Complete Chaos

058

The group made their way to the woods.

Dustin was walking a few feet ahead of the group; he was holding a compass and with his other hand, a map. Dustin was the leader in the situation, wanting to find his friend before the cops.

Steve was carrying Melody. The young girl was wearing a golden shade of medium yellow dress, and Steve was wearing a bright yellow sweater. They looked so cute, father and daughter almost matching. Julia wished she had a camera to capture the moment.

Julia wasn't matching with them; she was wearing one of Steve's light blue long polo shirts with thin dark blue horizontal lines.

She had rarely seen him wear clothes like that. His style had changed a little bit over the years. She had taken a few of his clothes that were far back in their shared closet for herself.

Her style had also changed after having Melody. Now she wore clothes that she felt comfortable in, and being able to borrow Steve's clothes was a plus. Wearing his clothes for the first time, they always smelt like him.

Melody was enjoying being outside, looking high up at all the thin tall trees. She pointed at every single of them as they passed them by.

"Uhh," Melody expressed joyfully, her mouth in an 'O' shape, her eyebrows raised. She was amazed by the full tree with green leaves all around it.

"That's a tree," Steve expressed, seeing what his daughter was pointing at.

"Eeh," Melody repeated to the best of her abilities. "That's right, tree. The tree is green."

Steve walked toward one of the trees. Even before he got close enough for Melody to touch the trunk of the tree, his young daughter extended her hand with curiosity.

They were close to the rough trunk. Melody's hand looked even smaller compared to the trunk. At first, it was a little bit cold to her touch. Her delicate fingers pressed on the rough surface.

The trees around the wood were sturdy and untouched by human hands. They had been growing undisturbed for years.

As they went deeper into the woods, Melody continued to be mesmerized by the new enchanted place. A green leaf descended from high above swiftly down to Melody's brown hair. It was so gentle the young girl didn't even feel it as it rested on her head. Her little brain was trying to soak everything in.

Steve continued on the path walking alongside Julia. Robin and Nancy were behind Dustin, while Lucas and Max were quietly walking next to each other.

"You have been to Skull Rock before," Steve asked Julia.

He had been to Skull Rock a handful of times, and he didn't remember ever seeing her there.

With her right hand, Julia took the leaf out of Melody's hair. After dropping the leaf landing on the soil, she responded, "yes, only like four times with Kimberly."

She smiled fondly, remembering the time she shared with her friend; without Kimberly, she wouldn't have those memories.

"One time I lost one of my flats," she began by saying. "I was tired and a little drunk. I didn't even realize I was missing it until I got in the backseat of Kim's car. It was too dark and late. I didn't want to go back. So now the woods have my cute ankle strap flat."

Steve smiled at her, but his smile faltered a little as he remembered something. He stopped in front of her "wait was it a dark blue one."

She looked at him strangely and squinted her eyes at him "how did you know," she asked him slowly.

His mouth opened widely; he couldn't believe he solved the mystery. "It was you," he pointed at her with his free hand.

"I was walking back to my car when I tripped on something. I thought it was a rock or a tree branch, but it was a dark blue flat with a thin strap on the ankle area. I scraped my knee and the palm of my hands because of that," he said, half laughing.