Love of the Woods

With the sound of fabric tearing and skin scraping

against branches, Alice Hawthorn bolted through the back-

woods of Bespoke, West Virginia, and she did not care what

it took, she was not going back. Tears rolling down her face,

the hot red of skin still beaming off her cheek from when

she came home. Alice, who once was given everything a

young girl could want from a father who kissed stone and

coal, and a mother who taught her how to read, now ran

bloodied and tattered through the woods she once called

home.

Her mother was waiting on the porch when Lilith

dropped her off from school, though she waited for her to

drive off. Then when Alice approached the porch somewhat

timidly, saw her face, and wondered what could have her

mother in such a mood, as when her mother was mad it was

always something big. However, this time she’d soon learn it

was her that her mother was livid over, that she was furious

that Alice would lie to her, furious that she dared to question

her, go against her word, and most of all, furious, that she

was in love with another girl.

Alice screamed at the top of her lungs tumbling

into a small clearing by a creek. It meandered farther up the

mountain from her family’s property, taking her far from

prying eyes. She screamed and wept for so long she thought

she might pass out, and nearly did. However, when she took

a moment to breathe, that beautiful forest silence overtook:

the wind telling the leaves to dance while the stream laughed

its way down the mountain, and crows chant their distinct

caws for night to come at last. “I’ll just stay here a while. Then

I’ll head to Lil’s. We can figure something out! Yeah, that’ll have

to do for now”, she thought. Tears tried to wrench themselves

from her, but she had none left to give. So instead Alice racked

her brain of how she got here. Only Lilith’s family and a couple

close friends knew what the two girls had been up to, she’d

been careful she thought. Her head rushed with thoughts of

betrayal, that someone had broken her trust, or maybe that

someone could’ve been watching from afar. This went on for

some time until one word clatters like a wrench in a metal

house: “Homecoming”.

It was like all the other times, her friend George

would pick her up and they’d wave goodbye, and go meet

Lilith and Elijah. It was a perfect set up really. Elijah and

George would sneak off for some time alone, and Alice and

Lilith would go into her father’s Ford, where just for a mo-

ment they could be together. Then once everyone was fin-

ished with their affections, the facade would return. At dances

everyone thought that they were all just friends as couples,

and what is a dance between friends? This year was important

though as their anniversary. While caught up in the moment

Alice, well… maybe her whispers of running away together

weren’t as quiet as she’d hoped. All it would take was even a

suspicion for it to run rampant in town -and eventually make

its way to her mother who was always in tune to the Church

gossip.

That’s when it dawned upon her, she was the one

who outed them. Through simple glee or carelessness - may-

be it was a peck on the cheek or a whispered “I love you”

in the ear when she thought no one was near- but there was

no denying it. She’d only herself to blame in those fraught

moments. She blamed herself instead of the cruel world that

detested those like her. Herself instead of the one who told

her mother. Herself instead of her mother who hurt her. She

blamed herself. Only herself. She sat in that self pity for what

felt like hours, tears acting as company, and then, the crick

suddenly stopped flowing.

With it, an oppressive silence rolled down the hill like

fog. The words of her Aunt Jenny rang in her ear, “Don’t

go into the woods at night, your mother will tell you not to

because of the animals out there, but there are far worse

things in this world than bears”. Alice didn’t feel like finding

out what her Aunt meant. Instead, she slowly got up. The

rustle of her clothes sounded like thunder in the silence, but

it wasn’t until something broke a twig in the distance that she

was startled enough to move, and she ran like her life de-

pended on it.

Maybe there was nothing behind her, maybe the large

cracking noises were simply a tree falling in the distance, but

her adrenaline and vulnerability meant she was not taking any

chances. She would see her sweet, darling Lil’ again, even if

it killed her. Her mother said she would go to hell for what

she’d done, and Alice needed to repent or be cast out. Alice

almost chuckled in her mind, thinking that if hell is the only

price to pay for loving Lilith, then she would pay the price

over and over again. If it truly was hell where the girls were

going for the act of love, then Alice was determined to go

there together.

Alice ran with a strange mix of fear, as she felt the

darkness slowly follow her down the mountain, like it was

trying to grab her and take her, mixed with pure joy as she

made way to her beloved’s home. Running, with the occa-

sional tumble, and most certainly more cuts than she’d care

to count, Alice ran down the mountain, sure to avoid her

former home. Eventually, making it to the small cabin Lilith’s

family called home.

They graciously accepted her, and the feeling of dark-

ness and oppressive silence washed away as soon as the door

was opened and she saw Lilith’s face; she looked so stunning

that Alice nearly forgot why she was even standing there.

She tried to get a few words out, but instead fell into Lilith’s

arms as the exhaustion of the night began to take over. When

she awoke, Lilith was by her side, and a warm bowl of stew

Lilith’s mother made was sitting ready for her. If this was

what hell felt like, then her mother was right: that she would

go to hell, and that she would do so willingly.