Choices

Choices  

                Her bare feet padded along the dirt to a rhythm only she could hear.  The flames danced in her eyes in a way I had only read about.  Not many women would stand so close to a fire, yet alone prance around it.  She appeared to me from within the woods.  At first I thought she was a lost hiker as I was, but it wasn’t the case.  As she approached the fire, the light from the flames swayed along her exposed skin causing it to shimmer.  I could only imagine such a being in the middle of the forest.

                “Could you just point me in the proper direction, then?”

                Her lips parted as she smiled.  Each one of her teeth came to a sharp point.  I’ll admit that this startled me but I wasn’t exactly surprised.  From what this creature had shown me up until this point, I knew she was far from human.

                “Could you just dance with me?” she asked, mocking my tone.

                “I will not.  Just point me in the direction of the rest of my group and I’ll leave you to your dancing.”

                She said nothing.

                “Could you point my location on the map, perhaps?”

                “I cannot read your maps.” 

                I sighed.  Of course not. 

                “I would not even if I could.”

                After a few moments she stopped dancing.  Her long, skinny arms fell to her sides.  She was opposite me across the fire.  “What is your name?” I asked.

                Immediately she asked, “What is your name?”

                “I’m Philip.”

                “Well, Philip.  You see that beech tree you are resting upon?  It is my home.”

                I arched my back to look up at the long, thick branches.  “What’s your point?”

                “You have defiled it,” she shot back at me.

                “How so?”

                She pointed at the fire.  “You have cut down my home to burn it for your own selfish needs.  And now you ask for my aid?  Are you surprised that I decline your request?”

                “If you just help me I will not ruin your precious house anymore.”

                “Or I could capture you and serve you for dinner.”

                “Now I don’t think I’d taste any good.”

                She shrugged.  “I guess you will never know, will you?”

                I laughed.  “I’ll put out the fire and go to sleep.  Maybe you could help me in the morning.”

                “I will not be here in the morning.”

                “Where are you going?”

                “The woods need tending to.  I do not stay home for long.”

                I waited a long time before responding.  “Must get pretty lonely out here on your own.  Are there any more like you?”

                She shook her head.  “Only the creations of nature to keep me company.”  She sat down.  “You could stay.”

                “Now I don’t think I’d be any help with your tending business.  My friends are probably going to worry and search for me.”              

                “You could stay and keep me company.”

                I linked my fingers together over my chest and closed my eyes with the fatigue of the day taking over my body.  “I’d just be a distraction.”

                “You could stay and be my friend.”

                Yawning, I said, “Now that sounds nice.”

                After what seemed like an hour, I heard quiet noises.  I shot straight up, eyes wide and alert, only to find the woman dragging a long stick along the ground.  “What are you doing?”

                “Drawing.”

                “Drawing what?”

                “Choices.”

                I leaned my back against the tree again, resuming my sleeping position.  Half asleep already, I asked, “What is your name?”

                “Fawn.”

                I awoke with a start, scrapping my cheek against the bark of the tree.  The sun had risen and was already straight up in the sky.  I had slept all morning.  I gathered up my belongings, resolving that what had happened the night before was all a dream.  There was no prancing fairy that had beautiful red hair that flowed as she danced around my fire.  Just a perverted dream, I concluded, of a lonely man in the forest.  I stood to stomp out the remaining burning coals and saw etchings in the dirt.  I moved around them, careful not to disturb their design.

                There were two prominent arrows pointing in opposite directions deeper into the forest.  Next to one there was a word.  ‘Safety.’  And next to the other arrow there was another word.  ‘Companionship.’

                Ah.  “Choices.”