The Last Selfie

The Last Selfie

“Come on. One more.” She rolls her eyes. Her new husband has insisted on taking selfies everywhere. Their phone storage is getting filled up with them. They will be wonderful memories though. 

She places her face next to his and they smile with the mountains behind them. It was seconds after the click of the camera that everything changed.

Honeymooning on the Appalachian trail, hiking and camping in different places every night was an unusual choice but it fit them. They had met while hiking, after all. 

They stand in the middle of the trail when the first vibration starts. Barely noticeable, at first, it is a hum under their feet. He frowns, moving them away.

“What is that, Mike?” She isn't too concerned. On this, the fourth day of their honeymoon week, they have already experienced a lot. From waking up to a snake in their sleeping bag, to seeing a wolf pack early one morning. They are both adventurous so nothing has bothered them so far.

“Kelly, I don't know.” 

That is when the trail disappears.

One moment they are standing on the dirt path, the next finds them in the forest. 

“Kelly!” His voice squeaks. It is completely unmanly, not that he worries about that. In his surprise and terror, he doesn't feel her hand still in his. The forest canopy, not there just a second before, makes seeing her or anything but the massive trees, impossible.

“Mike, I am right here,” he hears the tears in her voice. It is his duty to comfort here but he doesn't know how, “what in the hell was that?”

That is one thing he loves about his wife. The ability to cut straight to the point.

“I have no idea,” His hand is empty of his phone. He reaches in his pocket to find it empty as well. Has he dropped it during, whatever this was? “Kelly, do you have your phone?”

“Want to take another selfie?” Her voice is very high and breathless. He knows she is terrified. He feels the same way but tempers it down. They both can't panic.

“I thought about the flashlight…”

“Oh right,” She keeps his hand, an anchor in this insanity. Using her left hand, she searches all her pockets, “no, it is gone.”

“Mine too. Don't worry ah, I will,” he looks around. The realization comes slowly. They are in the same place, just without the trail. His stomach drops and he feels sweat cover his body. They have moved, not to a different place but to an earlier time.

“Mike?” She hasn't realized yet. He feels the shudders from his head, where the hair stands up, to the soles of his feet.

“Kelly, we haven't moved. Look around,” She does. He watches her frown turn to horror. Her breath starts coming shallow, “breath baby.”

“But, but how?” How to breathe or how this happened, he isn't sure which she is asking. Maybe both.

“I don't know. Let's…” he is at a loss. Let's what? Seek help? Try to figure out where they are? No, when? All the above. Standing still in one place won't help. They need to do something, “let's move. See if we can find out where we are, ah, when.” 

She trusts him. He prays he doesn't lead her into danger. But leading her away from there is imperative. Whatever this is, this is where it started.

Hand in hand, they carefully move away, traveling deeper into the forest that had been a wide path minute, years, millennium ago. The trees wave over them, so high they can't see their tops. 

“Were they this big when they were cut down?” She doesn't realize that she spoke aloud until Mike answers her.

“Maybe not,” he stops them as an amazing thought runs through his head, “Maybe we are in the future.” 

“A future where the forest has reclaimed its ground,” She looks once more at the trees, “to grow that tall it must be…” 

A wave of dizziness hits her and he, feeling her slump, leads them both down to the forest floor. Under their hands are plants that neither recognize. It confirms the idea, as amazing and improbable as it is, that they have time traveled. Whether backwards or forward is yet to be determined. 

“Mike, if this is the future, and they are that big, how far have we…” it is unimaginable, the amount of time that has to have passed. Neither can get their heads around it.

“I know.” Now what? Shelter, he thinks. Whatever time they are in, the sun is setting soon. It will get chilly in these mountains.

Thank goodness they both still have their knapsacks. He pulls the foldable tent out. Now to find a place big enough to set it up. It used to not be an issue, with designated campsites off the well marked trails. Now…

“Kelly, I need to find a spot to set up camp. I would like you to stay here. You look pale.”

“Please, stay within shouting distance. I am scared.” In all the time he has known her, three years now, she has never said that. He knows it goes beyond that. She is terrified.

“I will. I swear it.” He kisses her ice cold lips. Yes, shelter and soon.

A small open area about fifty yards away is perfect. He sets up the tent and hurries back to her. Helping her to her feet, he leads her to the campsite. The meadow is covered with flowers, unlike any they have ever seen. She runs her hands over them as her husband gathers stones to make a fire pit. He places a blanket around her as they wait on the fire to bloom. 

Meanwhile

The searchers find their phones at the point of the trail where the occurrence happened.

“Looks like they took a lot of selfies. The last just at this spot.” 

Their families had contacted the authorities when they didn't return home. 

“Weird. They wouldn't have just left their phones. Something must have happened. Spread out, search in a mile circle from here.”

They have no idea how close and far away they are.