Fragments

The Clearing

Finally, I saw light poking through the trees.  A clearing!  Clara had been wrong; there was a way out.  I’d have to go back and tell her.

“Welcome back,” she said, walking over to me.  Wait a second.  How could she have gotten here before me?  She told me that she would wait for me in the village.  Then I realized what must have happened.

“I must’ve gotten turned around,” I responded, looking around.  Sure enough, there was the other end of ribbon she’d had me lay out.

“That’s what I thought the first time,” Clara told me, taking it from me.  Then, in one fluid motion, she pulled the ribbon taut.  The other end went rigid as well.

“What?” I was dumbfounded.

“It’s not caught on a tree, either,” she said, shaking it vigorously, sending waves into the wood. “Watch.”  A few moments later, the waves emerged from the forest, smaller but undoubtedly the same.

“How…?” I trailed off.  She shrugged.

“All I know is this: the only way out of here is to cross the bridge.”