Authors note.
Hi all.
This came to me out of the blue. It's a bit different to what I usually write and features a bit of werewolfieness (not a word. I know :p).
Anyway. I happen to like it and thought I would share a little whimsical thought.
Hope you like it too. Comments and feedback keep me writing so please do so.
Also. For those of you waiting for more on ANB, I'm still working on it and it's taking time because the next chapter is quite long. After being told to not have a cliff-hanger ending it's hard to write it all out.
Flic.
*****
The forest track wound slowly uphill and Nicola had been wandering along it for well over two hours. The leafy smells filled her with a sense of freedom and she had desperately needed to get away from city life so this was perfect. The day was still young and the temperature warm but not unpleasantly hot. A light breeze played with her shoulder length light brown hair as she walked along at a sedate pace in hiking boots, shorts and a loose fitting flannel shirt. She had a small back pack with her that contained a few supplies too. Not too much as she intended to be back in her car before dark.
Her father had used to bring her here as a child so she knew where she was going and knew the way fairly well. Some of the sights familiar even though the forest had changed over the years. She past by an old tree stump that was worn smooth by numerous people sitting on it. It was covered in peoples carvings. Various initials or names, love hearts with this or that carved out in them, on them or under them were a regular theme.
Nicola walked past without checking if hers was still there. It was the spot of a bittersweet memory, a reminder of the day she had lost her virginity in a fumbling yet passionate embrace with Danny Hallick who hadn't known what he was doing either. He'd died six months later in a drunken car crash that had devastated a teenage Nicola who had at the time imagined they would be together forever.
Leaves crunched underfoot as she veered off the pathway just a few yards past that stump. The going was a bit tougher as the ground was uneven and she had to use her hands to grasp hold of things to help her along. She wasn't weak but she was no mountaineer either, city life and a gym membership didn't help much in this environment.
When she was a teenager this almost unused route had been difficult, now at twenty four with nearly eight years away from the forest and it's hidden depths she found the going just doable. More from memory and determination than anything else.
It helped that she was taller than the average woman. At five nine in height she had long legs and a slim body that slipped between the trees with ease and her long legs coped with some of the jumps and gaps that she was now forced to traverse.
"Not too far now." She told herself as she reached a fallen tree that conveniently bridged the small ravine that separated this part of the forest from her destination.
She eyed the tree and speculated that using it to cross would save her a good twenty minutes of trekking to the place she had planned to cross. It seemed sturdy enough as she pushed at it with her boot and couldn't move it.
Branches stood out from it still and it looked like it had fallen fairly recently so wasn't likely to be rotten inside. Tentatively she stepped up onto it and carefully started to cross, the branches acted as handholds for her and she gained confidence as she went from branch to branch, weaving past each one and smiling to herself. This was easier than the uphill route for sure.
With a loud CRACK. The tree lurched to the left as she neared the other side. Nicola shrieked in fright as her feet slipped off and she grabbed a tight hold of the branch she was at.
Her feet dangled over the ravine as she held on for dear life. The tree shuddered a bit and then settled into it's new resting place. Her heart pounded in her chest as she prayed the thick branch she had her arms wrapped around would hold.
Breathing hard, she scrambled back onto the trunk, ripping her blouse open as it caught on something as she went and not caring as long as she got to safety.
Her bare breasts jiggled as she crawled on all fours the last few meters and let out sigh of relief when she got to the other side without any further mishaps.
"Stupid, so fucking stupid." She scolded herself as she leaned on a rock and stared at the tree. Her father had always told her not to trust fallen trees and be wary of what the forest held.
After calming down she checked herself. A red line ran along her ribs, it was a nasty graze but wasn't bleeding. Her legs were covered in small scratches too that stung as she ran a hand over them to brush away bits of tree bark.
Her blouse was a ruin with a rip in it that ran from under her armpit right the way to the hem, all the buttons were gone too.
Nicola tied it together at the front with a sigh of annoyance.
"Guess I should have worn a bra after all." She said to the trees and rocks as she felt exposed, the rip under her armpit meant that the loose fitting top now gaped on one side and at the front too. Her C-cup boobs were very much on display and even after tying the blouse shut she was showing a great deal of side boob and cleavage.
"Oh well... at least there's no one around to see." She consoled herself as she adjusted the straps on her backpack and set off again.
