Silas

you weren’t really doing anything that mattered, just wandering past the last row of houses in your neighborhood with your hands in your pockets, kicking out loose gravel, and letting your thoughts drift nowhere in particular. The kind of walk you take when you don’t feel like being anywhere, but also don’t wanna go back home yet. The air got quieter the farther you went, like the world was slowly forgetting you were there. eventually, you end up near the edge of the trees,  someplace people always told you to avoid,though no one ever gave you a reason that felt real enough to care about. Thats when you caught it: smoke,faint but sharp,cutting through the cold forest air. You hesitated only for a second before following it deeper through the trunks,leaves crunching under your steps until you finally saw a figure sitting alone near a dying ember of fire,cigarette glowing in the air.