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Peaceful Silence

TOMOE

The peace that came from utter silence was equivalent to a hand full of gold. Silence in Colorado woods, however, was never good. There were answers in silence. As peaceful as it was, it was unnatural for the world to go mute. If it did, one should listen.

Fresh air was good for the soul but could harm the mind. The stillness and quiet of complete solitude, it played tricks that were dangerous, made you drop your guard. Put you at ease when you should listen to the gentle warning of mother nature and all she has to offer. Silence ironically presented both peace and danger. Though the two could exist at once, I knew we were not the only apex predator in these woods. Lair o’ the Bear Park was full of wildlife—some of which I’d be more delighted to run into than others.

“June,” I said, reaching a hand out to halt my sister at my side.

She looked down at my hand, then up at me with an expecting stare. I motioned for her to remove her earphones, and she rolled her eyes. A heavy sigh preceded her impatient rounds of questions. “Yes, Tomoe? Can I help you? What is the point of a mindful walk if you’re going to stop and interrupt us every few feet?”

“It’s quiet again,” I leveled, peering over my shoulder. “And take your headphones off. Don’t be an idiot.”

“Oh lighten up, it’s ocean sounds. I can still hear. Also, you made the tea too strong.” The dark freckles around her nose bunched in a display of disgust.

I took it from her, downing what was left with a straight face, then handed her back the tumbler. “We should go back.”

“If we turned around every time you got a gut feeling, we would have never made it out of the parking lot.”

June kept walking, her silky bob swishing with the cool breeze. Scanning the dense forests and the swiftly moving creek slithering beside us, I let another moment pass, then jogged up behind her. Still, the skin on the back of my neck prickled with fear. The sound of my sister’s voice trickled around the bend of the trail, followed by the flirtatious laugh she released when she was flustered.

“Just followed you back,” she swooned visibly, passing the phone back to one of the two men up ahead. June toyed with her shorts, changing her stance to make her hip pop out to the side as she ruffled back her hair to add volume.

The tallest of the two chuckled. “I’ll DM you. Nice to meet you, June,” he called over his shoulder.

Both of them nodded at me as they passed, the second one offering me a cocky smirk. “What’s up?”

I rolled my eyes, making my way toward my sister, then thought better of it. Warning them was the least I could do. One human to the next or whatever. “Careful down there. Woods are quiet,” I said, turning around to face them.

The shorter, blond one shook a canister of bear spray above his head, not bothering to glance back. “We’re covered. Thanks. Enjoy the hike!”

June kept her eyes on her prize, peering behind me to take in all of him. I nudged her to keep going. She bit her lip, refusing to move. I couldn’t help myself. I burst into a fit of laughter. The girl was easily distracted by anything that could flash a decent smile, and I loved her for it. Between her and our other sister, Kana, they kept that little light going in my life. Someone had to be the serious one of the bunch though, and I happily fulfilled that role. But the universe demanded balance. It was nice to get a good laugh every now and then.

I reared behind her, pushing her to keep going. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“What?” she said, finally closing her dropped jaw. “He was cute.”

“No. He was just tall with dark eyes in a $400 Patagonia jacket.”

June shrugged. “Same thing.”

We continued in silence along the trail. The towering pines and soothing trickle of water soothing a piece of my soul. It wasn’t so quiet with the creek flowing and the whispering of trees in the wind.

The tranquility of the trail was shattered. A startled scream echoed by an agonizing holler bounced off the trees. I held my breath, listening for what was sure to follow. The cry of a mountain lion was unmistakable. If you heard it once, you would never forget it. Whatever screeched into the stark silent air next was neither human nor animal.

In times of fear, I found there were two reactions that sealed one’s fate. The ability to think clearly, and the hesitancy to respond. One was damning, the other was not. We reached for our phones at the same time. There was nothing we could do for them besides call for help. Even with bear spray and a taser, it would be inadequate to whatever had caused that soul-breaching of a scream.

Paralyzed. The bone-chilling alert on the screen of my phone was paralyzing. “June …”

“Yeah?” She trembled in response.

I looked up, shock etched on her face as the pale of her skin turned a ghostly white. “Help isn’t coming anytime soon.”

“Yeah.” June mumbled. “Agreed.”

We stood frozen in place, the earthy scent of the forest bringing me a sense of calm. Grounding me in place. June’s breaths mirrored mine, shallow and uneven. Her dark eyes narrowed and then widened, stuck in an infinite loop between her phone to the shadows lurking in the trees. I didn’t need to know what my little sister was thinking. The panic she was talking herself down from. Our minds were racing, yet no clear plan of action found us. The trail we had walked down so many times now felt like a maze of uncertain doom and hidden dangers.

“What do we do?” June asked, her voice barely an octave above a whisper.

I tugged on my sleeves, nails digging into my palms. “We need to move. Staying put is dumb. We’re sitting ducks. Let’s go.”

Go. Speaking the word was humorous. Go where? Move where? We needed to get out of here. I knew that much. But the rest … the future … that had suddenly become an open-ended question.