Dear Fellow Traveler,
What had I done to get such rotten luck? was the biggest question in the stranded man’s mind, as he walked along the forest road. He shoulda listened to his Mi Ma, Don't take a long trip on the bus alone, she said, bring Uncle Jo or your brother Jim, she insisted. Heavens to betsy, Jesse wished he had listened, but his sweet old Mi Ma always seemed to worry too much, he was 25 years old, he could go on a week long trip alone.
But the good lord had to prove him wrong for brushing aside advice given by his elder.
Jesse was a well meaning salesman, meaning he often had to travel for work to bring different items to the town he lived in and the shop he worked in. Taking an overnight transit bus seemed like the most logical choice for transportation, but you could say Jesse shot himself in the foot with a later occurrence.
The bus had been so crowded, the young man couldn't breathe properly after already being on for a full day and night, so he had jumped at the chance to get off at the rest stop. The rest stop was in the middle of nowhere with bathrooms, vending machines, and a few other things that brought the young man a scrap of luck in his situation.
Because Jesse had made the boneheaded mistake of dozing off on the benches, his tense nerves became too relaxed, and by the time he came to his senses, it was already dusk. This cut his week-long trip short.
His only means of transport was gone, along with the backpack he had packed and his wallet. Because he was naive enough to pack it away instead of keeping it in his pocket like a person with a lick of sense.
Now this was where the few scraps of luck came into play.
The rest stop had small boxes with coin locks that would let you buy newspapers or maps if needed, a flashlight that had been left behind, perhaps dropped, and the few quarters in his pocket. Sadly no payphones to call for a taxi or his family. That's where his luck seemed to dry up, like a light rain shower in the middle of summer. It would take two days to get back home, even WITH a ride.
Still Jesse was rateful to the few droplets he had gotten, so all he had to do was find a payphone or hopefully, someone willing to pick up a hitchhiker.
“Lord have mercy for whatever mistake I made to have such rotten luck as punishment,” he prayed as he switched on the flashlight. The sun had long since dipped beyond the mountains, and there was no longer anylight, other than the full moon, it’s herald of stars and the occasional light pole lining the deserted road.
Admittedly, the forest wasn't so bad at night, as much as it was scary, it had an air of mystery about it as the full moon shone it’s moonbeams down upon the thick brush as it casted it’s shadows, and the stars twinkled overhead like far away fireflies. One could wonder what mysteries lie beneath the dark vale of the night, and what might stare back at you if you looked too deep into the shadows. The air was fresh and sweet, as any mountain air would smell. The air carried the smell of the pine trees, tall growing grass, and the earthy smell of damp soil.
It wasn’t a smell you could find in a city, or even in the middle of town. It was soothing, relaxing, and it aided in keeping his mind preoccupied. It was almost enough to ignore the sounds in the woods. Be it the wind in the trees or the night critters scurrying about in the shadows of the tall pines, but so was trying to hold the flashlight steady in his mouth while looking at the map. The man had to use both hands to hold the map correctly, thus holding his only light source with his teeth, as silly as that must have looked.
The thought of his brother teasing and taunting him like a three year old for his blunder, and of course his Missy were also at the forefront of his mind as well.
He thought of seeing her honey blond hair, become visible in the crowd, and green jewel eyes, light up when she saw Jesse home early from his trip. It warmed his heart better than his Mi Mas chicken porridge.
Walking long distances wasn’t exactly new to Jesse, he wasn't anywhere near as athletic as Uncle Jo or his brother Jim, but he had enough practice and will power to make a distance. The man had been hiking, and he had camped throughout his life, so it was well engraved into his muscles to manage on his own. He was also grateful for the Texas springs being not as blazing as the summers, so he had a perfectly cool clear night to make his journey back home. The jacket he was wearing kept him warm even when a gust of wind blew through. Oh and his bottle of water.
With happy thoughts having kept him calm while walking, Jesse became slightly shaken when he heard a voice slip through the calm night. “What an odd sight,” the calm deep voice said, catching the blonde's attention, bringing him out of his thoughts.
Jesse turned to the general direction of the voice, but only saw darkness. “Hello?” he replied aloud once taking the flashlight out of his mouth, for a split second wondering if he had been hearing things before hearing the voice again, “Hello,” the voice parroted back as an answer.
