AND
He lived not far from the thicket that comprised the woodland. Never having entered, and due to a bad childhood experience, he never trespessed the perimeters of his yard to venture into the darkened landscape. In the mornings he heard the sounds of birds and calmly sipped his coffee. The man found satisfication in the caws and the titter the birds made in those often chilled mornings. He stayed warmly within the house, with only the murmured din seeping through.
One morning, on a particularly lazy Saturday, the man sipped his coffee and looked absentmindedly at his lawn from a kitchen chair through a nearby window as was his usual routine. His attention stayed not on anything as his mind worked through a few mindless and easily forgettable thoughts. Something in the woods caught his attention but whatever it was didn't hold it for long. Nevertheless, the man had a nagging feeling as he continued to sip coffee and gently tap his feet. Not much later, he knows that he has seen something. A whitish object weaving throughout the dense trees. Not close enough to be made out. Having never seen anyway, ever, in that thick of trees, he's both curious and alarmed as the whiteness becomes more readily apparent. It's a woman and she's walking. Wearing a too a tight white tshirt and a white pants, she stands out in the woods. Now skirting alongside the treeline and the man's property, the man watches the woman walk. He's amused and curious now. Just a person walking the woods. He can't stop looking and notes that the woman keeps turning around and looking for something. The man waits for the companion or whatever she's looking for to appear, but nothing does.
He suddenly feels frightened for the woman. His arms gripping the chair and his legs ready to make movement, he's stilled by the fear within him. The woman is scared and the man is frightened. His thoughts are none for his mind looks for what it should do, what should be done in a circumstance he's never experienced. The woman picks up speed, and reenters the forest.
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II.
In a daze, the man begins to talk to himself with disassociated words as the woman becomes lost to him.
The man paces the kitchen. The curtains have been drawn. Something might horrible might be out there. He's plagued by guilt, by his passivity. He thinks of the woman and wonders. All through the daylight hours, he paces throughout his house.
At evening time, he convinced himself to peek out the window. In this particular boldness, he does, but at the wrong moment, for it the dark woods is only more dark from the dusk. It's too terrible for him to think of and he sits in the chair, staring dumbly at the curtains. He decides to take a shower. He hears a commotion throughout the house while in his vulnerability, prompting him to quickly turn off the shower. But he is stilled upon hearing clearly the last several loud, panicked knocks.
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