You Can't Get There From Here

He watched as she vanished down the trail and into the woods passing from sight as if she had never existed at all. He had a fleeting second thought at the idea of her out in the woods alone in the evening, but he dismissed it. She knew her way around, and at her age, he would have felt just as confident in the woods by his old family home.

The McKenna's house was falling into the shadows of the big trees that surrounded it by the time he returned from his impromptu fishing trip. He washed up at the kitchen sink and made himself some dinner regretting for a moment that he didn't have that juicy fish to eat. The night sky was once again spectacular, and Brad took his ease outside trying to see how many constellations he could identify, but he found his thoughts distracted by the image of Mary's pretty face. It was the first time in a long while he had felt an attraction to a woman and it was very disconcerting. A bit of guilt gnawed at the back of his conscious wondering what Annie would think of him musing about some girl.

"Sorry, Sweetie..." he said to the darkness.

ANGEL OF THE MORNING -

Brad awoke with a start sitting bolt right up in bed. He had been pulled from an odd dream where he was fishing from the bank of the same stream where he and Mary had been the previous day only to have the pole yanked so hard forward that he was pulled into the water. The cold, damp darkness had surrounded him, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't let go of the pole and swim for the surface. Instead, he was dragged down ever deeper feeling the life starting to leave his body. The odd thing was he was not at all scared. In the dream, he had welcomed the darkness with the single thought that at least in death he would be reunited with Annie.

Then just when it seemed that death was going to claim him, a bright light had chased the darkness away, and a hand grasped his wrist almost painfully pulling him upward. He had burst from the water to stare into Mary's face that was suffused with a light so bright it made him look away.

"Don't be afraid; it's not your time, Brad."

Brad felt a shock run through his body because the voice that came from Mary's lips wasn't hers; it was Annie's.

He started to speak a thousand questions entering his mind, but then he was awake.

The loud barking that reverberated off the walls of the house provided a swift explanation as to what had jerked him from his slumber.

He looked over at his cell phone the time reading just a bit after five in the morning. It took him three tries to pull back the covers and swing his feet around planting them on the cold wood floor, and another long minute to get to a standing position. On the walk over to the front door, Brad paused to pull a t-shirt on over his head before swinging it open.

Smokey sat on his haunches on the other side his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He gave out another loud bark as Brad stood silhouetted in the doorway.

"Do you two have any idea what time it is?" asked Brad sleepily.

"Morning time?" said Mary smiling.

"Early morning time," replied Brad yawning.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you."

Being angry with Mary was hard. If anything she looked even more beautiful today than she had the day before. Her hair was pulled back into a hair clip on the back of her head bringing even more emphasis to the gorgeous features of her face. She had on a white summer dress covered in flower designs that clung to her like a wispy cloud surrounding a mountain peak.

"It's fine just a bit early for me; that's all."

"I guess you city folk like to sleep late."

"Come on in. This is nothing a pot of coffee won't cure."

"Let me make it. It's the least I can do for interrupting your rest."

Brad just nodded as the three of them made their way to the kitchen. Mary turned out to be a wizard with a coffee pot making him one of the best beverages he had ever had the privilege of drinking in the morning. She even rounded out her act of contrition by making him a breakfast of pancakes so fluffy that looked as if they would float right off the plate. They ate in silence enjoying the food.

"That was a fine meal, Mary. I guess I won't have to kill you now," said Brad leaning back to pat his belly.

"I'm glad my cooking has earned me a reprieve," she said.

"If you don't mind I'm going to take a quick shower. A day never feels like a day to me until I've had one."

"Sure, Smokey and I can keep ourselves entertained in the meantime."

"If you want to go ahead and look at the paintings they are in the last bedroom upstairs."

The hot shower did wonders for Brad's mood, as did the belly full of food he now enjoyed. He let the water run full on his face for several seconds chasing the last of the cobwebs from his tired brain. The mirror was heavily fogged over, so he took his time drying off in the bedroom before coming back for a quick shave, and to comb his wild hair into place. Returning to the living room, he started to make his way upstairs when he heard a noise coming from the study.

