Charles + Maggie

Chapter 4 (Margaret)

Margaret POV

As I make my way deeper into the woods, the trees grow larger and thicker, lengthening the shadows and creating an eerie atmosphere. For some reason, I feel as though I'm being watched. The hair on the back of my neck prickles, and I subconsciously begin to walk faster along the bumpy pathway. Suddenly, I hear a rustle coming from the underbrush behind me. I freeze, mind racing through all of the warnings instilled in me by my overprotective father: copperheads, cottonmouths, black bears, coyotes- all animals living in Virginia and deadly to the unarmed lady. I slowly back up, searching for the source of the noise. The forest is silent as if it's holding its breath, and I listen carefully. Suddenly, I hear a rustle coming from only a few meters away. My body leaps into action before my brain can even princess it; before I even realize it, I'm sprinting away from the creature deeper into the woods. I leap over roots and duck under branches hearing the crashing behind me as the enormous animal pursues. I stumble into a small clearing in a dead sprint, and, suddenly, I'm flying through the air.

I crash to the ground, landing on something surprisingly soft. I hear the monster charge into the clearing, and I throw my trembling arms over my face, expecting its teeth to sink into them at any moment. I flinch as something hits my arm, but instead of excruciating pain, it feels... wet? At the same moment, whatever I landed on, groans. My eyes fly open, and I'm met with the sight of a gigantic slave hound slobbering all over my arms. I shoot to my feet and take a step backward, hitting something behind me, and I stagger, nearly falling once again until my arms steady me. I shriek, whirling around, dog momentarily forgotten, and find my faces inches from a dazed one looking at me with confused blue eyes. Blue eyes and messy curly brown hair that are dreadfully familiar- it's the boy from the painting. Who I had landed on top. In the middle of the wood. After running from a dog. And he was undeniably gorgeous and definitely not ten anymore. At that moment, my brain turned to absolute mush and decided the best course of action would be to blurt out,

"I thought you were dead." We stand there in silence for a moment, definitely in shock, before I realize that I actually just said that. My hand flies to my mouth, and I can feel my face turning scarlet.

He just stares at me for a second before slowly responding, "Sorry for the disappointment?"

"Oh my God, the monster should have just finished me off," I think to myself, mortified—anything to escape this awkward silence that is lasting an eternity.

Suddenly the boy began to chuckle, "Monster? You mean Mutt? The dog currently lying at your feet asking for belly rubs?" It took me a moment to realize I had voiced my thoughts' apparently, my filter did not endure under stress. Sure enough, I look down, and the slave hound, supposedly named 'Mutt", was lying on his back, tail thumping on the ground like a golden retriever.

"I'm pretty sure this is just a trick to lure me into a false sense of comfort, so he can rip my arm off," I respond in a daze, just staring at what was supposed to be the most dangerous and savage dog money could buy.

"If he wanted to rip your arm off, he would have done it when you were crumpled on top of me practically offering them up on a silver platter," He says with a cheeky grin, and my green eyes shoot up to meet his startling blue ones, twinkling with mirth. At that moment, I realized we were standing practically nose to nose and backpedaled, nearly kicking the hound he dubbed, 'Mutt.'

"Oy! Careful there, you almost stepped on his tail," the boy responded, looking scandalized. I glanced down once again at Mutt, lying down and peering up at me with shining puppy dogs as if he was begging to be pet. The boy looked down as well and then crouched, balancing on the balls of heels and fearlessly reaching out to scratch Mutt's belly. The only sound is coming from the dog's tail thumping in the grass.
Suddenly the boy spoke up, "Alright be honest, is this a dream? Because that is the plausible explanation, I can think of for the last five minutes."