You left me in the forest Alone dark and scared which was weird for me because I told you every fear. You grabbed my hand only for it to fall it felt like time stopped and then I magically tripped down some sort of rabbit hole.

You left me in the forest I told you that was my fear, not the forest itself but just the atmosphere. Your words were like thunder it was loud and clear.

The forest was your words clouding my doubt. As you walked through the forest followed but not closely I stared to notice everything you touched turned into dust I asked myself how I could ever let myself love someone this much how can I love someone who just turns something so beautiful into dust?

When you left me in the forest I picked myself back up again like putting back broken puzzles of glass. I went through the forest and suddenly everything shined and the air felt less thick and the Sky began to shine. It’s true that when you left it was my biggest fear but suddenly everything became crystal clear.

I was suddenly caught in a rainstorm. My mother, bless her heart, had warned me not to go out today because of the impending storm, but I didn’t listen. I was going to catch a nasty cold out in the storm, and I was grateful that I had my raincoat and rain hat. I saw a cabin. Desperate for warmth, I knocked on the door. An elderly woman answered, and she invited me inside and allowed me to sit by the fire. She gave me a piece of chocolate cake, and it tasted amazing. She offered me some nightclothes and a warm bed. I called my mom, and she was relieved that I was safe. The next morning, after I ate some porridge, I went on my way home.

                                                        The end

I want that dick down my throat Until my face turn blue and i start to choke I love when his fingers go in my ass I turn around and scream and tell him to go fast If I had to chose between life and sucking his dick I’ll choose to give him my last I love it when he scream what’s my name and spit in my ass

He was caught in a sudden thunderstorm in the forest. The droplets started small and he didn’t think much of it, soon the droplets became large drops that saturated his entire being. He was wet head to toe and he lived it. He smiled with joy. There’s nothing more refreshing then being outside on a warm day and getting washed by God’s tears. It feels so good to get wet in the rain. So natural. And so healing. Who cares if my clothes get wet. I just want to feel God more.

My tears stained already soaked clothes. For I thought the leaking clouds that covered the sky—the very sky that was sunny just moments ago, had ruined what I once deemed so perfect

A warm shiver ran down my spine as I felt your strong arms pull me in in to a soggy embrace. I heard a whisper in my ear, “Tag” Then watched as you ran away. Smiling. Laughing. Drops of rain running down your face. Turning my idea of perfect, flawed. Turning my idea of ruined, beautiful.

In that moment I realized… you don’t need to turn my grey skies sunny. It’s I who needs to turn my sunny skies grey once in a while.

I don’t leave Maisie’s side once. I don’t care what Tommy will say, all I care about is Maisie. And I’m afraid that if I let her out of my sight it will be the last time I ever see her.

I lean against the wall, my arm around Maisie’s shoulders as she sleeps, her cheeks still wet. My shirt is still tightly secure around her arm, I haven’t checked yet but I’m hoping that the bleeding has stopped.

Maisie groans in her sleep, making me look down to see if she’s okay. I pull her closer, careful not to wake her up. Maisie moves closer to me, her cheek resting gently on my bare shoulder.

I look over at the clock that’s ticking softly across the room. It’s a couple minutes past midnight, and I can barely keep my eyes open.

“Come on,” I mumble to myself, taking in a long breath of air. “Stay up.”

The longer I keep my eyes open the more they beg me to let them shut. I shake my head, as my eyes roll back.

I haven’t been this tired in a long time. Every minute that passes feels like hours.

Stay awake, if you don’t Maisie could wake up. She could finish what she started.

My eyes fly to the shining knife that’s laying peacefully in the center of the room. I’d forgotten all about it, now I really have to stay awake. Maisie could easily slide out of my arms and grab it.

I can’t keep fighting, my eyes shut and before I know it I’m sleeping.

I know because I see the same nightmare that’s been haunting me for the past five months. Screaming, crashing, the sound of metal against metal. But something is different I can hear a voice.

“Save me,” it whispers. “Davian save me.”

The voice echos, as I stir awake. There’s a small yellow glow breaking through the blinds, for a minute I’m not sure where I am.

