The Hills (Short Story)
Tags: Fiction, Short Story, Fiction Writing, Short Fiction

The long, spindly trees grew in a curved arch, almost, but not quite, caressing one another on opposite ends of the pathway. The hills sloped upward, not so steep that Marcia felt like she couldn’t walk, but enough as to where her breath strained to a place that she wasn’t used to yet. A small pool of gargling water rushed by her feet, leftover from the early morning’s rains. She shivered from the wetness of the morning dew combined with the breeze rustling through the cracking brown leaves. The thin, purple tank she had found in an old box in her closet that morning for the hike wasn’t quite doing the trick for the weather.

Marcia was ignoring the temperature, deep in concentration to look for all the hidden snakes amongst the grassy, brown twigs. Her head was parallel to the ground when she felt the unwanted scrape of a passerby’s acrylic nails on her bare shoulder. She flinched away, her pants becoming breathier as she picked up her pace.

“Marcia!”

Marcia turned at the sound of her name flying out of the stranger’s mouth, and was then struck by the familiarity of the woman’s sloping nose and bushy eyebrows.

“Oh wow, Laura, haven’t seen you in so long.” she said.

“Yeah wow!” Laura moved towards her to give a fleeting hug, the long, red nails scratching at Marcia’s tank top. “What are you doing here?”

“I just really wanted some fresh air, and I heard this hike was easy enough. You know me.” Marcia let out an awkward laugh at that. The last time the old college roommates had seen each other was after a big argument over something she honestly couldn’t remember for the life of her. She felt so removed from the old memories of her stupid college mistakes that came rushing at her at that moment.

Laura seemed to feel the same way. “I’ll see you around, Marcia. It was good to see you.”

Marcia nodded tightly, her head focused on the ground once more before she looked up in a panic. What if she never saw her again?

She turned quickly. “Wait –“ The word had just left her mouth when she realized that there was no one there. Laura must walk way faster than her, she supposed.

There was nothing left to do then but turn around. Her panting returned in sharp, deep breaths. If she strained her eyes, she was almost able to see the peak. The whole thing would be so worth it once she finally reached the top. She could finally feel productive. She could finally relax.

Marcia climbed up another twenty strides, her heart beating out of her chest. She could almost feel the pumping of her blood rushing towards her shoulders, to where Laura’s nails had left their mark. The greens even seemed to melt together now, the tops of the trees blending in with the dirty brown grass sitting underneath. The arcs of the trees disappeared, and the sunlight illuminated the nearby slope at the top of the hill.

“Marcia.”

She was interrupted once more by the familiar voice of her cousin, Evan. She frowned. Why was everyone she knew on this slope at this particular moment?

“Marcia, what are you doing here?” he asked. His long, black hair seemed to dissolve into the shadows of the trees behind him. He smiled at her, and the edges of his lips curved into his ears.

Her heart rate sped up once more. Why was everyone asking her that?

“I wanted to get some fresh air,” Marcia explained once more. “I want to get to the top.” She fixed her gaze to the peak ten feet behind him. She could see it from here, and there was no one else in the way.

“Well that’s the best part, isn’t it?” His eyes were unblinking as he gazed at her tenderly. Her shoulders shook.

“I’m gonna get going now,” she said.

He nodded as if he already knew what she was going to say, grabbing her wrist before she could pull away. “Marcia, don’t forget me.”

His body appeared to evaporate from the air. She swore that she could almost see the thin branch of the tree behind him at the spot where he should be. There was a small, brown squirrel sitting underneath the tree, where his legs were just a few seconds ago.

“What?” she asked.

He seemed to reappear then. “I meant that we should have lunch sometime soon. You know, catch up.”

“Okay,” was all Marcia said. She pushed away from his tightening grip, a wheezing caught in her throat. She just wanted to get to the top — she needed to. All she wanted was a minute alone with her thoughts. Why couldn’t anyone else understand that?

The sunlight poured in like a wave. She could see parts of the view of the sloping, green hills, with the bustling lights of the city underneath, and the rolling, puffy clouds up above. There were just a few more steps.

Marcia gasped when she reached it. There was someone else here with her: a little girl, standing alone. Marcia knew who she was.

The little girl turned, and Marcia felt a numbness in her chest. The girl looked exactly like how Marcia had imagined her to be. She had the same high cheekbones, the stubby nose that Marcia had hated, even the same freckles dotted all around her face and eyes. Her hair was long and brown, wrapped in braids and covering the tops of her pink striped dress. She wasn’t smiling.

“Sweetheart,” Marcia gasped. She didn’t know what else to call her. Her daughter didn’t have a name yet. “You’re here.”

The girl didn’t reply. Her body started to fade.

“No!” Marcia exclaimed. She ran forward, stumbling, to catch the girl’s shoulder, her arm — any little piece of her would do.

Marcia’s hand was met with air as the girl disappeared from the peak. Marcia panted as the view of the city returned once more.