As they walked towards the pseudo-stars floating about the night sky, their visibility got progressively worse, and with it, their pacing slowed down too. Although they’d awoken in a plain of tall grass, they soon found themselves in something that resembled more of a forest.

In a place where the sound of a nearby stream could be heard, Thomas suddenly murmured.

“Oh”

Lighted by the dim moonlight, his leg was bleeding slightly. He squinted to look at the bush he’d just touched, and sure enough, it was thorny.

Due to the darkness, he hadn’t noticed the bush beforehand, but now that he knew it, he could see that it didn’t stretch that far ahead; it was small enough for him to jump over it. Ahead of it was a stream of water, but he could see the bottom and it was shallow enough that he wouldn’t even wet half his shoes. Thus, without even asking for Clara’s consent…

“Hold close!”

“WhaaAAA”

He took a few steps back and jumped past it, straight into the stream.

SPLASH

A small splash of water resounded around them. Thomas laughed like a child jumping from puddle to puddle, taking in the sensation of getting wet, one he hadn’t felt in a long time. However, Clara was another story entirely…

“That… That was scary…!” She let out.

“Oh, it was? Should I have asked you before jumping?” Thomas said a little disheartedly as he picked up the pace so they could get to the other side of the stream as fast as possible.

“No… I mean, what the hell was that jump? That was inhuman! We were in the air for 3 seconds or something!”

Thomas looked at the bush he’d left behind. Due to the darkness, he couldn’t even see where it started from where he stood, but he was pretty sure that his jump hadn’t been that big…

“Well, it was downhill… Though I didn’t even use that much strength, are you sure you’re not thinking that the jump was big because you’re riding on my back?”

“Maybe…?"

And just as she finished uttering that single word, Thomas reached the other side of the stream.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Oh, there’s another bush here. Hold on still!”

“Wait stooooooooooo”

Since the bush was uphill, Thomas couldn’t see where it ended, so assuming that it probably didn’t have much more length than the other one, he just jumped as hard as he could.

But what a mistake that was. His jump reached at least three metres in height, and by the time he realised it, Thomas had already lost his balance midair. With his two arms restrained by holding Clara, the only thing that he could do was wait for the ground which he could barely see to come to his feet on its own as he was scratched by branches and tried his dearest not to fall headfirst.

Fortunately for him, his head was not the first thing that touched the ground, but his landing had still been far from perfect. He landed just with his feet in an awkward position, leading him to fall right next to a massive tree trunk.

“Clara, are you ok?” Was the first sound that left his mouth.

“I think so”

“Great…”

“I should have told you to ask me before jumping…” she mumbled “In any case, I’m assuming you didn’t know you could jump like that”

“Yes…"

Clara sighed.

“Seriously, what happened to you? Last time I asked, you avoided the question. I thought we were in this together”

“I didn’t avoid the question…! I just didn’t know how to answer it. Rather, I didn’t know how to phrase it… Or something like that”

“Thomas, drop me down”

“Weren’t we going towards the lights?”

“No, not until we have this conversation. I hadn’t asked because it didn’t seem like you could answer, but you seem to have calmed down enough now. What happened while I was unconscious, Thomas?”

Clara had watched herself slowly get into a sort of state of comatose, and in the moment when she finally woke up, the status quo had completely changed. To make matters worse, she didn’t even receive an explanation, as the only person who could possibly give her one didn't seem able to form coherent sentences, much less talk about what happened while she was out.

Where was she? How did she get there? How much time passed? What happened during that time?

The simple fact that she had managed to patiently hold the need to ask was surprising, if nothing else.

“Well…”

Although he’d been unable to explain it when she’d first woken up due to the surge of emotions that’d taken over him at that moment, now she could see that was able to do so. Doing it in the middle of the forest didn’t seem like the greatest of ideas, but Clara’s stern expression told him that the conversation was a priority.

Thus…

“Alright, I’ll explain everything… Where do I start…”

Trying not to leave any detail unsaid, he explained everything that had happened after she’d lost consciousness. At first, he’d thought about leaving some less-than-savoury facts hidden from her, but now that he had had some time to organise his thoughts, he realised that although didn’t want her to think he had gone insane, lying to her was something that he wanted even less.

As he finished the explanation, telling her what he regretted doing, how much he’d wished she was there for him, his eyes red from tears; Clara put her hand on his hair, dishevelling it.

“Well, thank you for what you did. Although I don’t remember any of it… The fact that I am still alive is probably thanks to you…There’s not much else I can say…” She lowered her head a little dejectedly “So here’s to a new chapter in our lives! One in which the loop does not exist anymore, and we can go back to living life normally!” She raised her fist.

Thomas looked at her for a few seconds. With a small laugh, he looked down and bumped her fist.

“Cheers”

“But now for real, let’s keep walking towards the lights. We’re literally lost in the middle of a forest”

“I guess so”

With a smile, Thomas got Clara on his back and started walking forwards until…

“Wait, you didn't explain how you could do those superhuman jumps”

“Huh, you’re right… I guess it’s a mystery for me too. Well, at least we can be sure that if we’re attacked by a bear, we can out…err…jump it or something”

“Let’s just hope we don’t get attacked by a bear in the first place…”