Healing Halia: Excerpt #2

“Want to see the woods today?”

“Oh my god really??? Yes!” Halia sat up straight and proper, bouncing up and down softly on her butt. She wanted to leap up and run out the door. There was a stirring whirlwind of anxiety circulating through her veins. It took quite a bit of self-control to stay seated and mindful of her limitations. The throbbing in her leg reminded her that although her spirit was willing, her body was slow going.

“So…” Her eyes darted from Thane to the door and she furrowed her brows. As if reading her mind Thane spoke.

“I’ll have to carry you.” Halia’s pride raised its sleepy head.

“Umm…” She looked hesitant but again couldn’t find the words. Halia was grasping for speech, but all she found was misty clouds within her mind.

“Come on, let’s go.” He walked across the room and extended his hand to hers. A warm grin covered his face and her hand reached out on its own accord.

Once he took her hand in his he wrapped it around the back of his neck. His right hand curled around her waist, skillfully avoiding the bandages under her breast. Meanwhile his left hand gently tucked under her left leg, once again avoiding her injury with a precision that could only come from a deep consideration and understanding. He knew her body, probably better than she did.

With a tiny but powerful motion he lifted her into his arms. She braced, expecting pain. But there was none, just the sensation of warm, hard muscles encompassing her body. It felt like she was swaying in a hammock on a lazy Sunday afternoon, peaceful, comforting, safe. She relaxed her head and rested it against his chest.

His heart beat the rhythm of life. She was reminded of the night before and how strongly his heart beat even in his sleep. All she could hear was the beating of his drum, the song of his heart. It was beautiful she thought, but also sad. There were solemn notes mixed with the chords of exhilaration, and even a hint of something she couldn’t quite identify at first. But as she listened she could hear it, the unmistakable sound of heartbreak and pain.

She cast her eyes skyward, studying his face.

What is it? What is it you’ve experienced to have a heart that sounds like this?

She didn’t have long to ponder as they were already at the entrance to the hut. Her own heart began to race, soaring up high into the optimistic clouds of her mind. This was the first time she would see the forest, her new home, since she arrived. It was both a physical and a mental victory. She was leaving the den of her misery, the cavern of her pain, parting the door and walking (or rather floating) into a whole new world that eagerly awaited her.

Birds sung in the background to the tune of the flying white dust. There were dozens of fluffy white specs drifting through the air, reflecting the sun and giving chase to monarch butterflies. Wind gently moved the leaves and carried the smell of milkweed and honeysuckle to her nose. The whole scene seemed almost annoyingly green; she felt for a moment that she’d stepped into a monochromatic world full of varying shades of greens. Yet as boring as a one-tone world sounded, she felt she could pass a lifetime in that moment.

A dash of red.

“Oh did you see that? A cardinal.”

But her eyes couldn’t catch up. The world was living too loudly, breathing too heavily, she was overwhelmed. Not only had she spent the last 2, maybe 3, months inside of a hut; but before then she’d spent an incomprehensibly long time underground. There wasn’t much greenery to be found there.

Thane glanced down and saw a look of utmost wonder in her eyes, they glistened in the sun and he noticed their color. He tried to put their hue into words but he couldn’t find the right one. Blue, but not. Grey? No. Sea green perhaps? Also no. It was all of those colors but none of them. He puzzled over the issue, frustrated, he knew he’d seen this color before, but where? Like lightning it hit him. It was the color of very deep, very still water. The kind of water that’s made to reflect the world.

He tried to minimize the jostling as he carried her through the woods. A hundred yards in all directions from Thane’s hut was fairly open, it used to be a deer’s resting ground but had long been abandoned by the time Thane made it his home. Right outside the clearing the woods immediately enclosed upon them. He was carrying her in front of him as he bent low to avoid branches. At times he turned sideways because the path wasn’t wide enough to fit the length of her body.

Without realizing he had pulled Halia in tight, holding her close like a new mother with her baby. She was amazed he was strong enough to carry her so effortlessly through such dense woods. But he knew these woods, intimately. He could trace every curve and valley; he knew its hidden secrets and the spirit of the forest welcomed him.

