The Keys Ch 03

Lydia had to lift her knees higher than she would normally would to ensure that she did not scuff her feet in the dense foliage. She leaned against passing trees using her hands to avoid falling over. While making her way from the neighborhood back to the earthen trail, she was so focused on securing each foothold that she nearly lost notice of the fact that she was naked.

There was no way she could ever lose full sight of that fact though. It was simply more pressing to avoid falling over to think about it much. She could feel an indent forming in the palm of her hand as she clutched her key firmly with her fingers. Lydia was afraid that it might fall into the brush. If it did, she doubted ever finding it again.

At long last, she reached the trail but did not encounter her belongings. She figured that they must be nearby. She heard a digital *

beep-beep

* sound and followed it to rediscover her backpack and bike. Her hat, flats, and watch were still safely attached to the backpack dangling from the tree branch. The watch now read exactly 2:00am.

That was helpful. Perhaps there was some luck in that stop sign after all

.

Brushing off her feet, she slid on her flats and then fastened the backpack around her shoulders with her hat clutched in her left hand. She unzipped one of the compartments in the hat and deposited the first key. With a sense of accomplishment, she zipped it shut and stuck the hat into her backpack. She decided to wait until her hair was fully dried before putting it on again.

Lydia stood the bike up and positioned herself on it comfortably. She was quickly getting used to biking in the nude. She pushed off once more and pedaled in the direction of the park. There was just over a quarter mile between her and the park, and the trail transitioned from packed earth to solid asphalt within a few hundred feet of the park entrance.

As she felt her bike tires bump over the divide where the asphalt started, Lydia developed a nervous tingling sensation in her chest. She could not help but smile. After all, she had successfully retrieved the first key and, as far as she knew, she had gotten away with it. Increasing her pace, the air flowed over her body on her approach to the park as if celebrating the moment with her. It was a bit chilly but the air dried nearly all the remaining water from her skin.

She mused that if she could have done this all over, she might have brought a towel to dry off after the pool. But then she would not get to experience this moment, one with her environment under the stars. Plus, she remembered, it would technically count as covering since she could easily imagine being tempted to keep it as an emergency cover up. Being caught in nothing but a towel would be embarrassing, but not quite as embarrassing as being caught wearing nothing at all.

The trail spilled into a spacious open area and veered left around its perimeter. The park was a respectable two acres but featured few amenities. She slowed to a stop at the park entrance and surveyed the area with both hands on the handlebars and feet firmly planted on either side of the bike just in case she had to get away quickly. The only light in the park came from the moon above, a soft glow from inside a bathroom facility to her right, a single streetlamp on the far side of the park where a playground lay, and the light from an open-air pavilion in the center of the park that housed three picnic tables.

The remainder of the park featured sparse trees and neatly manicured grass. A small parking lot lay between the main park entrance and the playground in the distance. The trail snaked its way around the park and connected to another stretch of trail that eventually faded from asphalt back into earth. The park itself was separated from the town by about one hundred feet of dense trees, well out of view of the town beyond.

Near the park entrance and parking lot there was little or no cover to be found. That would be the riskiest part of traversing the park. Other than that, everything was peaceful and quiet. The only motion that Lydia could see was that of the insects fluttering around the light of the pavilion.

Satisfied, Lydia dismounted her bike and walked it toward the bathrooms feeling oddly conspicuous. She stepped further into the light produced by the building to gain access to the bike rack that stood near the wall facing the park. She placed her bike into one of the grooves of the rack, making it the only bike to occupy it.

Lydia did not have a bike lock but figured that her bike would safe there since she was picking it back up before morning. Performing such a mundane task in a wide-open area made her feel like there were eyes watching her. Lydia might have been the only one in the park at that hour but the thought that anyone else in the park could see her plainly by the bike rack unsettled her. She shook the feeling and proceeded around the building.

Circling toward the wall that faced the forest, she squinted her eyes to spot the tree just a few paces in that she had chosen days before. She stepped toward it and found just what she was looking for. Hugging this tree was her bike lock, the key for which was tucked in her bedside table drawer at home. There would be no use trying to pry it open by hand. Also attached to the bike lock was a box that she had ordered online specifically for this occasion.

This box opened easily by itself but had six latches with D-shaped rings built into three sides of the box. The rings threaded each of the latches when closed. A handle protruded from the back of the box. The bike lock's steel-wire rope bound the box to the tree. Since the bike lock was not going anywhere, neither was the box.

On each ring, a padlock clamped a latch shut. Lydia, of course, had placed the box there earlier that day, tied it to the tree with the bike lock, and squeezed shut each of the padlocks in turn. Now, squatting down before it and holding its weight in her hands wearing nothing back a backpack and shoes, the box looked somewhat forbidding and impenetrable. Holding the six padlocks in place, she shook the box and heard a clatter within. The only thing that this box held was her house key, and the only way to extract the house key was to open all the padlocks.

