Why am I even meeting them here? This was the question that kept running through my head. I keep my fingers in my hair, holding it back while my eyes stay glued to the ground, making sure there are no branches I could trip over or poison ivy I could rub against. The duffle bag hanging on my shoulder is heavy. I don't even like them, let alone camping. Zoe, Anya, and Peter are all my friends, don't get me wrong. It's just that they only seem to like me when it seems fit, so I play the game too.
And this forest is rubbish.
I pull my hand from my hair and hold my phone near my face, looking at the map. "Almost there, I guess," I say out loud, when I see something out the corner of my eye.
Normally you forget the somethings you see out the corner of your eye, like it's a moth flying home or a piece of lint floating to the ground. But this is a something you have to notice, and you have to go to it.
It's a police box.
I hastily jog over to it, putting my hand up to the wood. Moss was growing from the bottom up and the finish of the paint was growing dark and old. "Oh my… I remember I used to watch something like you. You were on the television, in this show. You were my life, you were…" A whoosh, barely audible, was made from the inside.
"Oh my… No," I run my hand down the corner of the box, bringing my other hand up to the handle that is conveniently placed where the phone should be. "If you're real, there's going to be a phone right here. If you're real, I'm going to pick up the phone, and there's going to be no dial tone. If you're real- and I so hope you're real," I feel a few tears roll from my eyes as my forehead touches the door, "there won't be any wires connected to this phone." I muster up all of my faith and open the hatch to find exactly what I'm looking for- a dusty vintage telephone. I pick it up. No dial tone. Looking it over, my heart practically implodes. No wires... ever. Not even a trace of them.
"Oh my god!" My knees immediately give out. Kneeling on the ground, next to a worn out, moss-covered phone box, kissing the wood it was made out of, my eyes start spewing tears and my teeth are grabbing at my lip and these almost guttural moans that are rumbling at the bottom of my throat and I just want them to turn to to screams so I can let the whole forest know about my happiness. But I can't find my breath, and everything just comes out as a harsh whisper. "All of those years wondering, all of those dreams dreamt, every ounce of hope and faith I've ever had," the words stumble and just barely making it out of my throat. I'm crying so hard, I almost feel like I'm over-reacting. Almost. I clear my throat and try again, "Every single ounce of hope and faith I have ever had," it's just this obnoxious bellowing sound now, but it has to come out, "has gone into you!"
I breathe in to start giving my thanks again, when I hear it. Click. The breath I just took hitches.
"Oh you sexy thing," I say, slightly mocking the man I knew I'd find somewhere around here, hopefully. Finding the strength in my heart, I channel it back to my knees and then my hand to wipe my eyes. Courage bubbling inside me, I stand in front of the door and slowly, softly push it. Before even glimpsing inside, I whisper to the outside, "Dirty and worn, you're still the bluest blue ever." I kiss my hand and place it back on the door, giving it a gentle shove and letting the doors swing open.
I feel like my lungs are collapsing now. The room is burnt orange, just like the skies of the planet I knew I'd never see. The center of the room has the grated floors I've come to know so well. "It really is bigger on the inside," I whisper to myself. Do I go in? Do I stay?
"Where is he, old girl? Why have you been here all alone? And for how long?" my heart is breaking for her. How long had she spent here? Did he just leave her? Did something happen? I know I didn't want to go in and be an intruder, but she did open the doors for me, after all.
"I know how to handle this. He obviously isn't around," I pat the outside one last time before storming in. I hear the doors swing shut behind me.