Woods of Depth : By Dema Sweat drips down my face. I run, my feet thumping on the concrete sending a vibration through my spine. I was done. Done with life. The forest was right there. I was leaving. Friday : Update I So, uh, hello new Journal. You used to be for math, but who cares? How do I start this.. My name's Jason. Jason Valor. I'm fifteen, and yesterday, I ran into the woods. I was just going to clear my head, but now I'm not sure where I am. I'm honestly ok with that though. My head just hasn't felt right. I feel alone. I've been isolating myself but, maybe running away was too far. On another note, I think I'm being followed. I can't say for sure, but I just have a feeling. Or maybe it's just because I'm being watched. I also kind of want to eat something. Huh? What? You think I'm starving? No.. I'd never get myself into a such a sad and desperate situation. Because that'd be sad. And desperate. More than food, my phone is about to die. Which means no more music. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I kinda need that. Just like I need cripling depression. I mean like how I need to get rid of depression. Not... that I... have depression.. haha.. I think I'll leave this tree and go walk around, see you then. Friday : Update I -Erin So, I'm panicking. Where do I start, the beginning, I guess? My hands were sore from writing, I shake them out a bit. I walk over to Jason's house, we were supposed to meet up today. The clouds were covering the sky like a blanket and the weather was cool. A small breeze whistled past my ear, whispering an ominous sound. The concrete beneath my feet feels stable. The world aligned. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was.. wrong. "Odd." I mutter. The air seemed thick with the scent of unwanted change. I see his house and speed up a little, but I don't run because I don't want any attention on myself. Clutching a small bag in my left hand, I approach the front door. My hand hesitates before I knock, I still felt like something was wrong. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was that he wasn't responding. Or I knew he had been distancing himself. But when i finally knocked. I learned.. I learned I was right. Mrs Valor opened the door quickly and intensely. "Oh, Erin. I-I'm sorry." 'That's.. fine?" I respond, confused. "Why don't you come in?" I nod and take my shoes off before stepping inside. My eyes stay keen, his shoes were gone, and I didn't hear any noise except my foot steps. Mrs Valor avoided my eyes, "Go have a seat." I sit down, afraid that I already knew. "Erin, Jason isn't here. We haven't seen him since yesterday morning." He was gone. Friday : Update II -Jason 'You stare through the open door A breeze gives you the breath you were looking for You yearn for more and can't ignore. The call that comes from behind the trees. I drop and get down on my knees, I don't even try to plead. I just try to hold on. The urge is too strong, I can't. My family looks at me, they don't even know me.' I come up with small things like that sometimes. It's never good but I write them down occasionally. I didn't eat anything, didn't trust it, but I'm boiling water to drink, I think that's what you're supposed to do. I guess I'm sleeping on the ground again, a normal person would've tried to get back by now, but this forest.. It's as if it's pulling me in. The dark feels so comfortable. It only hurts when you try to leave, like when you pull back the black-out curtains in the morning. Sleeping beneath a tree isn't as bad as you think though. I just wish I had brought a sleeping bag or something. I really hope my Dad isn't too mad with me. But I had to get away. And Erin, I'll be honest, I haven't stopped thinking about her. I don't really know why. Saturday : Update I -Jason I slept forever, and had this weird dream. Erin was smiling at me from across a street. It wasn't her usual forced smile or something that seemed like a trap. It was subtle, soft, but inviting nonetheless. Every time I tried to cross, a truck would come out of nowhere, and the whole time she's saying, "It's not really there, Jason. You just have to get over the fear." Yeah. whatever that means. I guess my mind is saying you should go back, but you have some sort of fear you need to get over first? I still don't know. While I was writing this, I suddenly halt. I could hear a faint shouting, it sounded like some one was calling my name. "Hello?" I shout. I'm standing up now, trying to keep my head straight. I suppose I had imagined it. I look at the sky, 'What are you doing right now..' I think to myself. Staying quiet for a short moment, I quickly get uncomfortable. I actually started singing. More so murmuring, but if I thought I felt alone back home, spend two days in the woods, and you'll learn a new definition of the word. Then I heard it again. that soft rustling sound.