Twigs snapped underfoot and the occasional branch tickled her nose with its leaves, but for the most part she was amazed at how easy the journey was. Of course, all thanks to her guide.

As they plunged deeper into the forest she could hear a symphony of sounds. The trees creaked and groaned in the wind, the leaves spoke in whispers about intruders, birds complained loudly at the disturbance, but all bird-speak sounds like songs. Halia bobbed her head back and forth gently to the music. Thane laughed inwardly at her innocence while shooting daggers at the robins above. He stopped on a dime just as a tablespoon-sized glob of white goo fell from the canopy. Thane was glaring at them as they flew away chirping out profanities.

Always the fiesty ones I swear…I’d rather deal with Patricia. He sighed internally as he clambered over a fallen tree.

A new one fell last night I guess. He bent down to inspect the tree closely. Halia was too lost in wonder to notice or care. Like a doting mother with her newborn he gently gazed at the fallen bark that looked unmistakably like ochre. It had turned into a fine red dust. There were patches of blackened trunk on the revealed inner skin of the tree. The outside bark had all fallen to the ground like it was nothing more than tree clothes. After a few moments Halia noticed his preoccupation.

“Is everything ok?” She inquired.

“Yea…” He said hollowly.

She tried to look into his eyes but they were fixed downward looking at the tree, they were puzzling. Gears turned behind his eyes and she was curious what thoughts were shooting through his mind. But before she could ask he started walking again, hunching over to pass underneath a large fallen tree leaning at a 45-degree angle across their narrow path.

She wanted to ask what he was thinking, or how he was feeling, or just get a little inside his head. Sometimes she felt like his soul was protected by large iron bars that she could never breach, but then again, she thought probably no one could. There was an endless amount of warmth and compassion that flowed from his every pore, but yet as you grew closer there was a cold night chill that crept in. A whipping wind forged in a thunderous storm of a past. She knew he too had secrets and she greedily began to wonder what they could be.

Just then a bright light shone through the trees that shook her from reverie. The sun was passing its zenith into the hottest hours of the afternoon. She could feel sweat droplets rolling down her back, yet, Thane’s face was barely misted.

He must be used to this. She thought.

Finally with one crouching, walking, hopping maneuver Thane safely exited them from the thicket. Now they stood in a fairly large, open meadow that danced along the shore of a river into the horizon.

Halia was shocked she hadn’t noticed the sound of running water sooner. Had she been too lost in thought? Or had the woods just been that thick? Whatever the case she was overjoyed, nearly jumping out of his arms and running to the water. Thane could feel her excitement and he smiled.

“I wanna go to the river!” She couldn’t control the volume or pitch of her excited voice so it ended up sounding more like a shout.

He just chuckled, the smile creeping into his eyes.

“Let’s go then.”

He walked her down to the riverbed. It was a gentle shoreline, plenty shallow until about 20 feet out. There was a thick tree stump a few feet from the edge. A little thought tinkled in the back of her mind, didn’t he never cut down a tree? But it flitted away silently, for there were more important things to focus on in that moment.

Thane set her down on the stump. It was completely flat except a piece in the back that shot up an extra foot and a half. She thought it kinda looked like a natural chair as she leaned her back against it and relaxed her sore body. The bark fit perfectly around her back and she nuzzled herself into the crook, throwing her arms up over her head in a half stretch. She got a little too excited in her stretch and was quickly reminded of her limitations.

Thane saw her wince and grab her side.

“Do you want to go into the water?” He asked tenderly.

She glared at him, although she didn’t mean to, the pain was momentarily taking control of her expressions.

“Yes….Please.” She panted, out of breath. The heat and the piercing sun were catching up to her and self-loathing began to fill her from the bottom of her stomach.

Why can’t I just be better already….I hate this…when? If ever, will I be able to enjoy my life?

Thane took her socks off, then picked her up and plunged knee deep into the river. The water was just touching her toes, it was crisp, but warm somehow. If there were a perfect swimming temperature, that river was it.