Chapter 2 Lost In Trail

He wouldn't believe his eyes.

It couldn't be.

She wouldn't be here.

Enara was alive in Lunara a million lifetime ago.

But those eyes were looking back at him.

This is New York City. She couldn't be here.

He looked back at her closely focusing and studying everything about her appearance—her hair, her stand, her figure. She stood with her straight back, her form was slender. She was wearing a bright yellow summer dress and a pair of cream sandals. A gold purse bag was slung on her shoulders. Her long brown hair swept past her shoulders. They gleamed like caramel under the lights of the afternoon sun. It reminded him of the way her hair shone under the May summer sky then.

He blinked.

She looked away and walked on.

The unknown stranger continued walking until she disappeared before his sight.

"Enara. Enara!"

Shane said and shouted when the woman was no longer around.

"What are you saying, Shane?"

Katarina asked perplexed, frowning.

"You know I'm not Enara. Who is she?"

"She's my childhood friend."

Shane said in a short reply. He disentangled from her embrace and looked at her with a pleading look.

"Do you mind if you stay here for a bit while I go chase after her? Please?" he asked with urgency in his voice.

"I can do that."

Katarina replied with confusion in her tone.

"You'll be back, right?"

"I'll be back. I promise, Kat."

"Okay. Then, you can go after her. But, you'll have a lot to explain when you come back, Shane Anderson. Understand?"

"Understood, ma'am."

He said and walked in fast strides getting out of the park and running into the walking path chasing into the unseen trail left by the female stranger.

He saw the ice cream vendor he and Kat bought ice cream from an hour ago.

"Uhm…" Shane started thinking about how to call the man wearing a long striped green-sleeved polo and a green cap.

The man smiled at him.

"Roge. Roger's my name. But you can call me Roge," he said in a hoarse voice offering his name.

"Thanks, Roge. Did you see a woman wearing a bright yellow dress who passed by here?"

"There were two women who passed by here wearing bright yellow dresses."

"She has long brown hair and they shone like caramel when they're hit by the rays of the sun."

"Oh." Roge laughed remembering. "She stopped by to buy a cone of chocolate marshmallow ice cream and went that way. The other bought an avocado flavor."

He said pointing to his right.

"Thank you very much."

Shane said and hurried in the direction he pointed.

It was a long path and trees grow on the sides.

As he walked on he shifted his sight on either side of the tree areas and the green grass spreading over. Benches were scattered here and there and he tried to see if the woman who looked like Enara was sitting in one of those but she wasn't seen anywhere.

He tried to walk further ahead but no longer see any trail of her. He continued to walk on the cemented path and found the woman looking at a pair of deers. A doe and its fawn.

She seemed to have stopped upon seeing them and idyllically stayed over to watch them.

Shane stopped on his tracks and observed Enara from a distance hesitating to approach her. He was debating about approaching her or not. He might embarrass himself before her mistaking her to be Enara. So, from a safe distance, he stood and silently observed her while she stayed on her spot, her attention fixed at the doe tending its fawn. The female deer was licking the ears of the fawn that was sleeping curled next to her while she was lying protectively around it lying against a big rock behind them. The woman turned around and saw him watching the deers, too.

"Would you like to come over?" She said inviting him in a loud voice, waving at him. "You can see them closer if you wish."

"O—okay,"  Shane said agreeing in a loud voice.

He walked forwards crushing dried leaves on his feet as he walked through and joined her.

"It's beautiful to find a doe and its fawn out in these woods at this season." The woman said looking at the deers then shifting her gaze at him.

Shane was busy looking at her, examining the color of her hair, and silently studying her face when the woman tilted her face to look at him. He found himself at loss for words for once even when he simply needed to say yes or no. He tried to regain his composure.

He averted his gaze from her looking ahead and nodded.

"It's September. So, you'd expect to see them around," he said back. "They're searching for food so you'll see more of them."

"Do you know what they eat?"

He thought for a second then gave his reply.

"They like acorns, pecans, apples, blueberries, blackberries, persimmons, hickory nuts, and beechnut acorns."

"Wow, you know a lot."

"I did my homework on them," Shane joked lightly.

The woman released a pleasant laugh.

"They like carrots."

"That's wonderful. I wish I can keep one for a pet," she said sighing. "I have carrots at home to feed them. They're so adorable to look at and appear to be very gentle and friendly."

"But they're wary of humans."

Shane added looking back at her.

"Wouldn't you like to own one for yourself, too?" She asked throwing a glance at him.

"If they don't run away from me, why not?"

A stag came over joining its family. Soon enough the doe and the fawn rose from where it was lying and joined the stag.

"They're leaving."

They saw the trio huddled together and retreated to the deeper parts of the wood.

"It was fun observing them," she said. Then, checked her watch. "Oops! I'm late."

She looked back at him.

"It was nice talking to you. See you around."

The woman said leaving his side and walked back fast on her heels.

Shane kept his gaze observing until the last tails of the deers disappeared out of sight. He looked to his side again but the woman was no longer beside him.

Damn. He forgot to ask her name.

He roamed his eyes around looking past the trees and the path that headed onwards. She couldn't have walked fast, could she?

Shane thought trailing the path. Then, he saw a toilet built at a far corner. She might have gone inside.

He found a nearby bench and waited on it.

Fifteen minutes passed but Enara didn't come out of the toilet. He rose from his seat and looked for her everywhere again.

Then, he saw her squatting next to groups of swans that were grazed by the banks allowing her and some kids to touch them. She was chatting with the kids and their parents who were giving bits of food pieces to the kids to throw them to the swans. The birds didn't react to the food thrown except for a pair that energetically dipped their necks on the water to get food now and then. Soon the rest of the swans glided away from the humans floating to the center of the lake.

"Maybe you can give them worms," Shane said as he approached them squatted next to the white birds.

"We don't have worms with us," the young boy said immediately.

He appeared to be around five years old. He looked up to his parents who were tearing small pieces of bread giving them to the boy and his little sister. "Should we have brought worms, Mom? Dad?"

"Nah. Let's go fishing next time, Dex, then you can have worms."

His dad said.

The kids threw their last bits of bread into the water.

"Let's go now, kids. It was nice to meet you, Ran." Dexter's mom ushered her kids towards her. "Say goodbye to Ran, kids."

"Bye."

Dexter bid goodbye waving his hands.

"Bye." The younger girl said squealing in laughter. Then, the family walked back.

The woman stood up from her position. As she was about to leave, Shane grabbed her shoulders from the back.

"Enara. Wait."

He said without haste. He was finally able to catch her. He's not going to let her go that fast again. Not this time.

The woman turned back to face him.

She smiled at him with a kind of familiarity that Shane knew or maybe how he hoped he used to know. Hoping she's Enara. His Enara.

Then, she frowned and looked meanly at him.

"Why are you calling me, Enara? My name is--"

"Rana!"