Falling To The Sun | B. Swan + E. Cullen

trois

The firm ground beneath each step of her boot made a sharp pain shoot from her feet, the amount of time she had spent walking today, checking the trails and marking off which would be safe heading into spring and those that would need maintenance was more exhausting than it usually was. Roman had walked these woods for most of her life, she knew them better than any other, and as she looked over the nearest trail, bending low to observe the practically destroyed bush and soft, broken up dirt, she furrowed her brow and followed the tracks of the trail.

There have been reports of bear sightings that have been collecting at the station that was making her mother begin to worry, and as Roman followed up, confused on what any bear would be doing so far away from their dens so early in the season, towards where they knew people would be. She followed it inwards to where the trees grew a little thicker, the roots pulling up and twisting together, and as the ground sloped into a small, steep descent, Roman slid down with a bent knee and a hand on the dirt, unconcerned of the mess she was making of herself.

Pushing herself up, she wiped her hand and kept forward, yanking her hat down so it sat better over her ears. Her eyes blew wide, a startled gasp escaping her as she swooped down, fingering the edge of the giant print in the ground and fumbled with the walkie attached to her belt, pressing the call button as she yanked it towards her mouth.

"Roman to Marnie," she says, letting go of the call button as she waits.

"What's wrong?" Her mother calls through immediately and she wonders what the woman could be thinking. There have been only a few instances that she thought it necessary to call in instead of just reporting when she got back to the station, and each time had been some sort of emergency.

"I've got marks here that are too close to the beginner trails," she says, placing an open hand in the center of the print, finding it still not big enough. "But mom, you know those bear reports? Whatever it is, it's bigger than a bear."

"What's your location?" She could hear the beginning of rustling movement before the walkie cuts off and Roman answers, saying she'll wait here until someone else arrives.

She pulls out her phone as she waits, checking the poor service through the trees and opens her camera instead, taking a few quick shots of her hand at the center and then her foot at the side of size comparison. Roman moves forward a bit, not going very far as she checks for any other signs and finds more pressed into the ground a few feet away.

The stride was impossibly long, longer than any other animal she has seen before and a thrill of fear ran down her spine despite how curious she was. Part of her wished her mother thought to bring Chief Swan along with her.

Roman took out her map and a pencil, marking a few things down as she waited - which trails needed maintenance and which were safe enough to open if they were going to actually open anything around this area to begin with. She had half a mind to just mark the entire zone as unsafe, to go back and reevaluate the other trails just in case.

She heard her mother before she saw her, chattering low as she worked her way toward where Roman waited.

"Mom?" She shouts, standing and waving her hand around above her head, catching their attention.

"Here she is. This way Charlie."

"Watch the slope," Roman cautions, offering a hand to them so they wouldn't have to slide down as she did.

"Where is this print?" Her mother asks, cutting directly to the point, and the girl nods, guiding them to the tracks she had found and let them examine them on their own.

Roman points. "There's a few this way as well."

They spend the better part of an hour in the area. Roman trekked through bushes, worked her way through roots and climbed trees upon request, working to gain a better visual advantage in finding what must be some sort of radioactive super animal that was haunting the forest and scaring the hikers.