Ram

As the girls made their way down the path, the river's slow progress through the forest churned the water forming a rich bubbling and gurgling sound that enticed and excited them both. The path led them to a wide sandy bank bathed in the afternoon sun. Pushing her chair into the sandy soil, Shala sat heavily and breathed deep. The air was thick with the scent of cold water, honeysuckle and greenery and Dawn's enticing aroma of cocoa butter and sweat. Closing her eyes, Shala marveled at her heightened sense of smell.Must be the clean smog-free air out here,she thought. She relaxed and imagined pushing her head between Dawn's breasts and sucking on her tiny nipples while running her hands all over Dawn's hourglass curves.

"Um, Shay?"

Shala opened her eyes slowly, taking in Dawn's luscious form. She looked worried.

"Hmmm?" Shay replied, as if waking.

"Hey space cadet, I'm going swimming. You coming? And stop looking at me like that! It's...odd," Dawn joked. "You're making me feel like a piece of meat."

Shala joined Dawn next to the water. It was a fair and warm day but the water was cold. Just dipping their toes in made them shiver. Deciding it was now or never, Shala ran into the water with a wild splash. Dawn stood, the breath knocked out of her from the icy water Shala kicked up. As she witnessed her friend's joyful movement through the water, her body began to respond. She ran into the water until it was waist deep then dove in and swam toward the opposite bank.

Here the water was deeper and there was a large boulder on the bank that looked perfect for lounging. Dawn climbed up on the bank and stepped onto the warm boulder luxuriating in the warmth it held from the sun's rays. She sat down then stretched out to gain maximum exposure to the deep azure sky. Well, as maximum as you could get while wearing a swimsuit. Of course, she could remedy that. What would it matter anyway? There was no one around for miles and Shay wouldn't care. Shay. She had been acting so weird. It wasn't like her to be so, well, affectionate. These thoughts discouraged Dawn from removing her top. Tan lines weren't the end of the world so she pushed her black hair into a loose bun, closed her green eyes and lay there concentrating on the sounds of the water and the warmth of the day.

Close to sleep, Dawn began to get cold. It was growing cloudy but when she opened her eyes she realized it wasn't a cloud. It was Shala standing over her and staring down with a playful look on her face. Shala had taken off her swimsuit.What the hell is she doing?Dawn wondered.

Sitting up, Dawn gazed up at Shala and noted that her friend was still wearing that weird necklace. "Enjoying the sun?" Shala quizzed.

"Well, I was," Dawn replied irritably. "What are you doing?"

Shala sat down on the warm boulder next to her friend and said, "Nothing much. You've been asleep here awhile. Ready to head back?"

Dawn looked around in confusion. "How long was I out?"

Shala shrugged then dove into the water and swam to the shore. Following her friend's cue, Dawn met up with Shala on the opposite bank. "Where is your swimsuit?"

"I'm not sure. I took it off near the bank. Guess it floated away," Shala replied with indifference.

Dusk fell upon the campsite quickly. Neither girl spoke as they poked around the site getting dressed and arranging the kindling and logs for their campfire. Shala got the fire going and before long, it was dark. Dinner was a simple affair of roasted hot dogs and s'mores for dessert. Dawn was quiet as she studied Shala's movements around the fire. Something was definitely up with her friend. Ever since they returned from their swim, Shala wore a grin and not much else. The evening was cooler than expected with the breeze blowing off of the river and Dawn had changed into flannel pants and a hoodie. Shala appeared to be quite warm even though she only had on shorts and a tank top that barely covered her chest, the pendant nestled in her cleavage. Finally, the curiosity overtook her and Dawn decided she had to say something.

"Wow! It's gotten chilly out here. Aren't you cold?" Shala looked up from her crouch next to the flames and giggled.

"No, not at all. It's pretty warm next to this fire. Come sit by me!" She patted the blanket next to her and cast Dawn a look that put her at ease. Seemed she was the same old Shala after all. Convincing herself that Shala was just tired or relaxed or relieved to be outdoors, Dawn carried herself over to the blanket and sat down.

