It was pouring that day, I’ll never forget that. The rain pounded against the windshield of my two decade old car as we turned down the thing that was supposed to be a road. On the best of days it was more like two dirt ruts and a tunnel through the thick foliage, but right now it was functionally two parallel lines of mud broken by wet green weeds thrashing in the wind. Really we should’ve called off the camping trip and scheduled for a clearer day, however we both had the silent worry that if we didn’t go today we would never get the chance again.
My best friend since sixth grade was a short brunette girl named Jamie. All throughout high school, people had constantly and annoyingly assumed we were dating. I mean I don’t blame them, she is admittedly very pretty and we were entirely inseparable, spending all our free time together and probably too much class time as well. However, fortunately for our friendship and unfortunately for women everywhere, I am not really into women. Naturally, being that I am from a tiny town in Nowheresville, I couldn’t exactly tell people that. People here tend to have a very outdated view of the terrifying concept of a man dating a man. For example, when I came out to a friend of mine he genuinely told me “but you don’t look gay.” As if every fucking gay guy needs to dress effeminately and have a high voice in order to be allowed to like any human being with a dick. I nearly punched him in the face for that.
Back on topic. The road was rugged but I was sure my jeep could handle it, even if it was older than me. We eventually reached the clearing I was looking for. I was always more of an outdoor person than Jamie but she and I had gone camping more than once so she wasn’t new to the concept. Neither of us really wanted to leave the car and set up camp in the soaking rain but the looming promise of college and the separation it promised caused us to be unreasonably determined to make this work. And with leaving on the horizon this could be my last chance to look this place over. With fire in our hearts and rain jacket hoods over our heads we set out to force a good time.
“I don’t know about this Paul.” Jamie nearly shouted over the roar of the rain “Its cold, we’re both wet, and there is no way we’re finding dry firewood out here. Instead we could go back to my place and play Mario Cart.” Apparently I was the only one who was unreasonably determined. Not to mention, her plea did make sense. Why be miserable and wet instead of warm and dry while still hanging out.
I guess my love of camping blinded me a bit. “Alright we’ll head back.” I said with probably a bit too much force. “But first can we look around a little bit? Just to sate my curiosity?” She acquiesced, knowing what it meant to me and we again started towards the woods.
We stayed within arms reach of one another while we were searching, both probably a little nervous about the environment and lack of visibility. I don’t really know what I expected to find. I just couldn’t accept that he was gone for good without even a trace. He meant so much to me I refused to believe he left. I could feel the tears sting my eyes as I thought about it so I gripped the iron bracelet he made in shop class and forced the thoughts out of my head.
Jamie and I stumbled on. About thirty yards away from the car, we walked through a set of birch trees that really weren’t remarkable but pulled my attention nonetheless. After we walked through, it stopped raining suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch.
“Hey the rain let up maybe we’ll be able to camp after all” Jamie said cheerfully but I didn’t respond. At the time I thought it was just because the rain cleared up, but suddenly the woods looked unbelievably beautiful. I was entirely taken in by everything, it genuinely felt like I was in a fairytale. Trees were spaced so that there was ample walking room but still dense enough for it to feel tight. Some trees were in tight circles while most followed the sporadic placement that comes standard with nature. The air smelled sweet like honey and flowers and the ground was oddly clear of underbrush. I honestly felt drugged by the beauty.
I thought I could hear Jamie saying something but I was too enthralled to pay attention. I wandered and wandered in a state not too dissimilar to how it felt that time I smoked a joint with Jamie at the party at Andrew Thomas’ place. My senses seemed somewhat dulled and I was so beyond happy just to be where I was. It was then that I heard a muffled “You shouldn’t be here” from a person I didn’t see and felt a hand grip my wrist. This snapped me out of my daze and I spun around to see my would be attacker reel back clutching one hand with the other. I couldn’t manage to see their face almost like it was blurred and the person quickly ran off.
I suddenly realized to my horror that I had no idea where I was, and worse, I had no idea where Jamie was either and I felt as if I was being watched from every direction. I broke out in a full sprint with no direction in mind. I just knew I had to get away. During my mad Dash, I stumbled upon a hat, his hat. I wasn’t sure what it meant but I knew it wasn’t good. I was too confused and terrified to think logically. I had no idea where I was, I lost my best friend, someone or something was after me, I knew I was being observed, and worst of all I just found my missing boyfriend’s favorite hat in the woods he disappeared in all that time ago so I did all I could manage. I leaned against a tree and attempted to not have a mental breakdown.
By some miracle, the first thing to find me was Jamie. I hadn’t realized she was there until she jumped up and hugged me with every muscle in her 5’1” body. I could feel her warm tears against my cheek before she let go of me, and smacked me across the face.
“How could you leave me alone in these creepy woods that you forced me to go into. This is terrible what the hell is wrong with you. I always feel like I’m being watched and you just wandered off without even saying anything while ignoring everything I said to you.” she cried, near hysteria “Now get the fuck up we need to leave now. This place isn’t right and I’m not sure how we leave”
I was still too dazed to give a proper apology or explanation but I mumbled out a quick “Sorry” as she grabbed my hand and pulled me up into a walk. We walked for a good while thoroughly lost, constantly looking over our shoulders, often seeing things out of the corner of our eyes but nothing that lasted until we turned around. Eventually something pulled my attention, the twin birch trees. They had the same odd attraction as before and instinctively I knew this was the way out. I pulled on the small hand that hadn’t let go of mine. She looked at the trees and then at me, we wordlessly knew what we had to do.
Before we could make good on our escape plan, we heard a snap behind us. Standing there was the largest buck I have ever seen with a rider who’s face I couldn’t make out. We bolted and it after us, clearly much faster. We weaved between trees side by side while we heard the thundering hooves rapidly closing on us. Right before it reached us, we dove through the white barked trees and immediately felt rain on our heads. I turned to figure out what happened to our pursuer and why we weren’t impaled on a set of giant antlers but nothing was there. All that stood was the two great sentinels that took more attention than they deserved by appearance alone against the night sky. I remember wondering how it was night already. It only felt like a couple hours but somehow more than a couple hours but when I checked the time, somehow more than twelve hours passed while we were in there.
We quickly got into the car and drove to Jamie’s house. On the ride I apologized profusely for abandoning Jamie and explaining both the drugged out feeling I got as well as the hat with its implications. She was very understanding about the whole thing and when we got to her house we immediately fell asleep, her on her bed and me on the floor. I just got home and am typing this out just as a warning I guess. If you’re walking in the woods and the rain stops, turn around and go home.