G/t Short Stories

Alone in the Woods

The serene sounds of the woods became too familiar to Paul. While he couldn't complain about having a nice paying lumbering job, he could complain about the loneliness he felt while he was staying at the cabin. All of his friends he knew were out in the world having the time of their lives, while he was completely isolated! No one even knew about the nice beard he grew out while he was here. 
Packing his thoughts away, Paul got ready to start the day. It was a cooler morning today, so he decided to wear his red flannel shirt this morning. Sure it was stereotypical, but hey, it was a good look! He grabbed his axe and went over to the chopping block to chop up some extra wood for tonight. In between chops he could hear the wildlife in the background, the birds chirping, the squirrels chittering, and…. 
An ear piercing scream echoed through the woods! Paul stopped what he was doing, that sounded like a person screaming. But it's impossible for anyone else but him to be here, he must have just imagined it. 
"BACK! BACK!" A woman's voice shrieked. 
Paul didn't wait around anymore, he immediately ran out in the woods, axe still in hand! He didn't get very far when he found the source of the screams. 
A little gray squirrel loomed over something that was leaning against the tree. Paul narrowed his gray eyes on the creature, he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a tiny woman! 
She had auburn hair that was matted and wild and green eyes widened with fear. The brown dress she wore was nothing but rags, but the most frightening thing was seeing blood drip down from her leg. The squirrels here weren't really aggressive but obviously, they had no problem picking on a helpless girl that was smaller than them.
Paul stomped over and shouted at the rodent to scare it away. Fortunately, the squirrel decided not to stick around and quickly scampered off. Now Paul directed his attention over to the lady. His heart sank when he saw a giant gash across her calf, she was profusely bleeding out. 
"Human!" The woman hissed out, she grabbed a chewed up stick from her feet and held it up like a sword. 
"Please, let me help you." He slowly reached towards her but she swung at him. 
"Bad!" She growled. 
"You can't understand me, can you?" He watched as the girl growled and kept on guard. Paul sighed, this was going to be difficult. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and dropped it at the girl's feet. "Wrap this around your leg."
The girl just glared at him.
"Your leg." Paul pointed. "It will help you." 
The gears started to turn in her head as she inched closer to the cloth. She never took her eyes off of Paul, even when she began wrapping it around her wound. 
Paul let out a sigh of relief. "See? I'm just trying to help." 
"Help…" 
"Yeah, you look like you could use some help." Paul opened his palm out to her. "Why don't you come with me and we'll get some food?" 
The feral woman perked up. "Food?!" 
Paul chuckled. "Yeah, I have plenty of food for you." 
The woman cautiously moved towards Paul's hand. He didn't dare to make a sudden move as she examined him, he wasn't even sure if she would accept his help. But then he saw the girl smile and rest her hand on his fingertip.