The Night They Went Missing

Atatiana

Nerves flowed through my body as I was getting ready to go out. My wavy black hair was let lose, reaching to the bottom of my back. Choosing my clothes out of my wardrobe was quite easy as I didn't have much. It was mainly just jeans, leggings, skirts, shorts, blouses, tops and jackets. All of my coats and shoes was by the door. Reaching for the black denim shorts and a white top, I put them on and flicked my hair behind my shoulders. Looking in the mirror hanging from my door, I decided that this would be OK. I didn't put any make up on: I thought if he didn't like me with no make up on then he didn't deserve me.

 My hands began to shake, so I sat down on the bed in the centre of my room which faced the wooden wardrobe. I hadn't been on a date for months, maybe even years, and my heart was beating against my chest quickly. For a moment, I thought that it would beat out of my chest.I could do this. After all, it was only a date and I've been on them before. Even though I was terrified, I was also so ecstatic to be going on a date with this mystery man. Though my mind went back to what Sandra said about being careful who to trust. Why didn't he want to tell me his name?

 Quickly looking at the clock on the wall, I saw that it was already 18:00pm. When I got back from work 2 hours ago, I received a text from him saying to meet him at Sherwood Forest at 18:30pm. It was far away from where I lived, but I had been there before and it was a captivating place. The views and walks there were to die for and seeing other family's there, laughing and smiling, gave me faith in humanity.

Walking down the stairs and into the living room, my golden labrador was curled up on the sofa. She slowly lifted her head off of the sofa and stared at me with the sound of her tail hitting the sofa echoing throughout the house. She was the only thing in my life that made me happy, apart from my mystery man. I had her since I was a child and took her with me when I moved out.

 "Yeah, you can come too." I said to her.

 She had jumped off the sofa and already running through the corridor, her nails clicking against the sound of the wooden floor. She waited by the door next to her lead with her tail still wagging frantically. Luckily, it was still warm and pleasant outside to be walking through the woods, but the sun had died down a little, with only some of it still visible.

 Soon, me and Holly was in the car driving to Sherwood Forest, singing along to the radio in the car. I'm sure that if anyone looked into my car to see my singing my heart out, they would think I'm crazy. But that wouldn't stop me, after all, if I wanted to sing, I would. Even Holly in the car boot was howling occasionally, like she was singing along.

 After a while of driving and singing, we pulled up to Sherwood Forest and parked the car. I hopped out the car, walking towards the boot and grabbed Holly's lead before she ran into the forests. Trees were towering over me with leaves dancing as the wind gently howled. Texting that I was here, I soon saw him appear out from behind a small cafe with two cones of chips and tomato ketchup. He was wearing a black jacket with a bluet-shirt that seemed too small for his body. His blue denim jeans had small rips around his knees. I guess that was the fashion at the moment, having holes in jeans, which I never understood. Usually if you had a hole in your clothes, they would get thrown away.

 "Got you some chips and who's this lovely girl?" he asked as he handed me the chips and crouched down to stroke Holly.

 "That's Holly. She's very excited to meet you." I responded as Holly's tail began to wag uncontrollably.

 For a while, we sat on a bench near a large field, eating our chips while Holly runs around. Kids had put their coats down on the ground to make goal posts as they kicked a football around, all types of dogs were running after the football's with their owners apologising repeatedly to the parents. So many families were gathered here, enjoying their lives. It was nice seeing him out of the cafe, it made him feel more real and not someone I've been imagining. He told me how he loved to go on long runs and walks, which made sense since he had picked a forest after all. We sat in silence after that, watching the sunset and families starting to go back to their cars. Somehow, even though we weren't speaking, it felt like more words were being spoken than if we were.

Once the sun was getting low, we decided to go for a walk, before it got too dark. We found a path through a parting of trees and walked next to each other with Holly running beside us. My shoes were covered in dirt from the path that quickly turned filthy the further we went. As we walked, we had begun to get deeper into the forest and the welcoming look had died down. Now, it looked threatening as if the wrong step would be our last. The towering trees blocked any sign of sun and warmth.

 "You OK there?" he asked, turning to look at me. 

 "Yeah, I'm good. Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it." he said confidentially as he jumped over a fallen branch.

 "Why won't you tell me your name? We've been, well, seeing each other in the cafe for a while and not once have you told me your name?" I questioned as I remembered the first time I had ever met him.

 Sitting alone, he had approached me with his winning looks and charm. When I told him my name, he smiled and remained silent, almost unyielding to give me his name. At the time, I had thought nothing of it. But now I do. 

 He had stopped walking and paused in front of a river that we had reached. The water brushed up against the bank and the low rustling sound of the stream filled the silence that was created. Not making eye contact with me, he continued staring out at the stream.

 "Isn't it beautiful? I've always loved the water. It makes me calm, you know." he stated, dodging my question. 

 "What's your name?" I demanded as the sound of my voice raised.

 Starting to lose my patience, I edged closer to him, showing him I wanted to know. I was sick of not knowing his name and now I was beginning to think he had something to hide. Now, he turned to face me with those stunning, stormy blue eyes.

 "Where would the fun be if I told you? I can tell you like this mystery to me." 

 Sadly, I couldn't deny this. I did enjoy the mystery as it felt like I was breaking the rules and doing something exciting in my life. A gust of wind howled in our direct, causing my hair to move in front of my face and goosebumps to form on my legs. Brushing my hair out of my face, I turned my attention to the sky to see that the sun had disappeared completely. He had noticed that I had gotten cold and suggested we made our way back to the car park, which I agreed to. 

 As we reached the car park, my heart longed that we could stay longer and learn more about each other, like his name. When I had put Holly in the car boot, we stood in front of each other, rocking on our shoes. The sky was now practically pitch black and stars had started to appear in the night sky. It's funny how in the day we are surrounded by the light and warmth of the sky, but at night we are in utter darkness and coldness. The wind was still brushing up against my bear skin with piercing coldness. 

 "Thank you for today, I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, we can do this again." I said.

 "Me too and yes we certainly should do this again." he responded with a smile upon his face.

The headlights of the car shined on us making our every feature visible. His eyes gleamed more with the light reflecting from it. Then, he walked closer to me and whispered in my ear, "I'll see you tomorrow.".

 As I watched him walk away, I was breathless and a smile crept up on my face. I was astounded and glad that he still wanted to see me. Soon, he had disappeared into the darkness, leaving me all alone with butterflies flying around in my stomach.