A Walk In The Woods
A nice little vignette story I wrote…
"A Walk In The Woods"
The alarm buzzes, Tobi looks at the clock. It’s 6 am and she takes a deep breath. She looks out the bedroom window and sees the sun is coming up. She turns on the light and gets up out of bed. She thinks to herself "I’ve the whole day all to myself. I’ll take a walk in the woods and have myself a nature walk!"
Softly, she walks downstairs to the bathroom and starts her shower. She gets in and the warm water soothes her tired body as she’s showering. After a short while, she gets out and dresses herself. Ready to start her day, she walks into the kitchen. She sets the teapot on the stove and boils some water for her French press coffee. Sipping her coffee she makes some toast. Her belly full, she cleans up the mess. Tobi grabs her phone from her charger and checks her texts and emails. She sees there’s nothing pressing, and she turns off her ringer. "Now I won’t be disturbed!" She laughs to herself. She puts on her socks and boots and grabs her backpack. "I should take some snacks" and grabs a bunch of fruit and puts it in her backpack. She grabs her keys, locks up and walks out the door.
Tobi smells the fresh morning air and a smile comes across her face. "It’s going to be a lovely day, I better get going." The June summer is in full bloom and she marvels at the beauty of her property. Trees and grassy green for miles and miles. She starts walking and taking pictures with her phone. A rabbit runs past and she takes a quick shot. It stops a few feet in front of her and then is off. Walking quietly, she looks for anything that might make a good photograph. She snaps shots of the trees and notices their magnificent and majestic beauty. There are acorns and pine cones, all along the ground. Snapping away, as she takes it all in.
A few feet away she hears a crack of a branch. A herd of deer starts to pass right by her. Quickly she starts taking shots of the herd. A few moments later they are out of sight. She heads toward the river that runs through the property. The flowers are blooming and the birds are singing their songs in the trees above. Smiling, she hums along with them and a lovely, calm feeling, washes over her. She looks to her left and there is a skunk. Gasping she thinks "I better wait for you to pass by, I don’t want to alarm you and get sprayed, so I’ll just quietly wait." The skunk looks up at her and quickly scurries away. "Phew, that was close!" She says to herself and continues toward the river.
The trail opens up and she hears the river. Walking a few more steps, she’s at the waters edge. She takes off her boots and socks and rolls up her linen pants. Dipping her feet in, she starts splashing them about. The water is cool and warm and soothing her feet. A fish swims by and she tries to see what kind of fish it is. It’s too fast for her and darts away. She grabs some pebbles and starts skipping them across the water. Laughing out loud, she remembers a time when she fell in the water after a fish swam by and startled her. There to her right, is a small waterfall. She grabs her boots and puts her socks in the boots. Walking on the ground barefoot makes her feel more grounded. If she had her way, she’d never wear shoes.
The waterfall is glistening and the sound comforts her. Tobi snaps a few shots and looks at her phone, it’s now 10:30am and she sits down on some large flat rocks. She dangles her bare feet over the rocks edge and into the water. Reaching in her backpack and grabs out her book. Picking up where she left of, she starts to read. The bubbling of the waterfall and the soothing water on her feet, time passes and after awhile she closes the book. Checking the time, it’s now 1 o’clock! Her stomach starts to growl and she grabs out a bag of grapes and pops a few into her mouth.
The sun is high in the sky and she notices it’s not to warm. Thankful for the beautiful weather, she says a prayer of gratitude and thanks. She lies on her back on the rock and stares up at the clear blue sky. A flock of birds fly overhead and she tries to imagine herself as a bird flying high in the sky. Shutting her eyes she takes a nap.
Her alarm on her phone goes off and she glances at the time. It’s now 5pm and the sunlight is starting fade. She quietly thinks to herself "I better head back, I don’t want to walk in the dark!" Quickly she puts her socks and boots back on and gets up and heads back on the trail. The sun is setting and she’s almost back by the house. She walks up to the back gate and opens it up. She sits on the back porch and watches the setting sun fade. Thinking to herself "This was a lovely walk in the woods, what a beautiful day!"