He Chose Her

Part 26

I wanted to cry as I was sprawled on the grass, but I didn't want Daniel to see how much he hurt me. I didn't want to see the look of pity on his face or even the look of satisfaction that would flash on his face after seeing my pain stricken expression, so I got up on my sore limbs and ran.

This forest came naturally to me, I knew every nook of it, where to turn and when and suddenly, I was lead to a tree house. Memories of myself flashed before my eyes. Then, a memory of Daniel and I came up, we were young children. I was passing him planks of wood as he helped me put up this very treehouse.

This became our place. Daniel's parents would come looking for him, but for some reason, they could never find him here, it was our secret sanctuary that no one else could find. My parents, of course, didn't care about my whereabouts, they allowed me to wonder out day and night, not even thinking about the dangers that lurked in this forest. It was claimed land, but stray wolves could've come in at any time.

The whole place had a euphoric atmosphere. But the tree house only enhanced it. Fall leaves surrounded the structure like a barrier. There were tattered ropes attached to an overhanging plank of wood that allowed us to climb into the magnificent tree house. But, as I tilted my head, I set my eyes on a small swing set that hung on a strong branch of the tree. The swings still rocked with the blowing, whistling wind.

Something was very attractive about this swing, making me want to sit on it. I turned my head back to the surrounding forest to see if there was anyone following me, luckily, there had not been anyone behind me. But as I turned my head back to the swing, there was already a girl on it. She appeared to be a younger version of me.

This girl was wearing a yellow sundress adorned with small pink flowers. There was a boy behind her, who I assumed was Daniel. He pushed her on that swing, and the younger Evelyn had never been happier. Their shrieks of joy were drowned out my the incessant pounding inside my brain. Soon, the boy disappeared, leaving the young girl alone. She used her legs to push herself, except, moving slowly, as if this girl did not have the energy to push herself any faster. The smile on her face had also transformed into a deep frown.

That didn't last for long as Daniel returned, except a small blonde female followed behind him, appearing to be sixteen. She looked beautiful, and I gasped at the resemblance between her and Martha, putting the piece together, I realised that this must be Martha. Daniel, however, looked much older, there were bags under his eyes, but he still appeared to be happy. A young Evelyn saw as Daniel lead the girl to a seat far from herself as they started to talk amongst themselves, leaving the poor girl out.

The pounding in my head refused to cease as suddenly, the young Evelyn was gone, as well as Daniel and his companion. I looked around, hoping that they were just around the corner. But I knew that that wasn't true and that what I saw were only mere memories.

There was a snap behind me, which I assumed was a twig. George stood there, jaw wide open. "Evelyn," He gasped out. "There were rumours that you were back, but, I didn't believe any of them." I pursed my lips. "I guess they were right." He added.

I nodded my head. "Yes, they were." Was my attempt at humour. "George," I called out remembering where we had left off the last time we talked.

George shook his head at me. As if telling me he didn't want to talk about it. "I remember you used to talk about this place all the time. But this is the first time I've ever been here." He looked at the ground, with a distant gleam in his eyes, as if he was reminiscing. "I never bothered to ask because I thought that this place was something you wanted to keep private from me, I just didn't want to push you."