9- Reaction Or Attraction

Autumn laid her bike over on the side of the dirt road. Cautiously but without hesitation, she went to help.

Calling from a safe distance. “Hello, are you okay?” She asked. But concern and curiosity pushed her forward as she walked to the edge of the field of tall grass, making her way to the base of a small hill. Her shadow fell over what looked like a man's body, with his bulging muscles lying there. His skin was smooth and hairless, covered in what seemed like burn marks or thin stripes, almost like a tiger's. His hair was disheveled, semi-long, yet faintly wavy, jet-black; his features were sharply chiseled.

Autumn was shocked as she looked closer and had to remind herself to breathe. It was unsettling to find someone lying there, naked. She tried to stay calm and check if the man was alive. Please, please let him be okay, she thought. She leaned over and pressed two trembling fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse. His skin was hot, but relief washed over her when she found he was alive. But why was he in this state? Her eyes cascaded over his long nude body. In examining him, she felt both fear and fascination. What little remaining light was fading quickly behind the weird clouds, making it difficult for her to see.  

A sudden flash of bright light lit up the sky as she looked up. There was no thunder or noise, only light, which vanished as quickly as it appeared. Autumn looked back at the body and noticed fresh burns glistening in the dim light. Deep scratches and bruises covered his back, but there was no blood. His bruised, but long, muscular legs looked strong and solid. He smelled of burned flesh mixed with a woodsy, outdoor scent.

He had visible gashes on his arms and even worse ones on his shoulder blade, wrist, and hands. It was obvious he had been through more than a minor fight. What stood out as kind of strange to Autumn was that none of his wounds were bleeding. He couldn't have been here long, since the injuries were fresh, and as bad as they looked, they weren't fatal. She gently moved his shoulder, trying to turn him onto his back, focusing on his face. The skin on his face was different from the rest of his body. There were no white stripes; he looked human.

“What am I saying? He is human,” she thought.

There were a few bruises on his face; her curiosity shifted, and as she looked down his body, she was shocked again. She gasped before she could stop herself. He was completely nude. Her first thought was, where are his clothes? Why is he completely naked? Then the man began to shiver and tremble, letting out painful-sounding grunts.

"Are you cold? Are you in pain?" Autumn took off her sweater and draped it over her body. But he continued to shake uncontrollably. 

'What do I do?' She was concerned that he might die. So she followed her instincts and covered his body with her warm body by embracing him. Eventually, he stopped shivering as her warm face pressed against his.

Autumn slowly rose off the stranger. "I need to call for help."  But as she studied him more closely, she wondered which city or country he traveled from. She had never seen anyone quite like him before. He looked very young, maybe in his early twenties. Even with his injuries, he was breathtakingly beautiful. His face and body were striking, exceptional.

Who was he? What had happened to him?

Maybe he was attacked, robbed, and left out here to become buzzard food. Autumn tried to reason it out, and the more she thought about it, the more it seemed possible. These kinds of things had been common, and more and more people were being dumped in rural areas like Mahdfel. Men from all backgrounds who have left their families looking for work have lately been coming to Autumn and her aunt Rose for help with their wounds and to share stories about what had happened to them.

As Autumn kept looking him over, she noticed that, even with the strange, burned marks, there was no blood oozing from them. The man’s skin was smooth like porcelain, even though he’s probably been on this road for who knows how long. His face had pouty lips, a sharp nose, and long, dark eyelashes. His raven hair spread out on the grass around his head like a halo, and when Autumn touched it, it felt like fine silk. He was more handsome than any man she's ever seen, but still had a masculine edge. He was a striking mix of masculinity and beauty.

What was his name? How had he ended up like this?

Autumn's curiosity grew as she stared at the beautiful, broken stranger in silence. She wanted to know his story; everyone has one. Standing up, she took out her cell phone to call for help.

***

Ten minutes later, Aunt Rose arrived in an old pickup truck, a vehicle the people of Mahdfel had given her for emergencies like this. She brought Mr. Platoon, the town's Sheriff, to help, since Autumn had said the injured person was male. Sheriff Platoon is a tall, big guy. He grabbed the stretcher and tried to lift the stranger by himself, but he couldn't do it alone. It took all three of them to get the muscular man onto the cot.

"Boy, he's a fit one. He seemed to have gotten it pretty bad." Sheriff Platoon says, "Sorry about that, ladies, but I'm usually able to lift them practically by myself."

Autumn had already taken off her long maxi sweater and used it to cover the boy as best she could. She put her bike and groceries in the back of the truck and sat beside him. When they got home and carried him upstairs, it took all of them again to get him into one of the vacant beds.

"Autumn, while I get the food and supplies out the back of the truck, you get the boy cleaned up first, and I'll come back later to examine him to see what herbs we are going to need to administer to his wounds."

"Okay, I will. Also, thank you, Sheriff, for your assistance," Autumn replied.

"No problem, Autumn. Any time. Glad to be of service to you and your auntie. It's a blessing to have you two here in Mahdfel helping out folks during these perilous times."

Sheriff Platoon stood in the room. Autumn noticed him staring at the man, so she stepped in front of the bed to block his view so he couldn't see the strange markings, just in case he hadn't seen them already. She didn't want anyone talking about or questioning the man's differences or saying weird stuff like he wasn’t from these parts. Where else could he be from? Another planet? That's ridiculous, it almost made her laugh.

“Well, once again, thank you, Sheriff Platoon, but I'd better get him cleaned up, as my Aunt Rose instructed.”

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll check back in a few days. Hopefully, he’ll be conscious then.”

When she heard the door close, Autumn turned back; now it was just her and the stranger in the room. She looked again at the pale stripes. Where are you from? Autumn wondered. She reached out to touch the stripes, and they began to give off heat in response. She quickly pulled her fingers away. The strange man raised many questions in her mind, mainly about why he was in this condition.

Autumn stared at him. He was beautiful. But then something happened right before her eyes.