Lost To The Wild

The Town

A bell rung above me as I pushed open the clinic door. The chilled winter winds rushed by me in a rush, but immediately ceased as I closed the door to the small office. The cream walls were inoffensive, and the chairs were conventional. It was clear that local amateur artists had donated their paintings to decorate the walls. Most of them depicted barns in various weather conditions.

Typical.

The slender, middle-aged receptionist eyed me over the rims of her glasses, and gently laid the book she had been reading on the table. Her fingers nimbly swept across the computer's keyboard as her eyes scanned the screen.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No," I shivered. This was partially from the cold, and partially from the numb, ordered atmosphere of the room. "Could you tell Dr. Loch that Rae is here to see him. It's important."

The receptionist eyed me wearily before disappearing into the back room without a word.

I hesitantly sat in one of the waiting chairs. A standard wall clock lingered knowingly across the room from me. It sat perfectly between two barn paintings. One depicted a decrepit old barn in the middle of a snow storm, and the other a bright cherry red barn sitting peacefully in a cloud of freshly fallen snow. I smirked at the paintings. If only life worked that way. If only we could all be made anew after weathering the storm.

I imagined myself as the decrepit barn. The winds raging around me, the snow falling heavy on the bones of my structure, the washed-out paint peeling off the boards, and yet I remain. Each moment would seem like the moment my worn-down beams would crack under the pressure, and I would inevitably succumb to the world. Yet I stand.

Tick. Tock. Tick.

The clock hand marched in circles.

I couldn't stand the commanding sound. The way the world was measured by it. Each instant marked by the incorrigible clicking. I already missed the woods. In the mornings it was sunny, and the evenings were dark, clocks were of no consequence.

Tock. Tick. Tock.

I readjusted in my seat. No matter how I twisted and turned I couldn't escape the clicking clock. Each sound felt like a slap across my cheek. I slumped down in my chair, flinching away from the sound, but to no avail.

"By God!" cried a baritone from the back room. "Where is she!?"

I stood abruptly from the commotion. Dr. Loch came barreling out of his office with his receptionist close behind.

"Do you know this girl?" the cat eyed receptionist asked him in confusion.

"Of course I know this girl," said the burly, kind hearted man. "This is Frank's niece. She's taking care of the old cabin now, on the south side of Mount Echo."

"Oh," she muttered. "Well yes of course, but the girl has no appointment."

"Oh Wendy," sighed the round man. "It is not as if we are all booked up for the day. Surely we can squeeze her in." Dr. Loch met the stern receptionist with a firm gaze. From the stunned expression on her face, it seemed as though Wendy was not used to the doctor pulling rank.

"Why yes," she conceded, looking downward with a light blush on her cheeks. "Of course, whatever you like Dr. Loch. I will prepare her paperwork."

"No need" smiled the doctor. "This one is off the books."

I smiled at him in gratitude. Not only did I loathe paperwork, but I didn't have any viable identification papers. The Doctor stepped aside and ushered me into his back office.