The Clearing
212 Words
📘 Chapter 8: The Clearing
The forest was darker than Lena expected — quiet in a way that made the trees feel like they were listening.
Jay stopped at a wide clearing beside a stream, setting down their bags. It wasn’t a house, but it was hidden. Silent. Safer than the world behind them.
They lit no fire.
Jay worked by flashlight, scanning the drive again while Lena kept watch.
“Do you ever regret it?” she asked, voice soft in the night. “Getting involved with my father?”
Jay didn’t look up. “Every day.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because I can’t undo the past. But maybe I can stop the future from being worse.”
Lena watched his face — the pain etched there like a scar no one could see.
She sat beside him.
“You said you never told me you loved me,” she said. “But did you feel it?”
He looked at her just once.
“Yes.”
She didn’t cry. Didn’t flinch.
She just took his hand.
For the first time since the fire, the silence felt warm.
Safe.
Then, a sound cracked in the trees.
A branch — too heavy, too sharp.
They were no longer alone.
- Writer
