The Woodlands

As we climbed higher, we heard them shouting from the other tree. It was Clara I could hear the clearest. “Are you all right, Rosa?” Her voice sounded high and strained. It must have been very uncomfortable for her, sitting in a tree. I hoped Deshi was looking after her.

“She’s safe,” Joseph answered for me. “What about you?”

“All good over here,” she said, adding, “Beautiful moon, don’t you think?” My eyes were starting to get sore from all the rolling I had done since I met her. She always managed to find a positive even in the worst situation possible.

Joseph chuckled. I looked up at the sky, and sure enough, there was a beautiful moon rising, casting pointed, ghostly shadows on the forest floor.

“Joseph, I’m not ok. It bit me,” I whispered.

He nodded tightly. “I know. I just didn’t want to worry her,” he confessed quietly. I was grateful that, for once, we were on the same page.

We sat together on the strongest branch we could find, that was high enough to keep us safe from the snapping jaws of the wolves below. I had said I could sit on a branch on my own, but Joseph absolutely refused to let me go and we were balancing so precariously, I couldn’t really start a fight. If I had tried to pry myself out of his arms, I was liable to fall. So I allowed him to hold me, reminding him every so often that he was squeezing a little too tight.

It was a strange set of senses I was experiencing. The smell of the pine needles was refreshing and stirred up pleasant memories of a life past. I know I should have been fearful but I wasn’t. From here, the wolves looked less menacing and more entertaining. And with Joseph’s arms around me, I felt calm. I thought about how many times I had wished to be in his arms before. Before everything had changed. I felt safe, certainly, but I was sure it couldn’t last. Nothing ever did.

On the ground, the wolves were scratching the tree trunks, jumping up, and sometimes fighting with each other. Their sharp claws made shredding noises as they tore large chunks of bark from the poor bleeding tree. Yelping and howling. Every time I thought they had given up, they would start again. They were ravenous.

Despite this, I still found them stu

“Look at them,” I whispered. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

Joseph scoffed. “Yeah, they’re gorgeous; I particularly like the look of the one that sank its teeth into you.” I didn’t really think he would see them the way I did.

He was shivering and I noticed that he was only wearing a thin shirt. He must have dropped his jacket on the ground when we ran. I was sitting across his lap, with my back against the trunk of the tree. I leaned into him, trying to warm him with my own body. Slowly, his breathing steadied and he stopped shaking. I could just make out his face in the moonlight. He smelled like the woods, like damp dirt and wood fire. I liked it. After being in an artificial environment for so long, these natural smells were intoxicating to me.

He slid his hand down my leg slowly and gently tried to lift my boot off. I was shivering but I wasn’t cold. I was not used to this closeness and every touch felt charged. I winced as he carefully pulled it. The blood was drying and the boot and sock were stuck to each other and my foot. He dropped it down and I watched as it bounced off branches and landed amongst the wolves. They jumped back then leaned in to sniff it, shaking their heads in frustration when they realized it wasn’t attached to one of us. Then Joseph started working his fingers into my sock. I shuddered.

“Please leave it! It has stopped bleeding,” I said a little too grumpily. He let my foot fall and I let out a small squeak in pain.

“Are you all right?” His hand was searching for my face. I held still. He traced my lips with his finger. “I can’t see you; you have to tell me if this is ok.” I wasn’t sure what he meant. Was he asking me if my foot was ok, or was he asking if his hand on my face, his other hand gripped tightly around my waist, was ok? I didn’t know, so I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to feel this way but a very big part of me was more content than I had ever been—which was ridiculous given our situation. We had each other captive; there was no ru

“I can see you,” I said. He was smoothing my hair back from my face, ru

“You must be part wolf,” he joked. I could feel his breath, warm, drawing me in. His face lit up by the moon, eyes earnest, painful in their restraint. I knew I should stop him. I knew what he wanted, and that he wasn’t going to get it from me. His lips were brushing my neck. I reacted, giggling. It tickled.

Suddenly, the sound of tearing fabric interrupted us. Initially panicked, thinking someone had fallen from their tree, I saw the wolves had moved on to our packs. I could hear plastic wrappers being torn open and wolves growling and fighting over our dried meat and bread.

“There go our supplies,” yelled Deshi from the other tree. I was staring down at the ground, straining to see what the wild animals had done. They didn’t seem so scary this far up. They were just puffs of fur moving around each other in a destructive dance. Joseph’s hand was pulling my face towards his own. He was clumsy because he couldn’t see, but his intent was clear. I went rigid. He sensed my hesitation and spoke.

“Please, I need to do this. I need to finish it.” He sounded so determined.

“Finish what?” I asked, confused.

“I owe you this kiss; I need to kiss you back. The way I should have back in Pau,” he said sincerely, nervously. Like he had practiced this speech before. It wasn’t like him to be nervous. I couldn’t help myself.

“Geez, could you be any sappier?” I laughed. I could see him smiling, his strong jaw and cheeks looking more angular in the moonlight. And then his lips were on mine and I forgot everything. Every logical argument for why this shouldn’t happen flew out my head. We were both overcome. It was more than I had expected, more intense, almost to the point of being painful. I couldn’t pull away. He was never going to pull away. He was right. This was what it should have been like the first time.

I don’t know how long it lasted. It could have been a minute—it could have been hours. Slowly though, we disco

Somehow, I must have drifted off, because when I opened my eyes, it was dawn. I felt stiff and achy. My ankle was throbbing and crusty with blood. Joseph was awake. He was looking down at me, eyes protective, but with a slight smile on his face.