A single light was burning in the corner when he stepped into the doorway. Mary had taken a seat on the small couch that ran near the wall under the window her legs crossed Indian style. Smokey lay at her feet his head on his massive paws. She had a book in her hands and was reading aloud from it. Brad felt an unexpected moment of recognition when it dawned on him that he had heard these words in the past. It was a book of poems, and the one Mary was reciting happened to have been Annie's favorite, one she had quoted all the time. His hands curled into fists as Mary's voice unintentionally carried him back across the years.

"Please...stop..." he said in a tense, emotion-filled whisper.

Mary looked up concerned.

"What's wrong, Brad? Not a big fan of poetry?"

"I like poetry just fine...It's just...That poem was my wife's favorite.

"You never mentioned you were married."

"I'm not...anymore. She passed away three years ago."

Mary set the book aside rising to her feet, "I'm so sorry, Brad. I guess my reading brought back bitter memories for you."

"It's not your fault you didn't know."

"You must have loved her very much."

Brad took a deep breath trying to hold his emotions in check.

"Can we change the subject?"

There was a great deal of tension in the air, but Mary seemed to dispel it instantly with one radiant smile stepping back to survey the room.

"There are a ton of books in here. I can see you were trying to sort them. How about I help you?"

Brad nodded glad to move on to a safer topic of conversation.

They began to work together putting the books into organized piles, and boxing them up. At some point, Mary discovered a guitar behind some boxes in the corner and took a break sitting on one arm of the couch to tune the old instrument. When she sang her voice rang out clear as a bell, and Brad added that to her growing list of talents. She kept him entertained as he moved boxes out of the room slowly clearing space. To his delight, she lapsed into a rather dirty ditty about a wild woman who made obnoxious noises when the wind blew up her skirt. The song was very raunchy and left Brad laughing hysterically.

"Where the heck did you learn something like that?" asked Brad wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"My Dad taught me to play. When Mom wasn't around, he would sometimes teach me drinking songs and what not. That was one of them."

"He must be quite a character."

"He was...He passed on too."

"Well, I guess we both have things to be sad about when it comes to losing loved ones."

"Oh! I'm not sad! He lived a good life, and he is in a better place now. I'll see him again someday," she said brightly.

Brad wished he could be so magnanimous.

"It looks like we got this room squared away. I'm running short on boxes I need to head into town and scrounge some up. What to go for a ride?"

Mary frowned setting the guitar aside, "I'm not a big fan of town. How about I wait here and see what else I can organize for you?"

"O.K. If you want you can start putting the extra dishes in the kitchen into the crate by the door, there's straw in the bottom to keep them from breaking."

It was a beautiful day, and Brad rode into town with the windows down enjoying the country air wafting in from outside. He got out in front of Sam's Grocery humming the tune to Mary's dirty song under his breath and chuckling to himself whenever he recalled a particularly funny verse. He was on his way back to his car after talking the store manager into letting him have the boxes they were going to toss from recent deliveries when he ran into Jerry Ortmeyer.

"We meet again, Brad," said Jerry, " If you've got time to stop by the diner I can turn you on to some fried chicken. It's the special today!"

"I wish I could it sounds delicious, but I have quite a bit of work in front of me this afternoon."

"Too bad you're going it alone. You should have brought some help."

"I do have some help, a neighbor from nearby showed up the other day and pitched in to help me get things packed."

"Is that right? I thought most of the folks out there rarely ever stick their heads out of their farmhouse doors except to sling shit on the crops. Who was it that..."

Their conversation was interrupted when a stock boy came running up with more boxes he had found near the dumpsters in back.

"Sam said you might want these too," said the boy puffing a bit from the effort of running.

"Thanks," replied Brad and the boys face lit up when he tipped him five-dollars for the effort.

"Five bucks? Hell, I'll start hunting down boxes for ya if that's the going rate," joked Jerry.

"I didn't have anything smaller," said Brad with a smile as he tore down the boxes and stuffed them in his trunk.

"You sure about the fried chicken? Best you ever tasted you have my word on that!"

"I'll just bet it is, but I need to get back. Thanks anyway."

