A low hanging fog writhed around their feet as they wandered through the swamp. Unseen creatures slithered and splashed nearby, freaking them out. Glad for his heavy boots and gear, Malachi wandered through the woods with three other men. They were spaced at regular intervals.
"See anything?" one of the men asked.
"Nope," Malachi answered. "But we know they're out here somewhere. Search and rescue has been looking for them for three days." He stepped in a puddle and sank up to his knee. Cursing, he pulled himself free. "God, I hate the woods."
"Pussy," the man next to him said. "I love camping and hiking. You should come with me and my cousins sometime. You might learn to enjoy the great outdoors."
"No thanks. I'm a city boy. I don't know shit about woods, except how to not get lost—You won't find me camping—ever."
The man chuckled, turning to face Malachi. Elam? What the hell? Blythe couldn't understand why he was talking to Malachi like they were friends. Elam seemed to have no recollection of meeting Malachi, yet here he was chatting with him. Was he lying, or was her mind playing tricks?
Confused, she woke herself from the dream and wrote it down. It was around 6:00. Unable to control the impulse anymore, she sent a text to Elam.
"Call me when you get this. I have a question."
She was stunned when her phone rang. It was Elam.
"What's wrong?" he asked as soon as she answered.
"Were you awake?"
"Yeah. Can't sleep for some reason. Which is great, since I work in a couple hours. What's wrong?"
"Did you know Malachi before the accident?"
"What? No. Why?"
"Because you've shown up in one of my dreams of him—besides the one of his wreck. The last one I had, you were tromping through the woods looking for someone. You were teasing him about not liking the great outdoors. You offered to take him camping."
Elam burst out laughing. "I guarantee that wasn't me. My idea of camping is sharing a bathroom with more than one person. I like to hike and ride bike trails, but you won't find me camping—ever."
"I wonder who it was. Why would my mind put your face in there?"
"Maybe your subconscious mind simply supplied the next handiest face. We're both emergency personnel. It would be an easy assumption."
"I suppose. You're sure you never met him?"
"Babe, I'd remember if a buddy of mine got skewered with a tree branch, don't you think?"
"Yes, I suppose." She sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't think straight about this. Events are getting all mixed up in my mind. The dreams are almost surreal. I see some things in vivid, accurate detail. Other things are oddly distorted."
"Don't over think it. I know that's not easy, but you have to try. Facts will be revealed as they're needed. I don't think we're meant to figure this out all at once. If we were, all the answers would be right there. For some reason, the journey and the finding, are as important as bringing Malachi back."
"I think you're right," Blythe replied. "But I want so badly for him to wake up. I cry when I think what his family has been through. What if he had a girlfriend or a wife who's been without him all this time? It's been horrible without Alec, but gone is gone. There is no bringing him back. To see him like that, not quite there, and not gone—it would be torture."
"I'm so sorry you lost Alec," Elam said quietly. "But I'm glad that you found me."
"I am too! I shouldn't go on and on about him."
"It's inevitable. He was a part of your life for a very long time. You've got thousands of memories of him, years of sharing." He paused, sighing heavily. "I never was someone's everything. Alec was the luckiest man in the world—He had you."
"Then I guess you're the luckiest man in the world, because now you do. I loved Alec with all my heart, and I would have been happy with him, content. But he never kissed me like you do. He never got me so hot, I fantasized about him."
Blythe hadn't intended to say any of that. It was the worst kind of confession to make, so thoroughly embarrassing. She didn't want to belittle her relationship with Alec, but she couldn't let Elam feel bad about himself because he wasn't Alec.
"You're not him. You never can be him, and I don't want you to be. When I think about you, I get goose bumps. When I'm with you, I want—everything."
"What's keeping you from taking everything?" his voice dropped to a low growl. "Because you can have whatever you want—whenever you want."
"I want the perfect moment. I want to be in top form so we don't have to worry about bumps and bruises. I want to know what the hell reverse cowgirl is."
Elam burst out laughing. "Oh, you kinky darling. I'll happily show you. Hell, I'll show you anything you want. If I don't know it, I'll figure it out, just to make you happy."
"Thank you. For being you—for not being him. For everything."
"Thank you for letting me be me." He yawned loudly. "I think I'd better get a shower. I have to be at work in about an hour. I'm going to have a difficult time concentrating, though."
"Really? Why?"
"Yeeha! Reverse cowgirl," he replied and hung up. He laughed when she called him right back.
"You bastard, you did that on purpose. Are you going to tell me what that is?"
©2022 Dellani Oakes
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