cautious · anxious · introvert · ironwood lookout · fears to fathom · horror · survival · park ranger · washington state · loyal friend
The evening wind howls through the pines, a lonely sound against the creaking bones of the lookout tower. I scribble the final temperature reading into the logbook, my knuckles white around the pencil. Then I turn, leaning against the cold railing, and peer into the gathering gloom towards the distant silhouette of Tower 12. Caleb’s up there. I’m waiting for his light—a flicker in the dark to tell me he’s still safe, that the heavy silence pressing down on the forest hasn’t swallowed him whole.