The soft, musky aroma of the forest surrounded the two silhouettes, as the sunset burned brightly behind them. Rich oranges and reds were flanking deep purples and indigos, and one of them turned and squinted at it. She was a petite woman, with a slender build and small, graceful feet, just like all the other woman on her mother's side of the family. Her coarse black hair cascaded down her thin neck and shoulders, stopping just past her shoulder blades, and Rachel's fierce green eyes glowed as she said, "It's getting late."
Joey yanked irritably on the leash as Janko tried to pull ahead, and then immediately felt guilty at the sight of the dog's liquid brown eyes. "I know, honey. We'll be home soon." He paused and brushed his dark hair out of his limpid blue eyes.
"We're lost," she replied flatly. "How are we going to get home now, hmm?"
He glanced down at her. "Don't be silly, Rach, we're not - "
"Oh, I'm silly, am I?" she said, bristling. Her soft cheeks grew red and she put her hands on her hips. "I'm silly, for knowing that we're lost and we'll be home late, if we get home at all, huh? I'll tell you what, you think all women are just silly little creatures with double-digit IQs! And - "
Frowning, Joey interrupted, "Now, just a minute, just a minute! I never said any of that! I just said we're not lost, and - "
"Yes, we are!" Rachel shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "Every time you suggest some stupid idea, and then we end up being lost. Every time!"
"This? My idea? Hold on a second, this was not my idea. This was your idea!"
"See, now you're just trying to avoid the blame. You do this all the time, Joey, and I'm telling you, I'm simply sick of it!" She kicked a bush with all her strength, but managed to restrain herself from punching the solid oak. "I wish . . . oh, never mind."
He studied her back, and answered, voice dangerously low, "Wish what?"
"Just - never mind, okay? It doesn't matter."
"Tell me, Rachel. I deserve to know. Come on!"
Whipping around, she glared daggers at him. "I told you it doesn't matter! Just forget about it!"
"Tell me!"
"All right!" Rachel shouted. "If you must know, I was going to say that I wish we never got married."
The silence sizzled in the frosty air, and they both abruptly began walking again, a foot between them on the well-trodden path. Rachel stared determinedly at her scuffed sneakers, while Joey gazed in the opposite direction of his wife. "So this is how it goes a week after our honeymoon, eh?" he grumbled to himself.
Rachel ripped her iPod out of her pocket and stuffed the headphones on, turning the volume all the way up. "We're not lost," Joey muttered, surreptitiously glancing at her.
She hummed loudly, eyes half-closed.
Thunder suddenly cracked through the deep black sky, veins of light criss-crossing through it. As the forest lit up, Joey saw that there was nothing at the end of the leash. "Janko?" he said in surprise. "Janko! Janko!"
Rachel looked at him, eyes wide. "You lost him?" she exclaimed. "You even lost the friggin' dog?"
"Oh, I lost him!" he shouted back. "That's a fine one! Like you weren't next to me the whole time!"
She threw her hands in the air. "So I can't even trust you to keep the dog? What is wrong with you?"
Torrents of wind were flung among the trees, which swayed wildly as rain tumbled down on to them. Biting his lip, Joey replied, "We'll go and find the dog tomorrow. For now, let's concentrate on finding our home, okay?"
"So you do admit we're lost!"
"For God's sake, can you act like an adult just once in your life, Rachel?" he screamed over the rain. "Just once, please? That's all I'm asking for! Why does this have to be so hard?"
Tears burned in her eyes. "I don't know," she sobbed. "I just don't know. I want to . . . I want to have a happy marriage."
She fell into his arms, face turned into his sweater. "All I ever wanted was, was a loving husband, but it's so hard, Joey. It's . . . so . . . hard."
"I know," he murmured.
Just then, light flashed, and he turned his head to it. Breath catching in his throat, his eyes went wide, and his mouth opened in a silent cry of terror.
They were found like that the next morning, in their last embrace, bones rigid and faces pale. Janko was sitting next to them, unharmed but for a few missing clumps of fur, whining and nudging their bodies. As the police carefully pulled them apart, the dog turned and slipped away into the trees, never to be seen again.
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