Kaeru

Winner of an Honoorable Mention from WritersWeekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest (833 words)

Prompt to be included: Did she just see what she thought she saw? She stepped off the path, intending to only walk a few feet. It was only later that the group noticed she was missing. They quickly backtracked, yelling her name. Tensions rose as the sun began to set. And, that's when they, too, saw... (850 word limit)

“Be sure to email us when you get there,” Catlyn reminded their friend.

“I've written it all down.” Elva fingered the notebook in her pocket. Since her memory could not be trusted, she wrote down everything, in case she forgot again.

“The Mayo Clinic is fairly well known for its top-notch memory loss clinic. Hopefully they can figure out how you lost your memory. At least the linguist specialist from the university figured out you're from Iceland.”

As the group of friends hiked along the remote trail in the Smoky Mountains to view the fall colors, Brian asked, “Has the Icelandic embassy gotten back to you with any clues to who you may be? You think they would have a list of citizens who traveled here to the U.S. and might be able to narrow it down.”

“No, not yet. When I contacted them, it was late Friday, so maybe on Monday they will call me back.” Elva noticed her friends were looking a bit winded as she easily climbed up the steep trail with ease. She wondered if perhaps she was an athlete with excellent stamina, which would explain how it took no effort for her while everyone else was huffing and puffing.

“I can't tell you how thankful I am that you've all helped me, especially after I don't recall how I even wound up here in Tennessee,” Elva said, smiling with gratitude to her friends.

“What I still want to know is, why were you wandering barefoot in the middle of the road in nothing but a simple knee length linen dress when we found you” Belinda asked, speaking with difficulty due to the steep incline.

“I wish I knew myself?” Elva tucked a stray tendril of her platinum blonde hair that had come loose from the long braid that went past her waist.

“Here,” James said, offering his hand as they reached a tricky part of the trail. He had been instantly smitten with Elva when their hiking group came across her lost and not remembering anything before the moment when she was discovered four months prior.

“Thank you,” Elva breathed nervously, equally enamored with James, her ice blue eyes coyly looking up at him as she placed her pale slender hand in his as he helped her.

Up on the top of the ridge, the group of friends from university, who frequently went on hiking trips together, stopped to look out at the majestic view.

“Do they have many forests in Iceland?” Catlyn asked.

“I don't recall if they do now, but I get an image in my mind that long ago they did.” Turning to James, she smiled, adding, “Maybe once I return, James can visit, and we can view the fall colors together.”

It was evident to everyone in their friend group that from the beginning Elva and James fell hard and fast for one another, and by this point were deeply in love.

Admiring the view, Elva remarked, “It is quite beautiful up here, I doubt the forests of Iceland look quite as spectacular at this.”

“The beauty of this view still pales in comparison to you,” James professed, reaching into his pocket before presenting Elva with a small frog made of green glass. “In the Japanese language, the word kaeru, frog, also sounds the same as the verb 'to return.' It's a custom to give people a small frog before they go on a journey as a token for them to return soon. I hope after your trip to the Mayo Clinic that you'll return to me.”

Elva felt a tear slide down her face, overjoyed at this deeply symbolic gesture, but something in her heart said it might lead to something bittersweet. They shared a brief kiss as the vibrant leaves gently drifted around them.

Walking back down the mountain, Elva thought she saw something familiar that triggered a buried memory. There was a ring of yellow primroses in a meadow just a few feet off the trail.

Being the last in their group walking down, no one noticed when she slipped away to explore the curious circle of flowers.

After hiking for a while, James finally noticed Elva was not behind him.

A search began as the group backtracked, as they called out for her, the sun riding low in the sky. Panic set in as the full moon rose, the last of the dusk light fading.

When they saw the ring of moonlit primroses just off the path, their breaths halted.

Just beyond the flowers, a grand procession of fairies was trooping through the forest. At the front was Elva in her queenly regalia upon a white steed.

“I remember now. Everything. And I remembered to come back for you,” she said, holding out her hand to James.

Before their friends could stop him, James rushed into the fairy ring and mounted the horse Elva rode, riding behind her, only for the transcendent vision to quickly fade into the rising mist.