Using his flashlight to cut through the night, the bright light shone towards the trees where he heard the voice. The light seemed to melt away the dark background and he was able to see a man leaned against a tree once illuminated. It was no wonder he had such a hard time seeing him, because the man was dressed in mostly black, a wide brimmed hat tilted over his face, blending him into the shadows.
A million and one questions flooded the Texans head, but before he could ask, “It would seem I’m not the only one to be up and about in the forest.” He heard the man continue with a smooth as butter voice, as he tilted his hat out of his face, and the flash light’s glow lit up a pair of impossibly blue eyes that seemed to reflect the light.
Jesse was slightly taken aback by this, once taking in the man's appearance. Wearing black, even in a Texas Spring, was odd enough as is, hadn’t he felt like he was going to bake alive during the day?
Not only that, but with skin colored like the bark of a red wood tree, long glossy black hair that reflected the light, the shade of his face, with well defined cheekbones, and the strong aquiline nose, it was obvious that the man before him was of native american descent. Which tribe, he didn’t know, but was still similar to others he’s seen as well.
Except his eyes.
The shape of his eyes and the alluring deep blue color, comparable to the hue of a summer sky, were a rather prominent miss match to his other features, but at the same time were made all the more catching when paired. The deep color was enchanting, even to Jesse, he-
Really couldn’t look away.
For a moment, Jesse felt like a rabbit caught under the eyes of a predator, unable to look away. The man was tall, very tall, infact, probably a whole head taller than Jesse, causing him to crane his neck upwards just to keep eye contact with the man.
Maybe that was a factor to why the Texan felt so uneased at first, as well as just being in a defensive mindset from meeting a stranger at night, with no one but them and the forest critters around for miles. Soon those eyes seemed to have been more curious and studying than predatory or threatening, and Jesse felt his lungs let go of the breath he had been holding.
Jesse returned the studying gaze, and the man wasn’t so scary in reality. He had a handsome face, and a friendly smile, like a well behaved dog who was happy to meet someone new.
He still couldn’t get over the color though. They were so unnatural.
Still, Jesse felt drawn to the man, like a string was tugging on him.
“What are you doing all the way out here?” the man asked quizzically with a smile, and Jesse snapped out of his trance, “O-Oh, uh, I got left behind while taking the bus…” Jesse replied flustered, he cleared his throat and added his own question, “What about you? Why were yall off to the side like that?”
The man chuckled, his voice deep and rumbling, the laugh vibrating in the air, “I’m merely taking a short rest, I have been walking a while, and thought near a tree would be safer.” Jess opened his mouth to ask why he was standing, or knew he was walking by, but quickly clamped his jaw. “I can sleep standing up so I can be ready to move again, and I’m a light enough sleeper to have heard you approaching.”
“Oh wow, I guess that makes sense.” Jesse reasoned shakily, it was still a tad odd, but each to their own. “I’m Blue.” the man stated prominently, out stretching a dark hand to add to his greeting.
Flinching a bit surprised, and quickly replied, Jesse apologized, “Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to offend.” Perhaps his marbles rolled away for a hot second, because as soon as the man in black let out a loud, howling laugh, the other man realized his mistake. Not “blue” as in sad, but “Blue” as in his name? Well that was embarrassing,’ the stranded man thought, feeling his peach skin turning what he could assume was a bright pink.
Wait-
His name was “Blue”? The oddities attached to this man seem to continue to grow. More likely it was just a nickname he prefered to go by. The young man cleared his throat, voicing his thoughts this time, “I’m Jesse, Jesse Mc. Cane.” he shook the man’s outstretched hand, still a bit flustered,“Any last name for you?” and the blue eyed man just shook his head, “No, just Blue.”
“Alrighty, nice to meet you,” the blond offered a friendly smile, and ‘Blue’ returned it. Jesse quickly noticed, after realizing he hadn’t pulled away his hand, that his new friend had thick tough skin on the palms of his hands, and pads of his fingers.Large palms, and long fingers, he saw was adorned with long, black claw like nails that curved slightly, almost like the hooked claws of an animal.
