A Peaceful Walk

Powdered snow packs under your boots as you sprint through the woods. The cold air of the night assaults your face, and throat, causing you discomfort every time you draw breath. The near full moon shines brightly on the uneven, snow covered landscape around you. Blackened silhouettes of the trees contrast heavily with the white of the shin deep snow, allowing you pass by without running into them. You can hear the wind blowing in the distance, sounding like ghastly whispers as it spills around the naked tree tops. Slowing down, you take a moment of rest near one of the many trees in this forest.

You wheeze as you bend over, struggling to regain your breath against the cold. After a moment, you pop your head up and start scanning the tree line. Nothing immediately jumps out as a potential danger to you. It occurs to you that aside from your labored breathing, your surroundings are dead silent. You can’t remember the last time you had to run like that. Even with the cold biting your face and hands, you feel pretty warm under your coat.

Not too long ago, you were taking a late night stroll through one of the parks that stretch around your side of town. This park in particular has a multitude of walking and hiking trails through its scenic hills and valleys. While the walk paths closer to town are well kept and paved, the park becomes increasingly wooded and wild the further out you go. Perfect for a young man to talk a walk and contemplate life in solitude. Well, perfect if that was your original plan, anyway. You were supposed to have a club “meeting” at the local movie theater tonight. Monika had come up with the idea of a club bonding session the other day while Natsuki and Yuri were arguing about what constitutes as literature. The memories of the moments leading to your current predicament come flooding back to you.

“Ugh, just because it doesn’t have ‘too deep for you’ themes, doesn’t mean it’s worthless Yuri!” Natsuki spits, her arms clutching her booklet.
“A novel should be rich in metaphor and symbolism that engages the reader mentally! Besides, it’s cheating if everything is literally drawn onto the page!” Yuri harshly fires back.

The argument before you snaps you out of your focus. You were trying to finish your poem for tomorrow early by writing whatever bullshit came to your mind on the paper. Lately the clubroom has had an air of frustration; differing opinions on the art of literature finally coming to butt heads. You watch passively, hoping that the girls would calm down before more feelings get hurt. Monika and Sayori, thinking the same as you, quickly move to defuse the situation before it regresses further.

“Our conversations have been pretty heated lately, haven’t they?” Monika says, walking between the two girls. “Maybe we should find something else to do or talk about before we have a repeat of the other day…”

Natsuki and Yuri stiffen up when they hear Monika’s suggestion. They fall silent for a second, contemplating Monika’s words.

 “Yeah, sure,” Natsuki mumbles, looking downward.

“That may be for the best…” Yuri softly murmurs, also looking down.

Sayori is quick to give a suggestion, hoping to change the mood for the better.

“Oh, I know! How about we all go see a movie?” she proposes excitedly.

The suggestion causes a smile to creep across Monika’s face.

“That sounds like a great idea! It should be a nice change of pace for all of us,” Monika replies.

Yuri and Natsuki remain silent for another moment. They look to each other and back to Monika before responding.

“That would actually be kind of nice,” Natsuki says.

“I agree with your sentiment, Natsuki,” replies Yuri.

“How about you Anon?” asks Monika, turning her attention to you.

“Sounds good to me,” you say, flashing a thumbs up.

“So it’s decided, we’ll go see a movie as a club,” Monika declares to the room, “now we just need to figure out what to see. Any ideas?”

Sayori rapidly throws out several ideas of the club should go watch. Natsuki and even Yuri also give a few suggestions on what the club could watch together.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do a comedy, Sayori” Monika says.

“Aw… how about a romantic comedy?” Sayori replies.

“I would prefer something a little more thought provoking,” muses Yuri.

As they deliberate on what to go see, you mull over the idea of going to a movie with four girls. Which girls would sit next to you? If it were a horror movie, would one or more of them hold onto you? Maybe all four of them would smother you? Does this count as some sort of quasi-date?

You’re so lost in your own thoughts that you don’t even hear the girls anymore. The club meeting ends just as soon as you start paying attention.

“Ok, so it’s settled. Friday night at the theater it is. I’ll see you all then!” Monika announces, happy with the plan.

