Nydewin

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

I watched as the last car load of Jason’s belongings drove down and out the driveway. I stood there a while after the taillights had disappeared, staring down the driveway. There was something about the whole situation, that had me feeling numb. I didn’t know how I was meant to feel. Anger? Relief? Happiness? Maybe all of it?

I shook my head, without family or friends, with no one to turn to, I had no one to ask the questions that I needed answers to. Why now? Why me? Why her? Why don’t I care? Just why?

I shook my head, cursing myself. There was no point in worrying about it now. It was all over, he was gone.

I noticed that the sky was beginning to dark, so decided to go inside. A bird shrieked loudly in one of the old trees that made up the boundary between house and forest, while looking for the bird, I noticed movement coming from one of the shrubs at the edge of the forest. I gazed, searchingly for whatever could have made the moment. It wasn’t until I was about to turn to go inside that I saw them. A pair of yellow glowing eyes looking at me from among the branches.

The sun had set far enough that I had to squint to try and get a better look at the creature watching me. I stared in to the glowing eyes, and had the sudden, uncontrollable urge to walk towards them. There was something about the eyes, that mesmerized me, and I wanted to know why. However, as I took my first step towards the glowing eyes, they vanished. I blinked a few times and shook myself. Wondering what had come over me, as I walked inside, I glanced back down the driveway one more time, wondering to myself if Jason would try to come back.

That night I slept restlessly, waking several times from dreams about strange creatures with wings and in every dream, there would always be the same blue-eyed red fox. I woke the next morning with a headache, feeling ill rested.

So, it wasn’t until I was standing at the kitchen sink looking out at the forest, coffee in hand that I noticed what looked like the same red fox from my dreams. Sitting patiently in the open looking at me. I swallowed hard, the mouthful of hot coffee. I stared at the fox in disbelief, thinking how strange it was to have a fox in this area. I continued to watch the fox as I finished my coffee. Deciding only when the cup was empty that I would have to go scare him off.

I walked outside, broom in hand. “Go away, get!” I yelled at the fox

The fox only started a bit, jumping to his feet to look from me to the forest and back.

I shouted again for the fox to ‘get, this time waving the broom. The fox seemed to finally get the hint and left.

I watched as the fox made his way back into the forest, deciding right then that I would have to fix the chook pen, thinking that was probably what the fox was after.

For days after this first encounter, the fox would appear in the backyard, every morning, and every morning the fox would wait for me to finished me morning cup of coffee before heading back into the forest. It was on the fifth day when the fox hadn’t attacked any of the chicken, I decided that I would sit outside on the porch with the fox and watch him. This mostly consisted of watching him sunbake,  until I finished my morning cuppa, for which then he would get up and leave.

This new addition to my morning routine had become so expected, that two weeks later, when I went outside with my morning cuppa. I was disappointed to find that the blue-eyed red fox had decided not to show.

By mid-afternoon the day had gotten so hot that, I could no longer bare to be inside. Deciding instead to go for a swim, in the creek a short distance from the house. It wasn’t until I got to the creek, that I got the strange sensation that someone was watching me.

I continued to look behind me, expecting to find someone following me. But always the trail was empty.

Just as I had begun to fill calm again, a cry of pain filled my hears. I spun around in circles looking trying to figure out where the screams had come from

“Hello?” I screamed out, hoping someone would answer me.

Only silence answered.

“Hello!” I screamed louder, “Do you need my help?”

Fear that was starting to seep in. ‘What if, what I heard was the sound of someone dying?’ ‘What if they had just passed out from the pain, and could answer, but were currently bleeding out.’ All sorts of scenarios were playing out in my head.

I turned slowly hoping to find whoever, whatever had made the noise. I was starting to think that I may have just been hearing things, when I heard a small whimper from the undergrowth beside the bath.

Gingerly I moved towards the whimpering, scared of what I might find. I bent down slowly and moved a branch from my view.

“Hello, there.” I smiled sheepishly at the fox. “Didn’t see you for breakfast.”

The fox looked up at me and tilted his head to one side, then back down at his hind leg. I peered passed the fox to discover that his hind leg was trapped in a thorny vine. I gasped at the amount of blood that was pooling on the ground under him.

