Lily (lih-lee)

You find yourself on the ground, hands placed beside your hips in an effort to save your fall to barely any avail. You cringe at the sore feeling on your behind from the fall; the grass was soft enough to cushion you, but the luscious soil was less forgiving. You make a move to stand, wiping yourself off and giving a discontent frown at the grass stain only you could notice on your green shorts.

You had come to the Lilies out of curiosity for the legends which you deemed ridiculous. Really, how could some simple stones glow? The glitter residue was most likely the pixie dust or moss anyway. The people who have come here were probably just seeing things.

But you couldn't help the curiosity itching at the back of your mind. So you had gotten yourself a day-long permit to come visit the protected landmark, and you trekked out, fannypack for water and protein bars and all. Being extra precautious, you had even brought a flashlight. To the unseeing eye, someone would see you as a researcher desperate to just visit the Lilies and blame it on finding knowledge. However, you knew better.

You kicked your feet a bit, getting any possible mud off of the three-year-old sneakers that needed an excuse to be trashed anyway. And so you continued your journey; the river was in sight. You had come from the westmost gate, because it was closest to your area of residence anyway. You cursed yourself, however, when even the guard who checked your days' permit gave you a pitiful look as he explained the long path to the Lilies from the west gate.

But now, after three hours of walking, falling, more walking, the occasional jog, and a few more falls, you could hear the running of water and the clash against the stones. The froth of the small waterfalls of the Lilies was the most obvious thing, the eye-popping, bright green stones behind the falling water catching your green eyes' gaze in awe. You had always heard stories of the beauty of the Lilies, seen old photos from your mother's photobook that she never stopped showing you, but seeing it in person was far different.

It didn't take long for you to reach the landmark's main area. You looked back at the fields of green grass and small bushes, mini trees freckled around the opening. You had just spent three hours of your life walking that, just so that you could find some consolation in your mind that the people who came here before were, in fact, just seeing things. You scoffed incredulously at your own overdramatic actions, shaking your head, but figured you were already here anyway. There was no point in looking back and regretting the work you'd put it to get where you were now.

You turned back to the Lilies, and immediately your gaze caught the dust of glitter residue that everybody had described in their recollections of the times they went to visit this landmark. You gave a victorious laugh, as if your suspicions were confirmed that it was just pixie dust. However, when you looked again, closer this time, you realized that the residue had a green and black hue, with a bit of white mixed in. Pixie dust was pink and yellow--your mind then raced to fairies, but that possibility was erased, too, when you remembered fairy dust was blue.

You stupidly reached your hand out to try to touch it, only to feel a sharp slap to your wrist. The water was too quick for you to genuinely see it shape itself in a way where it could hit you like a person would. It felt like a rope lashing on your skin, and you quickly withdrew your hand. You frowned, giving the water a stern look as if that would change anything about the situation. A faint glow emitted from the clear water, as if teasing you. Taunting you that you couldn't go and touch the tablet even if you tried.

You silently cursed the water, undoing the velcrow on your fannypack. You dropped the bag to your feet, letting it sit off of you now. You step on the back of your shoes and pull them off, reaching up to fix your hair before shaking yourself off. You move to the edge of the river, and the water seemed to welcome you, moving from a cocky tease to a tempting greeting. You jumped in with too much hesitation, your hips buckling under you as you land in. You slipped on a mossy rock, but the water seemed to maybe even slow down so that you could latch onto the green tablet which you tried to touch earlier.

The possibly enchanted water let you touch the stone, contrary to mere moments ago. You tapped the top of it with your finger, expecting the dusted glitter residue to appear on your finger as you pulled away. However, when you looked at your index finger, it was as plain as it was before. A smooth, melanin-lacking pad stared back at you, as if judging you for even expecting to believe the glitter was pixie or fairy dust.

Your expression shifted from expectant to surprised, as you tried all of your fingers, wet and dry, on the shining slab. The green aura almost glowed with every tap of your digits, and eventually, once you'd used up all ten, it dissipated to a lower, more pigmented glow, only going a bit higher than a half inch above the tablet itself. You huffed indignantly, the mystery of the Lilies frustrating you as it was one you could never solve.

You fished yourself out of the river, seating yourself on the green slab on the edge of the river where you had jumped off from. The water swirled around your ankles, interrupting its own flow pattern to comply to your appendages' interruption in the slow rush of water.

Type

Natural Wonder