THE SURVIVOR

THE SURVIVOR

He was tall, dark, and handsome with a cute schoolboy smile and Stacie felt her heart leap in her chest like some schoolgirl with her first crush. They had met on one of those dating sites and had their first meeting at a coffee shop several days before. It had gone well, very well and Stacie had carried her cell phone around in her pocket for the next twenty-five and a half hours anxiously waiting for his call. The call finally came and Stacie did her happy dance before picking up her cell and greeting him with a casualness that belied her unsteady hands and quickly beating heart. They made arrangements to meet again that weekend, and Stacie could hardly wait. remembering the magical time they had spent together at that coffee shop.

Over coffee, they had discussed movies and books, favourite foods and colours. It was amazing how much they had in common. Even their taste in music was very similar.  They talked about how they would rather have a picnic rather than a fine dining experience, how they were both sporty and loved outdoor activities, and would rather go camping than go to a crowded resort. She told him how she loved competitive game shows like Survivor, and it would be her dream to actually play the game. They both loved adventure games, cosplay, and hiking.

 Stacie and Eric spoke each night on the phone before bed and Stacie counted down the hours until they had their first official date. She thought it was so romantic of him to choose to go to the Devil’s Peak Hiking Trail for a picnic dinner followed by a hike up to the Devil's Peak Ridge to watch the sunset. He was obviously a kindred spirit and perhaps, just perhaps, her future soul mate. She had never met anyone who seemed to have so much in common with her. Every time she told him one of her favourite things he would be so excited because he too enjoyed that as well

  Devil’s Peak was a very popular hiking trail and was definitely on her bucket list. It was quite remote so she had never gone there to hike. She knew there were several trails ranging from trails for the novice hiker as well as trails for the more advanced hikers,  the start to each trail was purported to be wide and covered with crushed rock, and handrails on the tricky slopes. There were well-marked trails for families with young children or for seniors. He alluded to the fact that maybe on another occasion they could take one of the more difficult trails that required more stamina and skill as hikers or perhaps because she liked excitement they would try bungee jumping from the old abandoned railway trestle that crossed the wide river below. 

They met each other in the parking lot at the entrance to the park. It was well mapped out and they checked the wooden welcome board that was next to the parking lot. It showed a map of the various trials and marked out which trails had what level of difficulty. It showed the picnic area which was next to the children's playground at the foot of the trail. Together they chose their trail and studied all the features of their selected route.

They started with the picnic, Eric had selected all her favourite foods,  he knew what her favourites were because it was one of the many topics that they had talked about. He had gone to a lot of trouble over the picnic. She could tell that the wicker picnic basket was new as it still had some of the packaging inside which he quickly whisked away. The dinner was stored in special containers to keep the meal at a warm temperature. There was chicken pasta alfredo, sweet kale salad with poppyseed dressing, cheesy bread,  green grapes, and a large slice of cherry cheesecake for dessert. With a flourish, he pulled a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses out of the basket.

They laughed and giggled throughout the meal, Stacie feeling like a princess by all the special treatment and she felt heady when she considered all the trouble that Eric had gone to to make this such a special date. He had downloaded some of her favourite songs on his cell phone and played them quietly during their picnic dinner. Everything seemed planned down to the last detail, even as far as the pale blue sweater that he wore, her favourite colour.

Upon finishing their dinner, he disposed of their garbage in the cans provided by the park for that purpose and tucked the leftovers back in the picnic basket, then put them back in his Lexus. She felt a trifle understated as she drove a small Kia but it was exciting to date a man who could obviously afford the finer things in life. Her last relationship had been one with a man who quibbled over every last cent he spent on her. She didn't mind going Dutch when they went out for meals but found that when they went out for meals or movies he more than frequently “conveniently” left his wallet in his other pants and she ended up paying for both their meal and entertainment. She was somewhat relieved when he was offered a job in Europe and she had, in fact, encouraged him to take it.

 While Eric returned the picnic basket to the car, Stacie wandered over to the playground, grabbed hold of the turnabout carousel, and gave it a couple of big spins. As a child, she had spent many happy hours at the playground near her house, spinning on the playground merry-go-round. She leaped on as it whirled around and held her arms wide as the wind rushed through her hair. She put her foot out and helped build up momentum and watched as Eric came slowly across the parking lot and picnic area towards the park. The park was now empty, families having left to take their tired children home to bed.