The going was a little easier now and she progressed quickly and within forty minutes entered the clearing with it's pool of water. The pool was fed by a small stream that fell from up high in a waterfall of sparkling water. Nicola grinned as she saw it and congratulated herself. Her and Danny had found this place by accident or so it seemed. Both of them had skinny-dipped in it's crystal clear waters when they were fourteen. That had been the day they had first kissed too.
Taking off her backpack she walked to the waters edge and knelt down to wash her grubby hands. The water was cold, fed from high up by the stream it never really heated up much even on warm summer days like this one.
She cupped water in her hands and washed her face with it too. The water seemed almost magical. It refreshed her and cleared her head. The fright she had received from almost falling off the tree left her fully and she sighed happily. She drank from her cupped hands. Water dribbled down over her chin and neck to soak her blouse and leave glistening drops between her breasts.
After a while she took off her hiking boots and socks to wriggle her toes in the pool. It felt good and the coolness made her smile at the memory of skinny-dipping in it. She had come here just before leaving for the city at sixteen. Like now she had come alone. In a way it had been to say goodbye to her secret pool. A pool that she had made love in, swum in and held some of her happiest memories.
Nicola opened up her backpack and took out the bottle of wine she had brought with her. It was too warm to drink right away but an hour in the pool would cool it down to a decent temperature. She planted it between two rocks under the waterfall, that was the coldest part of the small pool and she got soaked by the spray and splashing water as she did.
She walked back to where she had left her backpack and stripped out of her torn blouse, shorts and plain cotton panties. Everything got hung out to dry with her boots next to her clothes and her backpack hung on the same branch as the rest of her stuff. It contained food so she made sure it was closed up and hung high. Raccoons and other forest dwellers were known to steal anything left within easy reach. Even the precautions she was taking weren't foolproof but should do unless she was unlucky.
Stark naked now. Nicola walked to the pool of clear sparkling water and slipped in up to her waist. It was cold yet delightfully refreshing. She had no qualms about being naked here. She had never seen anyone here and was sure most people didn't know the place existed. Only the forest rangers would know and as it wasn't hunting season it was a long shot any of them would be about.
The sun warmed her upper half as the waters cooled her lower. It was a nice balance and Nicola was soon leaning back against a rock with her eyes closed and relaxing. Thoughts of the hectic city drifted away and she was left thinking of almost nothing. Just the way she had planned it.
Back in the city she had been nearly suicidal after finding her girlfriend in bed with another woman. Nicola was bisexual and for nearly a year had been living with Stacy. Stacy was older than Nicola and a lesbian who had seduced Nicola with a fierce determination.
Nicola had liked her from the start of joining the law firm as an intern and when Stacy had shown her interest it hadn't taken long for the two to get together and make love in Stacy's office. That had quickly turned into moving in with the older woman and living happily for nearly a year.
They made love and fucked nearly every chance they got. Stacy seemed insatiable for Nicola's young body and the two of them had ridden a roller-coaster of sexual desires that had opened Nicola's eyes to many new and wonderful things. The young girl had revelled in her sexual prowess and worn stocking to work instead of tights. Short skirts that showed off her stocking tops when she wanted them to and was in a heady haze of sexual highs when Stacy fucked her over the copier or in her office.
At night they made love for hours. In the day they fucked like rabbits.
Nicola had thought it was great and that Stacy loved her the way she loved Stacy. Then she had walked into their bedroom one afternoon and found Stacy scissoring with Casandra in a passionate embrace that had killed everything dead for Nicola.
She had run out of the apartment sobbing and gone to the only friend she felt she could trust. Nathen had taken her in and let her stay with him for a couple of weeks while she split up with Stacy and got a new apartment.
The night before moving into her new place she and Nathen had gotten drunk and fucked on his kitchen floor. It was a mistake of epic proportions as afterwards she felt dirty and used. All trust in him flew away. Even though it had been mutual she had really wanted him to say no and just hold her as a friend.
The city became unbearable. She had few friends and Nathen had been the closest. Without him or Stacy to turn to she had swallowed too many pills one night and drifted off to sleep in a drunken stupor.
She didn't know what woke her or how it happened exactly. But something did and she found herself sticking her fingers down her throat over the toilet and puking up the pills. Coughing and gagging repeatedly until she was sure most of the poison was out.
That night she packed her bags and drank water until she felt sober enough to drive. She had set off in the early hours of the morning and driven for nearly two days to get to the base of the forest and begin her hike.
************
Bobby trekked through the forest and checked for sign. He wasn't hunting but wanted to plan out his route for the coming season. Up ahead was rough terrain that opened up in a natural pool that was good for resting and refilling his water bottle.
