Forest Dwellers

Chapter 1: Modern Eden

There was a low, calm rushing sound, constantly floating through the trees when one got close enough; white noise numbing out the chattering sounds of the forest. One could be picking through the underbrush, a raven's caw fresh and cutting through their senses; the crackle of twigs and rustling leaves on the Quaking Aspens, and all at once, the white noise would fill him or her up, and in one more step one would be in the closet glade to Eden ever discovered by chance.

There in the glade existed the source of the numbing sound. A massive waterfall came crashing down to the left of a large vernal pond, running over the jagged rocks, violent and powerful. A woman bathed in the pond a few feet from the waterfall. Her clothes lay on a wide rock far from the shore, to warm in the sun. Her hair was a wild tangled mass of woolen woody brown, forced into a long braid down her back. The woman hummed as she undid the braid, shaking free the woolen sheet. For a moment she stood waist-deep in the chilly water, breathing deep the dawn's fresh air, a warm wind already blowing, trussing her hair further. The pond was rather shallow in spots, and therefore rather warm. The woman must have known this and she soon wadded through the water to one of the warmer spots, two glass bottles in her hand.

One was filled with clear gel-like liquid, bits of white flower petals swimming within. The woman plucked the wooden cork from this first bottle, placing the cork and the second bottle upon a rock ledge at the edge of the pond. Upending the bottle onto her palm, she poured a small amount into it. Then, humming easily again, she rubbed the gel between her hands, working it into a foam lather. She then set to work covering every inch of her skin with it. Steam began to rise up from the warm pools, swirling about her legs as she washed. Once finished with this she moved up to her mane of hair – which she had already gotten wet by dipping it into the water. After awhile she was entirely covered by the foam and she seemed satisfied. The woman ducked underwater just as a shadow moved behind the trees.

Under the water the world was dull green and the woman reveled in the feeling of being weightless. She floated inert for a few moments, letting the soap sink off her body and diffuse out of her hair, helping it along with a few strokes, before resurfacing and gasping for breath. Silence. After the white noise of the immersion, the air sounded much too silent and she stayed completely still, looking around her in a paranoid way before creeping to the rock where she kept her bottles. The second bottle was wider and the gel inside was creamy in appearance and much thicker. She reached her fingers inside and scooped out a good amount, rubbing it on the ends of her hair and then moving up to her scalp. She looked much tamer now that her hair was wet and matted down, and even tamer once the cream had smoothed out the rough tangled patches. Once satisfied she dipped down again to rinse, and back up to view her surroundings. Usually, on a day like this when the air was exceptionally warm, Sadie Adams liked to swim awhile longer after bathing, pretending to be a mermaid all alone in the forest or go exploring with the little minnows and gather smooth stones from between the mud. But on this day something caught her eye just as she was about to dive down again: her clothes were missing. She was so sure she had placed them neatly enough on the flat rock, why should they not be there now as she looked across the pond? There was no way they could have fallen; the rock was much too wide, and she was much too careful. Was there a chance that some animal had gotten a hold of her plain wool tunic and pants? No, she thought. What animal, even a curious one would come along and snatch up her clothes simply for the fun of it, without the smell of food scraps or blood anywhere on them? Her cat, Shelby came to mind but that rascal was too small and anyway, Sadie would see her pouncing upon the pile, maybe even creating a moving lump beneath them with her wriggling little body. So where in the world...

"Evan!" She called out, the conclusion dawning on her. She stood, poised like a lioness, her dark tresses dripping wet, draped over her shoulders like a cloak, covering her naked breasts. "Evan, I know you're there, come out!" She heard a low chuckle from behind one of the willow trees directly to the left of her, quite near the shallow pool she was in. Staying silent for a moment, Sadie crouched down low in the water, cupping her hands and getting the right leverage. Then, at once she sprang up, lifting her hands above the water and bringing with them a great surge of pond water, which sprayed against the tree and flew behind it. She waited a moment, then did it again, the again, until a man appeared out from behind it, sputtering and shaking out his wet hair.