by Topaz Hauyn
A few people were walking the beaten paths, all wearing t-shirts and shorts, like the weather requested. He was the only exception, but he planned to stay overnight in the forest. The way to the house would be two more hours by foot. They owned the forest and had turned it into a natural reserve. As a result, constructing a road for a car wasn't allowed anymore.
A good thing, in his general opinion. Just not today, while he was sweating.
He put down the backpack from his back, clicked the clasp open and pulled out his water bottle. The metal was cool against his hot palms, and he held it against his forehead for a minute to cool it as well.
Refreshing.
Roberto smiled.
He opened the bottle and drank a few gulps of wonderful cool water, refreshing his dry mouth and running over his tongue like expensive wine would on other occasions.
Refreshed after the pause and the fresh water, he repacked the bottle, shouldered the backpack and picked up the pushing cart again. Time to move on.
Roberto whistled a song for himself and the birds who had stayed, instead of traveling south for winter. His shoes bounced on the soft ground of the beaten path. The dry, brown leaves crackled and rustled under his steps, often breaking into pieces. Rain was needed in the forest like it was needed on the fields. Either in water form or as snowflakes.
He walked alone among the pines, who shed shadows on the path and really cooled down the temperatures a bit. He inhaled the resinous scent of the pines. At the first crossroad he walked to the right. The trees changed from dark green to naked brown. In a few months they would all have fresh light green little leaves and white and pink flowers all over them, but now, they were dark brown and naked.
The sunlight fell straight down on him again and the temperature rose.
Roberto pushed the cart forward with more force. He wanted to reach the next group of pines a bit faster, to enjoy the more shadowy path. Luckily the presents were covered by a brown blanket which was bound to the cart.
He didn't have to fear to lose something on the way, and he could easily see the path ahead without craning his neck to the side. He could remember walking this path when it snowed all the time and the mountain of presents had hidden the path and the snow on the ground had slowed his movement from a quick walk to a slow crawl.
Roberto walked, still whistling, forward and around a bent.
Where he stopped and gaped.
On the path, stretched out, like she was sleeping, laid a woman on her side with her hands folded under her chin. Her black hair curled around her shoulders and her side, falling over her breasts.
Her chest slowly moved under the thin, white cloth that covered her.
She was alive and breathing.
And she was wearing something that looked very similar to the nightgowns of his younger sisters. White, short, thin and obviously the wrong thing to wear in the forest. Warm weather or not.
»Uh. Hello, lady? Are you alright?«, asked Roberto.
He checked that the ground wasn't downhill here, so the cart wouldn't roll over her. Then, he let go of it and stepped around it. Maybe the woman needed help, when she slept right on a public beaten path.
The forest belonged to his family, but thanks to the trespass right, the paths in it were public. Everyone was allowed to wander through as long as they stayed on the paths.
He keeled down next to her and shook her a bit.
She didn't react, but her body rolled on its back from the pushing.
What to do with her? He couldn't really let her lay there until she hopefully woke up or came to her senses and wandered off.
Roberto pulled down his backpack for the second time. He rustled through the sandwiches and spare clothes he had packed for today, until he found the second water bottle, which was still untouched.
He opened the lid and dripped some of it on his spare shirt. Then cooled the woman's face, he liked looking at her more by the minute. Maybe she was as alone as he was?
He pushed the thought away. This woman needed help, not a flirt.
He damped his shirt another time and refreshed her temples and the sides of her neck.
A low sight escaped her lips.
»Waking up?«, asked Roberto.
He sat back to give her space and observed her face. Her eyelids fluttered, then she stared up into the sky. She blinked a few times.
»Fine. You're awake now. I'm Roberto«, said Roberto and leaned slightly forward. »Want something to drink?«
He held out the bottle near her, so she could grab it.
She didn't. Instead, she looked at him, like she didn't understand him.
Well. He wanted to get going.
He but the bottle away, weaved his free arm under her shoulders, pulled her up into a sitting position, half leaning against his chest. Then picket up the bottle again and put it to her lips. He tipped it until a bit of water flowed into her mouth.
She gulped and he smiled.
After a bit more water she straightened and sat for herself. Still on the ground among the fall leaves, but on her own.
»Can I call anyone for you?«, asked Roberto. He had his smartphone and he should be able to call help. »What's your name?«
She didn't answer. She looked completely lost, like everything around here was a puzzle smashed into pieces, and she was trying to sort through the mess.
»If you like, you can come with me to my house, get some sleep, and then we will see how I can help you best«, suggested Roberto.
He unstrapped the blanket on the pushing cart, moved some presents around and made a small room for her to sit in. When she still didn't say a word, he picked her up.
She was so light in his arms.
He carefully put her down on the pushing cart and wrapped the blanked back over her feet.
»Hold tight to the handrail, it will be bumpy«, said Roberto.