Maisie, I sit up so fast that I’m dizzy as I gaze around the room. Relief floods through me as I see Maisie sitting on the end of her bed. I guess when I feel asleep she let me take the whole bed.

“You good?” I ask, scanning her face.

Maisie nods slowly, as she plays with ther corner of a blanket. “I’m fine.”

I’m not conviced, I don’t think I’ll ever be conviced. “What happened?”

Maisie’s eyes flick to mine. “Everything.”

Everything. It’s vague and at the same time it explains everything. The crash, losing her mom, living in her house but with her aunt and not the one person she needs.

I sigh as I shift across the bed over to Maisie’s side. “Can I ask you something?”

Maisie nods again. “Yeah.”

I lick my lips, trying to find the right words. “Can I kiss you?”

Whoa. That was not the way I wanted those words to come out. I mean of course I want to comfort Maisie, but a kiss. What the heck am I thinking?

Maisie twists her neck to stare into my eyes. “What?”

Wow, her eyes are blue. So blue, so perfect. So . . . Maisie.

My heart beats fast as I keep my eyes glued to hers. “Can I kiss you?”

Maisie doesn’t seem confused or surprised. She just looks like Maisie, perfect and so beautiful.

Before I can take back my words, Maisie grabs my face in between her hands and presses her lips on mine.

I feel a rush of emotions. Happiness, excitment, and something kind of like . . . Chocolate. Love.

I shut my eyes, wrapping my arms around Maisie’s back as she slides hers down to my neck.

We break apart. My heart racing faster than ever. “I guess that’s a yes.” I whisper.

The smallest smile spreads across Maisie’s lips. “I just wanted to be the first one to kiss you before I kiss you again.”

Maisie leans close and we kiss again. Still I feel all the same emotions, this time they’re even stronger.

Part of me feels like this is wrong. Just last night Maisie was heartbroken. And I’m still the guy that killed her mom.

A loud rumble interrupts the silence. “Trish? Trish, where are you? Please wait for me!” Dan’s voice sounds inaudible from afar. The leaves rustle under my feet while rain is pelting, leaving me painfully aware of the danger I got caught up in. The tall trees paint shadows on the moss-covered ground and another rumble is sending shivers down my spine. My surrounding starts to spin and suddenly my knees hit the hard ground full of branches. A pain shoots through my body, leaving me unable to move. “Trish?!” Dan’s trembling voice is sounding breathy through the wind. “Dan…” my voice sounds weak. Is this it? Am I going to die, struck by a lightning because my jealousy made me run away? My eyelids feel heavy. Suddenly, strong arms grab mine. A muffled voice pierces through: “Trish? Trish? Are you okay?” My body is getting shaken. “Trish! Oh my god. Oh my god.” I feel how I am getting picked up, carried away. I’m bouncing on his arms, his breath comes out short. Is he running? He must be. But why? Isn’t the strucking light so beautiful? I breath in. The smell of rain clouds my senses, making me forget how dangerous this is. Another flash of lightning illuminates the green trees for a second, drawing a beautiful artwork. Suddenly, a loud ‘bang’ next to us. Orange light outlines Dan’s silhouette, then revealing an expression full of panic. A crackling sound fills the air, on top of Dan’s continuously quickening footsteps. “Shit, shit, shit” he mumbles as he runs. Runs away from something that my dizzy brain can’t process. The last thing I see is Dan’s terrified expression. Then: total darkness.

“Wait up! Quinn! Wait!” Ethan ran after me. A ferocious blush broke across my face. I kissed him… I kissed him!! I can’t believe I did that! What’s wrong with me! Your best friend since birth! He was not to far behind me, I couldn’t talk to him not now. I continued running, past my house, past the gate to the forest and the beware sign, until I got to my spot or rather our spot. The one place where no one else knew where we were. Our safe place, or so it usually was. I sat down on a log and put my head in my hands. What had I done?

