The Forest

It grew darker as she plunged much deeper into the forest. What has she done? What was she thinking? She had absolutely no idea now. All she wanted was to get away from her very recent past. Panting from running she came to a rushing stream which was racing south just like her heart. There was a small oxbow lake formed nearby where she saw her reflection in the water. A beautiful but suffering young woman stared back at her. Her elegant white gown was tattered and bruised by the unsophisticated forest. Her jet black hair now hung from her ruffled bun. Her eyes were tearless....her lips dry. After catching her breath she started running again.

As the forest grew thicker and darker, her rage from the life's cruelty began to subside replaced by the panic from her unknown surroundings as her senses started to take there form after her anger's hangover. Still, her mind was half dead with it. The land grew soggier which made her pencil heels half sink, every step she took. Sometimes she would grab some thorny branches for support without realizing it, because of the poor light. Even then she kept going. It was only when she could hardly see her hands that she stopped and sat down on some dry leaves. Time seemed to stand still.

A vicious cycle of thoughts started in her mind. She couldn't take herself out of the thoughts of what has happened earlier that day. The excessive make over, the wedding jitters and then finally......she still couldn't seem to digest that it has happened and what she has done in the reaction. No matter what happens to her now, she still believed she couldn't have done anything else. This was the only way out. For the first time since that incident, tears started to roll down her eyes. It wasn't the sadness that was making her weep. She felt extremely helpless which made her hate herself.  She had never experienced such an emotion before. Instead of standing her ground, she had run away from it, like a coward. Why didn't she face it? It wasn't like, it was her fault. She didn't want to think about it anymore.....she had to stop herself, otherwise her head would explode.

She was engrossed in her train of thoughts when she heard something....although she had gotten used to the occasional snapping of twigs, the chirping of birds, the rustling of the leaves of the trees above and the crunching of dry fallen leaves whenever some creature slithered past...but this was different....she wasn't sure what it was but it was something bigger. Her adrenaline started kicking in....her heart started thudding against her chest....her hands became wet and clammy....her breath became a hurricane.

She quickly got up and started running. After covering a few yards, groping along the way, she tripped and fell on something really big and warm……it neighed and got up lifting her with it. After a few moments she realized it was a horse. She got off and tried to regain her balance. It was pitch dark now. A horse cannot be here on its own, it must have a rider, she speculated. And if there is a rider there must be some food to eat. No one in there right mind could go this deep into the forest and not bring something to keep up his strength with, except if he has left in emergency like her. She was feeling extremely exhausted and hungry so she rummaged through the bag on the horse. She was in the process when she heard footsteps approaching. Quickly she hid behind a nearby tree finding it with her hands. Her movement caused a little noise which made the footsteps stop cautiously. She noticed that the person had a fire torch in his hand which casted his shadow where she could see it. He seemed really huge or maybe it was the fire that was exaggerating it. Whatever it was, she got convinced he wasn't the guy she should mess up with. When he started walking again she took the opportunity and started tip toeing away from that place. Accidentally she stepped on a twig which made a loud snap. As if appearing from thin air with a speed of light the guy stood pointing a blade in front of her. She stopped right there.

"Who're you? What were you doing here?", he interrogated. She stood there utterly speechless, open mouthed.

"Aaa…..I aaa……"

"Pardon me?", just as he said that, he narrowed his eyes towards her dress, "Are you…..", she grabbed the opportunity of his distraction and tried to run. As quickly as he had come, he grabbed her arm and this time pointed the blade towards her throat and shouted, "What were you doing here? Did you take anything from my bag? TELL ME !!!"

Horrified, she looked at the blade and then quickly moved her gaze towards his eyes. The fire, from the fire torch he had placed on the lowest branch of the tree behind her, now flickered in his blazing light brown eyes. In a trembling voice she said, "I....aa..... didn't." He eyed her suspiciously as if to see if she was telling the truth. Then he checked her hands. They were empty. When he looked at her dress again he remembered something.

"It looks like you are the run-away-bride they asked me about..eh," he said with a smile on his face. She relaxed because of his smile (maybe he is not that dangerous as he looks, she thought) but gapped at what he has said.

"What? They are here? Looking for me? Let me go...I can't be here," she tried to pull herself out of his grip but it only grew tighter.

"Are you going back or are you still running away?"

"It's non of your God damned business," she said through her gritted teeth, "now let go of my arm."

"I'm handing you back to your people, lady. You won't survive a day in a place like this."

"Maybe thats exactly what I want and who are you to do that....some bounty hunter?" she shouted.

He stared at her for a moment then said, "I don't have to tell you who I am...you just do as I say or you'll regret it."

"Or what? You're gonna kill me."

"I wouldn't have to," he warned.

She started to complain again but he ignored her and forced her to get on the horse. He handed her the fire torch then mounted the horse. When he started riding she asked, "What are YOU doing here in the forest?"

"Hunting."

"You don't seem to have hunted anything?"

"That's because you came in my way."

"You know you don't have to do this. You can just let me go. Let me be on my way and you on your own."

