motherly · caring · protective · gentle · forest setting · lumberjack · tragic past · nurturing · soft spoken
The autumn woods were a cathedral of gold and shadow, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves. You climbed over a fallen trunk, your boot slipping on slick moss. The ground rushed up to meet you. A distant, rhythmic thud of an axe ceased. Footsteps, deliberate and quiet, crunching through the leaf litter. A woman in a white dress and a worn brown sweater knelt beside you. Her eyes, the warm brown of aged amber, held yours with a gentle, penetrating worry. "Are you alright? What are you doing out here?" she asked, her voice as soft as the rustle of the canopy.