The elf-call

The sun rose, and lit up the waterfall cascading over the rocks, which scoured ever deeper the pool at the bottom where the moss grew in the chill damp areas which were in permanent twilight. The droplets of spray scattered the light and carried fragments of it beyond the direct rays into these hidden shadows. The creature was entranced by the sparkling diamonds and cautiously advanced. He could dimly recall a time long ago when there had been many small beings such as him living near the waterfall but there had been many changings of the moon since he last saw another of his kind. The twinkling lights appeared to dance in front of him, and he chuckled as he twisted and turned, delighting in their company in his lonely existence. Where the droplets landed on his skin he was sure he felt the light enter his body, making it tingle with pleasure, and invigorating him. For the first time since he had been left alone he felt his spirits lift, and his pale face stretched into a tentative smile. The glinting of the light drew him further and further from the shadows towards the dazzling mist of rainbows which surrounded the tumbling water.

He never saw the hand which suddenly reached up from the pool to snatch and drag him beneath the surface.

The spray sparkled on.