Revival

Aaron walked until the setting sun made it too dangerous to carry on. His skid was becoming harder to drag along behind him because the snowpack was melting into rivulets of ice water. He decided that tomorrow he would leave his trusty sled, along with a portion of his supplies, behind. What items he would take and what would be left behind should have been foremost on his mind, but it wasn’t.

All afternoon, the only thing he could think about was the young woman. Where had she come from? Why didn’t she speak? How could she survive without supplies and some sort of weapon? And, the biggest question of all, where did she go? For the last three years, Aaron thought he was the last surviving human on Earth, and now a woman had appeared out of nowhere. She was a conundrum, wrapped in an enigma,

Aaron quickly pitched his little two-man pup tent, then scouted the area for anything that resembled food. It was his lucky night, but not so for the snowshoe rabbit. Its luck had run out. Triumphantly, he returned to camp with his prey slung over one shoulder and some nuts and leaves stuffed in his coat pocket. Finally, it was time for a filling meal. Aaron quickly built a fire, skinned and gutted the rabbit, and boiled a pot of snow for water to cook with. His stomach spent the prep time growling at him to hurry it up.

Night encompassed his portion of the planet the way the evil one’s black cape wrapped around his victim’s souls, but unlike the impenetrable cloak, brilliant specks of light created connect the dot mosaics in the sky. The fire crackled and popped as the scent of rabbit stew permeated the chilly night air. Strange, Aaron knew he was alone, but his Spidey sense told him someone or something was watching him. He decided to find out if his feeling was right or if it was simply his imagination.

His supper was ready. Aaron removed two bowls from his supplies and filled them with steaming stew. He brought one bowl to the opposite side of the campfire, set it down on a rock, and walked back to the other side of the flames. Once he returned to his perch, his bowl in hand, Aaron called out, “If you’re hungry, come and get it before the stew gets cold.” and scooped a spoon full of stew in his mouth.

Her movement was nearly undetectable as she stealthily emerged from the blackness and moved cautiously toward the bowl of steaming stew. Aaron displayed a welcoming smile but remained fixed in place. After scooping another spoonful into his mouth, Aaron exclaimed, “This has got to be the best rabbit stew I’ve ever made. Wait until you try it. Damn, it’s good!” A weasel emerged from the woods and made a beeline for the bowl of soup. Before Aaron had time to react, the mystery lady hurled a rock she was carrying through the air, striking the sneaky little critter in the head. It let out a squeal of pain and raced back into the woods.

“All right, lady! That was an outstanding shot. I hope your rock wasn’t meant for me?”

For the first time since he encountered her, Aaron could see the hint of a smile crease her lips. We have progress, at last, he thought. It’s not a lot of progress, but progress n0netheless. His mystery guest devoured her bowl of stew and, like Oliver Twist, held her bowl out, silently gesturing for more. Aaron couldn’t contain his laughter as he ladled more stew into her bowl.

“My name is Aaron. What’s yours?”

She stared back at him, her timidity returning. Finally, after her last spoonful of stew, in a croaky voice, she whispered, “Jane.”

“I’m happy to meet you, Jane. For years, I thought I was the last living human on the planet until I saw you. Are there others living in this area?”

A look of sheer terror shot across her face, and she reflexively took a defensive stance. Evil was the only word she could utter. To back up her claim, Jane turned her back to him and raised her shirt, exposing her back. Spreading from shoulder to shoulder was an ugly symbol of a demon branded into her flesh. She dropped her shirt back down and turned to face him.

“It’s okay, Jane. You’re safe with me. We can talk about this in the morning if you want to or not. It’s up to you. It’s getting late and I’m going to bed. You can join me in the tent or stay out here it's your choice.”

Aaron turned and crawled into the tent thinking, what the hell have I got myself into? Several minutes later, Jane crawled in and they both fell fast asleep.

(Tomorrow we hit the road for our journey to our new home. I'll be out of the loop for a while but plan on returning to the vocal community as quickly as possible. Until then, please keep creating great stories so I'll have something to read when I return.)