"Snap!" jumped the sound of a twig I unknowingly stepped on as I wandered aimlessly in the darkness of this dense forest. The night engulfs the environment and I in its embrace. The moon barely shining it's rays to make anything in an eye distant recognizable. Just a few minutes ago, me and some 30 to 40 schoolmates including my pals that dragged me here were having a party to celebrate the start of summer break in a more easy to maneuver area of the forest where cars can park, small tables be set up and people not get so easily lost. There was pizza, chips, a bonfire and alcohol for this occasion. No adult was having to supervise. It was all for us and for our fun. Or was their fun more appropriate? The only thing that convinced me to come was the drinks. It was the only way to get any without getting busted by my parents. Don't want their boy to be seen engaging in underage drinking. Tell them I'm having a sleepover with one of my buddies and I was in the safe. Just had to bring some bags of chips and a box of pizza so I wasn't a leech. I had about 4 beers and 3 shots of tequila and forgot I wasn't the most heavy weight around when it comes to drinking and decided it was simply a good idea to split away from the group a bit and walk into the forest.
How much of an idiot could I be. Sure it's known there aren't any predators in this forest but getting here was 20 minutes by car alone and I forgot my cellphone at home. Best thing that could happen is if I stumble upon a couple making passionate love in the fresh outdoors and use their cellphone. Of course that would be an unimaginable kind of awkwardness that I do not want to experience. Something I would consider a worst case scenario.
The group must be looking for me, right? They're worried about their good pal missing. Maybe even dead. Don't want a slasher movie scenario to occur and realize their friend was the first victim.
As my mind was running in circles at high speed, I noticed a faint human shaped silhouette no more than maybe about 15 feet ahead of me in the darkness. Was this the help I was looking for?
"Hey! Over here! Don't go!" I yelled at the figure as I bolted to a dash. I forgot for a moment I was still tipsy from the alcohol and remembered for a split second I remembered being in a forest during its darkest hour of the night really limits your vision. It was then that my foot hit a heavy rock or some other similar object on the ground. My body has tumbled down and my mind fell into the abyss…
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"Wake up. Please wake up. I know you're not dead," an unfamiliar voice rang in my ear. My face stung with a faint, yet noticeable pain, planted into the cold earth. I push myself up as my senses rushed back into my body. Almost forgot that I was a human who breathed oxygen from around the face. My mind was still wobbly from the alcohol. The night was still present throughout. I look up to see a young woman on her knees looking down upon me. Her hair was definitely in the darker variety but I couldn't tell the exact color with the little light there is. It went down a few centimeters down her shoulders. Her face was noticeably pale even in the dark. A young (though older than me) and soft look that emitted a gentle aura. Definitely a beautiful woman. Maybe in her mid-20's? She sported a strange and very simple white nightgown that had an unusual quality to it that tickled my (non-existent) sixth sense.
"Are you okay? You were knocked out for a little while," the woman said to me.
"Hmm? Yeah...it's alright..." was all I could muster. The alcohol impaired my speech. I was not knocked out long enough for me to digest the drinks from before.
"Are you lost? Do you need help?"
"Nope. I'm good. Just having a stroll."
I pushed myself back and let my bottom rest on the ground. Now in a more comfortable sitting position. I forgot what I was doing besides drinking with my schoolmates and going for a walk. The woman I met just looked at me with concern. Judging from the nightgown, she's probably one of the people whose houses are right next to the woods in the area.
"What are you doing here?" she asks.
I replied, "Me? I was just drinking off with the guys back somewhere. It's all good."
"You don't sound all that good."
"Sure! Wait…yeah. I've had a little too much to drink is all."
"That may be true but what I meant was you don't sound very...happy?"
Her words hit me as if an archer had landed a fatal arrow to my chest. It may be the drunkenness that was intensifying my emotions but I will not let her or the alcohol get to me. "You're mistaken! Why wouldn't I be happy at all?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Your voice is trembling."
I shift my view away from her. I'm not sure if I did that because of a random alcoholic reflex or something else entirely. "Uh...really..."
"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" she asks me.
I look back at her. My focus shifted towards finding a proper answer. "Umm...I'm still a high school student," was what I was able to say.
"And you're getting drunk alone in the forest?" she replies as she forms a mischievous smirk that strangely shined through the dark.
"I told you I was with a few guys somewhere around here."
"So you walked off to relieve yourself somewhere?" that smirk still ever present.
"I mean -- not really. It just got loud so I just wanted to go somewhere more quiet."
"So now you're here with me.
I shrugged. "Yeah -- seems so. Honestly, I don't get why I keep coming back for them."
"What do you mean?"
"I just don't remember ever relating to the guys, you know. They just want me in for more company and that's about it."
The woman sits next to me in an elegant fashion as though the cold ground is her home sofa and she can comfortably rest her legs by her side. Her previous smirk now replaced by the look of a child's curiosity. "Then why do you come back for them?"
"I don't -- I just...I'm not sure. The way I grew up, you start coming back to the few people that are at the very least okay with having you around and have you take part in some mundane activity. That much they care for."
