Laura was walking around a dense forest. Her head was raised high with her long black hair keeping out of her face. Her white tank top and blue shorts blew lightly in the breeze. The ground beneath her bare feet kissed them with each step she took.
She sighed in content as she kept walking, feeling the grass and dirt under her bare feet. She looked up to barely see the sky above. The leaves from the trees covered most of the sky, leaving a small crevice of blue sky that made its way into the forest.
She walked in silence until she suddenly hit something and fell onto her butt. She quickly took a glance at what she walked into. To her surprise, she saw a black haired man in front of her. He was sitting on his butt that was covered by cargo shorts and the newly applied dirt from the fall. His red, short sleeved shirt had specks of dirt on it as well.
She quickly stood up and walked up to the man. She assumed that they couldn't be that far apart in age. She extended her hand out to him with a small smile. The man looked up to her with his blue eyes. He grabbed her hand while returning the smile.
Laura helped the man stand up and dusted him off. "Thanks." The man said as he began to look around.
"No problem." Laura said as she dusted his shirt off with her hands. "What are you looking for?" She asked as she began to look around as well.
"My book. Could you help me find it?" The man asked as he began to search the nearby trees. Laura squatted down and began to search.
A couple seconds later, she moved back slightly and felt something give under her foot. She lifted her foot up to see a book with what looked like an evergreen tree on the cover. She smiled as she grabbed the book and stood up. "I found it!" She said gleefully.
She quickly ran up to the man and handed him the book. "Thank you very much!" The man said as he opened the book to where he left off.
"Do you want to sit down and chat for a while?" Laura said as she walked towards a dried stump. "I got nothing else to do today."
"I guess I have time." The man said as he followed Laura to the stump. They both sat down, next to each other, on the wide, dry, round stump.
"What's your name?" Laura asked as she kicked her feet playfully.
"David, but my friends call me Dave." He answered as he set the book next to him.
"That's a great name. Mine's Laura." Laura said as she stretched her legs. "What were you reading?" She asked as she looked up at him. She noticed that he was looking away from her, focusing more on the path than her.
"I was reading a book on trees for school." He answered as he turned his face to see hers. To her surprise, they locked eyes with each other. Dave was the first to blush and look away, focusing on the path again.
"Are you working on a project?" She asked as she looked down at her bare feet.
"I have to write a paper on it. It's gonna take me a long time to complete it, too." He responded as he kept looking towards the path.
"I guess it's a good time to take a rest then." Laura said as she set her feet on the grass again. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Dave's gaze lowered when her feet lowered. She smiled and immediately repositioned herself so that her feet were in Dave's lap. Dave looked down in surprise. "I saw you looking at them. I know it's weird to see people barefoot around here, but I love going barefoot. It's fun to feel all of nature under you." She admitted before he could say a word.
Dave looked at her, shocked at her answer. "And I thought I was covering it up pretty well." He said as he looked back at her feet. He began to examine her feet, wiggling her toes and looking at the bottom of her feet with care. Laura couldn't help but smile during the examination. "I will say that they are very cute. A little dirty though." He complimented.
Laura blushed slightly and looked away. She curled her toes out of slight embarrassment. "Thanks." She said softly. However, her body immediately jumped as she felt something brush along the bottom of her foot. She looked down to see Dave brushing off dirt from the bottom of her feet.
She jumped again as she felt his hand brush against her feet again. She covered her mouth so she wouldn't burst out laughing. Dave looked up from her feet and saw her mouth covered. "Ticklish?" He asked her.
Laura uncovered her mouth to reveal a forced smile. "Yes. Very." She said as she set her hands down onto the stump.
"Then this will be fun." Dave said as he began to tickle the bottom of her feet. He started with her soles, lightly tickling them.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaitahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaticklesahahahahahahahahahah!" She giggled while pulling her feet away.
Dave stopped and smiled at her. He watched her giggle and slowly put her feet back on his lap. Dave wrapped his arm around her ankles and began to tickle the bottom of both her feet.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed as she curled her toes. She squirmed on the stump, trying to pull her feet away.
Dave smiled as he began to tickle her heels. "I wonder which part of your foot is the most ticklish." He said aloud as he kept tickling.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahanotmyahahahahahahahahaheheeheheheheheheheheheheheheheheelahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha." She giggled as her toes began to uncurl.
To her surprise, she felt his fingers tickle her toes. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAOKOKAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAYOUFOUNDIHIHIHIHIHITAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed while curling her toes.
"Hold on a second." Dave said as he set her feet in her lap. Laura took the opportunity to regain her breath. She took deep breathes as she stared up to the sky. A couple seconds later, she felt Dave wrap his arm around her ankles. "By the way, before I start again, your laugh is great." He added.
"Thanks." Laura said while panting. However, her reprieve didn't last. She immediately felt something glide across the bottom of her toes. "HAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAWHATSAHAHAHAHAHAHAHATHATAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She asked while laughing harder than before.
"A long blade of grass." Dave answered as he kept gliding his new tool under Laura's toes.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAITTICKLESAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHSOOOOOOOBAAAAAADAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed as she wiggled her feet back and forth.
"I'm glad it tickles." Dave said with a smile. However he stopped and let her go as soon as he heard a bird fly away behind them. He looked up to see a bird quickly fly off into the distance.
While he was looking at the bird, Laura took the chance to regain her breath. She kept staring up, smiling as she saw the bird fly away.
Dave was the first to look away. He immediately looked behind the stump to see a small feather laying on the grass. He immediately took the feather and smiled. "Hey. Look what I found." He said to Laura as he showed her the small feather. Laura tensed up slightly as she curled her toes in anticipation.
Dave smiled as he pulled her toes back and slipped the feather in between them. "AHHHHHHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She screamed in ticklish laughter as the feather touched the sensitive nerves in between her toes.
Dave kept running the feather in between each of her toes, holding them still so she can't pull them away. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANOHOHOHOHOHOTAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHATHEHEHEHEHEHEREAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHATHAHAHAHAHATSAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAMYWORSTAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHASPOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOT!" She screamed while laughing from the feather teasing her toes.
Dave kept tickling her with the feather for a couple minutes before stopping. He set the feather next to him while smiling at her. "That was fun." He said to her.
Laura was breathing heavily as she kept her feet on his lap. She looked at him, smiling at him. "Ya, it was." She said as she pulled her feet away and planted them on the floor.
"Sadly, I gotta go. I'll see you around, hopefully." He said as he stood up.
"Ya. I enjoyed this a lot. Hopefully we can do this again." Laura said as she stood up as well. She walked in front of Dave and hugged him.
Dave hugged her back with a big smile on his face. "Thanks for letting me do this today. I really needed it." He said just before pulling away from her. He picked up his book and started walking along the path that he walked before.
Laura smiled and turned back, walking back to where she came. All the while, she looked at her feet, smiling at them.