The other club members get up and begin to pack their things. They’re out of the room before you can gather your own belongings and get moving. You had to practically chase down Sayori to ask what movie you’re going to go see. You’re not too thrilled about having to go see a sappy romance, but at least you’ll be going with a few pretty girls.

In the days leading up to the movie meeting, you along with the rest of the group get a text from Monika.

‘I cant go to the movies!’ her first text says.
‘I’m so sorry! I have to go to dinner with my parents before they leave for week :(‘
‘That suks Monika, we can postpone until l8er’ Natsuki replies.
‘No, you guys go have fun, I want to hear all about it!’ Monika sends back.

Well that sucks, you were kind of hoping Monika would be there. She’d normally be the one to make sure everything was set up beforehand. At least you still had the other three girls to hang out with. Before you head to your next class, you hope that all of you can still get the tickets easily.

Later that night, you get another series of texts, this time originating from Yuri.

‘I am sorry everyone, I won’t be able to make it either,’
‘Aww, why not?’ Sayori responds.
‘My parents are having company over and this apparently requires my presence,’ replies Yuri.

You can tell Yuri isn’t too happy, judging by response. You send a text back.

‘Im sorry Yuri. Natsuki and Sayori, you still good to go?’
‘Yup’
‘Yea’
‘Cool, Ill pick up the tickets before we go then’ you send.
‘OK anon, sounds good’ Sayori texts back.

Before you go to bed that night, you think about how watching a romantic movie alone with Natsuki and Sayori would go. You’re kind of bummed that Yuri and Monika won’t join you guys, but you’re still looking forward to being with the other two.

About half way through Friday you buy three tickets through the theater’s website. You’re able to use the library printer to print of the stubs; you’ll give them to the girls later. You have a hard time focusing in your classes for the remainder of school. You’ve been constantly watching the clock; eager to leave for the day and enjoy your weekend. Especially with your cute female friends. You do nothing in your last class of the day, as your teacher was also already mentally checked out for the weekend. Most of students were sitting around talking or passively playing on their phones. Speaking of which, your phones buzzes a few times in your pocket, breaking you out of another daydream. Your heart drops a little after reading the texts.

‘omg anon, me and sayori need 2 cancel’ Natsuki’s first text reads.
‘i 4got i need 2 bake cupcakes for debate team. Sorry!’
‘im sorry too anon! did you already buy tickets’ Sayori’s text says.

You stare at your phone for a moment, unsure of how to respond. You let your fingers type automatically.

‘uh…’ you send.
‘Can you get them refunded?’ Monika’s text asks.
‘omg I feel so bad now’ Natsuki replies.

You feel kind of bad too. It feel s kind of pathetic to have made plans with several people who just blew you off, especially when you committed yourself to it financially. You’re quick to send a reply to make the girls feel better. And to hide your own disappointment.

‘Its ok, I think can get them refunded’

You have no idea if you actually can get the tickets refunded, but saying that made it feel like you could.

‘we’re so sorry anon, we’ll make it up to you soon!’ Sayori’s text says.

Unwilling to continue the conversation, you shut your phone screen off and put your phone down. You stare at the blackboard, trying to plan your next move when the final bell rings. Everyone is quickly rushing out the door to leave. You slowly get up and head home, both your head and mood hanging low.

It’s earlier in the evening when you call the theater to refund your tickets. After a long and annoying phone conversation, the theater refunds some of your money for the tickets. You don’t get how only SOME money can be refunded since the movie doesn’t start for another hour. They’ll probably sell your tickets to someone else just as quickly as they bought them from you.
Upon ending the phone call, you promptly fall onto your couch. Absolutely ridiculous that your parents are out for the weekend again, you swear it’s like they don’t exist. You quickly get bored and look around for something to do. At the moment, you completely lack the desire to bother with anything electronic. You gaze at your dim reflection in the TV. For some reason, your frustration is beginning to mount. The longer you stare at yourself, the more irritated you become. Is it because you got ditched by everyone?  Is it because you have to be alone tonight? And for the rest of the weekend?