Setting the box down and stepping out of the shadows once more, she patted down her arms, chest, and belly. She mostly did this out of habit now. Lydia really only wanted to visit the box to ensure that it was still there. A silly thought, she reflected, because no one that she knew would want to take it even if someone had known it was there. To Lydia's knowledge, no one knew about the box or her plan except for her.

Returning to the front side of the bathroom building, she realized that she was being a bit cavalier not looking first. The park was empty though, so she strode across the green out of the dim light of the restrooms and closer to the bright light of the pavilion. Before venturing onto the concrete floor, she pressed herself against one of the wooden pillars on the corner as if making sure one last time that it was safe to proceed. She felt a heightened sense of her nakedness against the square pillar and lifted her knee against it unconsciously.

A sensation of giddiness filled her again as she peeled herself away from the pillar and into the direct light of the pavilion. She skipped around the picnic tables for fun and imagined what it would be like to have lunch there during the daytime dressed no differently than she was that night. Lydia imagined the bewildered, gaping stares of other people in the park walking their dogs or enjoying the sunshine while she took sips of soda between bites of a turkey sandwich.

Taking it just one step further, she leapt from the ground up to the bench of one of the picnic tables and stepped onto the table above. She tossed her backpack to the next table and imagined again being completely on display in the park for everyone to see. Not just that, but for everyone to have a perfect view. She planted her feet apart and held her arms wide open for her imaginary audience to see. Even though the exposure was not real, the exhilarated rush from pretending most certainly was.

She laced her fingers behind her head and felt her rapidly drying hair. Smiling, she decided that she was ready to move on. She stepped down from the table, onto the bench, and then finally onto the concrete slab floor. Lydia stepped toward the middle picnic table and sat down on the bench. This was the first time since leaving her house that she had really rested. Everything else had been bicycling, swimming, walking, or running. Leaning over, she felt around the underside of the picnic table.

Not finding what she was looking for, she bent over to spot the piece of tape that held a brass key in place. It was hidden for anyone but the keenest observer. Laying on the bench for a moment, Lydia considered whether she wanted to take it. It was the second key of the evening, but she could easily make it the sixth instead. On one hand, it was an easy win right now. On the other hand, she had to come back through the park again later and she could pick it up then.

Lydia made up her mind about leaving it there and got up from the picnic table. She realized that she could not see into the park except for the bathroom light and the playground light. Her eyes had adjusted too well to the bright light of the pavilion and now she felt like she was standing on an island facing a virtually endless abyss in each direction. She leaned forward a bit and almost brought her arm to her breasts with the other hand covering her vagina, but she straightened up instead and kept her hands by her waist. There was no one out there to see anyway. Nothing to fear.

She faced the picnic table once more and picked up her backpack. Her hair was dry enough now, so she fished out the hat and put it on. With her hair properly covered by the black beanie, she also felt the weight of the first key near her brow. Lydia thought about taking it out and leaving it with the one under the picnic table, or perhaps just putting it in her backpack. She decided to keep it in the hat as planned.

In the backpack, it might jangle against her phone and cause a sound at the worst possible moment. Leaving it in the park would mean having to retrieve two keys later instead of just one. She could just put the hat back in the bag, but then her hair would be visible to identify her.

Although... if someone spotted me well enough to notice my hair then it would probably not be the first thing they notice.

The darkness did not fade under the moonlight at first when she stepped off the concrete and onto the turf. She departed the pavilion and adorned her shoulders again with the backpack as casually as if she were preparing to attend class across campus rather than gallivant naked across town. Gradually, her eyes adjusted.

Out of the vague figures of her surroundings materialized fences, posts, rocks, trees, and the rest of the park. It was a little unnerving to be unable to see so Lydia made a mental note to avoid letting her eyes get so used to light going forward. Within moments, she had reached the edge of the parking lot which lay vacant before her.

Feeling more confident, Lydia started skipping her way over the painted lines that marked parking spaces in the direction of the park entrance. It read "Thank you for visiting Pine Rock Park".

"You are most welcome," Lydia responded out loud to the sign, crossing one leg behind the other in a dramatic curtsy. She giggled to herself before backing away from the sign and turning toward the town. Lydia decided that she was having a little too much fun with this and that it was time to get serious. So far, there had been no one to spot her except in Kerri's neighborhood. In town, it would be much more challenging to stay hidden and she knew that she must act accordingly. The familiar sense of dread and faint regret came over her as she contemplated this.

Why did I have to put the keys in town? It would have been so much easier to just put a house key in Kerri's pool and then go home.

Again, she reminded herself that it was much too late for such thoughts and pressed on. A short stretch of road formed an S-shaped curve out of the park and into the town. A worn, cracked sidewalk accompanied the road with a rustic two-rail wood fence dividing the walkway from the one-lane road. There were no streetlamps here but that did not stop Lydia from eyeing every tree along the sidewalk that showed promise for hiding behind if a car happened to appear from around the corner for a late-night park visit. Fortunately, none appeared.

