The Water Sprite

Rejected

The following day, and the subsequent days that followed she searched his side of the forest.  The days turned into weeks and then months without even a glimpse of him, even though she called for him continuously, he never answered and she never found him.  He had even stopped bartering with her. 

She left gifts for him on the path he would have to take to the lake, and even on his side of the forest, but they were never touched when she went back to check on them.

In the end, she decided that he must have mistaken her intentions for rejection.  But that he had completely cut her off, was painful.  She had not meant to lose him, she thought she had shown him what she wanted, she thought he had understood and had wanted her too.  But obviously he had not, and had chosen to see her mistake as rejection.  In the end, he had forced her to accept his decision because she was not in a position to challenge it, not when she couldn't even find him.

She had also never taken the time to seek him out before.  Had she followed him home, she would know where his home was, had she taken the time to seek him out during the day of their bartering, she would have known what side of the lake he sat when he fished.  But she never once thought of to do that, because he had always come to her.

And it was as she was thinking on these things, that she came to realize he had purposely sought her out.  Had taken the time to go gently with her until she was used to seeing him, then opening a friendship through bartering, and that was because she had been afraid of him.  He knew she did not trust him, and it would have been obvious in the way she refused to allow him to get too close, even standing at his side so she could run away if she had to.

And the conversation he had tried to initiate, also came back to her.  She had kept her answers brief and her demeanor calm and stoic.  Not because she didn't like him or want to know him, but because she didn't know how to talk to him, or how to tell him that she wanted to know him.  She liked his eyes, they were kind and gentle, he always smiled under his fur hood, but she never gave back the smiles or her hand in friendship.  And nor did she ask him any questions about himself, even though he asked her plenty.

And that was because, she felt there was no need.  He came at the same time, they talked, they bartered and then then they went their own way.  It had become so predictable, that she did not bother to understand why he had suddenly appeared before her, she just assumed that he had one day turned up, and after a while he became a habit that was just there.  There was no need to question him because he was always there, and always brought what she wanted.

But as she turned these thoughts around in her head, she began to understand him a little more.  He had obviously noticed her much earlier, because he had taken the time to let her know him by just walking by without approaching her.  Surely, if their first encounter had been his first, he would have been just as wary as she was, but he hadn't been, he had merely kept his composure as he walked on by.

And after waiting until she got to know him, he must have wanted to take it further.  And that had her wondering if he had also purposely allowed her to see him bathing.  Had he tried then to tell her he wanted her, but had left it up to her to make the first move? she wondered.  If so, then she had completely made a mess of things. 

It was so easy for her to see this now that he was no longer there for her.  She had made a big mistake in assuming he would just follow her without an explanation.  She had assumed far too much and taken his offer of friendship for granted.  He must have been hurt by her actions, she thought sadly to herself. 

Months had passed with no sighting of him, not even a footprint or even a whiff of his scent.  It was as if he had never been.  But she was not ready to give up.  For the very first time since her arrival she left everything she knew and searched areas she had yet to discover fearlessly and without reason or thought other than, she had to find him.