A few minutes later, I heard foot steps off in the distance that quickly become louder and closer. I knew it was him, but I chose not to look up or rather I couldn’t, my fear and shame held me in place. He sat down next me and put his hand on my back, “Quinn, please talk to me.” I shook my head no and as I did tears rolled down my face. I could feel him staring at me, which made me even more uncomfortable. Then he took his hand that was on my back and put my hair behind my ear. “Quinn,” he said. I looked at him and he had a calm smile on his face. “We need to talk about this and I know you don’t want to, but we have to.” The thunder roared of in the distance as grey clouds shown through the trees. Great, just great, if we didn’t get out of the forest soon we’d be stuck. “Why’d you kiss me?” I got up quickly, “your right I don’t want to talk about this!” I started walking back out of the woods. Ethan followed me and grabbed my hand. Then the rain came pouring down on us. I turn to him but didn’t make eye contact with him.

“Quinn, talk to me. Why did you kiss me?” He asked me. When I didn’t answer he took a step closer to me. And then another, and another, he was so close I could feel his breath on me. He took his hand and moved my chin to where our heads were level. I still kept my eyes elsewhere. “Look at me,” he whispered. When I looked him I’m the eyes he said,” I like you,” which sent butterflies through me stomach. I smiled at him. Ethan leaned in. Then we kissed, not caring about the rain or the thunder.

My feet hit the ground hard as I broke into a sprint from the blacktop into the forrest. My heart pounded, my lungs were on fire but I kept running. I knew he wasn’t very far behind me, and I couldn’t take the chance of being caught to slow down for even a moment. As I neared a quarter mile into the forrest the clouds that had been looming overhead all day finally began to rain. I used the rain as an opportunity to hide for a moment and catch my breath. His senses would be dulled so it was the only time I’d be able to rest. My heart was still racing… it had been four years since I’d seen him and it was still to soon. My mind floated back to the day we’d met, that being the last day I truly felt safe..

I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard him. “Veronica!” His voice was muffled by the rain but it sounded close. I gathered my courage and began my sprint again. I weaves through the trees and thick undergrowth hoping it would lose him. After a while I slowed to a jog, I wasn’t easy to track to begin with, but with the weather conditions it was near impossible. I smiled to myself thinking I’d done it, when I heard him.

“Veronica..” he said out of breath. I whipped around to see him standing there just feet from me. His clothes were soaked and stuck to his skin. His body heaving trying to regain his breath. I took a step back as tears began to form in my eyes.

“Veronica don’t move” he commanded as he took a step towards me. I felt trapped and helpless, I couldn’t go back there again. I decided my chances would be better off if I started running again. I turned to run and as I did the ground began giving way beneath me.. a mudslide.. I braced myself for the pain, closing my eyes tightly.

I felt his hand grasp my arm as I fell, pulling me up with great strength. I began to beat on him begging for him to let me go, but instead he held me. He held me close to him, with big gentle arms and a large hand placed upon my head.

“Please Veronica.. don’t scare me like that” his voice was filled with worry. I looked up at him and saw the tears in his eyes. I couldn’t help but feel confused.. why him? The one who’s been actively ruining my life for years. The one working for the people who want me dead.. why is he worried about me?

We stood there, for a long time, until the rain had stopped. That was the day, I began to feel safe again.

Bones looked skyward, just in time for a rotund, rogue raindrop to thwap of the lens of his Oakleys.

“Dammit,” he said, taking them off and looking for a clean part of his shirt suitable to use as a chamois.

Val replied without looking, in his custom gruff-voiced, monosyllabic way, “Yeah. Sucks. Keep on.”

“Roger that.” Bones put his sunglasses back on and flipped his ball cap back around so the brim would keep the rain off them.

The two men put their packs back on and continued north east, uphill at a quad-burning eight percent grade, through the thick underbrush. They only packed what they couldn’t craft, but their full load-out was still upwards of thirty pounds each. They were used to completing entire CrossFit WODs with plate carriers that weighed nearly as much, but this was always different; It wasn’t the weight of the gears as much as the slow, boa-like constriction of it pressing down on them—on their torsos, shoulders, lungs—slowly, over the hours and hours it could take to reach their destination.

“Spector 1, Spector 4,” a quiet voice said through their earpieces.

“Go,” Val said, not stopping.

“Eyes on three tangos, south-southeast of your location. Looks like a patrol.”

“Roger that. Verdict?”

“I think we can skirt past them, no prob.”

“Do it. Head toward us, we’ll meet at OP-2.”

