"Man with Blue Eyes (1 of 2)"
Dear Fellow Traveler,
What had I done to get such rotten luck? was the biggest question on the stranded man's mind, as he walked along the forest road. He shoulda listened to his Mi Ma, Don't take a long trip on the bus alone, she said, bring Uncle Jo or your brother Jim, she insisted. Heavens to betsy, Jesse wished he had listened, but his sweet old Mi Ma always seemed to worry too much, he was 25 years old, he could go on a week long trip alone.
But the good lord had to prove him wrong for brushing aside advice given by his elder.
Jesse was a salesman, meaning he often traveled for work to bring different items to his hometown, to sell at the shop he worked in with his family. Taking an overnight transit bus seemed like the most logical choice for transportation at the time, but you could say Jesse shot himself in the foot with that.
The bus had been so crowded, even with getting off at a rest stop every few hours, the young man couldn't get comfortable after a full day and night on board, so he had jumped at the chance to get off at the next rest stop.
However, Jesse had made the boneheaded mistake of dozing off on the benches, and by the time he came to his senses, it was already dusk. No buddy had bothered to wake him, the probably hadn't noticed either.
This was not good...
His only means of transportation was gone, along with his backpack as well his wallet, which he was naive enough to pack it away instead of keeping it in his pocket like a person with a lick of sense.
Taking a look around, he found boxes with coin locks, to buy newspapers or maps if needed, a flashlight that had been left behind, and the few quarters in his pocket. Sadly no payphones to call for a taxi or his family. That's where his luck seemed to dry up, like a light rain shower in the middle of summer.
It would take two days to get back home by foot.
Still Jesse was grateful to the few droplets he had gotten, so all he had to do was find a payphone or hopefully, someone willing to pick up a hitchhiker, and he'd be home in no time.
"Lord have mercy for whatever mistake I made to have such rotten luck," he prayed under his breath as he switched on the flashlight.
The sun had started to dip beyond the mountains, and soon there was no longer anylight, other than the full moon and the occasional light pole on his long walk.
Admittedly, the forest wasn't so bad at night, as much as it was scary, it had an air of mystery about it. As the full moon shone it's moonbeams down, and the stars twinkled overhead, one could wonder what mysteries lie beneath the dark vale of the night.
What might stare back at you if you looked too deep to see past that thick vale.
The only thing that kept his mind occupied enough to ignore the sounds in the woods, be it the wind in the trees or the night critters scurrying about in the shadows of the tall trees, was the effort of trying to hold the flashlight steady in his mouth as he looked at the map, looking for any indication that he was closer to home. The thought of his brother teasing a taunting him like a three year old for his blunder, and ofcourse his Missy, brought him some comfort.
He thought of seeing her honey blond hair, jewel green eyes, and warm smile when he got home. It warmed his heart better than his Mi Mas chicken porridge.
Walking long distances wasn't exactly new to Jesse. While he wasn't anywhere near as athletic as Uncle Jo or his brother Jim, he had enough practice and will power to make a good distance. He was grateful for the Texas springs being not as blazing as the summers, so he had a perfectly cool clear night to make his journey back home. Aside from the occasional gust of wind.
With happy thoughts having kept him calm while walking, Jesse became slightly shaken when he heard a voice slip through the calm night. "What an odd sight," the calm deep voice said, catching the blondes attention, bringing him out of his thoughts.
Jesse turned to the general direction of the voice, but only saw darkness. "Hello?" he replied aloud once taking the flashlight out of his mouth, for a split second wondering if he had been hearing things before hearing the voice again, "Hello," the voice parroted back as an answer.
Using his flashlight to cut through the night, the bright light was shone towards the trees where he heard the voice. The light seemed to melt away the dark background and he was able to see a man leaned against a tree once illuminated. It was no wonder he had such a hard time seeing him, because the man was dressed in mostly black, a wide brimmed hat tilted over his face, blending him into the shadows.
A million and one questions flooded the Texans head, but before he could ask a thing, the stranger continued, "It would seem I'm not the only one to be up and about in the forest." He heard the man chuckle, sounding amused.
As he tilted his hat out of his face, the flash light's glow lit up a pair of impossibly blue eyes that seemed to reflect the light like the moon.
