Continue Down the trail!

There had to be something up the trail! It can’t go in forever!

Brooklyn fought to keep her balance. The trail was now slick and soft. Her bare feet sank deep into thick mud as she pumped her legs, desperately trying to keep from tumbling into the mud. She had no time to put her boots or socks back on. Her backpack bounced against her and her arms strained carrying her heavy, leather hide shoes

There seemed to be no escaping the storm. The wind howled and whipped thick pellets of rain into her face. She kept her head down and looked up only to be sure she was still on the trail, gusts of water stinging her cheeks. Fear began to grip her heart. Dark thoughts crept into her mind. What if a rock slide carried her off the cliff? What if she had sprinted off the trail and was now only making her way to her ****? Would they even find her broken or starved body? She stopped where she was and looked around helplessly.

A bolt of lightning crashed down and webbed across the sky. Suddenly the mountain was a violent mix of green and grey and white light. Brooklyn looked out to where the lightning struck, the streak of the lightning still lingering in her vision. She saw a dense collection of trees unlike any of the surrounding pines. It was a neat, organized bundle compared with the sporadic flora covering the rest of the mountain. Its leaves were dense and still somehow vibrant in the cloud cover. It was the orchard! It had to be. It stood maybe a half a klick away. The trail led right to it like a muddy, slippery lifeline. There had to be a cottage nearby or some kind of gardening shed at least.

Brooklyn ran toward it with new energy. She ignored the fire burning in her legs and arms, her lungs aching for air, her cheeks tingling from the onslaught of the rain. The thick orchard grew larger with each step. Just a few yards away from the edge of the orchard, Brooklyn slid to a halt, nearly tumbling forward. A barbed-wire fence stretched out in front of her. She couldn’t believe it. She was incensed. She couldn’t stand it anymore. The wind. The rain. Her aching muscles.

“Fuck this. I can’t take it!” she spat out against the rain, throwing her boots away and tossing her backpack over the fence. Then she lowered herself to the ground sliding like a slug beneath the wire. As she inched her way across, blades of grass pricked at her nose and chin and soggy earth splashed across her body. She ground her teeth and squeezed her eyes clothes.

She felt a tug. Her shirt was snagged! With a final burst of energy, she pulled herself forward, her shirt giving way. Pushing herself up, she scooped up her backpack and staggered into the orchard. Throwing away her soaking pack, she leaned her back up against the nearest trunk and slid down. Every inch of her was tender and exhausted.

She looked down her front. Mud and grass were glued across her trembling body.

“Some adventure,” she said between heavy breaths.

Brooklyn looked up. Never had she seen on orchard where the trees had been planted so close together. Their branches spread and intertwined to create a canopy that provided ideal shelter from the pelting rain. Then her eyes saw something among the leaves. Little spots of intense red and pink and orange. They sparkled throughout the foliage like tiny, twinkling stars. Fruit! But she could not make out what kind. They were definitely uncommon as she could not immediately identify them but she was too exhausted to wrack her brain or consult her field guide. Whatever they were, their blossoms gave off the most delicious scent. Sweet and thick like honey. Brooklyn was relieved. She put her hand over her heart to try to calm herself. She felt more mud and grass. Water pooled near the root of the tree where she sat so she dipped her hands into it and began to wipe away the mud on her arms.

“Well, here’s my adventure I guess.” The mud ran off her in streaks. After most of the dirt was off her arms, she moved to washing her legs, dipping her feet in the pool and rubbing her toes. The tepid water relaxed her nerves and she filled her lungs with more of the sweet, perfumed air. She worked her way up from her ankles and calves to her sore and aching thighs. She looked at her soiled tank top and khakis. She stretched out her shirt and scrubbed at the mud in it with her knuckles, only smearing it deeper into the fabric. Brooklyn felt filthy and miserable.

It could always come off, just for a moment. Brooklyn bit her lip. The filth in the shirt was beginning to irritate her skin. Plus, she did have a sports bra on in case anyone did happen to show up. Though she couldn’t imagine who would be out during a storm like this-Brooklyn cursed herself. She looked out into the rain, up the trail the she had come sprinting down, only to be caught on the barb wire.

The barb wire! Brooklyn’s hands began exploring her shirt searching for where a hole might be. She could find none.

“What if it pierced through?” she thought.

“Can you get tetanus from barb wire?”

Brooklyn held a breath. Seizing up the hem of the tank top, she lifted it up and away. It peeled off her skin. She let out her breath.

“Is it supposed to feel this good to undress outside?”

Looking over the shirt, she found no tears in the fabric.

“No tetanus.”

She balled the shirt up and squeezed the water out over her fingers and onto the ground. She unfurled the shirt and hung it on a seedling that was within reach Then she laid back against the trunk of the tree and let her exposed skin breathe. She looked back up the trail where just a moment ago, she was wandering around, a look of **** probably in her eyes.

Now that she was out of the storm, the mountain took on another look of beauty. The violent winds had passed and now a steady drizzle fell. Far off, a roll of thunder hummed and died away. Brooklyn brushed back her bangs and took in some more of the luscious, languid air. She had acted a fool on the trail. She had nothing to fear. She had only gotten a little wet and a little dirty. If the muck that she was covered in bothered her that much, she could always just strip down- rip off all of these muddy clothes right now and shower in the rain-

Brooklyn’s heart began to pulse again.

“Yeah, imagine that!” she joked to herself.

Yeah, imagine. A quiet, composed bookworm like her suddenly out there in the middle of the storm, bare ass naked in front of everyone. In front of everything. Naked and showering in the rain, rubbing away the grime from her body. Imagine if someone were to see, worse yet, someone she knew! Would they call her a slut? Would they think she was crazy? Maybe the world could use some more crazy. More people peeling off everything and feeling the water fall from the sky and run down their bodies. Imagine if she was like that, rinsing her hair and splashing rain water against her breasts, maybe swaying to the rhythm of the rain. Imagine her young body glistening and twisting and bouncing.

Brooklyn stood up. She must be getting delirious. The excitement of the afternoon had her mind going to strange place. She drew in a deep, indecisive breath. The scent of the fruit touched her tongue.

Hungry! She must be hungry. She thought of the granola bars still in her bag, all probably mashed to crumbs by now. Still, food is food. Then, there was always the fruit that surrounded her. She wasn’t completely comfortable with eating some unknown fruit but certainly they were safe for eating if there was an entire orchard of them! Besides going to get her field guide would only mean going back out into the rain.