Your aggravation only continues to fester, manifesting as a light tremble in your clenched fists. It hurts to think that nobody wanted to be around you. Well, that’s a lie, the girls seemed pretty apologetic towards you. The thought of them brings your temper down momentarily. Taking advantage of your slight reduction in anger, you pop up to your feet. A long walk sounds great right now. Vent off some steam, clear your head and stop staring at that jackass in the TV’s reflection. You throw on your coat and boots and grab your phone. Placing a hand in your pocket, you feel the tickets you printed off earlier. You pull them out and look over them again; the sight of the date and time making you a little sad. No longer attached the tickets now that they’ve been refunded, you crumple them up and toss them across the room before leaving your home.

“Mom, Dad, I’ll be—“ you begin to call out before you stop yourself. You shake your head.
“Ah whatever.”

Your brisk pace gets you to the park in a short amount of time. There are a few other people walking along the path tonight despite the low temperatures. You wonder if they’re just very into exercise, or if they just needed to decompress like you. Either way, nobody really acknowledges your presence as you walk past them. How appropriate.

 Before long, the paved, well-lit path transitions to a simple dirt trail. Your footsteps are audible as they pack in untouched snow on the trail. The lack of other footprints tells you that you’re the only one who’s been through here lately. Knowing that you’re the only person out this way, you let your guard down and finally relax. You feel calmer than you did minutes earlier, your frustration melting away. Winter brought a strange peace to the landscape, filling you with a sense of comfort. You’re not normally a sap for nature, but you can appreciate its beauty.

Your mind drifts to the literature club. You don’t know what’s more unbelievable: The fact that you somehow got roped into joining such a club or the fact that you’ve stayed for as long as you have. Of course, it helps being the only guy in a room filled with cute girls, but still. You thought Natsuki and Yuri would have chased the stranger in their midst out by now. The idea that you’ve grown on them elicits a slight smile from you.

You hear a twig snap, a distance away in the deeper part of the forest. Probably just branches succumbing to the weight of the snow and ice on them, you think to yourself.

Now that you think about it, you’ve grown on all of the girls. Natsuki isn’t as rude or as inconsiderate towards you as she used to be when you two first met. Sure, she cracks jokes at your expense, but that’s just her being herself. That’s probably just her way of saying that she accepts you.

Yuri seems to have accepted you as a friend too. Months ago she looked so uncertain of your presence; either that’s because you weren’t anyone she knew or that you’re the first boy who’s talked to her. You suppose it’s likely more the latter than the former. Be that as it may, she’s gotten comfortable around you and offers you to join her reading. Sure, you can’t understand the books half the time, but you enjoy each other’s company all the same.

You narrowly avoid stepping in a pile of crap. Something has been through here recently, judging by the small paw prints next to the pile.
“Fucking cats,” you sigh to yourself.

Sayori has been seemingly happier as of late. She’s always been the happy-go-lucky type from what you’ve seen, but something else about her feels different. Maybe it’s your intuition as her childhood friend, but she seems to carry herself a little differently since you joined. Her smiles feel a little more genuine too, like they’re no longer forced. She might just be happy that she gets to see you more, you two had somewhat grown apart in recent years.

Then there’s Monika. She seemed to be pretty ok with you when you first walked into the clubroom. It was surprising that she knew your name since you didn’t think those girl-next-door types dealt with guys like you. Still, Monika always gave the impression that she was legitimately delighted to have you be in the club. Lately you’ve noticed that she’s been stealing glances at you during club meetings. You’d catch her in the act and she would slightly blush. She’d still hold her gaze for a moment though, her eyes shining brightly at you. She also always wanted to share her poems with you first thing when meetings started…

You stop dead in your tracks.

Oh shit, this girl really likes you.

And you’re just now realizing it.

It feels like your heart is starting to flutter in your chest. You can’t help but smile. A pretty girl likes you! And you figured it out by yourself; nobody had to tell you so. You start to feel excited again, you haven’t ever considered that you could catch anyone’s eye, let alone Monika’s. Especially since you like her too.

A gruff growl derails your train of thought. In fact, it outright scares the shit out of you. You look up and see a large figure a few dozen yards away.

Is that a fucking bear?

The bear had slowly lumbered forward and let out another roar. You could clearly see it was a large, brown and judging by the roar, an angry bear. You proceeded to book it in the other direction, which brings us back to the beginning.