Jesse was curious by nature, and couldn’t resist pulling the hand closer to get a better look. The nails were interesting to him in a few ways, it made him wonder if fake nails were becoming popular with men nowadays. Before he could ask however, Blue gently but hastally withdrew his hand. Jesse himself, brought his hands close to him, feeling a bit sorry that he might have hit a sore spot with the man by staring like that. “Now that that is put aside,” the native man started, putting his hands in his coat pockets, “If you don’t mind me asking, what you're doing out here, on foot and without even a backpack no less?”
“Oh uh…” Jesse tried to think of a way to explain himself, and the unfortunate situation he had tripped into like a three legged donkey. After Blue suggested they walk while talking, it became slightly easier to gather his thoughts to put into proper words. The man seemed friendly, and acted like he wasn’t going anywhere particularly, so perhaps attempting to engage in light conversation might help a bit. Jesse felt oddly relaxed to have a traveling partner anyhow.
So as the two walked, the blonde told the blue eyed man about what had happened as they walked along the side of the road, and as expected, the man chuckled a bit, “Ah, that’s quite the string of bad luck.” he replied when the story finished, and Blue started retelling his own tales of random misfortune on his travels. And before either knew it, they were chatting endlessly as they walked further into the night. Blue guided him effortlessly, even after the flashlight had died on them. He guided Jesse with ease across the quiet road, warning him of large rocks, large fallen branches that had been pushed to the side, the man had amazing sight.
“How are you able to navigate so easily?” Jesse asked letting his curiosity get to him once again, Blue smiled that charmingly sly smile. “I like to travel at night, you eventually get used to it, and eventually navigating the night becomes second nature.”
“Ah I see, that’s quite the handy skill! I’d give my left foot for something ahfl as useful.” the blond joked playfully. The other man just chuckled, “Careful, you shouldn’t offer such tempting deals.”
“It’s true though, I’m not all that talented at much. Ya know. Jack of all trades, master of none.” he shrugged, he could often play it off, but sometimes, it was a bit of a bother to not have any vast skills… Unlike his brother. He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. “Now, now, you shouldn’t say that,” Blue patted him a bit hard on his back, making him stand up straight again. He hadn’t even noticed he had begun to slouch, “I’m sure there’s something you're good at without trading a limb.” The man’s words brought a smile to Jesse’s face.
The young man couldn’t explain it, despite having been a bit rattled by the man during the first minute of their meeting, Jesse opened up seamlessly like they were old friends. Turning his head to take a good look at the other man as they walked, he admired the other for a moment. Blue had the air of someone wise beyond his years, like he had already lived 100 of them, and while he was reluctant to talk about his origins. Blue had an objectively handsome face, he was practically flawless and clean, his eyes had some kinda story hidden in their deep hue, but he kept the subject locked up. Jesse didn’t mind all that much thought.
In fact, he instead seemed intrigued by the blonds stories of his home life.
Thinking of it, Blue was like an old stray dog, intimidating at first, just because you didn’t know if he would bite. His curiosity, and wandering mind wondered if perhaps Blue was running from his past. If so, he had all the more reason not to let Jesse know the reasons. The blond could respect that.
Still-
Jesse couldn't shake the underlying feeling that was still pricking him like a wild thistle. It tickled and itched at the back of his neck, but he pushed that feeling out, trying to reign in his curious thoughts before he chatted the poor man's ear off, or hit another sore spot.
Still, as they talked longer into their walk, the Texan noticed his travel partner seemed puzzled by some things Jesse spoke of. It was much like how his Mi Ma would react when hearing about them for the first time. Jesse spoke of things like the tv set his brother and uncle were glued to during football season, or the hottest radio shows his grandma enjoyed. Those things puzzled him for some reason, yet he was too well versed in communication to be like any mountain man Jesse had heard of.
“Do you… not like the telly? Or the radio?” Jesse asked with an odd look towards the man, Blue only shook his head, ‘I have been on the road for a long time. Never stayed in a domesticated area long enough to grow attached to such things.” he answered shrugging, keeping his eyes forward. The Texan just chalked it up to another odd thing for the time being, even though he wanted to ask more, wondering more and more about Blue’s travels.
The native man was interesting to say the most, and the oddities added to his charm at the least.
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