“Copy.”

Bones, on instinct, tapped the mag on his .300 SBR, ensuring it was properly seated. The two men wordlessly continued the climb, as silent as any forest dwelling animals, and just as at home on the damp, mist-shrouded mountainside.

Bones let his support hand drop from his rifle to adjust his IFAK thigh-rig (why did they have a tendency to pinch areas he didn’t want pinched?). He looked uphill, still unable to get a glimpse of the top, but he felt they must be close. Distances always looked closer on paper. Even after so many missions in so many parts of the world conducted on so many varied terrains under so many different circumstances, he still remained somehow optimistic about how long it would take to get from A to B on foot.

It always took longer.

It was full-on raining now, which meant the ground would start to soften, footholds become slippery.

It would take longer.

Val popped up a closed fist and Bones reflexively turned, dropped to one knee, back-to-back with his partner, covering their six. “Whadda you got?” he whispered.

“Two tangos, my one o’clock, just past that fallen tree.”

“Thoughts?”

Silently, Val flipped over a Velcro arm sleeve to reveal a topographical map. “Danger-close to the OP.”

“Roger that. You take the big one,” Bones said with a wink, knowing that it was always the same: He took the right, Val the left, matching their dominant hands.

“Spector 4, two tangos on our loc. We need to clear.”

“Roger that. Support?”

“Negative. Hold.”

“Roger that.”

Wordlessly, Val and Bones advanced toward where the former had glimpsed the two men on foot patrol. In a matter of seconds, they each had their targets sighted. Val keyed his mic three times, the sign that they were to fire in three, two…

To the uninitiated, it sounded like someone dropped a phone book on a table. The subsonic rounds passed through the short barrels—explosive gasses bouncing around inside of their attached suppressors, hiding the flash, dampening the bang. The first man saw his compatriots neck open in a bloody splatter, just before his own lungs and heart stopped working.

A woodpecker started to tap-tap-tap for its lunch somewhere in the distance.

“Spector 4, threat neutralized. Head our way.”

“Copy.”

The OP was better than anticipated, the satellite images not accounting for a few perfectly placed boulders courtesy of a recent rock slide. From their vantage point, the four operators could each find natural cover and concealment, with an unrestricted view of the compound below. Bones had learned from hard-fought experience to take wins when he got them.

“Yo, snagged the back of my calf on a branch,” Cricket said, quietly dropping her pack next to Bones.

“I got you.” Bones, living up to his Star Trek-inspired nickname, rendered some minor first aid, patching up the gash. “You’ll live.”

The four found their respective observation spots and waited. If the intel was correct, the HVT would be on-site by one that morning. But intel was never exactly correct, or even guaranteed to be correct at all, so they were in for a potentially long night.

Sun down, Val told Cricket and Starbucks to get some shuteye, that he and Bones would take the first watch.

Bones flipped down his night vision goggles and watched as the various tangos milled about. Strange thing, this. He couldn’t help, as he observed them, to start to see personalities, differences. The way one man might stand, another’s unique gait. He could tell who was in charge, who was brand new. He could even tell, roughly, if a conversation was about work or just bullshitting by the way the participants moved, looked at each other, gestured.

The baddies were supposed to be vigilant, on guard for threats, ready to fight. That was the double-edged sword of distant, well-hidden bases: it gave them a false sense of security, made them lazy. It was that, plus the element of surprise, that usually led to a four-person team successfully completing missions against groups five or six times larger.

Bones said a silent prayer that this would be another one of those times.

As he contemplated the next few critical moments of his ever-risky life, he caught a glimpse of an off-road vehicle navigating its way up the path to the north west of the compound.

“Yo.”

“I see it.”

Val used his foot to gently tap Cricket’s foot, waking her up. She, in turn, alerted Starbucks. The four were back on their weapons in an instant, prepped, ready.

The vehicle slowed, then stopped. Four more tangos exited, words were exchanged. Convinced things were safe, the HVT got out of the back of the vehicle, shook hands with one of the bad guys, and started to walk toward the building.

Flashes of light filled the sky.

A peal of thunder, then another, echoed through the mountains.

Bones looked down scope, as Val keyed his mic three times.