> "It's so good to see everyone again. All of us. Just like before."
"Time is a flat circle." — Friedrich Nietzsche
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I hadn't laughed like that in a long time.
The van rattled as we bounced down the narrow gravel road, overgrown branches tapping the sides.
Lexi was already filming everything with her phone, narrating in a mock-documentary voice:
"Five survivors return to the place where all went wrong."
Jared howled in response, always being the loud one, and Elise shook her head, grinning, the wind tangling her curls.
I sat in the back with Sam, and for a moment, I forgot why we'd stopped coming here.
Tall pine trees still rose above me, and the air smelled like damp dirt, moss, and smoky scent.
Ray used to say the forest was alive. That it had a heartbeat, that it could breathe. I hadn't remembered that in a long time, but the moment I set foot on that ground again, the memory came rushing back.
The five of us piled out of the van with smiles and overstuffed backpacks. I stood behind, stretched, and just… breathed. I didn't realize how much I'd missed them.
The easy rhythm. The dumb inside jokes. The crackle of our closeness that never quite burned out.
Even if this was the place.
None of us had ever really talked about that day.
Not properly.
We dropped our bags, explored the cabin like kids again, our voices bounced through the quiet rooms.
The place had aged, but not by much... just some dust and a few new spiderwebs. It still had that comforting smell of cedar and old summer days.
By dusk, we were circled around the firepit behind the cabin. The flames danced between us, lighting up our faces with flashes of warm light and dark shadows.
Jared passed out beers, and Elise lit her cigarette with the tip of a burning twig. Lexi joked about her city job and how she'd forgotten what silence sounded like. Sam stayed quiet, as always, but his shoulders had relaxed for the first time in months.
We traded stories. Stupid memories. The time Jared convinced us to go skinny-dipping in water barely above freezing. When Elise accidentally set Sam's sock on fire and blamed it on a lightning bug.
We laughed together without effort.
And then Jared brought up the canoe.
"Remember when Ray almost flipped us trying to stand up like some kind of lake god?" he said, chuckling. "Said he could see the whole forest from up there."
But he stopped mid-laugh, staring into the fire.
The fire hissed softly.
The awkward silence that followed was tight.
Elise gave a fake little laugh. Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat and said, "We were such idiots back then."
Like that would ease the moment. I saw Lexi staring off at the trees.
No one wanted to say the next part out loud; that it was the same day he disappeared. That Ray had gone into the woods just after that... and never came back.
I forced a smile. "He always thought the forest was watching us."
Lexi gave me a sharp glance but said nothing. Someone coughed. Jared cracked a beer just to make a sound.
My throat was dry. I hadn't said much all evening. Just nodded, and laughed when they laughed.
I couldn't stop thinking about the dreams I'd had for weeks now. Half-remembered flashes of screaming muffled by soil, fingernails clawing through damp earth. Dreams I woke from breathless, with my heart pounding hard.
I hadn't told anyone.
When the fire burned low, we began slipping into the cabin one by one.
Lexi and Elise headed inside first, giggling over some small gossip. Jared followed. I stayed behind with Sam, who poked at the fire in silence.
The stars were unusually clear, thousands of them stretching like frost across the sky.
"Feels different this time," Sam said suddenly.
I glanced at him. "Yeah. It does."
We didn't say anything more.
I stood and stretched. "I'll catch you in the morning."
Sam just nodded.
I'd just taken off my shoes when I heard Sam's voice, confused and distant.
"What the hell…?"
Then Jared's voice, louder. "Guys! GUYS! Get out here!"
I stumbled out the door, my heart thudding as if I already knew what they'd found.
He stood there. Barefoot. Dirt on his jeans. His hoodie torn in the same spot I remembered from seven years ago. Ray.
He looked… exactly the same. The same scuffed shoes with the loose sole.
His face was pale, expression soft and unfocused. But he wasn't injured. Not scratched. Not dirty enough. Just… misplaced.
Elise gasped behind me. Lexi's hand flew to her mouth. Sam didn't move. Jared took a step forward as though he was approaching a wild animal that might bolt.
"Ray?" he whispered. "Is that—?"
Ray blinked slowly, seeming like he'd just woken from a nap.
"Elise," he finally said, with a small smile. "You brought the marshmallows, right?"
No one spoke.
"Let's take the boat out again," he added, turning slightly to look toward the lake. "Before it gets dark."
Elise ran toward him first, stumbling to a halt in front of him. "Ray? Oh my God, Ray..."
Jared walked forward and wrapped him in a hug. The others crowded around, their voices in a tangle of disbelief and wonder.
But I hung back. Watching.
Because that was Ray's voice. That was definitely him. But what he said,...those were his exact words from the last trip.
Not similar...not close. The exact lines. I remembered them clearly because I'd mocked him for it later: "Who brings marshmallows and no graham crackers, idiot?"
Later, after the shock wore thin, someone handed him a blanket. He didn't eat. Didn't sit. Just stared into the dying fire with that distant, sleepy look in his eyes.
No one spoke for a long time.
"We should play that card game again," he said. "The one where Lexi cheats."
Lexi didn't laugh.
I couldn't take it anymore and walked out. I needed sleep, my mind was starting to fall apart.
From behind, I heard Elise mumbled something about needing to process. Jared crashed on the couch. I stumbled to the back room, still hearing Ray's voice behind me, softly asking if we'd brought the guitar.
.
Around midnight, I got up to use the bathroom.
The cabin was dark, and quiet. I moved to the bathroom, my feet cold against the wooden floor. As I passed the hallway window, I saw a shape outside.
A shiver ran through me.
I leaned closer, squinting through the glass, then saw him again.
Ray stood at the tree line, motionless.
Just standing there.
He wasn't facing the cabin. He was staring into the woods, as if listening to something deep in the dark. I thought about going out to him, asking if he was okay. But suddenly, I felt really tired, like a heavy wave hit me.
I'd never felt sleep push me like that.
So I turned away.
And just before walking away, I swear I saw his mouth move. Only slightly.
Like he was repeating something.
Over and over again.
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