Brad pulled out of the parking lot waving at Jerry as he merged back onto the main street and headed out of town.

By the time he returned Mary had done an excellent job of moving a good chunk of the dishes out of the kitchen covering them in paper, and slipping them into the straw-covered crate. Smokey bound up to him when he opened the door flipping onto his back for a scratch.

"You never tire of the attention do you, Boy?" said Brad reaching down to rub his belly.

"He doesn't. Total suck up once you get to know him," added Mary.

The two of them retrieved the boxes from the trunk of the car and spent the afternoon packing the pots and pans Brad wasn't using to cook. It was getting near dinner time, and Brad offered to cook for Mary this time. They enjoyed a meal of chicken fried steak with thick home-made gravy while Smokey chewed on a bone Brad had thoughtfully picked up for him from the store.

The late day sun was shining through the kitchen window illuminating Mary's face in a way that enhanced her looks to the point that Brad found it very hard to concentrate on his food.

"So, Mary. Maybe after dinner, we should get around to looking at those paintings?" suggested Brad trying to distract himself.

"I would love too, but it will be dark soon. I really need to get back. How about we do it tomorrow?"

"You know I really can drive you back to your place. I have a car and a license and everything," joked Brad.

"My parents taught me never to impose, and with this dinner, I have imposed enough already. Besides, Smokey hates riding in cars he would pee all over your seats."

Brad raised an eyebrow at that not relishing the idea of cleaning dog piss out of his expensive BMW.

"I guess tomorrow then. Try not to come around until after the sun has been up for at least a couple of hours o.k.?"

"I make no promises!" laughed Mary as she left the table to put her dishes in the sink.

They walked to the front door together with Smokey trailing in their wake. As soon as the door was opened the dog took off outside but stopped obediently at the bottom of the steps.

"Thanks again for dinner. It was delicious," said Mary, and then to Brad's dismay she leaned up on her tip-toes and hugged him.

Her slender body melded to his perfectly, and he could feel the soft swell of her breasts pressing to his chest. The top of her head smelled like wildflowers, and his pulse quickened while he tried to return the hug awkwardly. Things got even worse when she kissed him briefly on the cheek. Her lips were as smooth as silk, and he felt a shiver pass up his spine.

Mary pulled away but not completely her face hovering just inches from his own. For a moment, Brad stared into her impossibly beautiful eyes. The urge to press his lips to hers suddenly hit him, and it was all he could do to hold himself back. Her eyes began to flutter shut, lips parting. Then Smokey let out a bark that could have woken the dead, and they both jumped in surprise.

"I guess I should go. I will see you tomorrow, Brad."

"Yeah...Tomorrow. Be careful out there, Mary."

She pulled away from him and skipped down the steps turning to wave one last time from the end of the driveway before she headed off into the woods her big dog by her side.

Brad watched her leave still feeling his heart pounding hard in his chest like a blacksmiths hammer crashing onto an anvil. It was a long time before he was able to calm down again even after a stiff drink, and even longer before sleep would finally claim him.

PICNIC SURPRISE -

There were no dreams this time, but the wake-up call was the same. Brad jerked in his sleep and sat up looking blearily over at this phone.

"Someone needs to get that girl a fucking clock," he grumbled slipping out of bed.

The front door swung back noisily, and Mary was in the house before Brad could even offer a half-hearted "Good Morning."

He noted immediately that she was carrying a basket under one arm.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I thought we should have breakfast outside today. I packed a few things I thought you would like and some treats for Smokey. What do you say?"

"I say sure...especially since you went to all the trouble. Just let me get dressed."

Mary waited patiently in the foyer for Brad to return and then they set off together. She led him down a different trail than any he had seen her take before guiding him up to the stream, but further down from where they had been fishing. They crossed at a shallow spot and climbed a nearby hill where the tall grasses gave way to a flat area where they could lay out a blanket. It was a warm day, and once again Mary had dressed appropriately in a single piece light blue dress with buttons up the front.

The food that Mary had brought was all prepared with loving care and tasted even better out here under the sun than it would have in the most expensive restaurant Brad had ever visited in the city. They ate and laughed exchanging stories of their time in college.