“Look at you, spinning around like crazy.”

“I’m fearless, she stated.

“Are you?” he laughed, “well, we will see about that.”

 Then he pulled a gift box out of his pocket and held it out to Stacie as she whirled by. She missed grabbing it the first two times she whirled by but snatched it up on her third pass by him.” Having obtained her prize she leapt off the spinner and landed solidly on her feet.

“Agile as a cat, I like that.”

 “You don't need to buy me presents, it's not like it’s my birthday.”

“No, no, it's nothing expensive. Just a little something I thought you might like. When we were talking on the phone the other day, you were saying that you weren't really into expensive jewelry and usually wore things like beads rather than gems. I came across this necklace and thought you might like it.”

 Stacie hastily opened the gift. There nestled inside was a beaded necklace. “Oh, that's so sweet but you didn't have to do that. I don’t think I recognize all the types of beads in it.”

 She quickly donned the necklace and thanked Eric for his thoughtfulness. A little embarrassed by his gift, she went over to the swings and sat down, and started swinging gently, pumping her feet steadily. 

He joined her, standing behind her, and he started to push her higher.

 He pushed her gently at first as she pumped with her strong legs, and then he started to push her higher.

“That’s high enough now,”  she told him, but he continued pushing hard. “ Eric, that's high enough. He continued to push her on the swing, he pushed her almost to the point where the swing went over the top bar and dropped down the other side in a wide arc.

“ Eric,” she said loudly, “stop, please. Stop! I don't like this.” He pulled her abruptly to a stop. When the swing stopped its frantic jerking, Stacie got off shakily, she turned to Eric, her face pale and wan. “I don't like heights.”  She remembered all the kindnesses he had shown her today, and taking a deep breath she held her tongue.

 Eric seemed disappointed. “ Not so fearless now eh? Okay, let's go on that hike, shall we? You told me at the coffee shop that you like to play games and that the show “Survivor” is your favourite game show and you wished that you could play the game too. Well, here's your chance.  Let's play.  We‘ll start our game when we reach the lookout at the top, the outlook that we saw on the trail map, and if we hurry we should get to the top of the ridge in time to see the sunset.  We’ll take a rest there. The sunset should be spectacular.  I can’t wait till we get to the top and share the moment together. Oh, and look, see I bought this for the way down,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flashlight.”

“ Just one flashlight? You didn’t bring one for me either?”

He flashed his famous smile.” We’ll only need one.”

Stacie smiled softly, thinking about a romantic descent from the ridge hand in hand or better yet, arm in arm.

 They walked side by side up the base of the trail. Stacie was quiet, Eric's insensitivity to her request to stop pushing her on the swing was bothering her. But she was drawn to Eric, some type of weird chemical magic was happening between them and she hadn’t figured it out yet. 

Stacie only half listened to Eric’s rambling as they started to climb higher;  as agreed, they stopped halfway up to check out a gorge that had an outlook area.

“Careful,” he said, “that barrier doesn't look very secure. We wouldn't want you falling off the trail now, would we?” He took her hand and they started up the trail again. He was very solicitous, Stacie thought, and caring except for that incident with the swing. She thought about how he had made so much effort with their date and decided that she was really making too much about the little episode. It was just that she was very nervous about heights. OK, paranoid would be a better word but one doesn't air one's dirty laundry on the first date does one?

 The trail began to get narrower and steeper and conversation dwindled as they both climbed upwards. Stacie could feel Eric's eyes on her as she now climbed in front of him. At last, they reached the top and cleared the treeline. A flickering light on a lamp post and the metal railing were the only unnatural items in the natural setting. Together they walked to the edge of the ridge. They stood hand in hand in front of the railing and watched as the glorious sunset held them enthralled. The colours of the sky were spectacular. The sunset was magical and romantic and as they moved forward to the rail, Stacie held tightly to the railing with both hands, she briefly glanced down into the valley below and got a quick glance of the jagged rocks, the rocky cliff, and the winding river far below. She took a step back and glanced outward rather than downward. This was better, one could see to the other side of the gorge, in the dimming light. The trees were beginning to look like they were in shadows as the sun sunk deeper. Stacie’s heart thumped in her chest. She felt mesmerized by the view, bewitched by Eric’s closeness, and what might happen next.

