Dan

The Glade

By: Dan (31 Jan 2004, Saturday)

The sun was hot and the sky clear when Maryann set out in the morning. She carried a small lunch and a towel. Today she had decided to go off by herself and spend a quiet, private day in the forest. She had lived in these hills all her life and she knew every path and stream. At eighteen, Maryann was in full bloom. She wore close–fitting shorts and a man's white shirt with the shirttails tied across her bare stomach. With one part of her mind Maryann knew where she was headed and what she planned to do when she got there, but with another part of her mind she pretended she didn't know at all and was just out for a good long walk. On up into the hills she wandered, following paths she had known from early…