After what felt like a half a mile, the footprints I had been following seemed to vanish completely. Everything was silent; a tense sort of silence that one only ever witnessed when in thrall of a terrible nightmare. I paused, listening intently for some sort of sign that the woman was still there: a leaf crackling in the distance, a branch moving. Even the sound of a crow cawing its sad song. There was nothing.

       Suddenly, a strong arm grabbed my own and turned me around. “Dear, you’ve managed to get in front of me,” the woman chuckled half-heartedly. “You’ve nearly passed it.” She added, pointing toward a thin billow of smoke protruding from a barren section of the woods. The woman stumbled her way along the uneven path with strange confidence as she led me toward the crooked smoke-stack. As we dawned on the small shack, my eyes lit up. I could feel the warmth of a hearth, smell the charred wood, and hear the faint crackling of a fire just lit. The building itself seemed very small compared to my own, yet it appeared much more comfortable; it felt more like a home.

       Shuffling through the front door, the woman led me into a kitchen busy with pots and pans and recipe-books. There were splotches of what looked to be flour decorating the countertops as well as the ceiling (Lord only knows how it got up there) and the whole place smelled of freshly ground cinnamon sticks. I couldn’t keep the childish grin off of my face as I took in the wondrous complexity that surrounded me.

       “Here,” the woman stated, fluffing up a down pillow that rested on a bench near the back corner of the main room. “I know it isn’t much, but I hope that it will give you comfort on this cold night.”

       Although I later reflected that it was impolite of me to do so, I responded by collapsing onto the bench and leaning my head into the soft pillow. It had been a full day venturing into the forest without food or true rest, and my body was drained of all energy. Though my mind was not as sharp as it could have been, I swore I could hear something growl as my eyes shut and I drifted off to sleep.

Next Chapter: A Cup of Tea