"So, finish telling me about the lady in Wal-Mart that gave you your new favorite accessory," Dawn implored. Shala stared into the fire and after a few moments she described the encounter and left out no detail. She described the woman's odd colored irises, her strange face and how she seemed to lose track of time somewhere between the occurrence and the phone call from Dawn. Becoming a bit embarrassed about sharing the incident in her bathroom, she decided to leave that part out for now. It was still too hard to put into words how it made her feel.

When she had finished, Shala got up and went to the back of the SUV. Pulling out a bottle of wine and two glasses, she grinned at Dawn and did a little dip twist dance. Dawn couldn't help but laugh out loud. Though she could be pretty serious and thoughtful, Shala was also often silly and playful to the point of seeming childish or immature to those that didn't know her well. Probably why she hadn't maintained any long term romantic relationships. Guys seemed to not get her sense of humor and expected someone who looked as good as she did to be something she was not.

Returning to the blanket, Shala pulled out her wine key, opened the bottle and poured a glass of wine. Handing this to Dawn, she said in a deeply seductive voice, "Drink of me and be free." Dawn laughed but gave her friend a strange look. "Where did that come from?"

Shala poured her own glass and took a sip. "Don't know. It just came out." She turned her face toward Dawn and laughed. "Okay, weirdo," said Dawn, laughing too.

"How did your trip go?" Shala realized she hadn't heard any details of her friend's trip to Sedona, Arizona and was eager to learn what it had been like. Dawn was known for spending her considerable inherited wealth on visits to spiritual places in an effort to uncover what she believed to be hidden truths within reality.

At the question, Dawn's face lit up in addition to the light of the now roaring fire. Growing warm from the flames, the wine and her excitement about sharing her experiences with her friend, Dawn began to take off her hoodie to reveal the thin camisole she typically wore to sleep in. Her breasts bounced as she struggled to remove the hoodie's arms and put it away. Shala gazed at her friend's body tussling with the garment and grew excited. She was unable to control an urge to touch Dawn so she feigned an offer of assistance and dragged her fingers along the soft skin of her friend's arms as she pulled the hoodie down and away. Either not noticing the intimate touch or not caring, Dawn seemed relieved at the cool breeze on her skin and began describing the drive in to Sedona on 89A: the beauty of the natural slides in Slide Rock State Park, the smell of the juniper and the dry desert air. To Dawn, the area had an almost tangible magical quality that made her feel like she was coming home. Though she never witnessed anything spectacular on her excursions to visit the famed vortices in the area, she did thoroughly enjoy the locals and the drop dead gorgeous sunsets. All in all, she counted the trip as a victory if for nothing else but the recharge it provided her soul.

"When I go back, you have to come with me, Shay! You would love it!" Dawn seemed to be caught in her own vortex of memory as Shala rose and said, "I'd love to! For now, I really need to see a man about a horse." Giddy and tipsy, they both laughed as Shala took a path away from camp to answer the call of nature.

Shala wandered away from camp scouting for a reasonably good spot to take care of her urgent need to urinate. About 25 yards from camp the ridgeline dropped slowly to the river valley. Shala squatted behind a tree, did her thing and was about to rise to head back to camp when she heard a noise. Behind her and just beyond the opposite bank of the river from her vantage point seemed to be coming a low roaring sound. Almost like a breeze, it flowed along growing in intensity before settling down into low susurrations that sounded like voices. That's pretty cool, she thought. She figured it was wind blowing through a natural rock formation and made a note to let Dawn know so she wouldn't be frightened.

Returning to camp, she found Dawn dozing on the blanket next to the fire. They had finished the bottle of wine and were both exhausted. Shala rubbed Dawn's shoulder and roused her enough to get her to come to the shelter to sleep. As they lay, Dawn softly snoring, Shala stared up at the stars, clasping the ram's head pendant in her fist. It was warm and comforting. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Walking. How long have I been walking? Shala asks herself as she stumbles in the dark. The darkness feels large, empty. Definitely not in an enclosed area, she thinks as she continues on in her bare feet. Bare feet?! At this moment she realizes her feet aren't the only thing bare on her form. She's nude. And tired. When will this darkness end, she wonders and just then she spies a light in the distance. It looks like a bonfire.

