HappyComeLucky

This story is written for Exhibit A’s  writing competition and is inspired by Bawdybloke’s picture from last week’s Sinful Sunday. If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you will know that I haven’t posted fiction before. The competition (and a conversation with my man) has given me a hefty nudge to push myself to be brave, to ignore the voices of self doubt and to give it a go. I hope that you enjoy reading.

 

As she pulled the zip down, Louise sighed. She had underestimated how warm it was. She hoisted the bag into a more comfortable position on her shoulder and looked ahead of her. Slowing her pace, Louise remembered why she liked to walk here. It had been a long time but as soon as she saw the undulations of the path, the dappled shifting light and the fresh new shoots of green, she smiled. Breathing in the fresh air, she started to look more carefully around her. Louise savoured the landscape as she made her way further into the woods.

A skitter of movement drew her attention to the left. Staying stock still, she scanned the vista for a hint of what had moved. As she watched, she saw the movement and as she focused, she noticed the almost impossibly spindly legs leading up to a mass of light fur, just discernible in the dappled light. The deer bounded away in a blur of motion.

Continuing her walk, Louise let her mind wander. She had needed this space for so long. The tension at home was taking its toll on her. Seeing the wonder of nature was allowing the tension in her shoulders to slowly release. The strange thing was that she never realised how tense she was until she started to relax. The earthy smell of the woodland helped her to forget the world outside.

The sun was high in the sky now and its rays were reaching deeper into the woodland and were making her squint. Approaching a sharp bend, Louise suddenly froze.  There were clear sounds of something shifting ahead. Hoping that it was another deer, Louise deliberately calmed her body and moved with care towards the sound. The rustling was loud in the calm of the wood. One more step and she should be able to see.

Stumbling to a halt with shock, she saw what was making the noise. Her thoughts skittered chaotically around her mind.

Louise knew that she shouldn’t stare, but it was so incongruous a sight that she could not make herself look away. There in front of her was a man tied by his wrists to the tree, naked until the wrinkles of the thick woollen socks at his ankles and the stout walking boots.

Aware of someone’s presence, the naked man visibly tensed. He seemed to stop himself from turning around to look. He had begun to move but had stopped. Watching closely, Louise could see the physical effort that it took for him to stay there. Fascinated she saw his whole body tense from the sinews of his calves, up through his thighs and buttocks and all the way up to his shoulders that were almost pulled up to his ears.

The bizarreness of the situation somehow prevented Louise from calling out to him. She almost feared to break the spell. Random ideas roamed through her mind as to why he was there and she grinned as she considered some of them. Feeling like a co-conspirator with whatever was happening, Louise decided to maintain the silence too. She stepped around the tree and openly stared as the tethered man shifted his weight and eased the tension in his shoulders.

Louise sank down to the floor, leant her back against the tree and reached into her bag. The rustling as she did clearly unnerved the creature before her. He pulled against his bonds, testing them, but still maintaining his silence and his discipline to not turn around. Louise pulled the pad free, folding over the pages to reveal a virgin white sheet. She dipped back into the bag to retrieve a pencil. After checking the point, she returned her scrutiny to the form in front of her. Narrowing her eyes, she assessed his proportions, using her pencil to define the lines of his being. Each curve and swell of his body was taken from the view and recreated on the paper for eternity. The deep, intimate scrutiny was far more intrusive than any photo could be, and he shifted and squirmed as if the pencil was  tracing his skin.

The first sheet was soon filled with a montage of studies. His rope wrapped wrists were juxtaposed with his masculine buttocks. The sketch of his shoulders was nestled next to the swell of his thighs. Shifting her position until she sat cross legged, Louise paused and then turned to a clean sheet of paper. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling the calming scent of the woodland,  flexing her fingers before caressing the pencil. As she opened her eyes, she started to draw. She set about capturing every line of his body with a confident attack. She flicked, teased, stroked firmly and occasionally punctuated the action with an abrupt hit.  The once unadulterated paper became marked with the essence of the figure before her. Her skilful depiction captured both his strength and vulnerability. His nervous unease was caught in his pose.

As the last detail was finished, Louise sagged against the tree. She was spent from the intensity of this assault on his physique. Suddenly, the absurdity of the situation reasserted itself and she scrambled to her feet. She hurriedly stuffed her belongings back into her bag and began to stride away. Stopping mid pace, she glanced back, pulled one of the pages back out. Looking around anxiously, Louise placed it trapped under a stone just behind the stranger. One last look and then she took flight, running from the woods before she was seen.

Click here to read the other competition entries.

Edit: I am very surprised but absolutely thrilled to say that this story came third in the competition.