"I'm not sure I follow."
"I'm actually adopted. I don't remember much before the orphanage but my adoptive parents had some issue getting a kid so they decided to adopt me. They were alright until by some miracle they were able to get a kid of their own. That's when they started started treating me like a sore thumb. An incredibly sore thumb. They clearly treasured him more than me…they pushed me away…yet I'm shackled by this mile long chain..."
"...I'm sorry you have to go through that."
"I never told anybody else this. Nobody cared enough to listen. My friends just want more people coming to parties and do fun but meaningless shit. There's no substance to any of it. Yet I keep coming back. I keep thinking that maybe it'll be different this time around. That it'll be worth some sort of value this time around. But that hasn't happened. And here I am, getting myself drunk just a bit ago. Tried to live and enjoy the moment. But the terrible feeling is always close by and never goes away."
"I wish I could help, but I can't think of anything. I'm sorry to hear all of that."
"Don't be. I feel like just talking to you about all this is what I really needed. Just being able to let it out, really. This is the first time I even said anything like it to anybody." I look at her and give my most honest smile, straight from the heart. It was the first time in quite a stretch of time I was able to smile so genuinely I could feel my mouth ache.
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"I'm glad I could be of some help," the woman says. "I focused so much on chores and trying to work two jobs that I didn't even realize I was a fairly lonely girl."
"Huh. Sounds like you're wrapped up pretty busy." I looked at her in a solicitous manner.
"My family's fairly poor so I had to keep working for them while saving up for college. Probably wouldn't be another year or two until I start studying."
"College, huh...I'm planning on going to a university outside of town. Maybe then I'll find people who cares about me. Not become the shallow partygoer type but actually build meaningful connections. Bring some meaning to my days. Meet people from all around the country and maybe beyond. All work towards the same goal. Not to be stuck in this filthy town. Everybody here is focused on the smallest and most mundane activities."
"You have quite the ambition. I'm almost jealous," the woman said as a radiant smile formed on her face. I blushed a small handful but can't say for sure if the reason was over my embarrassment for spilling all I've said or the smile of hers that could make even the coldest hearts find warmth.
"Y -- yeah..." I managed to utter out. "I guess I'm sort of like that."
"The only reason I planned on going to college was because everybody kept nagging at me about how if I don't go, I won't ever get a good job. I see some weight to their argument but can't a girl like me focus on how to become a good mother and wife? Be part of a happy and stable family?" She pouts similar to that of a child who realized her parents weren't going to let things go her way.
"I'm sure things will work out," I attempt to reassure her. "Go for a cheap subject and find a good guy in the area?"
"Maybe... Can't say for certain but I'll take what you said." Her eyes widened out of the blue and her pout melted away. "Say, what are you going to university for?"
A jolt went through my body as I realized I had no answer. "I...I'm thinking of becoming a lawyer." That was not true at all. "I'm not too sure if I can make it big but I'm going to do my best." None of it was true. "Kind of scary actually. Trying to reach a goal like that." Now that was the only honest thing I've gotten out of that. I truly do want to aim for a high position in life but my vision is blurry and unclear. Lawyer came out on a whim since it sounds like an impressive job for anybody to get. At least around the people that populate my life.
"Don't shy away, kid. I can admire someone who can look up high like that. Remember to have your eye on the ball before you catch it!"
"Never heard of that saying before."
"I made that one up on the spot."
"Got to admit that's not bad at all." In actuality, there are probably many similar but better quotes out there but I did my best to show appreciation.
"Really? Guess I'll have to remember that one my --" the woman stops all of a sudden. Her previously bright expression unexpectedly mellows to one of a spiritless and mournful expression. "Why don't you remember that one for me, will you?" she asks.
I'm not sure how to make of this situation nor the sudden mood change but I didn't care at the time. I'm lost in a forest talking to some random woman who just happened to be walking around and the alcohol from before still had the buzz effect on me which all got filled up in a blender that is my mind and created a gray mess. I just simply didn't care.
"Yeah. I can do that for a friend." I replied. The woman smiled in response. One that emitted an aura of being reassured. I did not press or dwell on the issue, assuming nothing of it.
"Do you usually take a stroll during this late at night?" I decided to ask her for the purpose of laying my curiosity to rest. She mischievously grins at me.
"I could be. Are you planning to meet people like me with that method?" her response tipped my balance. A weight that threw me off and gushed my face with crimson that almost glowed in the darkness. She started laughing in a manner that would've injected any potential creature around us with hysteria and I was no exception. "Look at your face! Ha ha ha! You're red as a darn beet for God's sake! Next they'll call you Rudolph! Hahahahaha!"
I was conflicted whether or not I should be more embarrassed about the state of my burning face or should be impressed with her banter. I suppose both would be the correct answer. "Alright. It's not that big of a deal. I was just slightly taken back." My voice had a slight shake to it. I'm most definitely trying to save face here. A man has pride they must protect and shouldn't let anybody crumble their kingdom.
