It all started for Meg the moment she heard a faint warbling noise in the distance. She’d looked to the treeline just in time to see dozens of birds taking off from a spot deep in the forest.
The fact that she’d picked up on it from so far away, doubled with the disturbance of the animals, meant that whatever it was was loud. Unnaturally so.
She’d been incredibly curious about it, of course, but hadn’t exactly spared it much thought as she continued with her day-to-day life. That is, not until she heard it again, about a week later.
Meg had questioned some neighbors about the noise, since they had much better hearing and might’ve recognized the source, but the best answer that they could give her was that it was probably just a police car or train. Which would’ve likely soothed the curiosity of anyone else but Meg. Seeing as she’d been around plenty of each, however, and although she could only hear them when she was very close, there was a distinct difference between the sounds.
She confided in her friend, David, about the birds. He suggested that perhaps construction was being done somewhere in the forest and that was what had disturbed them. He, too, chalked up the noise to an emergency vehicle, explaining that it was possible one had driven by at the same time, and that the timing with the birds was pure coincidence.
Meg held onto her doubts, but allowed herself to be pacified for the time being.
And then it happened yet again.
The noise was starting to drive her crazy, interrupting her otherwise mostly silent life. It didn’t help that no one else seemed bothered by it, but then, she’d heard that in the world of hearing, things get tuned out or easily dismissed all the time.
Determined to find the source, she’d gathered her camping supplies, her shotgun, ammo, and several batteries. She waited until the weekend when she didn’t have to work and left a note to her parents saying she was going camping for a couple of days and not to worry.
Then she set out.
Since she’d enter the woods, she’d heard the sound twice more. The first, so far away that it was quieter than the first few times she’d heard it. By the second, however, it was clear she was getting closer. Which was a relief, because it was difficult for her to pick up on which direction the sound was coming from, especially with the tree’s blocking the telltale fleeing of the birds.
She quite enjoyed the weather as she walked, rejoicing in the slight nip in the air and crunchy feeling of the fallen leaves beneath her feet. Every couple of trees she’d slash a crude-looking arrow into the bark so she didn’t get lost, but she wasn’t particularly worried with her compass in pocket. It was simply an extra precaution.
By the time the sun began to set, she managed to put together a pretty cozy looking camp. Pleased with herself, Meg enjoyed her beef and vegetable stew over a warm fire, remembering afterwards to string up said can along with the rest of her food in case of any hungry wild animals.
Finished with her task, she sat back to relish in the fire’s warmth a little longer, content with looking around the small clearing she’d managed to find.
