This is a one-shot that I have written for my AMAZING friend, Tasha (TashaDeeDawnMarie). It’s kind of a late Christmas present, but not really, it’s just something that I want to do because she is such an amazing person. If you have read any of her works, let me tell you, she is even more awesome in person!! And if you haven’t read any of her works, go read some now!! Anyway, this one-shot stars her, but unfortunately, my writing is kind of cruddy, so I didn’t really capture her personality, and I didn’t capture a certain blond-haired, bow-and-arrow-wielding elf’s personality either…….. Well, I’m just going to get to it!!
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“Merry Christmas, and have a good break, Tasha,” the Southern twang of the bus driver’s voice rang out to me as I launched myself out of the bus.
I didn’t bother answering; he knew the moment I got on the bus that I had a bad day.
I raced up the hill towards my house, thoughts swirling around in my head. Thoughts of my geometry teacher trashing my extra credit project because it was “below average” work, even though I worked on it for an entire week. Of my best friend ditching me at lunch for my crush. Of a stupid freshman getting his milk all over my notebook- which had a rough draft of my current story and three poems that I had not typed up yet. And a million other little things that just ticked me off that day.
As I reached the squat little cabin that I called home, I whipped the key out of my backpack and jammed it in the door. Stepping inside, I slammed it behind me, deftly twisting the lock back like always. My backpack found its way to the floor as I fled through the always unlocked back door. My eyes were glued on the looming forest that held so many childhood memories.
My suede boots unerringly found the old path that I walked so often in the past. All of the days I spent exploring and playing with my friends the elves and hobbits and the like surfaced in my mind. Few friends close by makes for a very imaginative child; my imaginary friends abounded in those carefree days.
The deeper I traveled into my memories, the calmer I became. Lost in childhood memories as I was, I soon found myself deep in the forest- far deeper than I ever remember exploring. A dense fog swirled around my knees, obscuring the bottom of my dress and boots and the chill of a Tennessee winter seeped through the fabric of my dress.
I wasn’t really concerned about being so deep in the forest. As a child, I often became lost during my little adventures, but somehow I always made it back, much to the relief of my parents. This time, though, there would be no worried parents waiting. Only an empty house.
I shook the thought out of my head and debated on whether to rest before heading back or to just go on. The creeping shadows made the decision for me. Though the sky wasn’t visible through the crowded trees, it was obviously getting late in the day. That, along with the growing chill in the air, made it clear that I should forgo the rest and head straight back.
About an hour later, I was still lost in the foggy maze of trees. Shivers started to wrack my body from time to time. Oddly enough, I still wasn’t worried about getting back. I had this strange sense of…… trust? that I would be fine.
I paused, leaning my hand of a tree to shake a pebble out of my boot. How a pebble made its way into my mid-calf length boots, I didn’t know. As I straightened back up, I caught a glance of something out of the corner of my eye. I whipped around and faced an empty forest. I smiled and shook my head at my reaction. My imagination was running wild again. No person would dare be out this deep in the forest. No one but me.
I continued on, but less than ten minutes later, I caught a glimpse of something straight ahead, maybe 60 feet away. This time, it was clearly a person I glimpsed through the thick fog. The moment my brain made sense of this I stopped dead in my tracks. I barely processed the long hair and the bunch of arrows- a quiver, I remembered from church camp- when the figure locked eyes with me and darted away. I followed without thinking.
My curly mass of hair completely lifted off my neck as I ran. The same stamina that allowed me to play offense for more than five straight rounds of field hockey at school also allowed me to keep the figure in sight for a while.
15 minutes of chasing later, I was beginning to feel vaguely Alice-like when the figure ahead simply disappeared. I stopped running, confused as to why I even started in the first place. I shouldn’t have followed some stranger into the woods. I had more sense than that! So why did it feel like it was imperative to my life to follow?
Here the fog was even thicker and deeper than before. The layout of the trees and the depth of the fog made me feel oddly nostalgic. The feeling of it, almost as if I were coming home, brought tears to my eyes. With shaky hands I took off my glasses and wiped my eyes.
The glasses tumbled out of my hands as I looked up- directly into the most beautiful face I ever saw.
The long blond hair and the quiver of arrows were secondary in my vision to the beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous face. As he- despite how beautiful he was, he was definitely a he- slowly glided forward, his pointed ears also came into view. His hard stare brought my eyes back from his ears. And, as we locked eyes for the second time, an amazement filled his eyes that I know was already in mine.
Gently and ever-so slowly, he raised a hand and brushed the tips of his fingers across my face. I didn’t flinch or run away screaming, so he brought that long, thin hand up to cup the side of my face. I couldn’t help what I did next- my eyes slid shut and I leaned my face into his hand.
His silent sigh ruffled the hair around my face. When I opened my eyes, he had the gentlest, sweetest smile that I had ever witnessed on his face. He shifted forward, and as the thick fog danced around us, he pressed a tender kiss to my forehead.
“You’re back,” he said with tears in his eyes, “You’re finally back.”
