Les Petites Histoires

FOOTPRINTS

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"I can't believe you still think that way!" The girl shouted in a really loud volume, "I hate your proudness". In a childish way she grabbed the sleeping bag and collected her belongings. The boy was quiet just looking at her girlfriend.

"We just have one tent, I know that! But until you apologize to me, I'll be staying over there!" She took a deep breathe and pointed her finger in direction to a big rock; "I'll be there tonight, keep the stupid tent and think about how much you limit me".

It was almost sunset and finally the boy was ready to say something, he open his mouth and waited a few seconds and finally said something in a soft voice, "I've heard there are big animals living in the forest, it could be dangerous".

The girl snorted and rolled her eyes saying, "To scare me now it's impossible, plus I can take care of my self without your help". After hearing this words the only thing the boy could do was look deeply into the floor, with a weak look.

On her walk to the big rock, she began to regret her words, the camping trip was supposed to improve the relationship with her boyfriend; and she was the 'let's complain about everything' type of girl, and a little stubburn -- what could be worse, she had a strong self-esteem. Though she knew everything was her fault, she wanted her boyfriend to understand that this time she didn't want to be the one guilty.

The dark night came, and as was told the girl slept behind the big rock, at least 500 meters from the tent, where the boy was. And as she told him, nobody had to take an eye on her during the night. With the help of the moon light she looked at the shape of the forest, remembering this words "I've heard there are big animals living in the forest, it could be dangerous", imagining not just big animals but also monsters, thinking all this story was true. She wanted to go back and cry in her boyfriend's arms, but her self-esteem beat her fear, she decided to spend an uncomfortable night and just closed her eyes.

The next morning when she waked up, a big footprint scared the shit out of her, the mark in the ground was lying right beside her sleeping bag; it was so big, only a monster would be able to do it, and it was no way it could be a normal animal, it seems it only has two toes. She really wanted to tell the boy about all this but the when they met only one thing came out of her mouth, "Wonderful night, wasn't it? I really enjoyed it out there".

The girl was really expecting for the boy to invite her back into the warm tent, but it did't go as she planned, instead the boy answered with a "I'm glad you slept well" and a cute smile.

The sky was covered by the night, and the girl was trembling with fear, hoping that tonight the monster would not come. She kept the eyes open and remember all the nights she spend with the boy, how he protected her. But now, he probably was completely disappointed of her because of her rude attitude; finally she fall asleep with a guilty thought on her mind.

The sun rise came and a new footprint had appeared during the night, just a few centimeters beside the last one. Why would they only appear when I'm asleep? Why does the monster keeps coming back? Perhaps he won't hurt me; the girl kept asking her self all this questions during the day. When she spend time with the boy, she pretended everything was all right, but deep inside her she knew she was scared, but she was afraid she couldn't take this little fight away that easy.

On the third morning, there was the third footprint. On the fourth morning, one more footprint was there. On the fifth morning also, but the fifth morning was the last, that was the day they prepared everything to come back, to leave the forest. After days of thinking, the fifth morning was also the day that the girl got the courage to talk with him, they walked and sat down, they talked during a long time. To her surprise, the boy didn't mind her whim, and actually was glad to solve it all. At the end of the conversation the girl finally said she was really afraid sleeping alone beside the big rock, he told her she could sleep in her bed tonight.

When they stood up the girl found dirt in her pants and looked into the ground to find two marks. She recognized the shape of the marks, and suddenly understood what happened the nights before. 

The exhausted boy smiled and received the crying girl in his arms, he hugged her.

"I wouldn't dare to leave you unprotected, because I love you".

[END]
- Zhai Weikai