Memories of a Burning Woman

Tink. Tink. She tapped the spoon on the rim of her mug of too-hot coffee and then quickly put it in her mouth to clean the rest off. Her shift was coming to a close, or so she was told. If you had asked her, she could live up in the tower. She loved how alive and how still the forest was. No nonsense. Just the trees and the wind and the wildlife going about their simple lives.

chsuuhh – "Knight to F5" the sound erupted from her radio. She walked over to the old chessboard sitting on the beaten and weathered wooden table and moved the small piece. "That's checkmate!"

She pressed the button to speak. "No, no. You don't see my way out of this? I'll have you in checkmate in the next 4 moves." She and Theo, the park ranger, had been playing long-distance chess matches her whole shift. He wasn't much but, to her, he was better than most people. "Alright; that's it for the night. I can see a storm coming in and it looks bad. I might lose my signal".

"Okay, beat you tomorrow, then." She smiled at the humor in his voice. "Goodnight, Art. Stay safe." The line went silent with a click and she was finally alone. Art; short for Artemis. She had always hated her name and it didn't help that it fit her so well. The storm wasn't a lie, really. There was a storm coming; rain and lightning approaching fast from the east. However, she still felt more at peace once they signed off each day and she was finally alone.

She would normally be getting ready to sleep soon, but with the lightning, it was best to stay awake. She always loved storms. They always seemed to calm everyone she knew and it was a nice reprieve. Grabbing the binoculars from beside her on the table and standing up, she looked out towards the storm and lowered them as it was close enough to see it without the assistance. The storm didn't really concern her; it had stormed three additional times while she was in the tower. The tower itself was made of mostly wood so as to not attract any strikes. She felt safe in her isolation.

By the time the storm reached the tower, the sun had just hidden itself under the horizon. The distant sky was a beautiful gradient from lavender to the blackness that was directly above her. It was quite striking. Shaking her wrist, she takes a glance at her watch, 6:40. A few bolts had found their mark on the earth not too far from the tower and she kept an eye on each one, making sure she saw no light. No soft glow from the area of impact.

Suddenly, a cry came from the distance to her left. It sounded like... no it couldn't be. It was definitely a young woman. "Help me!!" it came again and this time she was sure whoever it was was in trouble. She ran outside to the walkway lining the perimeter of her ten foot square room and leaned a little over the railing. It was hard to see in the rain, but there was nothing directly below her or in the clearing around the bottom of the tower. Quickly running back to grab her binoculars and flashlight, another scream boomed from outside, "No! Please! Someone Help me!". Back outside, Art lifted the binoculars in one hand and searched the area with her flashlight. What felt like hours went by, but in reality it was only a few seconds. Another unclear scream came and she pointed her flashlight in the direction it came from. There. Just barely behind the edge of the forest were two people rolling around in the mud. A man and a woman. The man had something in his hand, but it was really dark. She turned the brightness of her flashlight as high as it could go, and pointed it back at the pair. The man was holding a knife in his hand. He was attacking this woman; he was going to kill her. Art yelled but they didn't seem to hear her. She yelled again "Hey! Stop!" but no reaction.

She began to sprint down the stairs and ladders leading up to the tower, hoping that she was not too late. When she reached the ground, she shined the light to where they were fighting and didn't see anything, or anyone. She started frantically looking back and forth, all around the clearing hoping she could see or hear them. Hoping she didn't hallucinate this attack. After a few minutes, she began to believe there was nothing. She turned back to where she had seen them and there they were again; the young woman laying down and the man straddling her. He began to slowly raise the knife above his head. "No!" Art screamed as she took off in a mad sprint for them. Still, no reaction from either of the two. She knew she wouldn't get there in time. The man plunged the knife into the woman's chest. At the moment the blade penetrated her skin, lightning struck eerily close to Art. She was thrown back by the power of the blast and knocked on her back. It took a few seconds for her to get her bearings again, but as soon as she did, she was up again running for the dying woman, the man was no longer on top of her.