Yeah, that’s me. I was having a good hair day. I took several pictures until I got the angle, the smile, and the lighting just right. It’s how I want to be seen.
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I had been waiting at the campground a long time. I had thought I’d be lonely forever.

I practiced writing with a stick in the dirt, not having paper, and play fighting with trees to keep in shape. I was at home in the woods.

I knew they would come, it was prophesied. I dreamed of them every night, I sang songs for them to keep the lonely dusk at bay, and I cried when the weight of missing them crushed my chest and hurt my heart.

Then one day I heard footsteps, movement through the woods, unlike a deer crashing through brush, or a coyote chasing down a rabbit. I listened closely, it could be them.

Lots of them.

They suddenly stepped out of the green. Ficliers! Friends! And my face, was one of joy and amusement; easily recognizable.
“ELSHA!” They ran to my outstretched arms