One foot after another. He appeared somehow lost, but kept shuffling along. He wasn’t leaving footsteps behind him in the snow, more like drag marks where his feet slid along in the snow. It was falling fast now, night had descended and the snow was halfway up his shins.
The man would appear to any passerby to be in trouble, possibly a drunk on his way home. But, one who had taken a major detour to end up in this part of the forest. If you got close enough, you would see that he was completely sober, and determined to get somewhere.
It wasn’t so much farther to the town now, perhaps another fifteen minutes at his current pace. There was one more straight track until he reached the end of the forest and then there would be the option of catching a bus, although who knows how long he would have to wait at this time of night.
That is when he looked up at the sky and realised that night was ending, the sun was beginning to appear on the horizon. It was just a hint for now, but it made the man realise that a few hours must have disappeared, to who knows where. He looked confused for a moment, but then continued his trudging walk along the forest track.
Finally, he arrived back on the outskirts of town. He paused to survey his surroundings, looked at the bus stop, shook his head, then continued his walk towards… Did he even know?
To be continued….
Read Parts 1-4 here https://neilhayeswrites.com/2022/02/22/tracks-a-short-story-parts-1-4
© Neil Hayes and neilhayeswrites
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