Jesse was slightly taken aback by this, once taking in the man's appearance. Wearing black, even in a Texas Spring, was odd enough as is, hadn't he felt like he was going to bake alive during the day?
Not only that, but the stranger had skin like the bark of a red wood tree, as well as long glossy black hair that reflected the light, as well as a rounded face with high cheek bones. To the Texan, it was obvious that the man before him was of native american descent. His appearance was similar to the few he met in many ways.
All except for his eyes.
The shape of his eyes and the alluring deep blue color, were a noticeable miss match when his other features, but at the same time were made all the more striking when paired. In turn, making Jesse all the more entranced, as the man walked towards him, never breaking eye contact.
For a moment, Jesse felt like a rabbit under the eyes of a predator, unable to look away. The man was tall, very tall, infact, probably a whole head taller than Jesse, causing him to crane his neck upwards just to keep eye contact with the man.
Maybe that was a factor to why the texan felt so uneased at first, as well as just being in a defensive mindset from meeting a stranger at night, with no one but them and the forest critters around for miles.
The longer he stared, Jesse noticed that rather than predatory or threatening, those alluring eyes seemed more curious and playful.
The texan realized the man wasn't so scary in reality. He had a rather handsome face, and a friendly smile, like a well behaved dog who was happy to meet someone new. Jesse felt his lungs let go of the breath he hadn't noticed he had been holding.
He was relieved, but he still couldn't get over the color though. They were so unnatural.
Still, Jesse felt drawn to the man, like a string was tugging on him.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" the man asked quizzically with a smile, and Jesse snapped out of his trance, "O-Oh, uh, I got left behind while taking the bus…" Jesse replied flustered, he cleared his throat and added his own question, "What about you? Why were yall off to the side like that?"
The man chuckled, "Just taking a quick rest, I have been walking a while, and thought near a tree would be safer." Jess opened his mouth to ask why he was standing, or knew he was walking by, but quickly clamped his jaw, "I can sleep standing up so I can be ready to move again, and I'm a light enough sleeper to have heard you approaching."
The texan took a moment to blinked owlishly a few times, "Oh wow, I guess that makes sense." Jesse reasoned, it was still a tad odd, but each to their own. "I'm Blue." the man stated prominently, out stretching a dark hand to add to his greeting.
Flinching a bit surprised, Jesse quickly apologized for some reason, "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to offend." Perhaps his marbles rolled away for a hot second, because as soon as the man let out a small laugh, the other man realized his mistake. Not "blue" as in sad, but "Blue" as in his name? Well that was embarrassing,' the stranded man thought, feeling his peach skin turning what he could assume was a pretty bright pink.
Wait-
His name was "Blue"? The oddities attached to this man continued to grow. More likely it was just a nickname he prefered to go by. The young man cleared his throat, "I'm Jesse, Jesse Mc. Cane." he shook the man's outstretched hand, still a bit flustered,"Any last name for you?" and the blue eyed man just shook his head, "No, just Blue."
"Alrighty, nice to meet you," the blond offered a friendly smile, and 'Blue' returned it. Jesse quickly noticed, after realizing he hadn't pulled away his hand, he saw that the dark hand he had shaken was adorned with long claw like nails. And for some reason found them interesting. So he lifted the others hand slightly higher to get a better look.
He also realized Blues hands were calloused, but felt sorta like a dogs paw, and his nails were so dark, they were much like the thick claws dogs had too. He wondered if fake nails were becoming popular with men nowadays, but before he could ask, Blue gently but hastally withdrew his hand.
"Now that that is put aside," the native man said, putting his hands in his coat pockets, "Do you mind me asking what you're doing out here, on foot and without even a backpack no less?"
"Oh uh…" Jesse tried to think of a way to explain himself, and the unfortunate situation he had tripped into like a three legged donkey. After Blue suggested they walked while talking, it became slightly more easy to gather his thoughts to put into proper words. The man seemed friendly, and acted like he wasn't going anywhere particularly, so perhaps attempting to engage in light conversation might help a bit. Jesse felt oddly relaxed to have a traveling partner anyhow.