I hold my breath and reach in my pocket, I brought it by accident, but a pocket knife is a pocket knife. That's when I heard a voice I felt like I hadn't heard in years. "Erin?" Her voice sounded deeper, and it was distant, but it had to be her. "Jason?" I hear her say. I quickly abandon my camp and run toward her voice. The sun temporarily blinds me but I keep running. Yellow roses creating a flash of neon as I ran past and sounds entering and leaving my ears faster then light. I knew where she was, and I could hear her running toward me. When I saw her I stopped, caught my breath for a moment, Erin did the same, and then we... Well, we sort of stared awkwardly. But then she did something I would have never expected, she hugged me? Look, I'm not touchy, nor is she, but Erin embraced me like she hadn't seen me in years. And in that moment, it felt like everything was ok. I was ok. My head cleared, instead of malfunctioning like it should have been. "You haven't changed at all." She breathed as she let go. I was about to say the some when I noticed that, she had indeed changed. She was as tall as me now. "Why are you here?" I say. "To find you." "I didn't want to be found but, screw my opinion." Erin showed a gleam of amusement in her eyes, "It'd take to long to get back, it's almost nightfall. I know where an inn is though." I open my mouth to object, "But, we're minors." "This one is different. It's like it's for people who get lost." I shift my weight, I knew there was no arguing. "Ok." I respond with as few words as possible. Now, we're walking in a random direction toward this inn that I don't even think exist. And I still have this feeling I'm being watched. Well, wish me luck. Wait.. DID I LEAVE MY PHONE?!? Saturday : Update II -Jason Well we're finally here in this strange inn. Erin took top bunk, I'm on the bottom, but I've never slept with a girl in my room before, so I'm trying to keep my cool. Erin on the other hand has a lot of brothers, so I guess that's why she isn't bothered. Getting a room was difficult, since we both are more shy. The inn is all old timeish. Wood and cobble stone, lanterns and torchlight. Even a stable with some guy's horse. "we.. uh.." I start. "..." Erin was in a state of shock for whatever reason. "We just uh, need a uh, room..?" The innkeeper eyed us suspiciously, "Aren't you folks rather underaged? Or at least you are, sonny. Most who come into this woods don't get out." He pointed at me, "I have a feeling you dragged her in from the outside, didn't you?" I was unsure of what to say, so I just reached into my pocket and placed 20 bucks onto his fancy desk. "102." He said flatly, handing us a key. We nod and dash out of there before we embarrass ourselves even more. Erin looks at me strangely as we head down a hall, "Twenty dollars? Enough for him to give us a room? Odd." I shrug, I was thinking about something else, what did he mean by 'drag her in from the outside'? Like most things... I didn't know. Oh and Erin surprised me again, while we were walking down the hall, she randomly said, "Are you good, you seem like you're remembering an odd dream or something." Ok, hoooolld up. She could never read me that easily before. Now that I think about it, she has been acting more strange. And the innkeeper said I looked underaged, when she's even younger than me! Barely, but still. Well, speaking of, Erin is telling me to wrap it up. I'll tell you more tomorrow. Sunday : Update I -Jason The sun shone through a window casting lines on the floor. I stretch, bed over ground any day. Wait.. was that a figure staring outside the window? Quick, I look back out the window, I didn't see anybody, unless they bolted after they saw I was awake. But, really, a random guy watching me sleep through a window? The only guy watching me is my self-doubt waiting to see me mess it all up. Erin hops down because she has a strong disbelief in ladders. "Sleep decently?" She asked, yawning. "Yeah." I reply as I write down in my journal, still in the bed. "I guess we go back today?" I pause, I mean, three days is a long time, I'm definitely getting punished so, why delay? I give her a glance, she must have went downstairs and gotten tea before I was awake, because she held an empty mug in her hand. Then look back down at my journal, fiddling with the pen a bit, " I guess so." I didn't expect her face to look slightly downcast. "Ok, uh, can you promise me something?" "Depends....." I mutter, trying to hide my slight nervousness. "Will we always protect each other?" "Of course." Then I speak up, "How's my dad?'" That's when a flash of panic shown in her eyes. Well, what ever I did, got her to open up that little secret. "Jason.." "That's my name." "You need to know,." Erin stared into my eyes with a sorrowful gaze, "Jason, you haven't been gone for three days. You've been gone for thirty years." ----- The End