"You are not helping your case!" he said sarcastically.

"What the hell is the matter with you? There is no way I'm going back."

"Oh please, would you stop whining? I'm trying to figure my way back."

She quietened for a while then she couldn't take it anymore. She tried to get off the horse but when he tried to stop her, she bit his hand and finally jumped. She started running off the road where he couldn't follow her on the horse, so he jumped off the horse, took the fire torch with him and followed her....shouting along the way, "Come back!"

She passed rocks and brambles, and sometime she would barely escape slipping in the wet areas. When she jumped over a fallen tree, her dress got stuck at the base of one of its broken branches. She was busy trying to get free of it and half her attention was on the person following her when a baby bear attacked her. It waved its paw near her legs and ripped her dress, barely missing her shin. She gave a wild scream which pissed it off. It jumped and put its paws on her shoulders. She fell on the ground screaming all the time. She couldn't even try to run away with her dress stuck. It lifted its right paw...this time aimed at her face....she closed her eyes knowing this is it, when she felt the weight lifted off her. She opened her eyes and just in time saw her follower become her saviour. He had pushed the bear off her and landed it on the ground. Just when the bear was trying to figure out what has happened, its been stuck with a pocket knife in the neck several times. She was filled with the horror of her escape from a painful death plus gratitude for the guy who prevented that, looking at him all the while when he cut her dress from where it was stuck and helped her get up. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He had a huge frown on his face. He beckoned her and she obeyed without another word.

When they reached the point from where they had started running, there was no sign of the horse. Oh crap, she thought but then he gave a shrill whistle and the horse came back from where it had gone. She mounted the horse and didn't uttered a word for quite a long time. Although she was't afraid of dying but since this experience she was now afraid of the pain of it or getting severely injured for the rest of her life. She had to get out of this forest which she couldn't do it without his help but at the same time she couldn't go back to her people. She had to make him realize, otherwise he would hand her over to them. She was engrossed in these thoughts when the horse stopped.

"This is somewhat a safe place. Get some rest, we'll start in the morning." He got off and so did she. He tied the horse's reins with a tree. "Stay here! now that you know what's out there. I'm going to collect some firewood." With that he strode off. She had noticed in his tone that he was angry with her. Now she had no idea how she is going to convince him for what she want. She was pondering on the ways she would try to convince him when he came back.

"That was quick!" she tried complementing. He didn't reply and remained busy making fire. Now she got really nervous. He took a small blanket from the bag on the horse and threw it at her. She took it without question and wrapped it around herself. When they were both siting quietly near the fire, she started looking for the first opportunity to tell him her case. She saw him warming his hands near the fire. Everything he was wearing seemed ordinary...from his faded dark grey trousers to his brown, a little raged knee length coat...from his mud adorned boots to his black hat except for his shirt inside the coat. Although he had tried his very best to hide it but a little bit of its collar could be seen. It was dark green in colour with black embroidery on it. It looked strangely familiar. She also noticed that there was a scar at the side of his chin. He seemed a little bit older than her. She was busy noticing all this when he looked up at her and their gaze met. She immediately looked away and said

"How long will it take for us to get back?"

"A day!" he said curtly.

"What do you mean a day? I got here in a couple of hours on foot!"

"That's because you skipped the roads and took short cuts. The horse cannot duck under the thick growth of the trees...it can only stay on the road." He took off his hat and placed it on his lap. For the first time she saw his hair. They were auburn and straight till his jaw. She still couldn't understand why was he so keen on doing all that for her.

"What's your name?" she asked to strike a little conversation and diffuse the tension.

"Mark," he answered without looking at her.

She waited for a moment then said, "Don't you wanna know mine? It's Jonah."

"Hmm"

"Look I don't know why you are doing this and if you don't want to tell me then don't but you have to listen to my side of the story!"

"I thought you said it was none of my business, right?"

"Ok that was before. Now listen to me."

"I'm listening!"

"My mother wanted me to marry our neighbour's son but I was in love with this guy, Ross. He is ten years older than me. We met two years ago...."

"What did your father say?"

"He died when I was eleven," she remained quiet for a while, gulped then continued, "I imagined my whole life with Ross and he felt the same way for me. A year ago we got engaged. My mother resisted a lot. When the wedding was finally planned, my mother told me that I have to live with the choice I'm making and whatever happens after that I shouldn't be blaming anyone but myself for that. She gave me a huge lecture. I was willing to endure anything for him. I had fought so hard for him with my whole family." She paused then said, "just before the wedding I over heard him threatening his maid not to tell me that he was the one who....." She broke off and started crying.

"He was the one who did what?" He came over and took her by the shoulders, "Jonah tell me, what did he do?"

From under the sobs she replied, "He took my father away from me....HE KILLED HIM....it wasn't an accident just like they told us."

"So why didn't you....."

"I couldn't face my family...how could I?" He couldn't find the words to console her. She kept on crying.

"So that's why your family was resisting it.....did they know?"

