Picture Perfect Love

Chapter 1- Wolf Tracks in the Wilderness

Kennedy had been standing in the same aisle looking at the same pair of socks for half an hour. She was already fed up with this shopping trip but desperately needed new supplies for her upcoming photo shoot. She would be leaving first thing in the morning and had stalled hoping to get the inspiration to eventually go shopping. It never came. So here she was, the night before frantically trying to get everything she would need for the next six months.

"It shouldn't be this hard, Mina! It's only socks! Grab a couple packages and let's move on!" Kennedy said irritably.

Mina was the columnist for the magazine, and her best friend. She was tall, about 5'10" with coal black hair, powder blue eyes and glasses the size of the state of Texas. She was joining Kennedy on the expedition to take notes of any findings and interview locals if they came across any. She also happened to be a perfectionist about the most retarded things, like what kind of socks would be best for the climate.

"It's not that simple!" Mina insisted. "Snow, rain, ice, sweating; do I need long ones or short, insulated or not? Then you have to worry about wool versus cotton! I don't think I can do this Kenny."

Oh for the love of all that is holy! Kennedy was fed up, she grabbed handfuls of the plastic packages and loaded them into the cart. Problem solved.

After spending a hefty wad of cash on everything ranging from boots and walking sticks to sunblock and flashlights, she was finally ready. She hoped; well, she'd have to be because she wasn't wasting another minute in that damn store.

Pulling into the apartment complex, the two began unloading shopping bags and sorting everything into designated cases. It was a tedious process made even more troublesome by Mina needing to categorize everything alphabetically. Kennedy got bored after about half an hour and decided to head to bed. All her stuff was ready to go, gear, camera equipment and food, she just needed to rest for the long day ahead of them tomorrow. Their flight was leaving bright and early to deliver them to Tennessee then the real work began.

-- --

Touching down on the runway, Kennedy breathed a sigh of relief. Being stuck two hours in a plane with an obsessive-compulsive Mina was already wearing her nerves thin. Outside the terminal they hailed a cab and began the long drive to the foothills of the mountains. They wouldn't be taking the normal tourism route scenic travelers were designated to; rather they would be "roughing it" so to speak, forging their own path.

Kennedy was itching with excitement to finally get out of her car and start doing what she did best; taking photos. The girls loaded up their oversized backpacks, camera cases and dufflebags and set off. They were meant to be living off the land, this wasn't a vacation, so they would have to forage for food and shelter most of the journey. They had satellite phones with GPS tracking should they need them, but the women didn't foresee getting themselves into that kind of trouble. The one luxury they were provided was financial funding, but a hell of a lot of good that'd do away from civilization.

Their journey started off fairly easy, seeing various plants and birds to capture in pictures, but nothing that would explain the animals mysteriously dying off. Kennedy clicked away on her camera non-stop, soaking in everything nature had to offer them. Mina took detailed notes of plant life hoping to go over her notes later when they stopped to make camp.

By the end of the night, Kennedy had seen birds, squirrels, rabbits and the occasional coyote or fox but still nothing peculiar. When the night had set, the girls decided to call it a day. The weather was still warm enough a fire wouldn't be necessary, but the higher they traveled, the colder it was bound to get. They pitched their tents, had a crappy dinner consisting of granola bars and flavored water and pulled the small amount of valuables into a knapsack to be strung into the trees away from predators.

While Mina was busy transferring notes from her voice recorder and notepad onto the laptop, Kennedy decided to shoot some film of the nightlife in the area. Most of the area's predators came out to hunt at night so she switched on some night vision gear and headed out to see what she could discover.

About five minutes into her walk she came across some wolf tracks. They shouldn't be this far down the mountain she thought. Probably just had to start looking farther away from home for a food source. She snapped a couple pictures and moved on, not giving it a second thought. She found an owl perched on a tree, its eyes glowed in the night seeing everything the darkness hid from her. She came across a family of raccoons, hobbling through the brush and briars to get to a nearby tree. She sat idly on the grass and took multiple pictures while they would pause to see what she was doing.

There was something invigorating about being this close to nature. She felt at home being able to smell the spruce trees surrounding her, growing to the sky as if to touch the stars. The critters were noisy tonight, and while her friend found it annoying she felt relaxed listening to them talk to each other. There was a slight breeze tonight, just enough to lightly move her hair back and forth and smell rain in the distance. By this time tomorrow night they better have camp set because a storm was coming.

Kennedy took a couple more minutes to just relax and unwind before making it back to Mina. She wanted to get up before dawn to chase the sun and greet the animals as they started their day. Mina was already asleep in her tent she assumed so she went to her tent to quickly clean the lenses of her camera and as soon as her head hit the ground she was out.

She dreamt of a time when life was fun, worth living. She loved her job, but she loved the precious time she was able to spend with her son before he passed away even more; a time where she was truly happy.

------*------*------

Hey guys! Here's the first chapter, a little slow but it'll pick up. As always, vote/fan/comment!

XO- Carly