She flung open the sturdy oak door her father had crafted a few years prior, the only door that existed in her little one room cabin. It could get so lonely and depressing in there, she didn't tend to be extremely outgoing, but she saw people so rarely that she could get lonely. And she loved the out-of-doors, another reason she lived so far from the 'civilized' world, but her little cabin didn't have any windows and just the one door, so it could get really stifling, especially on cold or rainy days when it did her no good to leave.

Hopefully tonight, though, one of those would change. An old friend of hers from when she still lived in town had just finished his apprenticeship and was coming to help install windows and such in the cabin.

She ran across the clearing that acted as her front yard, and sprawled out with the most recent book she was devouring for a few hours, the best of the world of humans dancing through her mind and the best of the world of nature dancing across her skin.

He strode into the clearing just as the sun's last rays were clearing from the sky, the black shroud of nightfall sealing up the final patches.. She had supper already simmering over the fire, the kettle steaming a most tantalizing smell. She heard his footsteps and leaped from her armchair reading to greet him. It had been so long since he'd seen her last. what would he be like, now? He was wondering the same about her.

He saw her first, as his eyes were already adjusted to the dying light. She was even more of a wire than she had been when she left, apparently from surviving off of nature, almost completely disconnecting herself from the rest of humanity, so although she at first glance would seem weaker she was much stronger. Her light brown hair was for the first time uncut, although she had it pulled back so he couldn't tell its true length. She was wearing well-worn pants and a shirt, which hung oddly on her thin frame. And once they adjusted, her ivy green eyes took him in with even more intensity than he remembered them having before. He would concede that the wilderness had treated her well, even though he thought the life she was living was despicable.

She, too, saw a slightly mature version of the one she had known before, a man, no longer able to be called a boy, even in a joking fashion. He'd begun wearing a mustashe, but the rest of his blonde hair, which had darkened some from their school days, he now had cut quite short. His muscles were thick, both from more testosterone and from frequent use, but he was also showing signs of the belly that appears when the spring in one's step from youth finally disappeared. She would concede that civilization had treated him well, even though she thought the life he was leading was despicable.

Expressions of joy took over both of their faces, and they embraced as old friends who had been apart too long.

"It seems like it's been forever."

"Maybe it has been."