There were once supposedly rumors that all followed the same ambiguous theme about a highway that crossed from Vermont into New York. It was said that some people had claimed to have spotted unnatural lighting in the middle of a rocky gray mountain. A tiny, speck of light reminiscent of light bulbs would be seen emanating from a small window-like crevice. Nobody had ever investigated the light nor cared to and people brushed it off as nothing out of the ordinary. What the people didn’t know was that the light source was from a nook in the mountain that two orphaned children, a sister and brother, had turned into a living space. The two of them had lived there for as long as they could remember, rarely leaving the nook for anything but food. The sister, Lilith, was slightly older than her brother by a year or so. She was the most independent and talkative of the two. The brother, Alfie, didn’t talk much but was very curious and inquisitive about the world around him. These two young children never talked to anyone but each other and they would make positively sure nobody ever saw them leave their home. Being unknown to the outside world, they lived together peacefully in nature.

One night as the pair were preparing their late-night meal, they heard a huge commotion coming from the highway below. The high-pitched sound of tires screeching against pavement rang in their ears. They slid their doorway and peeked their heads outside of the nook to get a look at what was happening to see a vehicle crashing into a ditch. The driver inside went flying into the forest on impact. Alfie thought that it was strange to see a vehicle with no top and figured that if the car had had a top the driver would have been fine.

“Alfie, we have to help them!” Lilith cried.

“But why? We don’t go near humans.”

“They could die, Alfie!” Lilith was panicked.

Alfie agreed to help partially because he had never seen another person up close before, let alone an adult, and wanted to know what they would look like. The two rushed down the mountain and into the forest in search of the driver. They found the driver, a tan female who was very tall compared to the two, passed out. Somehow, the devoted siblings carried the woman the entire way up to the middle of the mountain and into their nook home.

The woman, Terra, soon awoke in a small wooden bed. She looked around the small home, confused and in a daze. The interior looked to be a cave, but there were furnishings surrounding her almost like someone was living inside a rock. She saw a white wool carpet taking up the majority of the tiny cave, two wooden beds with white blankets, one of which Terra happened to be in, and she saw plants of all varieties decorating the room. There were candles lit in the room on different shelves. There was even a wooden countertop with homemade kitchen utensils and assorted foods in mason jars placed atop it.

Terra sat up and saw two children dressed in choppily patched clothing staring up at her. She could tell whoever made their clothing used whatever was around as there were patches of different colors and sizes stitched together poorly.

“Hello,” Terra muttered, perplexed.

“Hello, woman. We saved you from your terrifying crash and brought you here to our home.” Lilith replied.

“You two did? All by yourselves? Where are your parents?” Terra inquisitioned.

“We don’t have parents. We live here in this nook all by ourselves. We are very self-sufficient.”

“Well, thank you, but where are we?” Terra asked.

“In our home, the nook, in the mountain middle,” Lilith replied.

“What?”

“We live in the middle of the mountain. The mountain middle.” Lilith said.

“Just look out that window, the view tells all.” This was the first thing Alfie had said to the woman. Terra looked out the window, which was really just a hole carved out of the mountain, and saw an incredibly vast drop. And at the bottom, she saw tiny cars with tiny people speeding inside of them on the highway. Terra gasped, shocked at how high up she was. She ran to the doorway and saw the same incredibly vast drop.

“How do you leave? Are we trapped here?!” Terra panicked.

“No, don’t fret female lady. We made steps.” Lilith pointed to the back side of the mountain where they had built a wooden ladder and carved out steps in the mountain where the children could climb up and down. The steps were hidden by the trees and faced away from the highway, so it was very difficult for others to notice them climbing.

“That’s not sturdy.” Terra trembled.

“Sure it is, it has been carrying us for, I’m not sure how long but, an awful long time.”

“How old are you two?” Terra asked.

“We aren’t too sure.” The kids shrugged. “We don’t have a calendar like you humans.”

“There is no way you guys made this yourselves. If you didn’t have parents, who taught you such perfect English?”

“We aren’t sure.” The kids shrugged once more. “But, we enhance our skills by reading your human books.”

“I love fairy tales. I read them every chance I can.” Alfie beamed happily. “Do you? Hey, what is your name, woman?”

“Oh, my name is Terra and I do love fairy tales!” She smiled at the boy. “What’s your guys’ names?”

“I’m Lilith, and this is my brother, Alfie. I’m older than him.” The two were black-haired and almost identical except that Lilith had blue eyes and was taller than Alfie while Alfie had brown eyes.

“Nice to meet you both.” Terra checked her watch. “I really should get going, don’t you two want to come with me? You could live in a real home with me.”

“This is a real home.” Lilith pouted. “And we enjoy living here in solitude, but thank you for your offer.”

“Sorry.” 

“Before you go, take this cream. Use it whenever you feel like you need some luck.”

“Some luck?” Terra replied, puzzled.

“Is that not what I said? I will take upon the task of escorting you down the mountain.”

