“Just a Man, Just a Woman”

          The fog began to clear, the forest was bare. Not a rabbit scurrying about in a hurry or a bird singing a song in a tree. Deanna was lain on the leaf carpeted floor of the woods. Dried blood staining her blonde hair, dirt covering her body from the chest down. She moves her head slowly “ah!” She gasps from pain. She winces as her eyes slowly blink open. The sky looks weird, like a weird grey. Very unusual. But then again so was that storm. 

“Ben?” She said softly into the air. “Ben?” She said again a little more alert and moves her arm painfully but surely to her left. She felt no body laying there. Slowly, she got her body to sit up. She looked around and there was no one in sight. Trees were pulled from their roots, branches were enclosing her, animals were bleeding out under some. “Benjamin!” She yelled. “Benjamin!” She yelled again and again as she got to her feet. She limped as she walked and wanted to cry with each step. Normally she would’ve quit but with her son missing she had a new found determination. 

In a clearing a few yards ahead, there is a man sitting on a tree stump hunched over. He looked like he was crying but Deanna couldn’t hear. 

“Hey! Excuse me!” She called out. 

The man turned around, “Oh hi, hi!” He said excitedly and whipped his tears away and comes towards her. Deanna backs up not only from fear of the stranger but also because she fears he will embrace her and that might make her body ache all the more. “Oh my gosh I haven’t seen anyone else here for two days I’ve been walking all over the woods and calling for help or for a voice and I got nothing. My name is Jackson” he said, extending a hand. 

Deanna looks him up and down. He’s a thin, pale man, 5’6” man with medium length black hair that pointed towards the sky. He was missing his shoe on his left foot, his light blue shirt had holes in it, and some dark skinny jeans that look like they had blood stains. “Deanna” She said taking his hand. “Have you seen a little boy around? That’s a stupid question, I know, since this place looks like a total wasteland but he’s my son -“

“No I, I haven’t seen anyone around here at all. No adult or little boys or animals for Pete sake I, I just remember a huge storm and falling...”

“Me too, I hit my head.” 

“Oh here, sit down,” Jackson said offering her the stump. 

“No I get lightheaded when I sit and worry at the same time. I need to stand.” 

“Gosh I don’t know where anyone is, my wife, strangers - anyone! Is she dead? Oh my gosh she could be dead” He said and threw himself back on the stump and covered his face. He sighed loudly. “I’m sorry, I just, I’m. Im a mess right now.”

“And rightfully so,” Deanna agreed. 

“I just wish I could hold her. Or hug her.” He shook his head. 

Deanna stepped a little closer, seeing that he was distraught and her motherly instincts began kicking in despite the fact that he’s a total stranger. She couldn’t help wanting to find something to do or say to make him feel a little better. “Um..” she began, “My father always said that when you hold onto the memories, the memories hold onto you even tighter. The more hugs I remember from him or my son, the warmer I feel.” she said turning and looking at Jackson’s expression. A small, almost invisible smile crawled onto his face. “It sounds stupid I know,” she blushed with a quirky smile. 

“It sounds comforting, not stupid.” Jackson said softly. 

“What’s your wife like?” She asked. Partly as a distraction to keep him from losing himself again and partly because for a moment, she needed one too. 

“A little odd, in all honesty.” A crooked smile appeared as he spoke. 

Deanna shrug casually, “Isn’t everyone?” 

“Well yeah but Beck is a different kind of odd sometimes.”

“How? I’d like to hear if you don’t mind.” Deanna said like a child ready for story time. 

They talked for a few more minutes about Jackson’s wife, Beck and Deanna’s ten year old son, Benjamin that likes to be called Benny. It wasn’t too long before Jackson’s eyes began to well up but he fought off his tears and tried not to let his voice shake. 

“She likes her pancakes cut into squares” he chuckled downward towards his shoes. 

Deanna giggle with a bit of confusion, “Why squares?”

“She said circles were too perfect and that circles don’t have character” he responded. This was the sentence that broke his wall and tears began flooding down. He covered his face in his shirt. 

Deanna, realizing that he was crying, walked closer and put her arms around him. “Oh, Jackson, I- I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked about it. It’s a sensitive subject for both of us right now.” 

He got up, pushing her comfort away, “Listen to you comforting me when I should be comforting you. You’re missing your son for Pete sake and I’m sucking snot over my wife.”

“She’s important to you, it’s okay to miss her-“

“You literally have the most important and strongest bond any human being will ever have with another human being. The bond between a mother and son is a bond unmatched by any other bond, you have way more of a right to cry than me.” He said turning away from her and crossed his arms. 

Deanna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to cry in front of Jackson despite the fact that he kind of had a point. Finally she said, “Im not going to say who should be crying more than the other or who is more deserving to do so.” She limped over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I am just a woman and you are just a man crying because they deeply miss someone”