Startled awake, Shala lay still and quiet trying to determine where the noise had come from. It had sounded like a voice – a man's voice. But she had to have been dreaming, right? Not wanting to wake Dawn, she slowly disentangled herself from her blanket and got up to go stoke the fire that had almost burned out.

Shala placed another log on the fire and crouched on her knees on the blanket next to it. Behind her, a whisper caused her to whip her body around and stare into the blackness of the trees at the edge of the camp. No one – nothing - was there. But she had definitely heard...what? Well, something she was certain. It must have been the wind she had heard earlier. There didn't seem to be any breeze right now, but that had to be what she had heard. A thought prodded and threatened to take form: hadn't she had some weird dream last night about a dark room or something? She shivered despite the warm fire and grasped the pendant. For some reason she couldn't understand or didn't want to understand, the feel of it on her chest calmed her. She stood and stared into the trees. When nothing presented itself, she turned and went back to her sleeping pad. Shala lay for a few minutes, listening to the woods and the gurgle of the nearby river. Finally calm and sure nothing was stalking their campsite, she fell into a deep restful sleep.

It was getting harder for Dawn to ignore or explain the weird behavior of her best friend. Since her unexpected kiss yesterday, Shala had been quiet and boisterous in turns. Dawn realized people could be moody but Shala often operated on an even keel. While she was outgoing and usually quite happy, Shala was never one for such open exploration of sexuality. It worried Dawn as she sat by the low fire and waited for Shala to wake up.

Speaking of waking up, Shala was usually the early riser of the two. It was now almost 9 am and Shala was snoring peacefully on her sleeping pad. What the hell was going on with her? Was she on drugs or something? But that wasn't like her either.

Dawn decided to ask her outright as soon as Shala woke up. She began making breakfast on the small campfire grill they had brought with them. Shala's father had constructed it and given it to her as a gift.

The smell of breakfast roused Shala and she woke up just as Dawn had finished plating their eggs and sausages.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and...uh, sausage," Dawn joked. Shala grinned as she took her plate and sat in the camp chair next to her friend. "Rough night, homie?" Dawn's joking seemed to be having a positive effect on Shala who chuckled. "I guess so. My legs feel like I spent the night doing squats instead of sleeping," Shala responded.

As they ate, Dawn studied Shala. She ate with relish and went back for seconds looking in Dawn's direction questioningly to indicate she wanted to eat the remaining food if Dawn wasn't interested. Dawn wasn't and Shala polished off the rest of the food quickly.

Cleaning the cookware and putting it away was done in comfortable silence and Dawn felt it was time to probe Shala for information. "Shala, is everything ok? You seem to be, I don't know, distracted," she began. "I'm not trying to be accusatory or anything, but you've been acting like, well, not like yourself. Are you on something or something? Ha ha."

Shala grew quiet. The look she gave Dawn almost broke her heart. Dawn immediately went to Shala and put her arms around her to offer comfort. Shala sighed. She gently pushed Dawn away and explained, "I'm not on drugs, you nut. I do feel pretty weird but I've been chalking it up to exhaustion and stress," she explained. "Plus, these dreams I keep having are so...real and so dark. I can't see anything but feel like I'm not alone in a dark place. Last night, something woke me up."

"Something woke you up? Like an animal?" Dawn questioned.

"No, I don't think so." Laughing lightly, Shala continued, "I thought it was a voice. A man's voice. But I was dreaming about this weird place. I woke up and stoked the fire and thought I heard whispering but that was probably just the wind. It sounds pretty weird coming off the river."

Dawn tried to hide her worry and assured Shala her fright just came from having a strange dream and waking up startled in a strange place.

"Don't worry. It's probably just your spirit guide trying to communicate and fucking it up royally!" Dawn joked. "Wanna check out that vista before lunch?"

"Definitely!" Excited, Shala and Dawn got ready for their hike. Checking their maps and making sure they had supplies for their trek, they set off into the woods.

...

It was gorgeous. The first word that came to mind for Shala was breathtaking. But maybe that was the altitude.

Sunning themselves on the boulder jutting out into space above the river valley below, Dawn and Shala enjoyed the view in silence. It was Dawn who spoke first about the weird markings they had spotted on a couple of the trees as they climbed the trail to this scenic spot.

