With a hearty yawn, Evelyn put her mug of tea back in the cup holder and leaned back in the driver's seat of the slight pick-up. The many ancient tree giants that reigned unchallenged over this wild, colorful land passed her window as distorted silhouettes. Everything was still damp and clammy because it had been raining all night. Music was playing on the radio - Adele with Love in the Dark.

"Tᴀᴋᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴇʏᴇs ᴏғғ ᴏғ ᴍᴇ sᴏ I ᴄᴀɴ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ.
I′ᴍ ғᴀʀ ᴛᴏᴏ ᴀsʜᴀᴍᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ɪᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ.
Tʜɪs ɪs ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ﹐ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ʜᴇʀᴇ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ
Bᴜᴛ I ᴄᴀɴ′ᴛ sᴛᴀʏ ᴛʜɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ
′ᴄᴀᴜsᴇ I ᴅᴏɴ′ᴛ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ...'

"Please, stay where you are. Don't come any closer. Don′t try to change my mind," the light voice sang along softly, feeling a bitter sting in her chest. It still hurt, but it was getting better. It was no longer tearing her apart, and soon, she would be able to sleep through the night again. She was sure of that.

Sighing softly, the young woman reached for the rear-view mirror and turned it a little so that she could see better - even though there wasn't much to see here, in the middle of nowhere in the Canadian forests, apart from trees, trees, and even more trees.

An exhausted image gazed back at her from the mirror. Blonde hair fell in wild waves around her round face and shoulders. Her left eye remained hidden under her fringes, which tickled her cheek across her forehead. It was better this way, as she only had to see part of the dark circles that decorate her face. It matched her pale complexion and lips, which had been curving down at the corners of her mouth all too often lately.

"It'll get easier soon," she said to herself.

Oh boy, now she was already trying to convince her reflection.

A soft whimper resounded beside her, and the young woman reached out to stroke the big German shepherd's head. Then she put the indicator on and turned the corner. The gravel crunched softly under the wheels.

"You're right; we can do this. Right, Chief?"

Evelyn laughed brittlely, shook her head slightly ... and then gasped in shock.

A man was suddenly standing on the damn road, staring at the car like a deer in the headlights instead of moving.

Then, it seemed, everything happened at once: her hand hit the horn, and the deep sound washed through the rows of trees like an unexpected tidal wave. Her whole body stiffened as she slammed on the brakes and triggered the anti-lock braking system with full braking on the slippery surface. The nose of the truck pulled to the side, and she steered against it. Eve tried to prevent the car from leaving the road and landing on the nearest tree or in the ditch.

The thick tires left a trail of churned-up stones in the gravel. The seatbelt tightened and pressed painfully against her upper body as the force of the braking threw her forward.

Then, finally, the dark blue pickup came to a jerky halt.

Her hands were still clutching the tattered leather of the steering wheel while her heart seemed to jump out of her chest and dash away. The young woman's fingertips were stiff, and she felt as if they were frozen while she slowly released them from their rugged grip on the steering wheel. Her first glance was to the side, where Chief was whimpering and growling, distraught, no less shaken by the emergency stop than she was.

"Shit. Chief! Hey, good boy, are you okay?" Her voice was thin and shaky as she groped for the dog to reassure him and see if he was okay. Chief seemed unharmed, thankfully, but that only calmed her troubled emotions for a brief moment. "Stay here. Sit down," she ordered hoarsely. The old hinges of the pile of junk Ri so proudly called 'Rusty' squeaked indignantly as she yanked open the door and jumped out of the car.

The roaring of her heartbeat in Eve's ears was so loud that she could barely hear her own thoughts. There was an eerie chaos in her chest. It was as if a shelf full of emotions had been knocked over in thin glass, and now everything was mixed up—shock, fear, anger, worry, guilt, relief.

"Are you all right? What the hell is wrong with you? Are you completely crazy or something?" It was as if a mountain of stones piled up for far too long was collapsing inside her.

"I could have run you over! What the hell are you doing on this bloody road? Why aren't you walking on the stupid footpath?" she barked at the idiot in the ditch she'd just nearly crashed over.

Shit! Something could have happened to her! Or Chief! And... And something could have happened to him! Did he know how long it would take for help to arrive in this hole in the middle of nowhere? She would probably have had to lift his bloody body onto the loading area and drive him to the nearest hospital. Jesus, she was still shaking.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't find the cozy footpath to Silvershore. So I thought I'd take a walk on the beautiful road!"

Leaves and dirt stuck to a guy with a thick beard who seemed a little older than she was—Eve estimated him to be in his early to mid-thirties. The idiot looked like the typical wanderer who roamed the woods without a brain and who the others in the village always liked to make fun of. He wore dark grey hiking trousers with side pockets and a dark brown anorak with a slight green tinge. This gaped open slightly to reveal a black shirt. All in all, they are the perfect colors to be overlooked in the forest. Excellent, especially for walking along lonely roads or in front of a hunter's shotgun.

But first ...

"Are you unhurt?" she asked, still breathless.

"Yes, I'm fine. Nothing serious." The guy had gotten to his feet and was rummaging among the leaves as if he were looking for something. His voice sounded pressed, and Eve opened her mouth to ensure he was really unharmed when the guy continued: "Who on earth drives so stupidly and as if the hangman is following him on a road like this?"

'Calm down. He's an idiot. And you're tired and upset. Take a deep breath,' Eve tried to pull herself together and keep the seething in check.

"I wasn't speeding. And you were suddenly standing in the middle of the road! This isn't a hiking trail; it's a road. Even more so in clothes like that."

A rucksack was lying in the leaves next to the guy, and when she took a few steps closer, she bumped into a small silver tin with the toe of her boot.

The guy cursed quietly to himself, swung the rucksack over one shoulder, and climbed up the shallow, leaf-covered ditch while Eve bent down to grab the shiny thing. A strand of her blonde curls slipped over her shoulders, and her fringes fell like a curtain over her forehead and blue-green eyes. The oval box looked like an ordinary mint tin. The silver was matt and slightly eroded in places. An animal was engraved on the lid. A bird? No, more likely an eagle or a raven. She straightened up and was about to hold it out to him...

"What rubbish," the man replied gruffly, fuelling her fire, which had just died down a little. "Surely, you can see a person in the middle of the path. Are you blind or what?"

That hit Eve like a punch in the gut.

For a few heartbeats, all she could hear was the pounding of her pulse and the unnaturally loud rustling of leaves under the man's boots. A lump constricted her throat, and an unpleasant throbbing started behind her temple as she took two stiff, quick steps toward the guy. Her fingers closed so tightly around the silver box that her knuckles turned white as Evelyn pressed it hard against his chest.

She heard him respond with a surprised 'What the-?' as she walked towards her car and got in furiously. The old engine howled, and she left the stranger at the side of the road with a hissed, "Asshole!".