He fell from the walnut tree.
My backpack slid down from my shoulders and in a second I had him pinned to the ground. I didn't even have time to think or look at his face before I took action. That wasn't really necessary anyway.
“Ow!” He groaned and whimpered on the floor as I pressed his wrist harder against his back.
“Hey,” he said, breathing heavily. “I'm harmless. I'm just trying to hide, people are after me. Please…let me go.”
My eyes widened and I let him go quickly. I got up and took a few steps back, still guarded.
“What do you mean people are after you?”
He looked around us warily and back at the tree he fell out of a few seconds before.
“These…men. They've been after me ever since…well ever since I was old enough to understand I was being hunted down.”
My stomach did a little flip at his words.
There was no way…
“Do you know how these men look?” My voice was small and it shook a bit as I spoke.
He nodded slowly, squinting “Yeah, they're all big and muscular and half dressed, in just skirts. And they always carry these arrows.
The arrows
By the mention of the arrows he winced and started towards the tree.
“Hey, wait.” He paused, one leg already raised. “I might know about these men with the arrows.”
“What? How come? And…why are you still here after I've told you all this?”
“I'm also being hunted down by these same men you've described.”
We both jumped when we heard a sound not far away. It sounded like rustling of leaves.
“We should go. Follow me.”
“Follow you? Go where?”
I looked into his dark eyes which were just identical to mine and a strange sensation coursed through me at the thought of the possibility of…
I shook my head.
“Just come.”
We ran a long distance deep into the woods and didn't stop until we were out of breath and I was sure we were somewhere safe.
We were both sitting behind some bushes, panting and looking out for any sounds or people.
“Look,” I began when I'd caught my breath. “I was running through these woods because I was, well, running away from these men that were after me. I've been running and hiding for a long time. Anyways, I need to find out some things from you to know if I might be correct.”
“Correct about what?”
“I don't want to tell you yet. Just listen and do me favour and answer these questions correctly okay?”
“Sure,” he said sighing. He brought his hand up to wipe his face and my eyes caught his wrist.
“What's that?” I said pointing to the friendship bracelet thingy on his wrist.
“What?” He looked down. “Oh, this…it's my most valuable possession. I had a twin sister when I was younger and we were separated due to circumstances and she has an identical one. It's the only thing that connects us.”
I looked up at his brown curls that looked just like mine and my stomach churned in excitement. And his facial features…how didn't I notice it before?