"If they would have known, they would have told me and prevented the marriage altogether."

He let her cry for a while then said, "So.....what are you going to do now?"

"Please don't take me back....I beg you!"

"That's not the solution. You're gonna have to marry your neighbour's son."

"He's married now."

"Oh....then you have to marry someone else!"

"Like who? Now I don't want to marry my whole life....I HATE MEN!!!"

"I think you should sleep now, I'll keep watch.....we'll talk tomorrow."

She felt horrible. She wanted to vanish from the face of the earth. She lay awake for a long time but didn't realize when dreams took her. When she got up, the forest was lit with daylight. The horse was there but no Mark. She looked at the bag. Maybe he wouldn't mind her checking it out, she thought, after all she is only looking for food. She couldn't find any food but felt a paper in her hand. She took it out and saw a girl drawn on it. But when she looked closely she noticed it wasn't just a girl....it was a girl in a wedding dress just like hers....with the same lace design and the same hair bun. She was busy looking when she heard him coming. She looked at him, showed him the paper and said,

"What is this?"

"Nothing!"

"I don't think so. Did you follow me into the forest? I saw you from the window when I was getting ready for my wedding. I remember that shirt because I liked it, which you are now unsuccessfully trying to hide."

He snatched the paper from her and put it back in the bag. "Can we move on now?"

"No, I want to know the truth first. Are you Ross's friend? Did he send you?"

"No."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not!"

"Then who are you? You're definitely not from my side and if you are not from his side either then why were you at the wedding?"

"We don't have time...we have to go now. It might rain any time and the forest turns really nasty when it rains!"

"You didn't answer my question!"

"I don't have to."

She opened her mouth to argue but a plan came to her mind which would get the truth out of him. She mounted the horse behind him and they started moving on. The road was rugged at this place so he only walked the horse. They were both quiet. She could see his temples tensing and relaxing. She had no idea what was going on inside him. Who was he? He hadn't harmed her yet although he could have. She had no choice but to let him get her out of the forest. As soon as the road got even, he raced the horse at full speed. She had to get hold of him around his waist. When she did, his body tensed. She had no idea why he was acting in such a strange way but soon she will find out. After a couple of miles she asked him to stop.

"What?" he said after stopping.

"I'm hungry!"

It was getting darker by now. "I'll go find something to eat, you just stay here!" he said.

"Wait! Amm....look what if some wild creature attack me again."

"I'm not taking you with me. You'll walk two steps and you'll collapse by the looks of you."

"Then don't...just give me your knife to defend myself." He hesitated then obeyed. It was really hard to find something to eat in a place like this. But still he didn't loose hope and kept looking. He heard clouds thundering above. He knew it will rain soon so he quickened his pace. He could only find some wild cherries and carrots. When he came back he saw her lying on the ground, motionless.....knife was in one hand and blood on the other wrist. His legs gave way and fell on the ground on his knees.

"What have you done? Oh God no it can't be. Why did I gave her the knife?" He crawled towards her and tried shaking her by the shoulders. "Jonah....Jonah...please do you hear me. Why was I so afraid....why didn't I tell her.....Oh Jonah please don't leave me." He started crying, "Oh please God give her back to me. You know I can't live without her." He put his head on her's and kept on weeping.

After a while he heard, "Why can't you live without me?"

"What? You are alive. Ah!" And then he kissed her forehead. "I can't believe you are alive!"

She was staring at him with a blank look on her face. It was then that he realized that he was the only one getting so emotional. He quickly moved away from her and said, "Sorry...amm....I brought you some carrots and cherries." She ate quietly. He was nice and all but she wasn't just ready to trust anyone so soon. He watched her eat but didn't say anything. Then he busied himself with some twigs on the ground. After eating she teared a piece of her dress and wrapped it around a small cut she had made around her wrist.

"For how long?" she asked.

"One and a half year." He said still playing with the twigs, "You were already with him." The clouds gave another loud thunder, "I think we should move."

They rode for another mile when it became really dark to see. They had to stop. He build a fire and sat down to rest. It started raining. It rained so hard that the fire went out. Both of them laid awake but neither said anything. Time seemed endless. When the forest started to lit up, they both got up wordlessly and started again. After an hour or two they could see the clearing drawing closer.

"Why were you at my wedding?"

"I thought that by some miracle you wouldn't marry him!"

"Yeah well you got one." He looked back at her, she gave him a smile which made his heart lift up to his throat. When they got out he asked, "What do you plan to do now?"

"I'll have to apologize to my family and then endure whatever they say!"

"Even if they are angry at you, they would be happy to have found you."

"Thanks Mark! It's really encouraging."

"So...do you still hate men?"

"I don't know."

"When will you know?" he insisted.

"Thanks for bringing me back." She got off the horse and started going back. He waited for her to look back but when she didn't he called out,

"Jonah wait!" He walked up to her and gave her the drawing he had made of her. "Is there any way we might....." She took the drawing, put it on her face so that only her eyes could be seen and said with a teasing tone,

"Maybe!"