THE WOODS (A Bury Farm Wolf Tale)

4: Essentials

 Home, or back to the farm? Something felt bad, something wasn't right, but she didn't know what?

"I love Jax, I do, but his family are weird, wackos? Or maybe it's me who needs help? I'm the one talking to myself."Forcing a smile as she drove into the small peaceful village of Green Hill, the girl from the city admired what appeared clean, calm and cosy.'Quaint?' Rows of white stone cottages, each standing beneath a heavy thatched roof, even the shops lining what she assumed to be the main high street were converted from the historical buildings to have stood for who knew how many hundreds of years.A village made up of homes to have housed countless generations, homes standing firm and proud.'How quaint?'More use to the hustle and bustle of the city, her instinct was to hunt out the most convenient parking space as she checked for the double and single yellow lines to indicate restrictions.Colour filled, compared to the grey bleakness of the barn and what stood around it.Green Hill was the brochure to Bury Farms' forgotten sketch, yet both were old fashioned and faded.

Driving into and down the main streets, it didn't take long to realise there was most definitely not a parking problem, the only other vehicles to pass being a flat backed delivery van and old style minibus.'Had she slipped back in time?'Green Hill village wasn't just a place filled with historical buildings and artefacts, it was a place which felt old and a space where people seemed somewhat thin on the ground.'Where was everybody?' Unable to see anyone, only when she parked the car did she catch sight of two older women standing in the street.'Where had they come from?'Local gossips 'Probably talking about her?'Looking as thick as thieves, stood chatting and looking while trying not to be seen looking, the stranger understood them being curious.'Human nature?'What many saw to be nosey; Mrs.Juliet Hampshire told her daughter was nothing more than people showing an interest.

"Afternoon Miss."The elderly gentleman walking his dog tipped his hat.'Charmed?'Trixie smiled.Noticing how the gossiping females shook their heads before looking away.'Wow!'Mesmerised and impressed by the perfectly preserved antique furnishings and old style layouts still being used to display the products on sale within the unique stores, the one from the city again questioned the possibility of time travel?'How quaint?' The sign over the door said General Store.'Historical?'It seemed as good a place as any to begin her search for the personal items she'd left home without.Smiling at those doing the best they could not to disclose the fact they were watching her every step, Trixie wasn't surprised to see the gossiping females scurry away in a hurry.

Smiling and stepping from outside to in, like her breath had been taken by the air around her becoming more dense, she coughed.'What happened?'Unable to describe the sensation to sweep over her entirety, the only sound which was clear was that of the golden bell hung over the door.'Where was she?'Unable to speak, she could no longer feel what was usual to feel.'Had she stopped breathing?'A village General Store, for the one more use to city centre shopping malls, everything felt surreal. Could she speak? Should she say something? Trixie felt like she was dreaming and wondered how or when she'd fallen asleep? Had she crashed the car?'Where was she?' If you die suddenly, does your body carry on doing what it was your mind was planning?

"Do you sell toothbrushes?"Standing by the large old fashioned teak counter.'Shocked?'The lone female couldn't recall having walked from the glass door with its' actual bell, or by the head high shelves lining both side walls and free standing down the centre of what must be the smallest General Store ever."Hello."Met by a stern and somewhat threatening glare which questioned her very being, the stranger in town came face to face with the ageing shopkeeper."Hello."She repeated, her mind questioning whether or not the gossiping women had pointed their fingers in her direction.'Happy smiling faces?'Had she imagined them warning her to turn around and go home?'Witches?'Could it be that the gentleman walking his dog had in actual fact avoided eye contact and crossed the street to avoid her approach, had the dog snarled?'Why?'Feeling more like an alien than a visitor; Trixie felt the need to glance down at her feet to check she and them were still walking on solid ground.'Where was she?'Had she levitated and not walked along the tree lined street?'Why would she do that?'Feeling uneasy.'How could she do that?'Was she dreaming? Unconscious? Where was she? Feeling the need to touch something to check it was real? Trixie saw the village resembling a film set.Had she walked the street filled with stores and cottages before stopping to enter the General Store? Or could it be she'd run away from what now felt to have been threatening?'What was happening?'Was she dreaming? Alarmed by the manner in-which the ageing male glared in her direction over the top of his silver rimmed reading glasses, Trixie felt engulfed by the dust covered goods and mound of fading packaging which surrounded her.'Where was she?'