The Boy In The Woods - a creative writing exercise with picture prompt

If you've been following @steemfluencer then you will know he's launched a mini creative writing challenge

This week he presents the following picture as inspiration.

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Take a look at the image below and write a short story based on the impressions you have looking at the image. You have a full freedom to select the genre and the style. There is no official minimum word count.

The idea is to get the creative juices flowing.
Deadline for submissions is Midnight EST, Friday, December 8.
Don't forget to add a link to your submission at this post

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Here's my submission:

The Boy In The Woods

She was distracted all morning; fidgety and nervous-like. Meghan kept walking around the campsite looking deep into the woods before shaking her head. She had a way of biting her lower lip when she was unsure about something.

Peering over his tin mug to further observe her, he took a careful sip of the camp coffee and tried not to wince from the strength of the bitter brew. "Gah! Nothin' like burnt tar to put hair on your chest." Hmm. No reaction from her.
"I give up, Meghan. What the hell are you looking for?"

"I just..."
She stopped and shook her head again. "It's stupid. I'm being silly."

She was beautiful in the morning light. Her hair was a wild mass, her face without make up, and she was so damned sexy in his pajama top. He put the coffee down and gathered her up in his arms, kissing the top of her head. "Come on and just tell me what's bothering you." He loved when she nuzzled his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

"You ever have those dreams that are so real they just stick with you?" Her voice was muffled by his shirt and he couldn't help smiling.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"No. It was..."
He felt her shrug.

"I dreamt about a little boy. He was blonde with blue eyes. He was wearing a blue and white sweater and he looked so cold. He was trying to tell me something but I couldn't hear him."

"Mmhmm?"

Meghan leaned back to stare into his eyes, her face had concern written all over it.

"He was so real, Paul. Like, I could almost touch him. Like...I was visited."

"Like, 'I see dead people.'"

She smacked him on the arm. "Oh my god, you're such an asshole."

Paul shrugged then grinned. The worry was gone from her eyes and he could tell she was trying hard not to laugh. Today was the last day of vacation before they headed back home. He wanted to make the most of their time enjoying nature. He gave her a smack on the rear. "Time to get dressed and start that hike if you want to take pictures from the peak."

About two hours later, they reached The Bird's Nest, as the locals liked to call it. At the top of the mountain was a tiny cabin with a huge wrap around porch overlooking the valley on one side, and a lake on the other. Meghan sipped on her water before grabbing her camera out of the backpack.

Paul kept quiet as she worked. He knew from experience that she tried to be in tune to her surroundings. He'd seen wild animals seemingly stop and pose for her. She really had a gift with creatures of all kinds. Hell, he smirked, she kept him around.

There was utter silence a moment later. The strangeness of it broke him from his reverie. He didn't even hear the soft click of her camera shutter. Looking up, he saw Meghan frozen as she stared into the distance using her telescopic lens.

"Meghan?"

Saying her name was like lighting a match to gunpowder. She took off in a mad dash toward the spot she was staring at.

"Meghan!"
He chased after her but had a hard time keeping up.
"What the hell are you doing?"

"I saw something over here. Come on!"

He kept slipping down the mountain but she seemed to have the dexterity of a mountain goat, practically skipping down the mountain at full speed. "Be careful!" he yelled. We'll be screwed if we get hurt up here, he thought.

He finally caught up to her when she stopped running. His lungs and legs felt like they were on fire. He leaned against a tree to catch his breath. "You wanna tell me what this is all about?" he huffed.

"Paul..."
She pointed at something in the woods. He bent over to her height to get her perspective and noticed something blue and white caught on saplings. "The sweater," she breathed. "The blue and white sweater in my dreams!"

"Stay here," Paul commanded and headed toward the area. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears and a sense of dread. He didn't want to think about what he might find.

There was a small clearing and caught in the branches of new saplings was a small blue and white sweater. Further up was a tiny Toy Story sneaker. He felt a terrible sadness with what these findings could mean.

Paul turned quickly when he heard a twig snap underfoot. Meghan took his hand. He couldn't tell if he was trying to reassure her or if she was reassuring him. It didn't matter. He marked the GPS coordinates on his watch as she silently took more photographs to show the sheriffs when they got back into town. They didn't want to disturb what was most likely a little boy's final resting place -- or evidence.

Neither of them found any more remnants of clothes and no bones. They needed to head back to camp to break it down before it got dark. Hand in hand they began their trek down the mountain, neither speaking as they were lost in thought.

About 100 yards from their discovery Meghan and Paul stopped short.

"Are you seeing that I'm seeing?" Paul whispered from the side of his mouth.

Meghan nodded almost imperceptibly. Something she does when she tries not to spook the wildlife.

In the center of the path was the little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. His blue and white sweater looked brand new. He smiled and waved, and in the sweetest voice that brought a tear to Paul's eye, he heard the boy say something before he vanished in the ray of sunlight.

He hugged Meghan close and felt her body quake with silent tears.
"I heard him this time," she said.

Paul kissed the top of her head then rested his chin on it as he stared at the spot where the little boy had vanished. "He said thank you for finding me and tell mommy and daddy that I love them."

"You heard him too."

"Yeah," Paul sighed. "I heard him too. Come on. We have a family to find."

As they packed and headed out of camp to find the local sheriff's office, he could swear he heard the joyful chuckle of a child.

THE END