ASH

The woods were always a safe place for me when I needed to be alone for a bit, or just to taste the wind as to clear my mind. I would walk as far as I could, never going too far from the trail. In the summer I would be more careful, there was no snow saving my steps behind me. My mother was never a huge fan of the habit, but never did she forced me to stop either, she would just tell remarks from time to time, like: "You know what to do if you see a bear, right?" I would answer "I do, mom, I make a lot of noise and I don't run." Then she would be relieved or at least, act relieved, and I would be on my way.

That morning, my dad was off to hunt and my mother was at the station working on a case. She was frowning a lot these days. Her frowning phases usually came and went as cases opened and closed. I was basically alone at home, which happened often on Saturdays. I planned, or vaguely decided, to go on a hike in the woods behind my house. I wasn't an inexperienced hiker: I packed a bag with snacks and warmer clothes (the day was hot, but you never know, and you rather not be taken by surprised deep in the woods) and I left a note, describing my overall direction and planned hour of return.

The woods were unchanged, maybe sicker than the year before, but I believe everything went sicker as the years went by. I felt guilt for having left out the woods for the last few months, like when you haven't seen your grandmother for a while and then you meet and she talks about her death to make you feel bad. The woods used the same strategy but more subtly, unspoken. It felt off. The wind didn't feel the same against my cheeks and the birds were quieter than usual, much quieter. I decided to whistle a melody to fill the silence. It had rained the night before. The ground was squishy and damp, being an obstacle to every of my footstep. I did like the view though, the water sitting on the leaves reflected beautifully in the sunshine.

Once I reached the river, I sat nearby to listen to its song, newly free of ice, rushing through the rocks. I stayed there for a while until I smelled a puff of tobacco smoke. I looked around, not understanding its source: I was pretty far from civilization and had never crossed another human's path in these woods. The loneliness was usually the main purpose of my being there. I took a quick look around from where I was sitting. No one. No visible smoke. Maybe someone had walked these woods and didn't extinguish their cigarette correctly. The dangerous possibility made me get up and take a more cautious look around. I followed the sent for about a kilometer. I was about to give up and just hope a wildfire wasn't about to start in my woods when I saw her.

She was sitting against a tree trunk, her cigar against her lips, looking away. She didn't seem to notice me at all approaches. I wasn't exactly in her field of view, but my footsteps on the wet ground were hard to miss. Maybe she was deaf, I thought. The woods weren't exactly the best place for someone deaf, I easily could have been a predator of some kind.

Her dark black hair was wet, dripping on her shoulders. Her huge brown eyes still fixed on something I couldn't distinguish. Her skin was beautifully swarthy and reflecting the sun as the leaves did all around her. She didn't seem to be wearing appropriate clothes for an adventure in the woods, especially that far in. She was like an apparition, an improbable one. I hadn't moved since I had catch glimpse of her. She seemed inside her head and I didn't want to scare her. She finally moved, removing the cigar from her mouth and releasing the smoke in a dark cloud. The same smell that had alerted me earlier hit my face. My reaction was different now, more intrigued than alarmed.

I wondered as to what I was supposed to do. I could just go back and go on with my hike. She didn't seem in distress at all, nor did she seem cold from her damp hair of in the need to explain her being there. If she was in the need of help, she wouldn't be calmly smoking against a tree trunk, she would be screaming for help and waiting for some sort of sign of life, me for instance. "Were you looking for me?" she finally asked, turning her face in my direction and meeting my gaze. I took her question as an invitation to come closer, she didn't flinch. "No, should I be?" I asked. She smiled, breathing in her cancer stick. "What are you doing here?" she asked as an answer. "The same as you I suppose. I'm walking around the woods." I said. "Beautiful day to do so." I nodded at her remark. "Except for the wet air and the wet leaves and the wet everything." "It doesn't bother me much," I replied, sitting in front of her, against another trunk. She frowned, as my mom does and said: "Not my cup of tea, the water and all." I nodded suspiciously, looking around for anything unusual. Nothing as unusual as her in the near perimeter. I wondered why her hair was so wet if her water allegation was true, but didn't ask. "You come here often?" I asked in a conversational tone. "Not as much as I used to." "Me neither."

We stayed like this, in silence, for a while. Her cigar seemed never-ending, never getting smaller. Maybe she had lit a new one while I wasn't looking. I took a bottle of water from my bag and asked her if she wanted some. "No, I'm not thirsty. Thank you," she politely declined. Her voice was very seductive, and, in a strange way, every word sounded like a quiet beg. Some of the water dripping from her hair had fallen on her eyelashes and her cheeks, they looked like tears, but they were not. I drank quickly, trying not to stare. It was hard not to look at her, she was like an apparition, but then I was probably one to her too.

"What's your name?" she asked after an inestimable amount of time. "Jasmine Miller. What's yours?" "I'm Ash," she answered. Ash... The name fitted well with the character I decided. When she talked to me, she closed her eyes in concentration, which was odd. "Why are you here?" she asked. I thought it was rather funny that she was the one asking me that, my presence here was way more justifiable than hers. I opened my mouth to answer, but weirdly I couldn't find any. I didn't really know why I was here. All of my previous motive to be here seemed strange to me and didn't hold the road. The sudden confusion took me by surprise. My mind had been a fog since I had crossed her path. I decided it was the effect Ash had. "I'm not sure," I finally said, meeting her deep gaze, so intense it seemed it passed right through me. She smiled sadly, her hand to her temple as if she had she been struck by a sudden headache. "You'll figure out, Jasmine." I nodded vaguely in response. "I should get going," I announced. "You want to walk with me?" I proposed. It didn't feel appropriate to leave her here, all alone. Her senses didn't seem very keen for her to stay here unprotected. "No. I'm good," she immediately answered. I frowned. "I won't be able to sleep tonight, knowing you might have got lost." I insisted. "You sleep?" she asked dismissively. I put my bag back on my shoulders, understanding that there was no way I would convince her to follow me. She sighed. "If it can reassure you, I'm going home now. I won't be in the woods when it gets dark," "Be careful," I ordered her. Ash nodded and turned her back to me, finally extinguishing her cigar, ending the reign of the odor throughout the woods.