As Luck Would Have It

Hansel and Gretel

  "Cyyynn!!" Emma shouted. At first she assumed maybe she had just wandered off as Cyn tends to do but now Emma was worried. What if she went for a swim and didn't make it out? What if she got lost in the woods? Bear attacks! Snake bites. "Fuck." She mumbled under her breath. A few sticks crunched. Delilah and Emma both stopped dead in their tracks.

  "Cyn?" Delilah asked as she turned around but it was only a startled deer that ran away as soon as Delilah moved.

  "Do you think-" Emma started to ask a question but was interrupted by a blood curdling scream. "That's Cyn." They both said and started to sprint towards the sound.

"Get off!! Get off!" Cyn screamed.

"Hold still!" Jim shouted as he tried not to get hit by Cyn's kicking legs.

"Hey!" Delilah said before pushing Jim to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" Jim asked. Startled and out of breath.

Emma grabbed Cyn's head and inspected her face. She seems fairly fine. "Baby, are you okay?"

Delilah grabbed one of the sharpened sticks next to the fire and pointed to Jim's throat. She was triggered and angry.

He could see the madness in her green eyes. He sat up as much as he could with her foot on his chest. "Easy there. I like em rough but I'm an old man now."

  A scowl passed over Delilah's face. "Shut up."

  "Lilah, stop!" Cyn whined. "He wasn't hurting me."

  "We heard you scream, Cyn." Emma pointed out.

  "No. Because of this! Jimmy was trying to get it off." Cyn pointed to the tic on her leg. She was so afraid of it and it was hurting her.

  Delilah looked down at Jim tossed the pointy stick to the side. "Oh."

  He smiled and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. Delilah helped him up.

  "Okay. Well... I'm sorry then." She said.

  "Don't be. Haven't had that much fun with a beautiful girl in a while." He chuckled. "Next time I'll be sure to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so you can find us." Jim teased.

  "That's my girlfriend, Jimmy." Cyn said. "They both are. Now please get this thing off of me!!" Cyn whined.

"Hold still, princess." Emma said as she bent over to pull the tic off.

"You wrangled yourself two, huh? You'll have to tell me your secrets. I couldn't keep one from running off."

Cyn giggled and didn't even notice Emma had extracted the insect from her skin. "All done, sweets." Emma quickly tossed the bug into the fire.

"Thank you, Emmy." Cyn said.

Emma gave a crossed look. "You're welcome." All she could think about was how she was going to punish her little girl for running off with a literal stranger.

"It really is my fault Cynthia didn't come back. I guess I've flapped my gums too much." He sat down on one of the the tree stumps he had placed around the fire. "Probably bored her half to death."

Cyn pushed a stick through another marshmallow. She wouldn't even bring up how many s'mores she had to her lovers. She felt she was already in enough trouble. No need to add to the list of transgressions. "No way. You tell the best stories, Jimmy."

"You two should stay a while. I can whip up some beans and franks." He looked up at the other two women. The dark haired one didn't seem to impressed with his efforts but he was really pleading his case to the blonde. After it's all said and done, it seemed like she had the final say.

"Pweeaasseee?" Cyn begged. She wanted more s'mores and she loved beenie weenies.

Emma sighed. "Are the beans vegan friendly?"

"Well hell. They're beans. I'd hope so." Jim chuckled. Truth is he was just a lonely old man that liked to get away to the lake sometimes. He and his wife lost their daughter to a drunk driving accident. Cyn reminded him so much of his daughter he couldn't believe it. That's what drew him to her in the first place. The stress of the lost put a wedge between him and his wife. They were separated now and he lived alone. Their cabin was his daughter's favorite place and it was her birthday. He spent the night there every year to celebrate and remember her in his own way.

"Okay. We'll stay." Emma said. Her and Delilah sat down on the other side of the fire.

"Yay!" Cyn said before stuffing the marshmallow in her mouth. She didn't even bother to make a s'more this time.

"So y'all got a name or what?" Jim asked as her stoked the fire.

"Delilah." She said as she pointed to herself.

"Emma." The blonde introduced herself.

Jim looked over at Cynthia. "Talking bunch aren't they?"

Cyn giggled.

"Do you live out here?" Emma asked. She studied the man's face. It was weathered and tanned from the sun. He had a constant look of worry on his face. Even when he was smiling.

"No.. no. I just own the cabin. I come out here to clear my mind. It's usually empty this time of year." Jim rubbed his hands together.

"Have you been here all day??" Cyn asked suddenly aware that Jim may have seen her naked at some point.

"Nope. Not too long before I found you playing in the dirt." He winked at her.

"You were doing what?" Delilah asked, horrified. The first thing Cyn was doing when they got back home was getting in the tub.

"I was not playing in the dirt." She giggled. "I got scared and I fell. Jimmy snuck up on me."

"Sorry again about that. After you spend as much time alone as I do, you forget how to interact with others sometimes."

"It's okay, slim Jim." Cyn said. She started to grab another marshmallow for her stick.

"Babe, don't eat all of Jim's marshmallows." Emma said. It wasn't lost on her that her girlfriend has probably been stuffing her face with the sticky sweet treat the entire time she was "missing."

"Oh no." Jim fanned her away. "She's fine to have as many as she wants. They'll go to waste anyway. I only ever eat about one or two. Wish they came in smaller bags."

"See, Emmy? It's okay." Cyn held her stick over the fire and watched the white cloud of goodness get puffier and puffier.

"Cute." Emma said.

Delilah giggled. She grabbed the box that the graham crackers were in. Fortunately for her she could eat them. She grabbed a few.

"Jimmy, finish telling your story about the bear." Cyn egged him on. She thought he was the best story teller.

He slapped his knee. "Oh! That's right!" Jim started telling his story and again and smiled at his company. He knew it was his daughter's birthday but this was the best gift he ever received.