Chapter 4: Chapter 4

“Please sit while you wait,” he says.

I accept his offer and sink onto the couch. I run my hand over the leather, marveling over its softness. “This is lovely. The perfect safe haven.”

“Thank you.”

“Being in the forest has become my escape from everyday life. I mean, I’m far from an outdoors expert. I used to live in the city, and the nearby park had this wooded area that I adored. It was kind of small and cultivated and well-tended, but it was big enough that you can go into it and not see civilization. In the end, I went there every day but craved the real thing. It was a big deciding factor in leaving city life behind. There were other reasons, too, but being closer to nature became more and more important. I just moved to the area and don’t know my way around. Hence getting lost when my phone, and my maps, died.”

I snap my mouth shut—I tend to ramble sometimes—and instead pick up said phone to see if it’s charged long enough to restart. It’s still dead, and I scowl.