The fox looked up at me with his blue eyes, almost pleadingly.

“Okay, I’m going to try and help, but I need you to promise me that you won’t hurt me.” I spoke to the fox more to calm myself, then anything. Yet the fox seemed to answer me with a nod.

I shook my head, ‘The heat is messing with me.’ I thought to myself, as I grabbed my lucky shears from my backpack.

“You are lucky that I don’t go anywhere without these.” I told the fox, as I slowly stared to cut away at the thorny vine. Careful not to stab myself in the prosses.

The whole prosses was over in under five minutes.

“There,” I exclaimed as I cut the last of the vine away from the fox, I bent to get a closer look at the wounds, only to have the fox growl softly at me as a warning.

I had forgotten that this beautiful fox was a wild animal, I had let my guard down and had nearly regretted it I watched as the fox moved cautiously, limping slightly on his back leg. Soon he was licking his wounds clean. Pleased that the fox seemed reasonably happy.

“You need to be a bit more careful. Okay.” I spoke to the fox.

I looked down at my watch, thankful that I would still have time for a swim.

Without another word to the fox, I made my way further down the path, to the swimming spot my grandmother showed me when I was younger.

Once there laid, my towel out on the grass in the shade of a young mahogany tree, that I had planted only three years earlier.

“Hello Grandma,” I said taking a sit on the towel “Sorry its’ been so long, I just haven’t had the time to get away.” I continued as I reach out to touch the trunk of the tree. “His gone now though, gone for good, just like you wanted.”

I sat a while, watching the crystal, clear spring water, flow over a small mound of boulders, making small rapids, before flowing into deeper water creating, a decent swimming hole. I sat there allowing myself to finally let all the emotions that I had been bottling up for the last couple of months just flow free like the water in the creek.

The hatred, the fear, the anxiety, the pain, they all came to the surface, crushing me. I brought my knees to my chest, hugging them, I allowed myself to cry, for what felt like, the first time in ages. Wondering again, and again what was wrong with me, and why I never seemed to be enough for anyone.

Only when the tears ran dry, and I could finally muster the energy to move, I reach out my hand to touch the mahogany sapling and smiled. I took in a deep breath and started telling grandma, everything that had been happening in the last couple of months. From finding out that Jason had been cheating on me for the last year, and that she was now pregnant. I then started telling her about all the strange dreams that I had just started having. It felt good to talk to someone, even if I could never hear their voice again.

It was in the middle of explaining one of these dreams, when I heard a movement behind me. I turned quickly, pricking my finger on the tree. I put my finger to my mouth, sucking on it slightly as I continued to look around for what made the noise. It wasn’t until I seen a slight movement under an overgrown shrub that I spotted the red fox crouched under it, panting. I smiled at the strange fox, hoping that he was going to be okay.

I decided then that I would go for a quick dip in the creek, before heading back. I stripped down and jumped into the icy water, straight away I felt relaxed and calm in the water. Annoyed with myself that I hadn’t come for a swim earlier.

I floated on my back, watching the clouds roll across the sky slowly. ‘A storm’ I thought to myself. Only after I felt cleansed, and grateful of the cool healing water did I decided that it was time to get out. Wondering to myself if it was the same reason that grandma use to come down and soak her feet in the waters.

I laid on the towel to drip dry in the shade, it wasn’t until I started to drift off to sleep that a strong, icy cold breeze blew in, bringing me out of my trance. I looked up into the sky, only to find big dark storm clouds had started to roll in. I quickly got dressed and started to head back home. I had only taken a couple steps when I started to feel strange. I felt lightheaded, my limps felt heavy, and I had a metallic taste in my mouth.

“Shit.” My voice sounded loud, startling me. I started to move faster, praying that I wouldn’t have the black out before I got home. I hadn’t had one in years, but I never knew how long they lasted, and I didn’t want to be stuck out in the forest at night in the rain. I was only able to take a couple more steps before I started to feel my legs go numb, then gave out. ‘s**t’ I thought again. As my vision went black.

Usually my black outs where just that, black outs. I remembered nothing during these times, only blackness. Doctor’s had made me do numerous tests, and still they had no idea what they were or what caused them.