"So then I said to the officer, 'I am not drunk, Sir, I always jog naked it keeps the sweat out of my clothes!'"

"You did not!" laughed Mary covering her mouth with one hand.

"Honest to God! It was not my finest hour I admit. What do you want? It was a double dog dare I had no choice."

Brad took a sip of the freshly squeezed orange juice that Mary had brought enjoying the explosion of flavor on his tongue.

"You should consider selling this stuff. This is easily the best juice I've ever tasted."

"You're going to make me blush."

He started to press his point but stopped talking when the largest deer he had ever seen suddenly emerged from the woods not twenty yards away from where they were sitting. It was a magnificent creature of almost mythical proportions with a rack of antlers so wide they looked too heavy for him to be holding aloft.

"Holy shit! Would you look at that..." whispered Brad.

"He is beautiful," said Mary quietly.

A low growl broke their revelry, and they both turned to look at Smokey.

"Smokey...No..." started Mary her voice climbing.

If Brad had thought that Smokey had moved fast after the stick he had thrown for him it was nothing compared to how that dog ran then. He was off the blanket and charging so fast it was as if he had disappeared and been teleported to the edge of the woods. The deer fled at the same instant diving into the underbrush with Smokey in hot pursuit.

"SMOKEY!" screamed Mary.

She was off the blanket herself before the echo of her scream faded running toward where Smokey had bolted. Brad struggled to get himself in gear caught entirely by surprise by this sudden turn of events.

"Mary WAIT!" he yelled after her, but she seemed to take no heed of his attempt at getting her to stop, and she too vanished into the forest.

The trees were thicker here than nearer the house, and Brad could barely see twenty feet in any given direction. By sheer luck, he found a path about thirty yards in likely a game trail. He followed it calling for Mary and Smokey in turn but hearing nothing but the sound of his footfalls in reply. The effort of running made him double over for a moment fighting to catch his breath. When the screaming came, it took what little of that he had regained straight from him.

Brad snapped back to a standing position trying to look every direction at once. The voice was Mary's, of that he was sure, but in these woods, the sound seemed to bounce everywhere, and he couldn't tell from which direction it was coming.

"Mary! MARY!" he cried back.

A wild cacophony of barking started up even as Mary's screams faded, and this time Brad thought he knew from which direction it was coming. He set off at a hard run his previous exhaustion forgotten. The trail twisted and turned in front of him, and it was a miracle he didn't trip over the many fallen branches and roots that grew up in his path. The barking sounded as if it was growing closer.

When he broke through into a small clearing seconds later, he stopped dead trying to grasp what he was seeing.

Smokey was running in circles around the same spot of ground barking with his tail between his legs, but of Mary, there was not a sign. Brad crept closer wondering just what the hell was going on, but the sight of a human hand at ground level made the situation all too clear.

"Mary!" shouted Brad as he dropped onto all fours and scooted closer.

"Help me!" came her muffled reply.

The well had been covered at one time, but the rotten plywood around the entry hole said that had been a very long time in the past. Mary had dropped through like a hot knife through butter, and only a last chance grasp at a thick root growing from the side of the well had saved her from a plunge to her death. Brad reached down to her careful not to get too close to the edge grasping her arm at the wrist.

"Hang on, Kid! I got you," he said in a desperate voice.

Slowly, he backed up pulling her until she managed to swing her other arm up to him. Then with both her hands in his, he brought her out of the hole. They staggered back together, Mary clinging to him and sobbing while he stroked her hair.

"It's o.k. You're fine I have you. Everything is going to be o.k., Mary."

"I was...so scared...I didn't think you would find me..." she cried softly.

"Thank Smokey for that. His bark is like a foghorn," said Brad trying to make her laugh.

She managed a brief chuckle and lifted her head from his chest. Even with her eyes rimmed with tears and face red from crying, Mary was gorgeous, and the weak smile she forced to the surface made her appear even more so.

"Thank you for saving me. I feel so stupid after I was the one warning you about watching where you step in the woods."

Brad reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek then kept his hand there feeling the softness of her skin on his palm. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment. This time he didn't stop himself.