happy to be lost

Do you remember how we met? I ask softly.

Yes, you whisper, I remember.

The sun had rode high in the sky that day while I strolled through the surrounding trees, the sunlight pleasantly warm upon my back. Eventually I entered a glade where a doe and two fawns nibbled the surrounding grass. The doe looked up at me but did not bolt. Animals unafraid of men seemed a good sign.

But at its edge, I stumbled upon a path back into the trees. Man! Or whatever we have become 100 years in the future. With the sudden realization of the precariousness of my situation, I started to run back toward the campsite, imagining the worst.

When I finally reached it, everything was already gone. The time machine, our equipment and weapons. Were they attacked? Did those bastards leave without me?

Once I recovered my wits, I climbed a tree and searched the horizon for a place to hide where I could see enemy coming before they spotted me. The sun was setting by the time I reached the top of the hill that I spied from its heights.

Behind the hill's crest, an old hunting lodge covered in vines and tucked into the surrounding trees stood in defiance of time.

Miraculously, it had a potbellied stove in its center, still loaded with dry kindling. Gathering pine needles, I placed them atop the wood and began striking the flint I found on the stove with the blade of my hunting knife until the sparks lit the needles and gently blew on them to ignite the kindling.

I found an old blanket inside a chest of drawers and sat in front of the stove with it wrapped around me. At some point I fell into a deep sleep. Awakening with a start, I sat up in alarm to you standing in the pale moonlight in the open doorway, your eyes gazing intently out of a blood red mask, your hair and flesh white as ash.

Your friends left, your first words to me.

Why?

You shrugged, staring at me curiously.

Changing the subject, you said, Can I sit with you? I’m cold.

Yes. I wrapped part of the blanket around you when you sat, your shoulder pressed against mine. Whose land is this, I asked.

Corie Clan.

You touched my face gently, your eyes gazing unblinking into mine, my skin tingling with pleasure. The intimacy of the gesture surprised me, and for a moment or two I was happy to be lost.

Resting your head on my shoulder, you whispered I’m sleepy. I laid down on my back and you moved your head to my chest. I felt your breath, slow and steady, tickling my skin, my last thoughts that I desired you at my side forever.

But I awoke alone, the blanket tightly wrapped around me.

I stepped outside to see if you were nearby. Instead, I saw a broad chested man with arms crossed standing in the clearing like he was waiting for me.

He simply said, You need to come with me.

I thought about making a run for it, but I figured he was not alone and three others soon emerged from the trees. I followed him out of the clearing and into the woods and began walking downhill. When we arrived at the river, two canoes were beached.

The trip downriver took hours. But my captors ignored me while I considered all the things they might do with me.

The river flowed into a bay where several outrigger canoes rested on the sand. In the distance, an outrigger entered the inlet between two narrow strips of palm line beaches at the edge of the cove and headed toward the beach.

My captors brought me to a meeting lodge, set high upon stilts, where I sat waiting for God knows what. The sun had already set before a pair of boys brought me something to drink and eat.

The chieftain arrived with his guards and I was bade to stand and bow. He gazed calmly at me before asking, What clan are you?

One far, far from here.

What happened to your companions?

Left me.

Why?

I sighed. This land did not suit them.

He rubbed his chin as if trying to make a decision. But it suits you.

Yes.

What if I do not choose you.

I shrugged.

You can stay only if you marry a woman that I choose for you.

I thought of you and feared he would offer another. How can I support a wife? Let me prove myself worthy first and then choose me a wife.

I could see the irritation in the tightness of his jaw. He gestured to one of the guards and a few moments later the woman he had chosen walked in. I held me breath till you entered with your eyes cast downward.

Her father and mother are dead. She has inherited their lodge and voyaging canoe and is an accomplished wayfarer. Take her as your wife and consider it a great fortune at the behest of the Corie Clan.

I will take her, I answered, sealing the bargain.

...

You lean your white head on my shoulder like you did that first night while we sit together in the early morning light. Come on old man, you whisper, I have a surprise to show you.

Leading me to our voyaging canoe, now fully outfitted for an ocean journey, you look out at the sea with longing in your eyes and ask, Do you remember our first voyage?

I will never forget it. But we are old, and the seas are dangerous.

They were dangerous when we made our first journey, and you were a novice wayfarer. You’re no novice now.

I smile my assent, and you hug me tightly.

The winds are favorable, quickly filling the sail. Soon we skim swiftly across the water of the cove, fast approaching the inlet leading to the ocean, your eyes gleaming with joy once maneuvering the canoe into the choppy ocean waves. This is how I want to remember us.

Liam Storm's Time-Travel Unofficial Challenge