Originally Posted by
Razor7826
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Through the Woods
By Razor7826 (Copyright, 2008)
Juliana Henry swatted away the probing hands of her professor and rose from the couch. “I… I have to go,” she muttered quietly as she gathered her purse and coat, leaving behind the folded term paper that she was once so very proud of.
Her professor said nothing as he watched her leave, keeping his perverse fantasies to himself. Even when she reached the end of the driveway, Richard Alison continued to stalk her with his eyes from inside his front doorway.
She walked faster down the sidewalk, hoping to escape his lecherous glare. Her mind still swirled from the cocktail of wine and adrenaline. Never had she been forced into such a position, though she acknowledged that she had seen it coming. Though his words alone spoke nothing beyond a typical relationship between teacher and prized student, the subtleties of his actions revealed more; his open ended question, enticement for personal details, and frequently excessive compliments revealed something beyond mere respect.
She liked it; that much she was willing to admit. All her life she had been skimmed over by men in favor of her sluttier, dumber friends, classmates, and family, (throwing the family in was a bit of overkill, her family seems anything but slutty and it was deeply satisfying to receive the attention of a man like the famed and respected Richard Alison.
Her thoughts turned back to the entire evening.( I suspect thoughts would turn to a specific point in time or wander over an entire space of time) The dinner, the booze, his prodding questions—all preceding his move. That’s what it was, she was certain: an attempt to bed her outside of marriage.
A cold sweat ran down her face. She knew her parents would kill (him/her?) if they found out a professor was touching her, though that wasn’t the only thing they didn’t know. Her taste for booze, her contemplations of a future outside the (their, for emphasis of the conflict) home; she was not the traditional daughter they had hoped for.
Hell, they’d kill (a bit mellow dramatic in the repetition) if they found out she was walking home alone at night. Their world was populated by dark forces and evil people, constantly on the prowl for young women to corrupt. Perhaps their views were justified in some corner of the world, or in eras distantly past, but that world, fortunately, was not hers. The college town was almost completely safe; it had been years since there the last murder, and even longer since any fatal car accidents. No, she was completely safe and free to wander the streets alone, no matter what her parents thought of the world.
A chill breeze swept through across the forested road, spurring Juliana to huddle into her grey wool coat. She hadn’t dressed for an unexpected walk home, but it wasn’t much further, especially if she took the shortcut. It would be safe, she told herself as she turned right into the forest onto the beaten trail.
Though night time, the light from the half-moon lit the sparsely populated forest and guided Juliana down the dirt trail. It was clear and straight, just as she had walked down it dozens of time before. In the distance, she could see the lit windows of her three-story all women’s dormitory. However, her stride home was interrupted when she noticed the dim glow of a camp fire to her right. It was deep into the woods, as if the patrons had intended to not be seen at all, but failed.
Juliana’s eyes turned back and forth between her dorm and the mysterious light. She wanted to go home, shower, fall asleep and put the night’s evening ?? (twilight?) behind her, but something drew her towards the fire, into the darkness of the unbeaten path.
Twigs snapped underneath her feet as she made her way through the woods. The clearing was further away than she perceived. As she drew closer, she slowed down, quieting her steps to avoid detection.
Around the camp fire sat three couples, all college students, huddled in their pairs around a raging camp fire. One of the men strummed at a guitar, playing a melody that Juliana vaguely recognized from the radio. She didn’t know what it was called, but it was… nice. Pleasant. On the radio, the song seemed so far away and detached from reality, but hearing it in person was an entirely new experience.
Something burned in the air, something distinctly different from the bonfire. It looked like they were smoking, but Juliana didn’t recognize the smell. They passed the cigarette around, each taking brief huffs (puffs?)before passing it along. One by one, they took a deep breath, closed their eyes, held in the smoke, and exhaled as if trying to savor the flavor of the cigarette. Though she herself had never smoked, her father’s cigar habit had given her a brief glimpse as to what smokers found so appealling.
However, she still wondered why they were sharing a single cigarette, but quickly realized the extent of her naiveté; it wasn’t a cigarette. It was pot.
The devil’s drug.
However, the crowd looked so peaceful, so serene, unlike the raging lustful freaks she had been told marijuana birthed.
Fascinated, she leaned in closer and watched their behavior. Their actions belied serenity, not insanity. She had been lied to, as simple as that. Once again her parents’ warnings were out of synch (sync) with reality.
From the shadows, she continued to watch them sing and sway while fighting the urge to join them. All that kept her firmly in place was fear. Fear, not of them and what they did, but of her own ineptitude. For all her studies, she was still terrified of simple, cold introductions.
She turned and fled back through the darkness back to the dormitory. The matron gave a stern glare as she walked past the front desk. It was after eleven, and her roommate was nowhere to be found. She slipped out of her sweater, put on her pajamas, and climbed into bed to put the strenuous day behind her. But, sleep did not come easily. Her mind swirled with the evenings events.
Richard’s dismissed advances. Her walk alone in the dark. The forest, the campfire, and the potheads. None inherently safe or dangerous, but ambiguous. The world was not the land of black and white she was raised to believe in. There was no true evil, nothing to avoid at all costs.
But if that is true, why did she reject Richard? Why did she push away the only man that seemed to understand her? Something inside her burned away, but she knew not what.
She fell asleep without answers.