When the sun was only a whisper above the horizon, Eric turned to her and gathered her slowly into his arms, and kissed her. His kiss was tentative,  soft, and exploratory and she met him openly

 She could feel his heart racing against her chest, his breathing ragged as he held her tightly against him. His arms wrapped around her tighter and he kissed her deeply, she closed her eyes and kissed him back, caught up in the romance of the sunset, the warm night and the intoxicating aroma of his cologne.

 Suddenly she was lifted off her feet and he carried her, a step or two towards the precipes. She felt the railing at her back and screamed long and loud as he bent her backward over the rail. The flickering light revealed his once boyish grin which now seemed feral and dangerous, his lips pulled back over his teeth, like a jungle cat toying with their prey. Her long legs flailed about and she hung on to him for dear life. He bent her backward further and further over the railing and she continued to cling to his body as he tried to dislodge her hands.

“So Stacie, I guess you aren’t the only one who likes games. I like games too. I like them deadly. How do you like this game so far?” he asked. His arms moved to grasp her windpipe and squeeze. “ Am I a worthy opponent?  When I play, I always play to win.”  She gasped for air. “Looks like you are going to be the first one leaving the game. Too bad, I really did like you.”

 Her kicking feet finally connected to a sensitive part of his body and he straightened in pain and fell back a step from the railing. Once in an upright position and no longer dangling over the gorge, she broke free and raced to where she thought the entrance to the trail began. It was fully dark now, and there was no moon visible in the sky.  The only light that Stacie could see from this high vantage point was the feeble light that illuminated the lookout. She found the entrance to the trail and started down as fast as she could manage. She could hear Eric cursing and yelling. She fell twice on the rough trail and soon she could no longer see the light behind her. Eric had his flashlight in hand and was following her down the trail. He wasn't quiet but then there was no need for him to be quiet as there were only the two of them on the mountainside. He had the advantage, he had light and he had speed and strength, she knew just how strong he was as he had lifted her easily when he tried to throw her over the cliff. She heard him behind her, gaining on her rapidly and when she glanced behind her she could see the glimmer of his flashlight bouncing down the trail. She knew that she had to make it down the trail and to her car before he caught up with her. It was her only hope. The trail was widening now and she could feel the crushed gravel under her feet, she must be near the lower lookout. She tripped and fell feeling the gravel dig into her hands and knees.

She could hear him, closer, closer. She left the pathway and made her way down the mountain,  through the dense undergrowth. Stacie suddenly realized that he too had left the pathway and was closing in fast. She glanced down and realized that there was a soft luminous glow from the beads that Eric had gifted her with earlier. They were acting as a beacon and Eric was following the subdued light right to her.  He was the hunter and she was the hunted.  The Survivor game had turned into a deadly challenge. She tripped and lay on the cool forest floor, she ripped the necklace off her neck and threw it under a nearby bush. She raised herself to her feet and turned to run, but he was upon her. He scooped her up like a child and dragged her kicking and screaming back to the path. 

 “Just for your information,” he said loudly over her screams, “I hate picnics, and I hate cosplay and hiking. You, like every woman I know, are so unbelievably gullible and deserve everything you get.”

 He dragged her back to the trail, they were at the lookout over the lower gorge. She fought him, fought hard but he clearly had the advantage. At one point he held her by the throat and she could feel his hands, those giant hands crushing her windpipe. She brought her hands up between his hands and then quickly spread them wide and downward, releasing his hold.

She fell to the ground, landing on her back, Eric towered above her, and he came forward, his arms grabbing for her. She planted her feet firmly in his middle and pushed with all her might. He reeled back towards the wooden railing and with a crash it broke in two. His arms made windmill motions in the air but his large body was fighting gravity and he fell over the edge.  Silence and a deeper silence filled the night. Stacie raised herself, struggling to her feet, and cautiously approached the edge by the broken railing. Far below she could see a pinpoint of light from the fallen flashlight. It lit up the body of Eric, crumpled and still on the rocks below.

Her voice was rough and ragged as she commented, “Looks like I’m not the first one to leave the game after all Eric. I would have to say I won the game. I am the survivor.”

Stacie staggered back and made her way down the trail as quickly as she could to her car. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and got in the car, she took off with a roaster trail of gravel towards the park exit.