With my axe slung over one shoulder and an arm full of fire fuel held on the other, I make my way back home. It’s crazy how quickly I began thinking of this place as my home, but this little cabin has felt more meaningful than any apartment I shacked up in, between deployments and postings. There are luxuries that I’m looking forward to enjoying again when I build my permanent log house, things like a solar heated water collector for showers that won’t feel like shards of a glacier have sheared off onto your skin. What can I say, it’s the little things.

I think I’m going to look back on this place fondly, for the most part. It’s the place that gave me my freedom, it’s where I made peace with my demons, it’s where I fell in love with her.

I try to push the last thought away, I don’t need to keep reminding myself of how I feel about her. It’s not doing me any favors. It’s best to just push it down and take her back to Whitehorse without a lot of emotions making it all harder. Better to make it quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

If a Band-Aid was covering a stab wound to my heart.

I close the gap between me and my cabin and look around the area for Abbie. Dropping the pile of sticks near the door, I peer inside but see the room is empty. I twist on my heel and spin around, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

“Hello? Abbie?” I quickly make my way to the hill, racing to the top and looking for her around the area, but she’s gone. I trail my eyes over the horizon and the fall to the cliff below. Oh dear God, please, no!

Standing up tall, my gut twists up into a knot as I run back down and this time I inch over to the rocky edge. My heart pounding, I try to make myself look, but can’t.

“Abbie? Hello?”

Nothing. For a forest filled with living creatures, the silence is frightening. Somehow, I force myself to scan the bottom of the cliffs, but I don’t see her. Nothing but slate gray, jagged rocks and the occasional spindly tree defying all odds and growing out from the side of the mountain. I step back and try to think.

Did her boss come back? My heart begins to pick up pace as I search the ground for footprints, for some kind of sign of a struggle. But I only see Abbie’s hiking boot prints in the dirt.

Did she head back to town without me? Did she leave without saying goodbye? My heart sinks with the last thought. It’s too painful to think about, I want to push it away, but it spreads like a cancer through me, destroying the cells of my heart.

Twinkle, jingle, ching!

I snap my head up and look toward the woods where I heard the sound. That was the bells I attached to Abbie’s walking stick, I’m sure of it. Like a mirage of water appearing before a man dying of thirst, Abbie materializes from the thick brush nearby. A sigh of relief escapes my lungs as a smile I can’t control sweeps over my face.

“Abbie! Where were you?” I try not to sound like I’m accusing her, but I fail as I walk over to her and look at the bucket she’s holding in her hands.

“Look, I found some blackberries. I found a bunch of bushes over that way and picked a couple. They’re so good,” her eyes sparkle with delight, “I just had to pick some for us,” she gushes.

I can’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?” She frowns a little as she searches my face.

“Nothing, it’s just like we’re living back in the caveman days or something,” I shake my head and laugh. “You’re out picking berries and I’m making sure we have fire, it’s just too perfect,” I smile down at her.

“I never thought of it that way,” she giggles. “I just know how much you love eating juicy, sweet peaches,” her eyes twinkle mischievously, “so I knew you’d love these too.” She plucks a berry from the pile and holds it out for me to taste. I open my mouth and she stands on her tiptoes and grinds her pussy against me as she drops the fruit on my tongue. Sweetness explodes in my mouth as my cock springs to life and I pull her against me tight.

“Give me that,” I grab the bucket of berries from her hand and settle them down on the ground. Before she can ask anything, I lift her up over my shoulder as she squeals and squirms. “I’m gonna drag you back to my cave and ride your sweet ass,” I growl and give her firm behind a sharp slap as I walk her toward the cabin.