Memories of a Life That Never Happened

Chapter 30 - Creatures of the Night

 A few feet down the road, Mica stopped and looked back to Theo.  

"This way!" Mica called out as she turned right, entering a narrow path on the forest. 

It was not muddy, as Theo had expected, but rooty and challenging. They had to move slowly, or at least Theo did. Little by little, his eyes adjusted to the dark.  

"I swear this way's faster," Mica said as she hiked in front of him and shot an apologetic lok over her shoulder. 

"I'm not complaining," he said. Why would he when this hike was so much better than the prospect of enduring his father's tedious celebration? This was new, exciting and adventurous and he was glad to go wherever she took him. Even if he ended up with a strained ankle or mud-covered bottoms. 

Every time Theo dared lift his eyes from the floor, Mica was a little farther away. He studied the way she raised her knees and held up her arms for balance, never touching anything. For some inexplicable reason and despite Theo's confidence that he was perfectly mirroring her moves, his results were not as effective. 

Because he thought Mica had said something, Theo looked up. While she continued to advance, he heard a laughter in the distance. Realizing it had come from his left, he called, "Wait."  

Mica stopped and turned her torso to him. 

"What was that?"  

A bit hesitant, Theo stopped and squirmed his eyes at the obscure forest. He thought he recognized the gleam of a fickle torch, not too far away.  

"What?" Mica doubled back to join him. "City boys," she huffed amusedly. She studied his profile. It was somewhat surreal, Mica thought. This privileged kid standing in crisp party clothes in the middle of a dim path.  

"Are there houses in there?" He asked, staring into the woods. 

Mica halted next to him.  

"I think you mean the abandoned village. But you can't spot it from here." She shoved back a curtain of black hair. "A long time ago, there was an Indian village there. My grandpa was the chief, actually." 

"Why is it abandoned now?" 

Mica crossed her arms, a little impatient to get to the beach. 

"Lumber companies." Mica slapped her arm and succeeded in crushing a hungry mosquito. "They wanted the land, filled the mayor's pockets. Removing a bunch of Indians from their turf was easier than refusing the offer."  

"But I think there's still someone there," Theo insisted. 

Mica shuddered as she thought of the spectral couple who was rumored to roam the woods at night. Because she did not know Theo well enough to confess her fears, she decided just to hasten their journey.  

"Look, it's been abandoned for a long time. There's just a mess of rotten empty houses now." She lifted her hands. "Besides, who would be there now? I mean, today?"  

"I know. You're right." Theo shook his head. "I could swear I saw light, though..." 

"Fireflies. They are creatures of the night. They're all around. See?" On the stretch of path ahead of them, a tiny floating light blinked as if by providence. 

Desperate to get going, Mica gripped Theo's wrist and dragged him along with her.  

Delighted with her hand in his arm and struggling to keep up with Mica, Theo neglected a root. He slipped and landed on his back with a thump and a yip. Theo hoped mortified that the first had at least muffled the second. 

"Are you okay?" Mica's face hovered above his, curtained at either sides by her long straight hair.  

Though humiliated, when the tips of her hair brushed his cheek, Theo chuckled. 

"Yeah," he answered groggily, feeling the cold humus find the way through his clothes. "I must have slipped or something."  

Theo flailed his arms to get up, avoiding touching the ground. 

"Here, let me help." Mica reached out a hand. 

Theo took it gladly and, as he got up, deliberately forgot to release it. A few minutes later, hands still linked, they arrived at the beach. 

With his eyes closed, Theo inhaled the familiar scent, listened to the wonderful chorus of the waves and the swish from the trees. It had its own rhythm, an exquisitely soothing melody.  

There had been times, Theo thought, when this was all one could hear. There were no howling sirens, fretting honks or spluttering cars. Just nature. 

Mica's speculations, on the other hand, inclined toward more practical, pressing issues. Swimming in her head were the words of the old seer.  

As Theo squeezed her hand, he cast those thoughts out of her mind. "Are you ready?" 

With a gleam in her eyes, Mica nodded. "Yes. You?"  

He started toward the frothy shore as he pulled her behind him. Theo looked over his shoulder at her. Mica stared back at him, feeling more that they were partners in crime than she ever had with Abel.