Rounding the last corner, the town finally came into view. It was a small town with quaint shops on deserted streets. The sleepy little community milled about sparsely during the daytime, but the town was deserted at this hour. Furthermore, the first streetlamps that she could see were at least two streets away. The town designed the park area for it to at least seem to be disconnected from the urban landscape so that visitors could feel like they were truly getting away for a while. In this moment, Lydia was most grateful for the city council's consideration.

Not one to spend much time in town, Lydia had seldom walked the streets for hours on end. In fact, the only time that she had visited the park entrance on foot was the week before when she was scouting her route. Having looked in all directions, she stepped out of the wilderness and into the domain of civilization. If being naked in the forest had felt like something approaching natural, being naked on a city street felt exactly the opposite. She felt out of place. Wrong, even. But in the best possible kind of way. Equal parts nervous and excited, she set off down the road to her left.

For the moment, Lydia wanted to remain close the tree line just in case she needed it. She wanted the safety of a tree to hide behind for as long as she could. To say that she was in the town was being a bit generous. The city had not developed much real estate near to the park. The closest large building to the park area was her next destination, which had only just come into view as she approached the next street. Thankfully, there were still no cars to be seen or heard. For some reason, being clothed in darkness made her feel less like she was not really clothed at all. Even that was going away soon though.

Now was the big moment. No more trees to hide behind. Lydia stepped off the sidewalk and crossed the road, knowing that it was safe to do so only because she had been checking both directions every few seconds since leaving the park. Arriving at the opposite sidewalk, she made her way down the new street. On her left she passed an abandoned mechanic's shop. The boarded windows, rusted doors, and dilapidated sign made for a disquieting edifice. There was a small part of Lydia that wondered if such places could be haunted. What would a ghost do to a poor, unsuspecting naked girl so far from home in the middle of the night? She smirked at the silly thought and shook her head.

Lydia linked her fingers into the straps of her backpack and hurried past the building with a light jog. Her backpack, and her breasts, bounced happily with every stride. A fence with an emerald-green privacy screen began several yards before the next street. Her heartbeat quickened its pace because she knew that there would be no cover for her until she crossed the next street. Neither the stop sign ahead nor the fire hydrant counted.

Worse still, she would not be able to see left to check for oncoming traffic. If a car approached, it would have to stop and check both ways before proceeding. Doing so, of course, would put her in full view of the driver and any passengers there may be. Not unfairly, Lydia's internal pessimist brought up a pressing consideration.

What if it happens to be a cop?

Lydia would have to make a break for it if that happened. The only alternative was a definite arrest, not to mention the humiliation that would go with it. She reached the end of the fence and peeked around it hesitantly. As befit the hour, there was no one there nor anyone approaching within sight. Looking right also, Lydia saw that she was clear, so she jogged across the street. Only a block and a half to go.

The next street featured a standalone flower shop and a locally owned breakfast cafe. Despite knowing that it was safe to pass these shops, both on the way into to town and on the way back, she still read each sign to make sure that she would not have to deal with any early birds on her return trek. Through the flower shop's windowed front door, Lydia saw darkened shapes of flower displays and a sign that indicated that the owner would return at 10:00am. If she was still out by that hour, then she knew she would have much bigger problems.

Further on, Lydia peered inside the café at the chairs turned over tables. A neon clock on the back wall read the time but she could not make it out from where she stood. The sign on the door read that it would open at 8:00am. Again, she planned to be comfortably at home by then. Lydia saw something that gave her reason for pause though. Something she saw in the window struck her unlike anything before.

In the window, she saw a young woman wearing nothing but a hat and a backpack. Her breasts were shamelessly uncovered. With no hair below her neck, her pussy was on clear display for anyone to see. Lydia's eyes widened at the view of her naked body against the backdrop of the town around her. She breath quickened to short bursts as she reorganized her perspective to see herself standing within the café completely naked instead of outside of it.

Allowing her mind run away with this idea for a moment, she imagined being served breakfast in the café with other patrons surrounding her. They paid her no mind except for the occasional surreptitious glance. Better still, she pictured herself serving breakfast to a group of boys that she had gone to school with, getting teased about her work uniform and being offered a tip for her service. One that really stretched the definition of the term.

Turning sideways in the makeshift mirror of the café window, Lydia admired her body for all that it was. Perhaps it was not perfect in every way, but she relished her youth and fitness. Especially her firm, rounded butt which she had worked diligently in the gym for. She spun once and looked herself in the eyes. Then, biting her bottom lip in a smile, looked herself up and down and winked at her reflection. Lydia was not ordinarily one to gawk at herself in the mirror. She was not vain, but it was not every day she got to see herself naked in town. She knew she should be scared at the prospect of such a predicament, but she was genuinely having fun.

Lydia arrived at the corner of the next street and once more there was no traffic approaching from any direction. She crossed without incident and crouched behind some low hedges that separated a wide parking lot from the sidewalk. Perhaps it was a bit silly to hide on the street side of the hedge, but Lydia's destination was the building on the third block that was attached to the parking lot. It was not just any random building either. It was the building where Lydia worked.