The girl stood at the edge of the woods about a hundred yards from the back door. She wore no coat or hat. A hoodie and pair of jeans was all she had on. Nathan inched toward her, Archie right behind. He didn’t want to confront her as he sensed no threat. She didn’t move as they drew closer. The cold snowy air nipped at their faces.
“Are you okay?” Nathan called out from about twenty yards away, ankles sunk in the snow. “Hello?”
The girl stepped toward them without hesitation, marched past them in her bare feet, and the boys stumbled after. She entered the house and Nathan followed her.
“Do you need some help?” This was his best look at her now. She looked to be his age, maybe 16. Maybe 15. Her cheeks were red from the cold. “We should call your parents.”
“What were you doing in the woods?” Archie asked and Nathan shushed him.
She ignored them and instead followed the sound of the music coming from the turntable in the living room and listened to the closing moments of an Air Supply song, much to the embarrassment of Nathan.
“I’m making a mixtape for my girlfriend,” he said. "I don’t really like that song. Should we call the police? Are you hurt?”
“Where are your shoes?” Archie asked. “Do you need to borrow some?”
The record ended and the one stacked above it dropped to the turntable. The needle dropped onto it and “Eye in the Sky” by The Alan Parsons Project played. The girl studied the spinning record and for the first time spoke.
“They’re still here.”
Hozzászólások