Redefining

Chapter 4: Alexa's Home

Alexa came to a stuttering halt, gasping for breath. She had not been prepared for that encounter. Why was I so... bold with him?  She asked herself. Normally, Alexa was a very shy person. Experience had taught her that not everyone in this world could be trusted. However, she had gotten a very pleasant feeling from that interaction. Ah well, I'll probably never see him again. We don't go to the same school. 

Alexa, while living in the forest, had gone to school. She had shown up on the first day of middle school, and they simply let her attend, after some convincing of course. The teachers didn't know where she lived, or what her 'home life' was like. Alexa was very thankful that they didn't ask any questions. In fact, they shouldn't have let her in at all, but they did, for some reason. Though she lived in the woods, Alexa was a very intelligent person, keeping up an average of a high B or low A in all of her classes. 

She trudged through the city, brightening when she saw the treeline. She skipped into the woods, humming happily. She finally felt safe, as she only did in the forest. Following a lesser-known hiking trail, she made her way home.

Eventually, the trail faded away, and she had to twist, duck, and weave around fallen tree trunks, mud puddles, and trees that grew crooked to the ground. After several minutes of this, she finally arrived at the place she had called home for the past two years. It was a clearing of average size. But what set it apart from the dozens of similar clearings in the area was the small hut in the middle, with a firepit a distance away.

The hut was small and simple. It was about 8 feet long and 10 feet wide, and 6 feet tall. The walls were made of uneven logs placed near each other, the gaps filled with hardened mud and peat. The roof was made of several sheets of plywood Alexa had found in construction sites. They were layered, and hardened mud was used again to keep them stuck together and in place. In the corner across from the door, a small twin-size mattress sat, with two blankets that were both heavily patched and frayed at the edges half-folded. A single flat pillow with no pillowcase rested at the head. At the foot of the bed on the wall, a shelf In the opposite corner sat. On it were a small supply of Band-Aids, gauze, Neosporin, and a small bottle of over-the-counter ibuprofen. In the opposite corner, an old and heavily battered steamer trunk sat. It had been aquired for free at a yard sale somewhere. Alexa stored all of her food and money inside it, since it locked with a key that she wore around her neck.

Alexa walked inside and plopped down on her bed. She sighed, happy to be home. Sitting up, she got her books out of her tattered black bookbag and started on her homework. Once she had finished with math, she walked over to the trunk. Reaching inside her shirt, she withdrew a necklace with an old brass key on it. She unlocked the trunk and withdrew an apple, some sliced carrots, and a container of raspberries she gathered herself. Alexa sat on the bed and ate her dinner, taking care to put everything away when she was done. "Mmm, that was good," she said to herself. She picked up her book, and continued on her homework.

Later, she unfolded the two blankets and went to sleep, making sure her door was locked as best she could and her bag was packed for tomorrow. That night, she had a strange dream. She was being pulled away from two people, but she couldn't see their faces. Then, she fell into a black pit, and had a nightmare about the creatures that she had encountered when she escaped. She woke up in the middle of the night, frantic, but passed out. Alexa slept well the rest of the night and didn't remember the dream when she awoke.