pandakatiefominz
Wraith
They had been driving home from vacation when their car broke down on a cracked and nearly forgotten backroad. And now they were stranded, and did not even know where they were. They had been driving along the border of two nations, and took a wrong turn, and who knew what side of the border they were on. In trying to find their way, they ended up on this road that looked as if it had not seen a car since cars were pulled by horses, and the only thing around them was a green, shining forest.
For a few hours, Dark and Tarot waited for another car to pass by, but the most Dark saw was a languid rabbit who hopped casually out of the underbrush before noticing the pair and scampering off. Tarot didn't notice the rabbit at all, but she had never seen anything, ever, and besides, she was a bit preoccupied with the pain in her back and in her abdomen. If anything, she was frustrated that her husband remarked on the rabbit's existence, because she felt he should have been preoccupied too.
After some time, Dark decided that he'd walk into the lush green forest and see if maybe, by some chance, he would run into a hiker hoping to see the sunset from a decent location, or some forest-dwelling hermit, anyone to help the couple get back onto the road. So, for a few moments, Dark and Tarot were separated from one another, because she said that she would stay by the smoking car, but as his footsteps faded, she hurried after him.
The October storms rolled in, as they were want to do, and the drum beat of thunder drowned out the nocturnal orchestra, while the torrential rainfall washed out the stars. What they didn't notice, or at the least, didn't comprehend, was how the entire forest was still so alive when they were long past the time that the trees should have turned colours and shed their leaves.
They walked until the reality of their situation became impossible to ignore, and they hunkered down on the forest floor, wet and exhausted. Tarot was no survivalist, at least, not a forest-based survivalist, having grown up in the Sahara desert, but she knew how to make a fire, and explained the steps to her husband as best as she could in between deep breaths. Not that the fire would remain lit beneath the rain.
Dark, also, was no survivalist, but he did his best to create a shelter for them out of nothing. All they had with them were the clothes on their backs, and a pocketknife. Typically, that was something Dark never carried, but he kept it in his car, mostly because his closest friend once forgot it, and Dark put it into the glove compartment. He brought it with him just in case.
Come daybreak, Dark decided to go back out on a search for someone to lend them aid. He figured that maybe, since it was earlier in the day, there might be someone on the the road, and since the rains had stopped, at least momentarily, his chances of running into a hiker might be higher.
Tarot remained at their makeshift camp, holding her husband's bundled suit jacket, too exhausted to walk with him. She felt rather like Eve after being cast out of Paradise, but at least Eve could see what was in front of her. She hadn't slept, but at the same time, she was more alert than she had been the night before. She could sense something, although she knew not how to name it, or what she sensed, but it made her apprehensive.
Her husband had barely been gone half an hour, when she heard the sound of crunching leaves and snapped branches in the opposite direction from where he left, and she clutched her bundle closer to her body and called out from her seated position, "Is somebody there?"
For a few hours, Dark and Tarot waited for another car to pass by, but the most Dark saw was a languid rabbit who hopped casually out of the underbrush before noticing the pair and scampering off. Tarot didn't notice the rabbit at all, but she had never seen anything, ever, and besides, she was a bit preoccupied with the pain in her back and in her abdomen. If anything, she was frustrated that her husband remarked on the rabbit's existence, because she felt he should have been preoccupied too.
After some time, Dark decided that he'd walk into the lush green forest and see if maybe, by some chance, he would run into a hiker hoping to see the sunset from a decent location, or some forest-dwelling hermit, anyone to help the couple get back onto the road. So, for a few moments, Dark and Tarot were separated from one another, because she said that she would stay by the smoking car, but as his footsteps faded, she hurried after him.
The October storms rolled in, as they were want to do, and the drum beat of thunder drowned out the nocturnal orchestra, while the torrential rainfall washed out the stars. What they didn't notice, or at the least, didn't comprehend, was how the entire forest was still so alive when they were long past the time that the trees should have turned colours and shed their leaves.
They walked until the reality of their situation became impossible to ignore, and they hunkered down on the forest floor, wet and exhausted. Tarot was no survivalist, at least, not a forest-based survivalist, having grown up in the Sahara desert, but she knew how to make a fire, and explained the steps to her husband as best as she could in between deep breaths. Not that the fire would remain lit beneath the rain.
Dark, also, was no survivalist, but he did his best to create a shelter for them out of nothing. All they had with them were the clothes on their backs, and a pocketknife. Typically, that was something Dark never carried, but he kept it in his car, mostly because his closest friend once forgot it, and Dark put it into the glove compartment. He brought it with him just in case.
Come daybreak, Dark decided to go back out on a search for someone to lend them aid. He figured that maybe, since it was earlier in the day, there might be someone on the the road, and since the rains had stopped, at least momentarily, his chances of running into a hiker might be higher.
Tarot remained at their makeshift camp, holding her husband's bundled suit jacket, too exhausted to walk with him. She felt rather like Eve after being cast out of Paradise, but at least Eve could see what was in front of her. She hadn't slept, but at the same time, she was more alert than she had been the night before. She could sense something, although she knew not how to name it, or what she sensed, but it made her apprehensive.
Her husband had barely been gone half an hour, when she heard the sound of crunching leaves and snapped branches in the opposite direction from where he left, and she clutched her bundle closer to her body and called out from her seated position, "Is somebody there?"
