The Oak Hotel - Watty Awards 2013 Finalist

Chapter Six - Kafír Rosette

Chapter Six

Kafír Rosette

The train whistled only twice more, each time softer. There were no shouts of alarm and they were not, so far as they could tell, being followed. Still, Lincoln and Kayleigh moved quickly, wasting little time looking back.

When daylight no longer filtered down through the heavy tree cover, the path became much more difficult to see. Eventually, they were forced to walk slowly and test the ground every few steps with their hands. Long hours later, exhausted, they stopped and felt their way to a large tree trunk. Snuggling down between its exposed, weathered roots, the full weight of the evening blanketed them.

“Did you get a chance to see what was on that piece of paper?” Kayleigh whispered.

Lincoln moved close so their foreheads were nearly touching.

“No,” he replied, “I just shoved it in my pocket.”

“A flashlight would be nice.”

“I’d take a cold Pepsi.”

“And a double-cheese pizza.”

They laughed quietly together.

“Is it okay if I lean back on you?” Kayleigh asked, arching her sore back.

“If you want, but I'm sure I don't smell very good.”

“That’s okay. You honestly can’t be much worse than me.”

Kayleigh rested slowly back against his left shoulder.

“I’m not hurting you, am I?” she asked.

“No, but tomorrow night when we have to sleep in the woods against a tree in total darkness, can we swap places?”

She swatted at his leg, “Don’t get fresh with me, Mister.”

Within five minutes, they had fallen into a deep sleep, lulled by the sound of their breathing.

*     *     *

“Oh, such joy…” a soft, hushed voice said.

Lincoln stirred, beginning to rise from night’s ocean.

“I can’t believe you are here with me again…”

Kayleigh heard the voice, too, but imagined she was still asleep and dreaming.

“You must wake, children of Earth.”

At this, both Lincoln and Kayleigh sat quickly upright. Lincoln’s back was knotted and his shoulder ached. Kayleigh found that she had little feeling in her right arm and her head buzzed with pain. Kneeling and then standing, they looked around. The dark forest they had fallen asleep in was no longer a foreboding unknown. Early sunlight filtered down through the higher branches and caught clouds of tiny gnats, dawn mist and floating eddies of dust. As they breathed deeply, the air smelled wonderful, as if they were drinking long swallows of cold, spring water.

Yet all was silent.

“You heard the voice?” Kayleigh asked.

Lincoln nodded, leaning into the morning to try and recapture it. A breeze brushed past them.

“Beautiful children of mine, listen please. Look up as well so I may see your youthful eyes.”

A mild shock pricked their skin as they turned to the same oak tree that had cradled them throughout the night. The trunk was at least twenty feet in diameter. The tree was simply enormous. Lincoln searched for a person hiding in the branches, but set this idea aside for the nearest limbs were over forty feet above them. He did notice an odd look on Kayleigh’s face, though. Her eyes stared straight up into the higher canopy. Another breeze.