Cara Evelyn

Chapter-8

~The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask.~
-Nancy Wynne Newhall-

Dry leaves crunched under the thick soles of my boots as I followed her trail deeper into the forest. Sunlight filtered in through the trees and lit a dimly shaded path ahead. I mused over this interplay between the light and the leaves that sparkled her silver hair now and then as she cheerfully hummed the tone of a dreamy song I couldn't remember precisely. It left me dipped in a longing so beautiful that I felt nostalgic.

Far away in the distance, I heard a cuckoo bird raise a hollow-sounding, plaintive call into the wilderness of the woods. She turned her head towards the sound in excitement and cupped her hands around her mouth before letting out a very melodious 'coo-coo' in answer to the call of the bird that had reached us from behind the screen of dense trees surrounding us. Once again, the plaintive call was raised into the air in response to her voice and she clapped her hands like a little kid as if awarded by a jar of candies. I chuckled at this display of childish innocence in front of me.

A light breeze ruffled the leaves and few of them left the branches and swayed lightly into the air before falling to the ground. She paced quickly ahead of me towards an apple tree and very adroitly, got hold of the stem before climbing up like a leopardess. My jaw dropped open in amazement as she plucked a ripe juicy apple from a nearby branch and ate it happily while sitting on a strong branch above my head. Her blue eyes sparkled occasionally as sunlight met the gems in them. Dangling her bare legs down into the air, she rocked them lightly, ignorant of me..ignorant of the world.

Patiently, I waited at the bottom of the tree and pondered over the events that had taken place yesterday. Rob had visited our new lounge after the library had been closed last night. He had been so impressed and happy at the sight of it that he had immediately told us that Cara could rest for the whole week before joining him in the library. It was a delight for me as I was supposed to accompany her on her ventures and that meant that I had an off for a week too.

Later on, after we had returned from the dinner at the Barley's, we had shifted the T.V from Rob's cabin to the lounge and watched The Last Song which was based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. It was a very heart-touching piece and we had been absorbed in it for whole 108 minutes of the movie during which Cara had looked towards the screen with her blue eyes open widely in amazement and awe. This movie session had left us so tired that we were off to sleep in no time after the historical 'The End'.

Early in the morning, she had insisted to buy groceries and some other utensils for cooking and I had accompanied her to the mall for it. On returning back, she had cooked a delicious breakfast for us and I had felt the taste of home after something that felt like forever. As Rob had retreated to open the library, she had told me about her plans to explore the forest. I had agreed instantly and we had set off for this little adventure of ours as soon as possible.

My eyes took in her loose green top over jeans shorts and canvas shoes as she climbed down and treaded softly on the ground in front of me, looking here and there curiously for things I couldn't even imagine. All along the way, we had shared a mutual companion with us; silence. I had understood that she wanted to devour in the richness of peaceful quietness during this exploration so my mouth had been shut all the way. Now as I followed her deeper into the woods, it felt as if the silence was being shattered by a beautiful melody and I knew the source of it, it was the sound of water rushing down the waterfall.

I hurried behind her as she ran ahead in excitement to sweep away the lush green curtain of vines hanging in front of us with her delicate hand. I stood behind her as the vines separated to reveal a shaded edge of a creek hidden under the ground as a curtain of water showered down a hole above us on the stem of an only tree sprouting out into the fresh air. Her shoulders were heaving up and down from all the exhaustion as her deep blue eyes sparkled impossibly in this hidden world under the whole universe. Her silver hair glimmered in the partial darkness enveloping us from every corner.