Page 3 of Gift from the Wing

The forest wins.

I force my legs to propel me forward, away from the sound of her calling my name, away from that hole, away from that house. Away from it all.

“Run,” I quietly whimper to myself repeatedly as my bare feet pound across the forest foliage.

Tripping, I cry out in pain as my chin lands on a pinecone and my palms split open from the briars I grip while trying to push myself up on wobbling arms. I sit on my heels and bawl my eyes out, wiping the blood from my hands and the trickle running down my neck.

The sobs tear through my confused and flustered heart as I furiously rub at the dried and crusted mud between my thighs. All I do is spread the red from my hands all over myself and I continue to freak out to the point I throw up once again.

I breathe a sigh of relief, thinking this is over because, in my tortured mind, this is all I remember. I recall passing out after getting sick for the second time, but this memory never fades. This is a different version of the truth I’ve known for the past twenty years.

My current mental denial shoves once again at the lock keeping me caged in my mind, but a wave of calm rushes over younger me strong enough I feel it in my subconscious.

The persistent need to go farther, to keep traveling through the forest overwhelms me and my shaky legs finally gain some strength as I stagger along, holding on to the trees for support.

What is going on?

The more steps I take, the more my fear blossoms into my first taste of anger as I aggressively wipe the tears from my eyes. With each stomp, I feelsomething else. Something unexplainable for my age. It festers like a virus, spreading through my veins. Taking over completely.

Sure, I’m certain six-year-olds have big emotions and can throw quite a tantrum at times, but this is something completely different brewing in me.

It’s desperation, longing.

The farther into the forest I get, the more it intensifies.

The more at home I feel.

My steps falter as I snap my head up at the quiet sound of humming. It’s a sweet melody that draws me closer, but I take two steps back as a man, with hair the color of fluffy clouds, smiles warmly at me. He’s sitting with his back to the weirdest tree I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t look like any of the trees around me.

My body freezes like a deer in headlights when his kind eyes that match the sky pin me in place. The deeper I sink into his stare, the more familiar he feels. I don’t want to move away from him but toward him.

“My, my, you’ve wandered quite a ways away from your house, Willow,” he says, standing up.

He pauses in a half hunch, holding his hands up as I stumble backward, falling to my butt and crab-walking away from him as fast as I can.

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay. Everything’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you.”

My retreat stills, but my breathing quickens, and my eyes track his every move as he lowers himself back to the ground. There’s a warmth about him that spreads throughout my body and despite my fright, my limbs relax until I’m sitting on the ground, mimicking him.

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” I mumble quietly after a minute of him just smiling at me softly.

“You shouldn’t. It’s very dangerous to do that.”

“But you’re a stranger,” I say, cocking my head to the side.

His laugh fills the space between the two of us and like a fishing line with candy on the end, I crawl toward the sound as though he’s luring me in until I’m merely a foot away from him.

“To you, yes, I am for now,but I’ve known you nearly my entire life. My name is CC,” he says with a small smile on his lips, reaching his hand out for me to grasp.

Staring at its clean, golden shade, then at my pale skin that’s covered in dried mud, I try to wipe my fingers on my shirt, to no avail. I shrink in on myself, quickly pulling my hand back and tucking it under my leg. My face grows hot from both embarrassment and fear that he’s going to punish me for being dirty.

“It’s okay, Willow. I don’t mind a little dirt. I’m used to it,” he whispers softly, stretching his arm toward me a little more.

After another long, silent stare off, with trembling fingers and a clipped nod, I lay my hand into his warm palm.

A surprised gasp comes from me as my brain grows dizzy.

All fear flees my body as a voice fills my head, along with pictures of this man and me. He’s running with me through the forest, singing to me, fixing my booboos, rocking me to sleep. My heart triples in size as the lady in my head promises me all these things will come true along with a love like I’ve never known.

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