NurseSheGirl

Morning arrived quietly.

The storm had spent itself
sometime before dawn,
leaving only the slow rhythm
of water slipping
from leaf to leaf.

She opened her eyes
beneath the old tree
that had carried her safely
through the longest night.

For a while,
she simply listened.

The wind no longer howled.
The thunder had wandered elsewhere.
Even the birds,
once frightened into silence,
had begun again.

She rose carefully.

Her legs were tired,
her clothes still damp,
her hands scratched
from reaching for branches
that could not stop the rain.

Yet she stood.

The forest before her
was not the forest
she remembered.

Great limbs lay scattered
across the earth.
Sunlight poured through openings
where towering trees
had once hidden the sky.

The storm
had not merely passed through.

It had rewritten everything.

She searched
for the narrow trail
she had followed before,
the one she believed
would lead her home.

But it was gone.

Washed away.

Buried beneath fresh earth,
fallen branches,
and unfamiliar light.

A quiet ache settled
inside her chest.

She could keep searching
for the path she remembered…or admit
it no longer existed.

She lowered her gaze
to the untouched soil
stretching before her.

No footprints.

No directions.

No promises.

Across the damp earth,
she noticed a line
of tiny fox tracks.

Fresh.

They curved gently
between the ferns
before disappearing
into the trees.

She smiled finding comfort in knowing
that the forest was large enough
for two souls
to walk separate paths.

Far beyond the hills,
she heard the bear’s familiar call
rolling softly through the morning.

Deep.

Steady.

Comforting.

She closed her eyes
and listened
until the sound faded
into the wind.

Then she turned back
toward the empty ground
waiting before her.

No map.

No trail.

No certainty.

She drew one slow breath,
lifted one weary foot,
and pressed it gently
into the untouched earth

The first footprint.

Not toward someone.

Not away from someone.

Simply…

forward.