I grin and grip Haley's hand - for support as the subway eases into a stop and in excitement - as the words WELLINGTON STATION appear on the wall. "Here's our stop!" I exclaim, and we wiggle our way out of the crowded car and onto the platform. She's been pretty quiet, but, then again, she's usually pretty quiet. Usually thinking. I don't know how she does it, but she honestly spends lots of her time just quietly thinking about whatever comes to mind. I'm much too scatterbrained for that, I'd get bored. But really, I can't peg how she's feeling about this whole nymph thing; I know that I am feeling enlightened about what we know already and excited for what's coming next. Because we've only recently started feeling this connection, I know that this experience is only beginning.
I can't wait.
We scoot onto the escalator and go up a floor, but have to take the stairs to get out of the system. It's a short walk down to the River Reservation, slightly chilly without much sun, but a beautiful one once we're inside. Haley's starting to lighten up now that we're in the woods, there's just a little hint of a smile to her face now, which I'm thankful for. A quiet Haley I'm fine with, an unhappy Haley, not so much.
We continue on a path to the river. Once we see the riverbank I take off, carefully jogging until I reach the sandy shoreline. I slide to a stop there on the cold, hard-packed sand, and look out at the river. It's mostly frozen, although chunks of ice are flowing down the slow moving current.
Oh.
No nymph in her right mind would be sunning herself in frozen water. When there's barely any sun to speak of. Embarrassed, I bite my lower lip. How could we not have thought of this? I turn to apologize to Hales, although she should've realized this at the start, the brainiac, when I hear a rustling from behind an Evergreen. Were there supposed to be wild animals in these woods? I can't remember. As I'm frozen to the spot, I hope it's a rabbit or a deer. What appears from behind it instead is enough to make my mouth drop open.