"I'm sorry! I couldn't resist," she was trying to calm herself down. Putting her hands over her mouth, holding in her amusement. Chuckles were still being made but she gradually got out of the fit until it wasn't necessary to hold any longer. "But that's right. The night simply feels right to me. It's cold, crisp air soothes my body. The quiet nature and darkened surroundings bring a strange sense of peace. Really calms me down. Especially on nights when I have trouble sleeping."
"Huh...never thought about it like that. I treat it as an indicator for me to start sleeping soon."
"You don't want to sleep all night like that. A large piece of our life is spent on sleeping. If you ask me, you want to stay awake for as long as possible and sleep only for a necessary amount," she scolds me as if she was my own mother.
"I mean, it's not like I immediately go to bed when it gets dark. I got homework, chores, normal high school kid's stuff that needs to be done. I prefer to sleep early is all."
"As long as you wake up early as well," she sighs.
"Maybe not all the time..." I do have a habit of sleeping for ten to twelve hours on the weekends.
"I believe you have to discipline yourself a little more or you will end up as a mockery."
I don't believe she is wrong at all but for somebody who isn't my mother or even a mother at all, she seems to be comfortable acting like one despite our possible age difference being more suitable for her being a big sister figure. She must be serious about being a good mother someday. "You're not wrong. Sleeping for that long of a time probably isn't much of a good idea," I agreed with her. "Especially if I'm going to be a good lawyer, sleeping too much is probably counterproductive."
"I simply worry that you're going to miss out a lot in life if all you do is sleep. You won't know how much you're missing until all of it gets taken away from you."
"..." I couldn't come up with anything to say.
The woman's head tilts up towards the sky as though it has called to her. "Looks like I have to get going," she says as she lifts herself up from the earth without making a sound. Now peering down on me, she's taller than I initially thought even though I was still sitting. She might stand a whole head taller than me (I'm 5'11" for reference).
"Wait. How do I get to the nearest path?" my consciousness finally caught up with me to its fullest and I was able to finally ask the important question.
"Just walk through the bushes over there and you should find a road. Shouldn't be hard to navigate from there," was her answer. Pointing her finger forward. To think I was lost for a good chunk of time only for the exit to be so close.
She began to walk the opposite way where she pointed. I stood up and made ready to make my own departure, but had to stop as I realized something crucial. I turned myself back.
"Hey. One last thing," I said. She turns around to face me, eye to eye. "What's your name?"
The woman looks at me with a neutral expression. She simply stares at me for a few seconds as she slowly forms a blue smile. "It's Leah. What's yours?" the woman, Leah said.
"Mine's Zack." There was a brief pause from me as I was slightly hesitant to say; "I can see you again, right?"
"Maybe not in a while. I'm going away... For a long time..."
I was swept with a melancholic feeling. A thought I haven't experienced before. If it was anybody else, I wouldn't give a damn. But Leah was different. I opened up to her and she did the same to me. To not be able to see her again was an absolute devastation. Almost like a treasure I managed to uncover from the deep sea but must return it to where it came from. I couldn't let my emotion be shown for a guy like me should play it cool. I was able to fabricate a cool grin and gazed at her.
"If that's the case, I do hope we'll meet each other again someday." I said to her.
There was a hint of bleakness in those eyes of hers but despite that, her face had a look of delight. "You know, I think we will," she said as she gave me one last smile. A smile of relief as though a heavy object she was forced to carry was finally off her shoulders.
She turned her back to me and walked into the darkness of the forest I was unfamiliar with. Her silhouette became less and less identifiable until the darkness had taken her away. With Leah now gone, I take up what she said and make my way through the bushes. The event that took place here will now be a part of the past and the present will be a return to my usual life.
I had to walk home after what happened since everybody else already left when I returned to the party area. Talked to my friends afterwards who apparently thought I left early. It wasn't until then that I learned there existed a rumor of a ghost named Leah, a young woman who died in a car crash a good few years back. She's known to appear in the forest we were partying in to anybody who got lost and gave directions on how to get out. Its been said that she couldn't find peace due to her struggle with loneliness. Longed for human connection but simply got people out of the forest because she was too nice.
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This was an event that happened to me a few years ago. I have never told anybody, not even my wife and children about it. I did not want this to be buried alongside me when the time comes so I wrote this down for anybody to stumble upon. I still have a hard time believing what happened but there is nothing I can do about it. What happened in that forest will stick with me forever until death. I have returned to the forest many times after the event during the night (riding a bicycle) to see her again. That has not happened.
After graduating high school, working and saving up money, I moved out of town to attend a university for law. After all the learning, studying and sleeping in less to make the most of my time, I was able to graduate university and became a rather successful lawyer if I say so myself.
Maybe one day I can thank Leah for being my first true friend and giving me the push I needed to turn things around. I really do hope I can see her smile one more time. Maybe one day. But I'm still here. I will keep living life to the fullest, providing love for my wonderful family. Hopefully die in peace when death comes to take me away. When death does come, I do hope I can maybe see Leah again to say my thanks.