In Saving the Imperfect

7. We struggled to stand up

When Layne woke up, he felt as if he hardly slept at all. His whole body ached even more so than the night before. The fire had died out, allowing the chilling air sting his face.

The cabin was dark except for the few rays of sun filtering through the gap under the door. Through the silence came the chirping of the birds and the more Layne listened, the more apparent were the sounds inside the cabin. Silent sobbing.

He sat up. The lack of light made it difficult to see the environment, yet looking around for longer, the silhouettes of objects and people stood clear enough. Almost everyone else were still asleep except for himself and Malia, who was sitting on her pallet, hugging her knees. Her back shuddered with every sob.

The man thought about laying back down and pretending to sleep. He didn't do good when it involved someone's emotions. As soon as he moved to get into a more comfortable position, tho, Malia turned her head at him. She immediately hid her face again but there was no escape left.

Layne moved onto her pallet. "Malia?"

She didn't answer. Her shoulders moved up and down but she had stopped sobbing. Layne wondered how much of a dick he'd look like if he left now. Upon assuming that his image among the group has already been damaged, he decided not to risk it.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he whispered.

Malia shook her head. "S-shouldn't."

"It's gonna be ok, we're only supposed to stay inside during night time, remember?"

"I mean, I d-don't want anyone t-to see me." The girl hardly connected the words. Layne sat next to her in silence. It was too late to go away but no words left to say.

"Why don't we go somewhere further away," he spoke after a while. "I'm sure there got to be plenty of places with no one around."

Malia hesitated. In the end, she nodded and lifted herself up. The two of them left the cabin to be blinded by the large amount of sunlight.

Layne blinked, waiting for his eyes to get used to the change. Soon enough, the view was clear enough to see the village surrounding them. The cabins looked even worse with sunlight exposing each of their flaws but little flower gardens, narrow pathways around the buildings and osier fences all around created an almost cozy environment.

The surrounding greenery was still covered in tiny droplets of morning dew. No person was yet to be seen although the noises of chicken and cows didn't allow for it to be too quiet.

Layne and Malia walked in silence. Turning towards the forest, they found a pathway trampled down heavier than the rest and, without giving it much thought, they went ahead to follow it.

The path led them deep into the forest, further away from all the village sounds. The whole way Layne eyed Malia who just stared into the ground underneath them and hugged her chest. Red streaks came down her cheeks but at least she had stopped crying.

"So that's what this pathway leads to." Layne grinned.

Before them, down the hill, opened up a view of a large, clear lake, surrounded by cattails, large rocks and aspen trees. Even Malia let out a faint chuckle before they went running towards it.

The path ended right at the only clear area around the shore of the lake, not outgrown by any sorts of weeds. Following his first impulse, Layne dropped off his shoes, socks and stepped into the shallow water. Chill ran through his whole body and just a few seconds later, he could barely feel his feet. It did help with the pain from his wound, tho.

Malia smiled at him from the shore. "How's the water?"

"Hot like morning coffee."

"Yeah, right."