This woman was strange. She didn't say a word, slept on the forest floor in the bright sun and let him pick her up without protest. What might have happened to her? As far as he could see, she wasn't injured. At least not physically.
He holstered his backpack again and resumed pushing the cart forward. He had lost some time, and it would be late when he reached the house, but he didn't regret it.
Her hair had felt so soft against his chest, and she had been so light, he couldn't believe it. He felt drawn towards her. A fascination he couldn't explain to himself for usually he preferred talk-active women who took the initiative.
Roberto tried to push the cart as smooth as possible, but it bumped over the roots hidden under the fall leaves nonetheless.
Cold.
Something was cold in her face. Something else was hard against her back.
She blinked.
Seeing something blue.
Blue. How did she know that color?
Naked branches stuck out into her field of view.
Her name.
She remembered her name. El. It felt too short. Hadn't it been longer?
She would go with El until she remembered more of it.
A handsome young man talked to her. He offered her something.
What should she say?
Did she know him?
Before she could figure it out, he carefully sat her up, and poured something liquid into her mouth. Warm but refreshing.
El felt some strength return to her body. It was warm around. Warm and secure. At least until he let go of her and stood up. With him stepping away, safety seemed to leave her.
Which was weird, because she didn't belong to him. Right?
She watched him move things around on a cart that stood next to her. Lots of square and rectangular packages glittered on the cart. There were ribbons hanging down from some. All around them were trees and sun. Was he some kind of a delivery man?
He picked her up, before she came to a conclusion and placed her into the cart, covering her feet, which were barely covered by the short dress she wore.
Somehow her me
mory was foggy. She did understand his words and saw the kindness in his eyes, together with his worry. But she couldn't find the words to answer him. Thus, when he said she should cling to the handrail of the cart she did.
He pushed her forward through the forest. Talking about who he was, about some family members she had no memory off and about a party called Christmas, whatever that would be. She didn't know and honestly didn't care at the moment, for she got pushed around in the cart. It rocked back and forth. No matter how tight she clung to the round wooden rail, she was shaken around. If her feet hadn't felt so weak, she would have asked him to let her walk.
She opened her mouth to ask a question and closed it again. What should she ask? She remembered green grass and something wet on her face. But that might have been him, with the wet cloth he had put aside before he picked her up. But all around her, she saw no grass, only brown forest ground littered with brown leaves and dead, brown branches.
»We make a break. You can relax«, said Roberto from behind her.
El smiled. She had remembered his name.
»You've a great smile«, said Roberto and smiled at her as well.
By now he stood in front of the cart, and pulled something from his back. Maybe a bag or something in that direction. He bent down and rustled around. Then, he offered her the thing with the liquid again.
She managed to grab it, and hold it. It was soft under her fingers. An unusual feeling compared to, to what?
»Drink. It'll help«, said Roberto.
El held the open end against her lips and tipped it, like he had done before. She drank the liquid, then handed the thing back.
»You're surely hungry. The sandwich is great. My sister Binky made it«, said Roberto, as if this was some kind of quality signal.
She took the long, light-brown thing with the red and green in the middle.
It was softer than the thing before. But what should she do with it? There was no open end.
There was a different scent to it than that of the forest around her. Something dry and something wet and somehow inviting.
El looked up at Roberto. He had a similar light-brown thing that was more long than wide in his hand and took a bite from it.
She tried it as well. Opening her mouth biting a piece from it. Bits and pieces fell into her mouth, some to the side. The light-brown soft thing was easy to bite through, the red and green were a bit tougher. But not much. They tasted juicy and wet like the liquid.
Roberto was a kind man. Somehow she had the feeling, that she hadn't known him before. The men she had known wouldn't have pushed her around in a cart or shared their food with her. They would have expected her to share and push.
El smiled. Her memory was in pieces but she was safe. Maybe she could stay with Roberto, no matter how her memory decided to behave in the future.
»Thank you«, said El.
The words were just there, and she said them without thinking twice.
»Be my guest.« Roberto beamed at her like a miracle had happened, and she smiled back, happy to make him happy.
»What's your name?«
»El«, said El and made a pause. That wasn't her full name. It was only a part, a sad remainder of her name, like she currently was a sad remainder of the woman she probably once was.
»Just El?«, asked Roberto.
She shrugged and took another bite from the food in her hand, enjoying the crumbling in her mouth and the squishy wetness of the middle part.
They finished eating in silence.
Sometimes something rustled through the dry leaves, but she saw nothing that moved. Sometimes something thundered across the sky, which seemed strange, but she saw nothing either. Only blue sky. Not a single cloud.
El gulped the last piece of her food and looked at Roberto. She wanted to walk, but what was the word?
Maybe, she needed to be patient with herself. Giving herself time to remember.
Somehow that felt wrong. Time had erased her memory. Time ticking by and shadows edging closer.
She shuddered.
Where did that thought come from?
Roberto looked at her. He seemed concerned with his furrowed eyebrows.