"Who do you think made those? They were so strange."

"Probably just some kids going through their Goth phase," Shala offered, referring to the obvious occult feel the markings conveyed. One had been topped with a weird soft of pentagram and some rune-like characters beneath it. The other made up of only the same rune-like characters.

"You know, hoboes place marks on buildings and things to convey information to other 'boes that might make their way to that spot," Dawn explained. Shala laughed. Dawn always had some interesting bit of information tucked away. Unable to quell her compulsion to share esoteric knowledge, Dawn continued.

"Yeah, it's like a road map. They have symbols for things like, 'mean dog lives here' or 'nice lady, free meal.' If you don't know the difference, I guess you could end up being the meal," Dawn laughed at her own joke.

Shala was smiling but staring down into the forest below. Following her friend's line of sight, Dawn was easily able to pick out what had caught Shala's attention. Near the river and just upstream from where they had swam the day before, was a small clearing. Well, small from their vantage point. If they had been standing in the middle of it, they would be in the center of a 50 foot circle. Within the circle was a rock or structure of some kind. From their height and distance, it was hard to tell. It was kind of rectangular but other than that, the details were unclear.

Both girls stared at this landmark that was previously hidden from them. Shala stood quickly and put her hand out to help Dawn to her feet. "Let's go check it out," she said and took off toward the path.

It had taken the rest of the morning to hike back down toward camp. Looking for a shallow spot upstream to cross, Shala and Dawn were surprised to find a makeshift path of large stones leading across the river directly toward the area of the woods where their directional senses told them the clearing should be.

Stepping onto the bank and heading toward the face of the tree line, Shala didn't notice Dawn's hesitation. With effort and a visible shrug to discard her concern, Dawn stepped in line behind Shala and they continued toward the forest. She wasn't so worried about the woods themselves, or even the possibility of encountering wildlife. Dawn was, however, supremely concerned about engaging with the creator of the circle. Who had constructed it? And why so far out in the middle of this forest? It wasn't a popular camping spot for families due to the remote location and lack of facilities of any sort. In fact, if she hadn't come out here with her father, the survivalist, when she was young, Dawn would not have picked it for their little getaway. It frightened most people to be this far away from civilization, excepting Shala. Shala was different from most people in most every aspect. Camping and by extension, the forest, was practically a second home for Shala and her family. Her dad was an accomplished woodsman and her mother was a back to nature hippie type with whom Dawn had felt an instant kinship. Both girls were quite happy and comfortable to be in the deep forest together.

Shala, breath heavy from the humidity and activity, pushed through the brushy foliage and almost frantically scanned for the clearing she felt should be directly ahead of her. Her mind was thrumming with a flood of excitement and the thrill of discovering the secrets of the circle. It felt like coming home for her...or like boarding a plane to head home after a long trip. Not questioning her feelings or showing any concern for her friend panting to keep up behind her, Shala stepped over a low stone wall and into the circle.

It was windy.

Shala couldn't stand so she remained on the ground but struggled to push her upper body off of the warm stone beneath her. Shala tried to make out where she was but a black mist surrounding her form made it difficult to see more than four feet. Looking up, she was able to see roiling clouds high in the sky. They appeared to be backlit by flames whose source was undiscernible and impossible anyway.

"Dawn!" Shala yelled. "Dawn, where the hell are you?!" They must have been caught up in some weird dust storm or...what? A bombing? Dismissing the latter as unlikely, Shala determined it must be some kind of storm or mini-cyclone. Too bad she had left her ruby slippers at home, Shala thought and chuckled in an effort to comfort herself and quell her mounting fear both for her safety and Dawn's. Her skin began to sting from being buffeted by the tiny particles of dust blown at her from the weird mist that rose only a few feet around her and above her head. "Oh, I'm naked," she said aloud. "What the hell is going on here?!" Shala began to become angry. This storm was weird and scary but mostly it pissed her off in a primal way that she wasn't used to and made her feel some sense of power given her current predicament. Harnessing this weak surge of confidence, Shala pushed herself off the ground and stood. As she did, the black mist dissipated. The sight that greeted her was so unexpected she nearly dropped back to her knees.