Chapter 3
....... .....
((())))))) ((())))
(())(()))))())(())))oooooo ......
ooooooo()))))())()) ooooooooo ((())))))))
ooooooooo)))())())00000000000(()(())))))))())
oOOOOOOOOO)())))) 00000000000(((()((((((()))))
ooooooo| | ooooooo0000\\ 000(())))((()))))
\\// | | ||o | | \\// | |
|| | | || | | || | |
|| | | || |=| || | |
___\\||__| |_\\|//_| |____||__\\|//| |___\\/_
|| \\|//
Kara Marzahn
“Yeah, I’m good.”
I followed his voice and stomping boots. Surrounded by trees—tall trees, young trees, fallen trees in stages of decay—it was hard to believe the cottage was only a short distance away. The chorus of birds and insects shielded us from the outside world. Overhead, a looming canopy dappled the light. The air had a coldness about it, the forest floor dewy and fresh, as if it had just rained.
“Hey, awesome!” Jarrad disappeared behind a large rock. I walked around it, wary of sticks and wet leaves and anything else I might trip on. I longed to be inside again, dry by the fire.
According to my phone, we still had hours left of the day. And of course, he’d want to spend it out here.
I found him at the bottom of a short descent, standing at the mouth of a cave.
“Well, this might explain the wailing,” he remarked. “I don’t remember the website saying anything about this. I wonder where it leads.”
With Jarrad, this line of questioning could only go one way. I asked for his camera, hoping to distract him with the idea of going somewhere else to take pictures. But he wouldn’t have it.
“Come on, let’s go in. Give me your hand.”
“I don’t know, babe.”
“It’ll be fun, Case. I’ll take the camera, you take my hand. Watch your step now.”
The air was dead inside the cave. Dripping water echoed from somewhere. It must have extended for miles. Isn’t that what old cave networks did? I wondered why no one mentioned this in the reviews.
I looked back up. The surface seemed further than it should have been. We’d barely taken a few steps in, yet the light and the forest seemed to retreat from us.
Jarrad lit the torch on his phone and panned it around. I barely saw the beam in the darkness. Its light reflected off what I hoped was a rock, covered with the same moss that crept across the house. Before I realised what was happening, he bent down and ruffled it, the way he ruffles the neighbour’s dog back home.
“It’s dry, believe it or not,” he beamed at me. I squinted against the light. “Sorry. Go on, touch it. You won’t hate it, I promise.”
The one thing I could always count on was Jarrad’s promises. Out of everyone in my life, he’s the most reliable, honest man I’d ever met. His heart was purer than dew collected in a flower, with a thirst for life more energetic and vibrant than could be compared to a summer’s day.
So I touched the moss. And I didn’t hate it.
“It feels like fur, just a little cold.”
“Nature’s amazing, isn’t it? Just think, that’s a whole different kind of organism to us. An alien species we share the world with. And it’s probably been here since even before the forest. Doesn’t that blow your mind?” He kissed me and stood up. “Come on, let’s see what it’s like further in.”
And because I loved him, I followed.