When He Said Hello

by MujerN

It's a mystery how possessions on a campsite vanish. Everyone's bewildered but Sam, a local. He knows how. He knows why. He knows a mute, young man living in the woods shouldn't be bothered. That's not what Bella witnessed, because just back there, when he said Hello, Bella was pretty sure the young man spoke to her. The mystery now is to find him.

6. Chapter 6 - Both Humans

Chapter 6 - Both Humans

Crack and crunch goes the ground beneath her feet. Branches twist and break as Bella hikes through the woods by the lake. Like a movie cliché, an owl hoots far away. It still scares the shit out of her. She breathes and breathes. One step at a time.

Bella is determined.

She had to lie badly. Mom thinks Bella is with Jen in her cabin for the night. Bella told Jameson she had to wash her hair, meaning 'do not disturb for the night.' It seemed to work. She didn't think it would.

That guy, the introvert, the Weirdo, has to be around here. An hour goes by, and she's turning in circles around the trail she walked with Charlie and Sam.

She finds nothing.

Her feet hurt. She's kind of hungry. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Defeat settles as she treks back to the campsite.

She tries again the next night, with a sandwich this time. Then the next time she plops on a rock to eat a snack she made for that night. Every time she does the hike, everything seems less intimidating. The light of the moon seems to shine brighter. Her eyes get accustomed to the darkness. She goes further, dares to climb the dense areas she's never been through, and she slaps at branches with a long one she found on her second night.

She can still see the lake. Then she sees the light of the moon reflect off a canoe.

It moved.

She runs down a hill and realizes it was definitely a canoe. Her heart hammers when a shadow swings a leg over to hop into it. The bow swivels over his lap, and there he is.

"Hey!" Bella shouts. At this point, she doesn't care about formalities. She's found him after days of trying, and she will not let him get away.

The figure is surprised. He looks.

She weaves through trees to get to the dock, but her foot gets caught on a branch.

Bella tumbles down the hill. She grunts. Her arms shoot out to brace herself. All the cracked branches she probably turned under her boots are now scratching her skin.

Then the unthinkable happens ... definitely an integral imminent part of their story.

She continues to roll down, and that rock just sits there waiting. It formed for years and years, fossilizing to have a purpose, to be the bad luck for both humans; the unity of two strangers. One is curious, the other apprehensive of life itself.

The stranger tenses when he sees the fall, while Bella's consciousness goes black.

….