Shepherd

END

Climbing down from the cab, Shepherd took a long deep breath and felt much better. The darkness was lifting and ahead, beyond the freeway which stretched into the distant horizon, he saw a belt of pine trees and a path emerging from there to meet a break in the barriers. The sun was hot on his face and the smell of freshly cut grass was in his nostrils.

He walked.

Taking long, deliberate strides, he made for the path, drawn by a feeling that he was expected, that there were people on the other side of those trees waiting for him and he knew that he didn't want to let them down. A warm sense of anticipation, of delayed pleasure and a much longed for result settled in his heart and helped him leave the truck behind in search of it.

Beyond the path, between tall trunks and amongst the soft needles underfoot, Nat was there, waiting for him.

"Hey you," she said. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves and the bangs that caught the breeze moved softly across her forehead. "You took your time."

"I had work to do," he said.

"I know."

He took a step or two closer but halted beyond her reach. She didn't move. Her eyes, far more beautiful now than he could ever remember them being, found his and reached out to him. He looked down at his feet, ashamed.

"This is only half the story," he said.

"That's your fault," she grinned and suddenly she was stood before him. He breathed in her scent and his heart thudded in his chest. She was as real as anything he'd ever known, perhaps even more so. With one delicate touch she raised his chin with her hand and looked directly into his eyes. "You're home now. That's all that matters. That's all that ever mattered."