You haven’t seen the bear for a few minutes while you catch your breath. A no-so-distant roar lets you know that the bear still hasn’t forgotten about you. Knowing what you do about bears, the thought of more running seems like a bad idea. You’re lucky to have made it this far, had the bear been more urgent he would have easily overtaken you. Your hand falls to your side, lightly brushing against the tree. The feeling of the bark puts an idea into your head: Climb the damn tree!

In a moment, you scope out a nearby tree that looks good enough to climb. You’ve never done this before, so pray for the best while you get your hands around it. The first attempts to scale the tree fail miserably and only serve to hurt your hands and spirit. You hear a growl that’s about as close as the last growl, which causes you to panic. Miraculously, your final panicked attempt to climb the tree succeeds, and you pull yourself up to a branch a few yards from the ground.

You steady yourself on your newfound perch and scan for the bear. You find it slowly lumbering over to the spot by the tree you took your rest at moments earlier. It sniffs around, trying to pick up your scent from the surroundings. Strangely, the bear fails to pick up your scent. It casually lays down where you stood, and… just does nothing? Weird.

Even up in the tree, you’re within pissing distance of the large animal. You tense up and still your breath, afraid of giving away your position by making too much motion or sound. The longer you stare, the more of the bear’s features stick out. It was certainly a grizzly bear, and a big one at that. His claws, almost concealed under all the matted brown fur, were certainly longer than your own fingers. It wouldn’t take much for him to shred you apart. The look in his eyes tells you that he probably wouldn’t hesitate to do so when he finds you.

Minutes or hours go by with you hiding from the creature. It’s hard to tell how long it’s been for sure; you haven’t been aware of time since you first started running. The thought that you could be in the tree all night occurs to you. It’s a realization you dread, but doesn’t seem too bad when the bear falls asleep. You relax in your position, but keep your breathing quiet.

Morbid thoughts wander into your head. You have a fair chance of dying violently, scared and alone. Would the girls from the club blame themselves if you died? Had they not broken plans, you would be sitting with them at a theater and enjoying the company. You don’t blame them, however. It’s your own damn fault you’re here, not theirs. You hope that they’d realize this and not get too hung up on it. You wonder if your parents would feel the same way.

The bear lets out a sigh between its slow, rhythmic breaths.

Maybe you won’t die here? Maybe you can slip away from the sleeping animal and get your ass back home. Maybe this can be a funny story you tell your friends and family, just a small blip in your memory that you can forget. You then have the grim realization that everyone will either hear your story in person, or on the news later when the police use your phone GPS to find your remains. You know which option you’d prefer.

You wait for some time while the bear sleeps. If you’re going to sneak away from him, you better make sure he’s sound asleep. Once you’re satisfied that he is, you bring your legs down to descend. As you do so, your phone beeps loudly.

Fuck, you got a text.

You completely forgot you turned your volume up during your walk. You had wanted to make sure that you answered your phone for anyone since you rarely feel the vibration while walking. Your consideration might have just gotten you killed, as the bear instantly picks his head up and stares at you. He lets out a ferocious growl and darts over to your tree.

Oh sweet fuck can bears climb trees?

The bear wraps his immense arms and legs around the tree and gradually shimmies up the tree.  It won’t take too long for him to get at you. You go into another panic while the bear inches closer.

This can’t be the end, can it? You die in a tree like a little bitch, pissing yourself in fear? No, not like this. If your parents or any of the girls knew you that died without trying, they’d be disappointed in you. You pull out your pocket knife and flick the blade out. Yuri gave you a pocket knife as a gift a while ago; its sharpness always stuck out to you since you accidentally cut yourself with it within five minutes of receiving it. You figured you might have needed it tonight if a person jumped you, but not a bear. Still, you make up your mind on stabbing it until one of you died.

The bear gets within kicking distance of you. Any closer and he might be able to bite you. He keeps his paws on the tree though, the climb taking a considerable amount of effort. You have no idea why, but the thought that the bear wants you dead for no reason makes angry. Furious, even. You grip your knife tightly and wait for the bear to get as close as possible. The bear is right on you now, his breath hitting you from the short distance. The bear lunges in for a bite at your leg. You move your leg in time to evade the strike and not get bitten. The bear inches forward once more and takes another lunge at you. His second strike misses you and makes contact with the tree. It pisses you off with how tenacious he’s getting. You’re mentally prepared to fight as his mouth lets go of the tree.

