Ripped jeans, hiking boots. I took off running from my house and didn't stop to care who saw me. Making my way to a place I'd never been before wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be. I had to tiptoe property lines, crunching dead wood and leaping among unstable rocks. I stood in front of a retention pond, tree limbs sprawling from it and lively residue caked beneath it. I spotted an unnatural color; when I looked closer, I saw it was a piece of paper. The letters had worn off from the rain. I ripped it up and cast it into the water in hopes of speeding its decomposition. Another flyer; this time, a Pridemore ad. I chuckled and took extra joy in ripping that one up.
I looked beyond the pond and saw a forest unexplored. To my right, a newly-constructed suburban home; to my left, a 50-some-year-old one-story. I was surrounded by the future, by the present, by the invaders, by my friends. I took a step forward.
The woods were darker than the street, but some sunlight managed to stream in through the leaves. It was still dry, and deer scat littered the ground. I wondered if I might see one, but I never did. Before long I came to a cleared trail; had people hiked here before? I saw the small signs and the melting snow and realized with chagrin that it was a snowmobiling trail. I progressed into the forest with a creeping feeling that I was being watched.
The further in I got, the slushier it became. So much snow and ice had accumulated that a giant pond had formed in the heart of the woods. I walked towards it, wondering if I could find a way around or through it. A speck of white caught my eye; a deer,or several, had picked at a giant puffball mushroom. I examined it and found it covered in blackened decay. I supposed I had to eat grocery store food tonight.
I found a mossy rock and hunched down on it. As I closed my eyes, the sounds of the forest fell over me. Robins chirped and crows cawed. It was too early for the insects, but I still felt myself in a fully enriched ecosystem. One could sit and hear everything and nothing, all at once.
I sat on that rock for about fifteen minutes, just thinking about why I was there and who else had been. At last I stood up and returned to the snowmobiling trail, hoping to find a path to the highway. From afar I spotted two figures heading the same direction I was. How strange, I thought, in such an undisturbed place. I traipsed after them for awhile before they turned back into the forest.
One of the figures froze. "Hi."
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