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Harvey always felt a connection with her ever since they first met and she knew it was there too. Everytime their gazes locked, it was more than a couple of strangers passing each other by; their moments of looking over, attention caught in a strange grip, it felt deliberate and meaningful. When they were done staring at each other like silly teenagers, he simply wrote it up as attraction at first sight. Pretty wasn’t enough to describe her and as an excuse for her, well, perhaps she had a type. Either way, he was lonely. He knew it. She knew it. Pelican town knew it. A lonely shadow has always followed him throughout his life. It was something he simply dealt with.
However Pelican Town had their eyes set on the new farmer and they were starting to see a similar shadow with her. He did too. Every morning he would see her walking to town from his blessedly placed windows to the same scene: Her, always walking fast, always walking alone. It never changed. She’d stop and talk to people, but they never stuck with her or spent a noticeable amount of time with her, or followed her and joined her in the little world she was starting to build.
Until now, only out of concern though, he wasn’t about to bring up any of these thoughts to her. It would be too heavy and right now, he felt so light. A bed of green grass below them. the sunlight acting as their blanket of warmth and comfort. He couldn’t even hide his smile of appreciation for the songs around them from the woodland creatures. Her included. Laying with her in their own little world, their nerves and shyness put to rest, he was finally able to see what exactly was pulling them together. It wasn’t silly at all, not an overactive imagination or one last burst of hormones. It wasn’t something as ridiculous as lust at first sight either, though, there was a small bit of that. Just the tiniest amount possible, he swears!
Despite all the fluffy clouds he looked up at, the clouding confusion swirling in his brain whenever they were together left him. Their common familiarity with vulnerability was somehow known at first glance. Their similar accepting eyes let people around them know their vulnerable states would not be taken advantage of. Their accepting gazes saw it all and embraced it all. Along the trail of being one to offer a helping hand, their gazes turned away from themselves, of course consequences followed. For the moment, he thought perhaps that’s all this was; their roads had become too rough of a terrain to trekk and they stopped off the side of the long road for a desperately needed break. Just to take comfort in the company and chase away the heaviness of loneliness they knew so well.
In a way, it was like that, but it was more. She recognized two people who worry for others more than for themselves and pulled them away to allow them to be vulnerable, in all it’s rarity. She found an appropriate time and created a safe and calm place for them to be together, knowing full well neither would taint it.
To some, it could’ve been a simple pit stop for weary souls. A fond moment to look back upon, but the doctor and the newest soul to the valley, were incredibly grateful. And the trail of gratitude wasn’t a mere resting place. It stuck with you, and many happily stuck with it. Upon this trail, they created a sturdy path together, strong enough to carry all the emotions that bloomed in that warm, spring afternoon when all of their nerves and worries were brushed aside. Along with the additional weight any long walk comes with. Their path was steady and most of the time, the stones simply fell into place, like an easy puzzle, and it would continue that way, until it was time for both of them to rest.