Left path

After she decided to take the more direct route to the parking lot she didn’t manage to walk for five minutes before she heard someone approaching. With her nerves already on high alert she reacted quickly, hands clamped across her breasts and crotch, stepping well off the path and hiding behind the trunk of a large oak tree. She struggled to control her breathing, afraid the noise might give her away. The footsteps kept approaching from the north. Someone walking, and another sound accompanying them.

She peered out from around the trunk and only just make out a young man in his mid-twenties walking a dog on a leash. The dog kept trying to speed up and move faster, only for the tug of the leash to slow him back down, restraining him but only checking his enthusiasm for a few seconds. His claws clicking on the concrete had been what she’d heard along with the encroaching footsteps. Jen edged back behind the tree trunk and tried to be patient. Her heart thundering in her chest didn’t make that easy. The hair on her neck stood on edge.

Soon the footsteps stopped and the dog’s trot slowed markedly. She slowly glanced back around the trunk and saw the dog slowly stepping in a circle, sniffing the ground.

Great, she thought. They couldn’t get another twenty yards away before the dog had to do its business.

She pulled her head back behind the trunk and breathed deeply. Fear and embarrassment streamed through her entire body while she waited for the new arrivals to start walking again. She inhaled and exhaled again, slowly, reminding herself that they had no idea she was here, she was out of sight, completely hidden. She just had to wait them out and they’d never know a nude woman was so close by.

It felt like a full hour passed before she heard the footsteps and clacking nails start again, now moving away from her. She glanced around the trunk and saw them moving at a leisurely pace.

Impatience took hold of her and she decided to start making a little distance while she was in the woods. Turning back north she started stepping along the dirt and twigs, watching her footing as best she could. She neared the next decently sized tree and risked a quick look backwards to make sure her unwanted company was still moving away from her.

SNAP!

Jen nearly jumped out of her skin as she broke a fallen stick under her foot. Immediately the dog started barking in her direction. She took two large bounding steps and put a wide tree trunk between her and the dog, trying to avoid making additional noise but more concerned with getting out of any line of sight the man might have. She pressed her back against the tree trunk, held her breath and closed her eyes out of a misguided, vestigial sense of concealment.

“Come on,” she heard the man’s voice some distance away. “It’s probably just a squirrel.”

The dog barked twice more then she heard the footsteps start again.

That’s it, I’m not moving until they’re gone.

A few minutes passed before the man and his dog were completely out of earshot. Once she was satisfied she was alone again, Jen pulled herself away from the tree worked her way back to the path.

The sound of a chirruping insect was the only noise Jen could hear over the light taps of her feet landing on the cement path. She kept a brisk pace, but not allowing any more speed then she felt she could hear oncoming noises over.

The path took a gentle arc to the left and she followed it around the bend. She felt she was able to start making good time towards her clothes once again. She tried to relax at the thought that she may not be trapped out here all day, but the tension refused to leave her muscles. She felt a slight ache set into the sides of her neck, the result of her shoulders unconsciously lifted in a constant shrug due to her anxieties.

Another curve in the path came up, this time to the right. She began entering it when her eyes caught movement and she leapt backwards.

Shit, the power-walkers! They’re coming back!

Jen took another step back and looked to the left. She’d hidden on that side previously when the dog walker had come along but she’d reached a part of the forest where the trees were narrower. She’d have to walk a good distance in to feel she was fully out of sight. To her right the trees remained wider. She stepped off the trail and wound her way between a few of them until she felt well concealed.

She wasn’t waiting for long when she heard the two women advancing towards her. She tried to peer between trees to see if she could catch a glimpse of them but saw nothing. Their speedy march grew louder until she could make out one of the women wearing a white t-shirt some distance ahead of her. Adjusting her angle behind the tree she heard the ladies still chattering, only slightly out of breath, as they passed. Not willing to risk stepping on another twig, Jen felt content to continue waiting until her ears convinced her she was safe.

She allowed a full sixty seconds of silence to pass before she stepped out from behind the tree. The moment she did she heard a slight whir, then a bicycle sped along the trail in front of her. She dove back behind the tree once again. The cyclist didn’t alter their pace and Jen felt she must have been far enough off the trail that they would only have noticed her if they were looking right in her direction.

How did I not hear them sooner? She chastised herself. Look, relax. Really focus this time on what you’re hearing. You can’t get caught out here naked like this.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds around her. The occasional insect noise was all she could make out. No more bicycle tires, no encroaching footsteps. Finally she let herself leave the makeshift hiding spot and rejoin the trail. With the interruptions she’d encountered she wasn’t at all certain she’d saved any time taking this path.

Four minutes later she found herself nearing the end of the path. The main area of the rec grounds lay ahead, and Jen knew she’d have to work on her patience if she was going to sneak past everyone who might be out and about without getting caught. She couldn’t risk that happening and promised herself that she could do better.

Once she was about forty yards from where the trail entered the park she slowed her pace and stepped off the path a short distance. Should someone could turn around the corner onto the track and she’d have nowhere to go with such short notice. Additionally she could only see so far ahead and didn’t want to walk blindly into view of who knows how many people.

Moving as quietly as she could manage she crept closer towards the end of the trail through the tree line. It was a slow process, avoiding making noise while also trying to not step on any rocks, but she was able to make a steady advance.

She was about five yards away from where the trail ended and the beginning of the park proper when she decided to stop and look around. She crouched down and carefully took in her surroundings. Dead ahead the path forked, with one trail going north and one branching off to the right. She knew the path going right wouldn’t take her anywhere near the right direction, and the northwards trail was the quickest route to the parking lot. After the interruptions she encountered, she prayed she could make some time up taking the straightest path to her destination. That path was low on cover with a grassy dog park to the left and sparse trees to the right. Still, she strongly preferred going that way if possible.

From her vantage point, Jen couldn’t tell if the dog park was completely empty. She could see a large percentage of it but not the entire thing. Until she could confirm that, she wasn’t prepared to commit to heading due north.

She took a few steps closer through the trees before she saw her, a lady in her early thirties sitting on a bench at the far end of the dog park, staring at a book on her lap. The thinning forest surrounded three sides of the dog park. From where she sat, the reader would have a wide open view of anyone walking along the path that Jen desperately wanted to take. A trash can and a few bushes could obscure the reader’s view, but there was plenty of open space to cross in between them.

Okay, Jen thought, how do we handle this? Safest option would be to head left through the trees, cut around behind the dog park. That’ll take me closer to the lady but if I can stay quiet in those trees she might never know I was there. Trees are a hair sparse but I can make that work... But… she does look really engrossed in that book. Maybe, just maybe, I can take that path and not draw any attention. She’d have to be used to some people coming and going that way, wouldn’t she? Of course I’d have to get really lucky and hope that no one else comes by when I’m pretty much out in the open right there…