She could see he wanted to ask more questions, but instead he looked up into the sky, repacked everything and said something about time and a long way to go.
El grabbed the smooth, hard handrail again. She could feel it under her hands, like she could feel the hard place she sat on and the edges of those bright glittering packages, when they hit her during rumbling forward in the cart.
El was happy with not answering. She needed time to find out for herself. She was alive. For the moment, that was enough.
Roberto pushed the cart.
He saw how the sun leaned towards the horizon and the shadows grew longer. They would make it with the last light, which was a good thing. In the darkness he could see less and might push the cart against a tree or into a ditch. Neither did he want to damage the Christmas presents, nor did he want to hurt El more.
El. A strange name for a strange woman with a wonderful melodic voice. Like she had been trained to be a singer.
Walking, he thought back to the short break. She had seemed unaccustomed to both the water bottle and the sandwich. She had eaten it in a way he had never seen somebody eat a sandwich. In little bites, and tentative, trying to gauge what was expected of her. She had only started to eat, when he had. Like copying what he did. Trusting him completely.
He repeated the few words she had said over and over in his mind. »Thank you« and »El«. Both had come out suddenly and unexpected. Not as an answer to a question, but more like he asked something and at some point he got an answer to one of his questions. At least, he now knew she spoke his language and seemed to understand him well enough.
The backpack was lighter on his back and he was tired. One more bent. There it was, the roof of the house showed through the forest. The red roofing shingles were easy to spot.
»Nearly there«, said Roberto.
He smiled.
The red roof and the white walls were a sight he loved each time he came out here. The window shutters were closed and all the chairs were put away. It looked uninhabited and shut up. Something he would change in a few minutes. Right after unloading the cart and showing El a room for herself.
»This is our family vacation home in the forest«, said Roberto. »We come out during holidays and for celebrations. My brothers and sisters will arrive within the next two days.«
He babbled.
He stopped.
He only saw the back of El, with her long black hair falling down all around her. It had been very soft when he had picked her up and touched it. He wanted to touch her hair, caress her and see it fanned out on the pillow of his bed.
»They are all nice. You'll like them«, said Roberto. A huge group of foreign people could be frightening to some. At least he had read that once. Therefore, he tried to reassure her they would be nice. Hopefully Marguerite, the oldest of his little sisters, had a nice day and would keep her mouth shut. She was a bit blunt and direct. Not mean. Most misunderstood the difference and took offense.
He pushed the cart up the path for the last steps and halted next to the front door. There was the only, really even place. They created it for the pushing cart, so it wouldn't roll away.
»Here we are. Can you get out yourself?«, asked Roberto and hoped the answer would be no. But he asked nonetheless.
He wanted to pick her up again, carry her into the house, like he would do with his bride on their wedding day. Old customs, but he looked forward to. Especially, if El would be his bride. If somebody had asked him yesterday about marriage, he would have said he wasn't planning on it in the near future.
He pulled the key out of the back pocket of his pair of jeans and unlocked the door.
Stale, warm air came his way.
»I'll be back in a minute. Just opening a few windows to air the house«, said Roberto.
He didn
't expect an answer and got none. He left El sitting in the pushing cart, looking around.
He put off his shoes and walked through the house on socks. He made little sound on the wooden floors. First he opened the shutters and windows on the main floor. All looked into different directions and into the forest. The one in the kitchen also looked out over a little pond. The warm evening breeze followed him up to the first floor. He continued opening windows and put chairs in the open doors to make sure they stayed open, despite the through draft. From the window above the front door, he leaned out and looked down.
El looked up and smiled at him.
A warm smile that seemed to hug him completely.
Roberto smiled back.
She had undone the blanket. The white dress had been pushed upwards, and he saw her knees and half of her tights. She looked like a goodness who fell out of her pantheon.
Could it be she was just that? A fallen goodness? Roberto remembered childhood tales about gods visiting the humans. The idea was as good as every other one, as long, as she didn't tell him more. At least, she seemed to be no danger to him or herself beyond being disoriented and slow with answering.
Roberto winked at her and left the window to walk back down and out to her.
The forest around her was calm and comforting. Not silent, though. The rumpling of the tires had stopped, after they had reached the huge house. She listened to the shutters he pushed open and the windows he unlocked. Someplace something dabbled, like water lapping against rocks. It smelled of dry leaves and moss.
She pulled off the blanket Roberto had put over the pushing cart and her to keep everything in place during the bumpy drive. Her whole side ached, as did her legs and her back, well her whole body. She would have bruises tomorrow.
But where was she? She searched her memory and found nothing but the same feelings she had had before. Add to that the strange feeling of having lost her memory to the shadows, whatever that meant, and she felt a huge loss deep inside her.
The window directly above her unlocked and she looked up. Straight into Robertos smiling face. He looked handsome and trustworthy. Maybe she could stay with him, until she knew what to do with herself.