The Atonement of a Writer

12. Stranger Danger

His forehead touched hers as he leaned in.

"It's fine, right? If we...if we stayed like this for awhile."

She was tempted to say yes. However, what came out of her mouth surprised the both of them. "...Why do you always do this whenever something happens? If you're gonna hug me, do it when I'm not dead on my feet."

~*~

The first thing Lili became aware of was the silence. It was quiet--too quiet. There was no rustling of leaves from the wind, no crickets chirping, nothing.

The second thing she noticed was the comfort. She was cocooned in something soft, warm and dry, which wasn't something she expected. Wasn't she just lying on the side of the road a few moments ago?

Slowly, Lili opened her eyes, and was immediately hit with a sense of deja vu.

The sight that greeted her wasn't what she expected. Instead of the sky, she was staring into wooden beams. Glancing around, she realized she was in yet another wooden cabin. This time, though, the cabin wasn't bare. It looked lived-in, evidenced by the worn-looking furniture and the smell of food instead of sawdust.

Food. Her stomach growled. How long had it been since she last ate? She got up from the bed, and looked around. No one was in sight.

The sunlight was filtering through the window. She had slept through the whole night in this stranger's cabin then--the guest room by the looks of it. Looking out the window, she saw that the cabin was in a clearing, but judging by the thick trees, she was still in last night's forest.

Refusing to believe someone would just leave her there, she slowly stepped out of the room with the intent to explore the house, ignoring her protesting muscles. Who had saved her? She found it hard to believe that someone just happened to be where she was and picked her up.

She found a room which further confirmed someone actually lived here. It contained a bed, which looked recently slept in, and it had a closet, bedside table, and basically anything one would find in a normal bedroom. Curious, she opened the closet to find clothing that seemed to belong to an adult male. Perhaps she should've felt embarrassed for staring into a stranger's--let alone a man's--closet, but it wasn't like she'd never seen male clothes before. Back in the real world, when she still lived with her family, her little brother had no sense of modesty or tidiness and left his clothes everywhere. Honestly, she'd stopped blushing at male undergarments ages ago.

The room itself had some personal touches, unlike the room she'd woken up in--the style of clothing, the color of the curtains and the bed...so did someone actually live here, in the middle of nowhere? Off-handedly, Lili wondered why a cabin in the woods had a guest bedroom prepared so conveniently. Were they expecting guests?

Once she'd been to every other room of the house, she finally arrived at the kitchen. Still, there was no sign of another person, but those thoughts quickly disappeared at the sight before her.

It was food. Someone had cooked when Lili was sleeping, and had laid it out with a pitcher of water, as if waiting for her to wake up. Was this really for her, though? It was quite plentiful; it had steak, vegetables, and even mashed potatoes with a side of gravy. Where did all that come from?

Everything was suspiciously convenient, and there was still no sign of the owner of this house.

She spotted a piece of paper next to the food. She picked it up and read.

The food is yours. Eat it.

This mysterious host of hers must be a busy person, she noted. He left his house alone with a stranger. Though, she thought wryly, with the way they...met--was it a meeting if she'd never seen the guy?--if she were in his position she wouldn't be too worried either.

Lili was absolutely ravenous. She had already reached for the fork when she realized something was wrong.

She could read the note.

It was in English.

No way. She grabbed the note and stared at it as if it were an alien. Just yesterday, everything was in that squiggly language. But this was English. Had the writing system of this world changed when she was unconscious? Or did this guy actually know English?

If it was the first, she was thoroughly creeped out. If it was the second, she was still thoroughly creeped out. She glanced back and forth between the food and the note. Was it still safe to eat? Her dilemma, however, only lasted a few seconds. In the end, hunger won out, any sound reasoning she might have for not eating it vanished. She could finish the food and worry about the consequences later.

It was delicious. Something about home cooked food made her eyes water--how long had it been? The food at the manor never felt home-cooked, simply because only the best chefs were hired to work for nobles. But this food--the steak was a little too salty and the vegetables lacked taste. Still, it was warm, and reminded her of the good days her mother was in a good mood enough to cook for the family.

Lili made sure to wash the dishes, even if there was a lack of soap. After that was done, she stepped outside. She had been right--the cabin was in the middle of a clearing in the forest. There was still not a soul in sight. She glanced up to find Noir perched on the rooftop.

The moment she looked up, their eyes met. Noir immediately flew down to her shoulders and cawed.

"Oh, Noir...if only I could understand you right now. You probably saw that person, right?"

Noir, of course, only cawed again.

"I wonder what kind of person he is..." Who are you? What are you?

Carefully, she made her way around the house. She found what seemed like a mini-farm--so this person grew his own food?--and a hunting shed where she found a quiver of arrows and a bow hanging by the door. She then turned the corner to find a small stable--and to her surprise, a horse already saddled and ready to go.

The owner of this house was quite strange. He left food for her, and without doing anything else, he just left her alone in his house for what she assumed to be the forest, but without his horse, which didn't make sense. Noir, however, didn't seem to find it strange, but hopped right onto the horse's head.

Lili frowned, trying to make sense of what Noir was trying to tell her. "Are you...saying...wait. Did he leave the horse for me?"

Noir clicked his beak together, flapping his wings.

"But I can't just take someone's horse, Noir. He might need it."

Noir cawed in reply. To Lili's surprise, the horse looked straight at her and whinnied.

Seemingly agitated at the blank look she gave him, the horse whinnied again, and Noir gave another hoarse cry in return. The two kept at it for a few moments, until they both suddenly just stopped and looked at her expectantly.

"Well...I suppose I can get to town...and then..."

The horse kicked at the stable door impatiently.

Lili blinked. "So...you're saying you want to take me back to the manor?" Honestly, she was grasping at straws here.

Noir flew up, went around in circles, then came back down again on top of the horse's head. Then he puffed up his chest in pride.

"Noir, are you saying you can lead him back?"

The little head nodded.

If this was the only way to get back, then...she sent a silent apology to her absent host. If he needed his horse, he would've taken it with him, she reasoned. Yeah. So it should be no problem if she took it out on a little ride...

"I'll be back," she promised to the empty house. She would have to thank him, and return the horse. Plus, there was that seemingly inconspicuous note in her pocket she wanted to ask him about.

"Then, let's go."