“Okay, so you slept a bit,” Marina said aloud to herself, absentmindedly doing justice to the massive breakfast she prepared herself. If her increased appetite was bothering her, she certainly didn’t show it.
“Who says I can’t just take my run now, right?” she shrugged her shoulders. “Now” being a bit of a stretch, as she had no intention of getting up until after she polished off this meal. She might as well, she figured. She’d gone through all that trouble to prepare it, after all.
***
It was a brisk day outside, but for some reason that didn’t bother Marina very much. It was getting towards the end of autumn, the leaves in the trees had made their transition from green to red to brown and were beginning to fall to the ground. Marina felt fortunate that today was a Saturday. Didn’t have to go to work, didn’t have any plans whatsoever. She could just catch up on her run, and move forward with the rest of her day.
As Marina jogged along at a respectable but reserved pace, a few other jogging enthusiasts gave her an odd look as she passed by. So what if she was just in a tank top and shorts? She wasn’t feeling the need for any more than that.
Usually, Marina’s route kept her in her neighborhood, on the sidewalks, on a set and reliable path. But she felt a compulsion, deep inside, to veer off the paved path today. She didn’t know why, and she didn’t question it. The moment an opening came up, she diverted herself into the woods that bordered her neighborhood.
It was a thrill to run amongst the trees. To duck and bob and weave through the foliage, to hear and feel the crunch of fallen leaves beneath her feet. She felt drawn towards the sound of running water, and soon found herself approaching a stream.
She realized first that she never really took the time to appreciate the beauty of the natural world that existed all around her. She realized second that she was somehow, someway, already hungry again. Burning calories, she supposed, can do that to you. She realized third that this stream had plenty of fresh fish just waiting to be…
Before she realized what she was doing, she dipped down and swung her right arm into the water, deftly catching a fish on one hand and bringing it up her face. It was fresh, it was warm, it was delicious.
“That was really impressive!” Came a familiar voice. Her eyes went wide, and she looked up to see… she honestly didn’t know who he was. He was tall, he was broadly built, he was handsome. He was dressed in just a pair of running shorts and a pair of well-worn running shoes.
“Oh, uh, thanks…?” she suddenly felt a bit self-conscious, and wiped fish blood off of her chin with the back of her arm.
“Maybe you could give me some pointers,” he said, before looking down to the water and darting his hand in just like she had. “I’ve been trying for at least twenty minutes.”
“Oh!” Marina grinned, self-consciousness immediately going away as she stepped towards him, but not before taking another bite of her catch. “The trick is to hit in front of them, where they’re going to be rather than where they are.”
“Okay. In front of them,” he nodded his head, and narrowed his eyes in concentration. “Name’s Garth, by the way.”
“Marina,” she answered with a smile. Why couldn’t she shake the feeling that she knew this guy? And then she watched as he took her advice, nailing a fish hard in his grip.
“Ha! Yes! You rock!” He whooped in excitement, before letting loose a guttural growl and biting into the fish just like she had.
“We should do this more often,” he said through a mouth full of fish meat.
“Definitely,” she smiled, finishing her fish off and tossing the scraps aside. She watched him eat, hunched over his catch, devouring it voraciously. She found he had a pleasant amount of body hair, and his fat-to-muscle ratio was really working for her. She definitely wouldn’t mind spending more time with Garth.
“Hngh,” Marina grunted, softly, catching his attention.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, just… shoes feel tight all of a sudden,” she frowned, bending down to fidget with the laces a bit.
“You too, huh?” he asked. “I was thinking about just ditching mine. Not like we need ‘em right?”
“Fair point,” she said, and it didn’t occur to her why on earth she wouldn’t need her shoes. She just knew he was right - she didn’t.
She sat down on her haunches and plucked each shoe off in turn. If she was thinking normally, she might have found it odd that her toes had torn through her socks, that her toenails were thicker and sharper than before.
“Those are some beautiful bear feet,” Garth said, watching as she took off her socks.
“Huh?” she tilted her head to the side, confused.
“I dunno, I just like bare feet,” he shrugged his shoulders. She pondered that for a moment. Did he mean bear or bare? And why was she pondering that distinction? Ah well, it didn’t matter.
“This is gonna sound weird,” Marina started, “but I desperately want to go home and take a nap.”
“I can get behind that,” Garth nodded his head. “Perfect weather for a nap.”
“But I want to meet up with you - here - afterward,” she was very emphatic about that. Something about this forest, this stream, this male - man, this man - felt right.
“Sounds great,” he smirked, and nodded his head, shaking a lock of dark brown hair out of his eyes. “I could go for a nap myself.”
“Not a long one,” Marina asserted. “No more than six hours.”
“Of course,” he said. “See you tonight.”