Lilith guided Terra down the mountain using the ladder. While Terra climbed down, Lilith and Alfie held the ladder sturdy at the top. Even though Terra was petrified for the entirety of the journey down the harrowing ladder, she made it down with no injuries. When she got down, she waved farewell to the two young children and walked toward the highway to hitchhike since her car was completely totaled.

To Terra’s surprise though, her car was parked at the side of the highway, without as much as a dent. It even looked polished and new. Terra was positive that she had crashed her car, but here it was good as new like nothing had happened. She found her keys in her pocket and got into her car. Sure enough, the car started and all of her belongings were inside. It was her car. Extremely bewildered, Terra drove home and upon looking in the mirror she saw she had no injuries whatsoever: no bruises, cuts, nothing. In fact, she felt more agile and energized. 

She wondered if it had something to do with those two children. Were they magical? The idea seemed ridiculous to Terra, but everything that had happened to her that night was so miraculous that she couldn’t help but blame magic. Intrigued, Terra drove on that highway again the very next day and tried to remember which mountain the children were in. After a little bit of searching, she found it and parked her car. She had come to visit and brought gifts this time as a way of thanks.

Sarah nervously climbed the ladder and knocked on the removable door. After some hesitation, Alfie opened the door with a grin so huge it emanated to Terra. Lilith was giddy in the back while preparing some tea.

“I hope you two don’t mind that I came to visit again. Plus I have gifts!” Terra bellowed, stepping into the nook.

“It’s strange to have a visitor, we’ve never had one before,” Lilith said. “But I get the feeling I can trust you, Terra. Visit us anytime!” She smiled.

Alfie pulled at Terra’s empty hand. “What did you bring in your bag?”

Terra looked at the tote bag. “Oh yes, I had almost forgotten. Alfie, I got you 3 books filled with wonderful fairy tales.” Alfie’s eyes lit up with wonder and he hugged Terra for the wondrous gift. “And for you Lilith, I got seeds and herbs and some snacks that you can’t make up here.” Terra giggled.

“How useful, thank you.” She shook Terra’s hand. “I might as well plant the seedlings now. Would you like to help?”

Terra agreed, wondering about the prospect of how one would garden on a stone mountain. Lilith grabbed a small felt bag from a drawer on the counter and put some gardening tools inside of it as well as a cup for watering.

“How do you make cups and silverware?”

“We use clay that we dig up from ditches,” Alfie replied.

After answering Terra’s question, the three went up the unstable steps that slowly ascended up the side of the mountain. The steps in question were just slabs of wood, and Terra prayed that she wouldn’t fall to her death climbing them. Luckily, everyone made it to the top of the mountain unharmed. When they got up there, Terra saw a fenced-off area that contained a garden inside and there was a small fire as well as a pond.

“So this is where you children get supplies.”

“Indeed. We didn’t make this area though.” Lilith responded.

“Then who did?”

“We aren’t sure.” The children sighed. “Our earliest memory is waking up in our nook together. The nook was empty besides a few books and cans of food. We both knew English and could read and write, and we also knew how to garden. We soon found steps leading up the mountain and followed them to find this very haven.” Lilith explained.

“We’ve been maintaining this garden ever since. Everything here and in the nook we made.” Alfie bragged.

“Wow.” Terra thought to herself that these children knew how to provide for themselves better than she did.

Terra then helped the two children plant, water, weed, and pick plants. After that, they went back to the nook and made carrot stew. The children took their usual spots at the table while Terra knelt at the table since there were only two chairs. 

“You two have never lived in the outside world?”

“No, and we don’t want to or plan to,” Lilith said snarkily.

“We can’t leave. Cursed.” Alfie added.

“What do you mean?”

“Alfie, you don’t make any sense,” Lilith said angrily.

“Sorry.”

“I’ll stop bringing up the outside world. My apologies.” Terra said embarrassed. 

“It’s okay to be curious. I apologize for snapping.” Lilith took a deep breath.

“I do have one more question if it isn’t too much to ask.”

“Yes?” The children asked.

“Are you two, magical? That might be silly to ask but, I just get a feeling from you two that doesn’t seem natural.”

“Believe the answer your heart is telling you. You’ll find it to be right most times.” That was all Lilith said. This reply confused Terra, but she left it alone and ate her stew.

Terra continued to visit the young children and became good friends with them over the years. As Terra would age, the children would always stay the same age. She would always bring them gifts such as clothes, food, and books. As their friendship grew stronger, so would Terra’s luck and prosperity in life. Terra of course still wondered what these children even were. Witches? Elves? Heretics? Fairies? Apostles? The thought was always in the back of her mind but frankly, she didn’t seem to mind much what they were because she simply just enjoyed her company with the two. Terra never told anyone about the mysterious pair because she knew the children liked to be as unnoticed as possible, and also because she knew nobody would believe her about the children. The rumors about the light in the mountain middle would continue to circulate for years to come, but nobody would come to investigate. If anybody ever did, hopefully, they were earnest and sincerely kind to these two children or misfortune could strike upon them.