We Met In A Forest

Chapter One

Story Lebrey, a 23 year old man with messy black hair was reading under the shade of a tree in a forest. The forest was located on the outskirts of the small town of Bellmare. As Story's emerald eyes scanned the yellowing pages of his book he could hear something rustling in the bushes. He looked up from his book, his hair falling over his face. Story stood up and looked around. There was nothing there, only the small birch wood trees as well as the occasional oak that littered the forest.

Suddenly Story felt a tap on his shoulder. Story jumped and immediately turned around, his glasses falling down his face. Story quickly pushed up his glasses and found himself staring at a woman. She looked about Story's age, maybe a bit older. The woman had long curly blonde hair and big bright blue eyes, she had fair skin and was wearing a light pink T-shirt with black leggings. Story thought she was pretty, but he was guarded because the woman had just snuck up behind him and surprised him. Story examined her more closely and realized she wasn't some creep, but someone who was clearly distressed

"U-Uh... Are you... A-Are you alright..?" Asks Story quietly, his voice shaking. He was still freaked out by the fact she came out of nowhere and startled him.

"I'm Emily Stars, and I'm pretty sure I'm lost, I could use some help. Do you know how to get back to town?" She asked nervously.

This Emily Stars person was shaking and looked extremely distressed. Story sighed a little

"Yeah, I can help you we're not too far away" uttered Story in his usual quiet voice.

"Oh thank you so much!" She exclaimed in relief.

"D-Don't mention it"

After walking and talking with Emily for a bit, Story felt much safer with this stranger, almost comfortable which was a strange feeling for him.

"I have a question for you" states Emily , who had been quiet for a while now.

"Hmm?" Replies Story

" Where are your shoes?"

Story stopped a minute. Usually people asked that question to mock his awkward clothing choices. "I don't wear them" Story mumbled.

"Oh, Why not?" Asks Emily

Story took a deep breath. It had been a while since he told somebody about why he didn't wear shoes, but this woman seemed genuinely interested. "I have sensory processing disorder" he said, "It causes me to be hypersensitive to both sound and touch, shoes feel awful, so I just don't wear them."

Emily looked fascinated "isn't wearing no shoes in a forest even more uncomfortable than wearing shoes?"

Story shrugged "it depends, I carry a pair of shoes in my backpack just in case"

Emily grins "Wow! You seem like such an interesting person!"

They walked silently for a few minutes, and in order to disrupt the awkward silence, Story uneasily mumbled "So what brings you to Bellmare?"

"I'm actually a student. I've been studying the Tyler Zacman case as a part of my final thesis and in my research I heard there's a chance he lives in this area. Have you heard about him or this case?"

Story sighs. " Isn't that the horrific child abuse case from 15 years ago?"

Emily Nodded.

"Then, yes, I have heard Tyler's story many times on the news. The media is constantly looking for him to interview him even after all these years." he paused, "Since the police said his face and location was a secret... I think maybe you should leave the man alone. I mean... I mean if he wanted to come out and talk about his story, then he would have already, right?"

She nods, understanding what he meant. "Yeah I know, though I'm not studying it because I work for the media, I'm studying it because I find great interest in the case. The fact that a child survived such torture and his father got such a minimal sentence is bewildering. That's why i chose this case for my final project. I'm hoping that maybe my research can be used to put animals like this man behind bars for life instead of the disgusting slap on the wrist like he got."

Emily looked around taking in the beautiful scenery, "But since I arrived here, I've really fallen in love with the splendor of this place. In fact I'm hoping to move here when I graduate. For now, or at least while I'm finishing my thesis , I guess I'm just another visitor."

Story carefully avoided stepping on a broken bottle on the path.

The two of them exited the forest to a clearing that appeared to be on the edge of town.

"So are you headed to the Bellmare motel?" asked Story.

She nodded.

"Okay, it's down this path a bit and then right at the corner."

As they entered the town Emily looked at Story, "hey, uh... since I don't know anyone here, would you be interested in getting coffee tomorrow? Maybe you could give me a tour of Bellmare?"

Story was surprised, and it took him a minute to answer "y-yeah, sure." He replied. It was new for him to have someone, anyone invite him out for anything.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and find Tyler." she smiled at story, "nice to meet you uh... I'm so embarrassed! In all my rambling I forgot to ask your name!"

"Story Lebrey" he said avoiding eye-contact.

"Well nice to meet you Mr. Lebrey! I'll see you at the hotel coffee shop tomorrow, 9AM Sharp! I need my caffeine to function." She beamed as she went inside the motel.

Story simply stood there not knowing what to do. Story knew everyone in the entire town of Bellmare and more, and not one of them wanted to interact with him because he was different. This was the first time in what seemed like forever to Story that someone had wanted to spend time with him.

And what seemed like forever to Story was 23 years.