Sachiko Sato took a deep breath of air, letting it out in a contented sigh.
'Nature Freakin rocks!' she thought, staring out at the green park in front of her. A yank on the leg of her sweatpants reminded her why she was enjoying nature in the first place.
"What is it, Orca?"
The collie grabbed her loose pants and yanked again, moving Sachi's leg an inch or two across the dirt trail.
"Okay! Okay! You have my attention!" She put her hand on the dog's black and white fur and the dog let go of her clothes, walking a few feet off the trail and turning around to glance at Sachi.
"What the heck?" she muttered. "My brother's dog is just as bossy as he is."
It was bright outside, and it wasn't like the deep part of the park was super dangerous.
She sighed and followed Orca into the woods, trying her best to avoid the flowers the same way the dog did. It wasn't as graceful, but she managed not to trample anything.
After a few minutes of walking, the dog brought them to a deep, mostly dry riverbed.
There was something wrong with the forest.
It was silent except for the sound of footfalls.
There was a ten foot area where all of the plants were not only dead, but husks. Blackened like pitch.
A creeping feeling went up her spine.
"Orca!" she hissed, hesitating as the dog jumped into the riverbed below.
She searched the woods around them. Something was off.
Tense.
Barking drew her gaze back to the riverbed.
Orca almost never barked.
Sachi started to climb into the ditch. It was easy. Short distance, big handholds. Reaching out, she grabbed a large root. She let out a shriek as it disintegrated in her hand and she almost fell. The noise echoed in the empty space.
Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm down as she avoided tangly masses of plant root and used only the dirt to get down.
She brushed her hands off on her pants. Turning around, she gasped at Orca tugging on the shirt of what looked like a body half buried under dirt and filth, surrounded by dead roots. Even the dirt surrounding that spot was a black mud, sticky and squelching.
"Orca! Orca get away from that!"
The dog let out another series of barks.
"Orca! We don't know where that's been!" she whispered frantically.
Sachi moved closer. Years of her brother's warnings kept her cautious, inching toward him, looking around. She kicked his body gently with her pink sneaker, and jumped back a foot, squealing instinctively and squeezing her eyes shut.
Nothing.
She tapped him again with her sneaker. Nothing.
He appeared totally knocked out. Or totally....
She shivered at that thought and moved closer, pushing off some of the dirt and roots.
Holy Vanilla Bean Queen.
He was handsome, even obviously dirty and thin. More than handsome. He was gorgeous!Who was he?
What was he doing out here? Was he still alive?!
She checked his pulse and felt a flood of relief to find it steady, if a little slow. Her eyes scanned for damage. A ridiculous part of her wished she hadn't worn sweatpants. What if this beautiful man woke up and saw her like this?
She pushed off more tangled tree root that fell apart. That was when her attention caught onto another fact.
Her eyes widened.
'What the heck?'
Speaking of pants, he was not wearing any.
She fumbled for her phone.
It rang once. Then twice.
"Hello?"
"Oh, Emmie. Thank Fudge. I'm going to need some help."