Fuck this nigger.

Before the bear can retract his head, you take your knife and plunge it downward at his face as hard as you can. You succeed in jabbing one of the bear’s eyes, the knife sinking deep into the bear’s eye socket. The bear roars in pain as you deliver another stab, the knife slicing through part of the bear’s lip. A spurt of blood catches your hands and coat. The bear immediately starts to slide down the tree, but not before the tip of your blade catches the top of his nose. Three lucky hits in a row.

The bear is noisily roaring at the base of the tree, writhing at the pain spreading throughout his skull. He manages to find his footing and quickly dashes away, slamming into a few trees in the process. You take advantage of the bear’s retreat and quickly slide down the tree, bloody knife still in hand. Once again, you sprint in the opposite direction, never looking back.

This time, you don’t stop to take a break. Your sprint eventually slows to a run, but you still keep up the pace. The hills, trees and brushes pass by you quickly as you do your best to put as much distance as possible between you and the bear. You slow down a bit more and fold up the knife once you’re sure you’re far enough away. The sky is noticeably brighter in the distance; town has to be close by. The adrenaline rush is starting to fade, and you feel more tired with each step. You know you’re not literally out of the woods yet, so you force yourself to persevere and keep going.

Eventually you find a snowy trail which gradually turns into a paved trail. Sounds of city life echo in the distance as you follow the trail. Relief washes over you upon you walking into a clearing. You can see a road a ways ahead along with several other people taking a stroll through the park. You take a path that leads toward the road, eager to get out of the park already.

As you walk, you notice that you’re not in the same park as when you started your walk. Now that you realize that you’re lost, you finally pull out your phone. You’re surprised by the time that’s on the screen, it’s later than you thought it was. It makes sense though, the blood on your fingers is starting to dry. There’s also a notification on the screen; it’s from Monika. You quickly navigate to your messages and read it.

‘Hey. What are you doing tonight?’

The message was from about two hours ago. You look up from your phone and smile. This was the text that could have gotten you killed! Shaking your head, you look down again to respond. Before you get to far, a familiar voice calls out to you.

‘Anon?’
The voice grabs your attention, your head popping up to find the source. On the path in front of you is a bundled up Monika. Her initial surprise is followed by a look of happiness to see you. You’re just as surprised to see her. She lightly jogs to close the distance between you two.

‘Hi Anon! Did you go for a walk too? Did you get my text?” Monika excitedly asks.

“Hi, Monika. I was running for a bit, and I just got it,” you respond calmly. Monika seems a little confused by your answer. Your voice is also a little hoarser than you expected.

“Went out for a run? At night in the winter?”

“It started as a walk, but then I ran into something a while ago, so it turned into a run,” you answer vaguely. God you sound kind of rough.

“What’d you run into?” she asks, her tone filled with concern. She can read you like a book.

“A b—bear,” you quietly answer, pointing a thumb behind you back towards the forest.

You don’t realize it, but Monika sees the blood on your hands. Her eyes go wide once she processes what you said in tandem with the blood on you. Her hands cover her mouth in shock.

“Oh my god! Are you ok!?” she exclaims, worry apparent in her voice.

“I’m ok,” you cough out, “I got away. The blood isn’t mine.”

She’s eyeing you up and down, looking to confirm what you just said. You hate the look of worry and fear in her eyes.

“I…I…” she begins to say, unable to find the right words.

You pull Monika in before she can finish her though and plant a kiss on her lips. Her lips feel warm as they linger against yours. While taken aback at first, Monika eventually yields to you before pulling away. You’re both visibly flushed as you stare into each other’s eyes.

“I like you too,” you feel yourself saying.

The girl gazes at you for another moment before hugging you tightly. You reciprocate as she nestles her head into your neck.

“I’m glad you’re ok, and even happier that you figured it out,” Monika sighs.

You hold her tightly, losing yourself in the scent of her hair and her touch. It sounds pretty cliché, but you don’t want the moment to end. That is, until something important occurs to you.

“Monika?”

“Hm?”

“I still don’t know where we are.”