Physical representation? Puzzled, I studied our surroundings, thinking it through. To uncover the memories, we would have to travel backward. Where the trees backed up to the cliffs a hiking trail appeared. I pointed it out. “Guess
we’re hiking.”
“Looks like it,” Wolf said.
“Right, then.” I took the lead, Kayden falling in behind me, and Wolf
bringing up the rear. “What am I looking for?”
“You’ll know it when you see it,” Kayden answered.
I shot him a look over my shoulder. “That’s helpful.”
He just grinned.
The trail seemed fairly straight forward, as it took us farther from the gurgling sounds of the small creek and deeper into the canyon. An easy silence
fell between the three of us, broken only by the sound of rocks shifting underfoot, wind teasing through the trees, and birds calling back and forth. I set
a brisk pace and soon found myself falling into a familiar meditative state.
Hiking was one of life’s simplest pleasures. Discovering new trails and
hidden pockets where technology didn’t touch brought me a sense of peace I couldn’t find in my normal, everyday life. As much as I enjoyed being on my own, I had even more fun once I convinced Kelsey to tag along. It was always
amusing to watch the city-girl Kelsey fade away, to be replaced by the younger,
more carefree version I grew up with. We spent hours exploring the areas around
our cabin.
Now her feminine laughter curled on the breeze, faint and hauntingly
familiar, causing a wistful ache in my heart. I tucked away the treasured
memories, only then realizing the light had faded and the shadows had deepened.
Ahead, the trail began to cant upward, but I could see where it ended in front of
a sprawling, heavy growth of trees. I stopped and considered what lay before us.
Kayden and Wolf drew up on either side of me.
Kayden spoke first. “What’s up?”
I waved a hand at the old-growth forest stretched in front of us. “That shouldn’t be there, and our path is gone.”
“It’s your mind, Cyn,” Wolf said. “If we need a path, make one.”
“With what?” The woods left me uneasy, and short of grabbing an ax and
making like a woodcutter, getting through that kind of growth would be difficult.
A weight settled in my hands, and I looked down, stunned to find a hefty ax.
“You have to be kidding me.”
Wolf’s cough sounded suspiciously close to a laugh. “Got anything a little less work intensive?”
Shooting him a dirty look, I went back to studying the woods. The ax
disappeared. Something didn’t feel right about this. The canyon oasis, that was
all me. But these woods? They didn’t look familiar. I was a desert rat. Give me
rock canyons, stunning vistas, straight and skinny pines, bushy piñons, and thick
junipers and I was happy. These trees were different. Way different. It looked like how I imagined Hansel and Gretel’s woods would appear, old, creepy, and
scary as hell.
“I don’t think this is me, guys.” It sounded stupid, but as Wolf pointed out,
we were in my head.
Wolf’s humor drained away. “Try changing it.”
“And I would do that by, what? Snapping my fingers?” Suiting words to
