying as the second called back beyond the dark brush, listening closely to both of them as if trying to make out their conversation. 

Mara sat and listened to the birds for a while before realizing that one of them sounded different, off for some reason. The bird that had been beyond the trees had a strange low tone that was barely audible unless you listened very closely, and she did. Mara focused on the sound as carefully as possible, her ears strained to hear through the chilling breeze. What’s so off about it? Wondered the girl silently, closing her eyes to try and focus on it, but in the distance, she heard the cracking of branches which broke her concentration. 

“Hello? Is someone there?” Mara asked loudly as her voice echoed back at her like the two birds calling to one another. Her hands trembled as she tried to swallow the giant lump in her throat, tears began running down her cheeks once more as her stomach twisted and her heart drummed along with the bells ringing in her ears. 

“Hello,” a smooth voice responded. Mara’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the woman speak and immediately got to her feet, brushing off her muddy blue jeans as she did so. 

“Hello? I’m over here,” Mara yelled, brushing away the hair that had stuck to her tears and sweat, the mud on her hands smearing slightly on her cheek. 

“Hello,” The sweet calm voice replied, “are you lost?” The voice sounded so close yet so far at the same time; so calm and collected. 

“Yes, I’ve been out here for hours. I lost my family on a hike. I–”

“Oh my… that is quite tragic, isn’t it? What’s your name?” The woman’s voice seemed to echo to the point that it was hard to tell what direction it was coming from. 

“My name is Mara. Where are you? I can’t tell where your voice is coming from,” she listened hard, but the woman didn’t speak for a moment and all that Mara heard was the two bird’s melancholy duet. Hollow and musical; the woman's voice reminded her of the faraway bird more than the one she could see, but she didn’t know why. After all, the two sounded exactly the same. No, the other bird sounded different. Mara thought to herself. 

“Well, I don’t know where you are either, Mara… So how could I possibly know where I am?” The replied with a voice like silk, but there was something off about her. The same low tone that defined the second bird's song echoed in this woman's voice. Mara pulled her lips back tightly, the knot in her stomach grew tighter as she listened to the woman speak and the birds sing. 

“W-well you sound close. Keep talking I will try and come to you,” Mara responded, her hands shaking uncontrollably. The birds grew louder as she started walking, and when the woman spoke it was even harder to make out where it was coming from. 

“Alright, tell me Mara… what is it you’re afraid of? Your voice is shaking whenever you speak.” The woman’s questions made the lump in Mara’s throat swell larger with every word she spoke, but out of desperation, Mara tried to follow the sound of the woman. 

“I don’t like the dark, there could be animals hunting,” Mara said, trying to sound as calm as the woman though she didn’t succeed. 

“I see… I don’t believe animals are the most of your worries. Do you hear the birds singing in the trees? They are called pied butcherbirds, their song is beautiful isn’t it?” The woman asked slowly. 

“Mara? Mara where are you?” a voice called from far off. Mara’s eyes widened as she realized it was her father calling, and she started to wonder if every sound made through the trees had that low tone like the butcherbird she could not see. 

“Dad! Dad, I’m over here!” Yelled, listening closely for her father's response. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she waited to hear her father's voice. 

“Who are you calling to Mara?” Asked the woman from beyond the brush, the low out of place tone growing stronger than before. 

“Mara? Where are you?” Yelled her father. 

“Dad, I’m here!” Mara yelled, running in the direction she heard his voice coming from. Branches grabbed and pulled at her clothes as tears streamed down her face and her lips drew back into a wide smile. “Dad I’m here!”

“Mara, where are you?” Asked her father. The response made Mara stop in her tracks, it hadn’t come from the same place as before. He must have been walking or running. She thought to herself. 

“Dad, stay where you are I’m coming to you,” she yelled, the smile fading from her face. Mara stood and listened for a moment before hearing the woman's voice speaking to her once again. 

“Who are you speaking to Mara? I don’t hear anyone,” the calm, hollow, growling voice said. Growling, that’s what the low tone was. Mara could hear it more clearly now, a low, nearly inaudible growl crept behind the woman's voice. Mara listened closely for the bird's song, the first few hollow notes rang out from the bird she had been able to see a few minutes earlier; she waited for a moment before hearing the second birds reply. A low hollow song echoed through the air, but if you were to listen close enough as Mara was doing, you could hear the low nearly inaudible growl that echoed behind each note. 

“Mara…” the woman said again, “what are you listening for?” Mara’s heart stopped when she heard this, her head whipped in every direction but she didn’t see the woman. “Mara… I can hear your heart beating…” said the voice which had moments ago been sweet and silky, but now that sweet voice was hiding behind the growl. Mara ran as fast as her weak legs would let her, but she didn’t know if she was running away from or towards whatever kind of monster the voice had come from. 

“Mara!” Her dad’s voice came again, but the growl was more present in his voice as well. She tried to run, but the voices, the growls, were echoing all around her. Mara didn’t realize that with every turn she took to avoid the voices she only landed back in the same spot. She was nearly blind for the clouds were basking just below the moon's glow, preventing any light to guide her. 

With every step she took, Mara got whipped by a branch or rammed into by a tree, and the growling voices called her name in all directions. She ran as far as she could, curling over and over again until her foot caught on a root sticking up from the ground. Mara got on her hands and knees, the stitch in her side prevented her from moving any more than this. She listened, she only heard the first butcherbirds call, the other had disappeared from earshot. The voices had stopped calling her name.

She felt the cold breeze on the back of her neck again, only it didn’t feel like a breeze. It was there one second and then it was gone, over and over again she felt it breathe down her neck. A panting, cold breath… She was paralyzed, her own breathing had ceased from fear, and though she couldn’t see the skeletal face behind her, she knew it was there.

From the beast's throat emitted a low growl that bounced back and forth in its throat before coming out as what sounded to Mara like her father's voice saying,

 “I can hear your heart beating, Mara…”

In the silent forest, the mangled trees made the perfect perch for the pied butcherbird to sit and sing its melancholy lullaby, hollow and empty yet beautiful and echoing.