There was a young woman named Diana. Her mother had died when she was born, so her father raised her. Since they were poor, they had to live off the land, in a forest. Diana’s father taught her many survival tactics to live in the forest. How to hunt, track, use animal remains for clothes and shelter, find the right plants to eat and to use as medicines, how to defend herself from people and predators, and much more. They rarely encountered people in the forest. If they did, they would hide and watch them pass by. Diana always carried her bow and arrow that she built just in case she had to defend herself from predators.

One day on her daily patrol on their section of the forest, she saw a handsome young man, about her age, taking a walk in the woods. As usual, she kept herself hidden and watched him go by. Unlike the few other males she had seen and hidden from, this one intrigued her. She wanted to follow him and gaze at him, so she did. He didn’t notice anything following him until he heard a twig snap. He veered his head towards the noise and saw a section of bushes shake. He took a step forward, towards the bushes, but froze when a cougar emerged from the bushes and stalked towards him. The fierce beast was about to pounce when an arrow pierced its neck. The cougar collapsed, bleeding, and quickly died. From the young man’s left, Diana emerged from the bushes with another arrow readied on her bow. He looked at her and raised his hands above his head.

She was the most beautiful woman he had seen in a while. He wasn’t sure why such a beautiful woman would be out alone in the forest considering she did not look like a Native American woman.

“Leave!” she said. Her fascination with him did not deter her from being cautious. Her father told her that males will trick you, you end up pregnant, and you die during childbirth. However, he pointed out there are exceptions. She wished this attractive male was one of those exceptions.

He backed up slowly. “Were you the one who saved me from being eaten?”

His voice was music to her ears.

“Yes,” she responded.

“Thank you.” He turned around and walked away as quickly as possible. If she didn’t have that arrow pointing at him, he would have stayed to learn more about her.

Before he could disappear into the trees, she lowered her bow and asked, “Why are you in the forest?”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her, “I am new to this area, and I wanted to experience nature since I didn’t have the opportunity when I was living in the city.”

“The city?” Her dad had told her stories about the city. He said the city is more dangerous than the forest. Where if she didn’t have money, she would end up in the streets where the rapists would get her.

“Yes, the city.”

“How is the city?”

“Um, I don’t know? The same as it has always been,” he responded confused.

“Okay, leave,” she commanded. She wanted to know more but she felt too exposed in an area where she encountered both a male and a cougar. He nodded and disappeared into the trees. However, she wasn’t done gazing at him, so she followed him discreetly. After a while of following him, he stopped and said, “I know you are following me.”

She frowned. She had never been caught before. Maybe it could be because she never bothered to follow anyone before.

“What do you want?” the young man asked curious. He was excited that this beautiful young woman was interested enough in him that she followed him.

She emerged from the bushes and stood about a dozen feet away from him. Her bow was in one of her hands as always but she did not have an arrow readied. However, she had really quick reflexes, speed, and accuracy to pull a bow from her quiver if she needed. “My father told me that if I did the deed with a male, I would get pregnant, and die during childbirth. Is that true?”

“Um, wait, what?” he did not know what to say. He was confused. “Why are you asking me this? You could literally search it up on the internet.”

“What’s the internet?”

He furrowed his brows in confusion. “Where are you from exactly?”

“From this forest.”

“So, you were born in this forest and your parents never took you out of this forest at all?”

“No.”

He sighed. “So, you made those pants and shirt yourself?”

“I did the shirt and the underwear while my dad did the pants.”

“That’s cool.”

“What is your name?” she asked.

“Sam.”

“Sam,” she repeated.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Diana.”

“Beautiful name.”

“Your name doesn’t match with your look,” she said honestly.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“You mean it in a mean or honest way?”

“Honest.”

A beep sounded on his wristwatch. He glanced at it and said, “I have to head back.”

"What is that," she asked curiously.

"A wristwatch. It tells you time," he answered as he extending his arms to show her. "You can come closer to see if you want."

"No," she said even though she really wanted to touch it. "I can see it just fine from here."

"Okay, then," he chuckled.

“Do you have a family?” Diana asked.

“No, it's just me and my dog, Lily.”

There was a long pause as she thought on whether to meet him again or not. So far he hasn't attacked her so that is one good sign but again, she still had her bow and arrow with her so that could be the deterrent. Plus, she made it clear that she is not one to freeze in fear or to bluff when it comes to actually shooting since she managed to shoot a cougar with precision. She really wanted to know more about him and to learn more about life outside the forest.

To break the silence, Sam said, "well, goodbye, it was nice to meet you, Diana."

“Come meet me here tomorrow. I would like to get to know you better and learn about life outside the forest.”

“That would be my pleasure,” he smiled flirtatiously.

She blushed. “Good.”

“Bye,” he waved and continued walking the way he came from. She watched him leave before she turned back to get the dead cougar. Her father taught her that if you kill an animal, you should honor it by using its remains for things such as food and clothing rather than letting its death be in vain.