So as the two walked, the blonde told the blue eyed man about what had happened as they walked along the side of the road, and as expected, the man chuckled a bit, "Ah, that's quite the string of bad luck." he replied when the story finished, and Blue started retelling his own tales of random misfortune on his travels. And before either knew it, they were chatting endlessly as they walked further into the night.
The young man couldn't explain it, despite having been a bit rattled by the man during the first minute of their meeting, Jesse opened up seamlessly like they were old friends. Blue had the air of someone wise beyond his years, like he had already lived 100 of them, and while he was reluctant to talk about his origins, Jesse didn't mind. In fact, he instead seemed intrigued by the blonds stories of his home life.
Thinking of it, Blue was like an old stray dog, intimidating at first, just because you didn't know if he would bite.
Still-
Jesse couldn't shake the underlying feeling that was still pricking him like a thistle.
As their time together passed by, the texan noticed his travel partner seemed puzzled by some things Jesse spoke of, much like how his Mi Ma would react when hearing about them for the first time. Yet he was too well versed in communication to be like any mountain man Jesse had heard of. But the texan just chalked it up to another odd thing for the time being.
The native man was interesting to say the most, and the oddities added to his charm at the least.
Jesse also learned in their short time together that Blue had something about him that made people stop listening when they came across a mostly empty gas station. Jesse had been a bit hesitant to walk up to a random stranger to ask for a ride, he knew not everyone was in the mood to be helpful, especially in the middle of the night, Blue, on the other hand, went on ahead on his own as if it were the most natural thing.
The driver was an older man, probably already in his 40s, driving a moving truck. While he wasn't a giant, he sure as hell was bigger and more burly than Jesse. But like said, the man stopped what he was doing, listened, and compiled when Blue asked him for help. So the two were allowed to climb into the passengers' seats, Jesse in the middle with Blue next to him, and despite the situation, Jesse sure as sunshine was happy to be sitting on a cushioned seat after walking for so long.
"I can't take you very far, since Dallas is a long shot outta mah way," the driver informed, "Don't worry, sir, I figured as much." Jesse replied politely. Honestly, Jesse had it beaten into his mind to always be polite, which lessened the chances someone would pick a fight with you while sober. But as soon as he was comfortable, the blonde could feel sleep start to take him over. Soon he was out like a light, happy to finally be off his feet for a while.
His sleep didn't last for very long, maybe 3 hours by car, so when Jesse next opened his eyes was when Blue was shaking him awake. His tired mind was too dazed to wonder where they were, only why he was currently awake. "We're at another rest stop," his traveling partner informed, opening the truck door, letting in cool air.
The blond struggled a bit, honestly forgetting for a moment where he was, but soon got enough sense to try and get outta the cab of the moving truck. But not before the driver said something that left Jesse a tad puzzled in his sleep deprived mind.
Blue had to help him down with how high the door was from the ground, and how little Jesse had control of his limbs at the moment, and all it really took was a little too hard of a tug for the smaller male to stumble right into his friend like a baby fawn trying to find it's own feet. "Eh… sorry there…" Jesse mumbled as he held onto the other to stand up straight. He turned to the truck man and waved, giving his thanks for the ride, then Blue helped him over to the benches in the covered area.
It wasn't ideal by any means, but honestly, beggars can't be choosers, and if they were lucky, a patrol cop or ranger would find them and Jesse could get a ride home, till then, sleeping on a bench would have to do. As the young texan sat on the benches getting ready to lay down, he noticed the other man taking off his black coat, "Here," still a bit dazed, Jesse looked up at him a bit confused, "It is going to get a little colder before the sun comes up," Blue reasoned, "The mountain air doesn't bother me all that much." and before Jesse could put a refusal out, his traveler partner placed it around his shoulders.
Jesse would have shaken it off and handed it back any other time, but he was too tired to argue, and the overcoat was so nice and warm, he quickly found himself dozing off as he laid down.
Jesse watched as Blue leaned himself against the post tof the covered area and his blue eyes were still as noticeable even to Jesse's tired eyes.
As sleep took him again, Jesse still recalled what the trucker had said to him, and what had left him so puzzled as his blurring gaze stayed focused on Blue's form.
What did he mean by, 'Be careful of that one?'