I am not sure what it was that triggered the straight look towards me, but I was suddenly confronted with this woman's beautiful eyes and her curious look. Immediately I felt a rush of embarrassment come over me; it must have been very strange being starred at by a foreign man, alone here in the forest. But fortunately her face began to shine with a soft smile and she didn't seem to be scared of my presence.
She stood up, but continued looking at the gentle stream nearby. As I felt the need to introduce myself I stepped closer and when I was only some arm lengths away I stopped and asked who she was. Not surprisingly she answered that she lived here and that she came here almost every day to enjoy the lush greens and colored fish here. It was her favorite spot ever since she first came here in her childhood. We exchanged some more questions and I felt a strong sympathy for her which she seemed to mirror as well.
"Annie, Annie!" we suddenly heard a child shout nearby as her feet carried her quickly over the twigs and branches that were lying on the path. She ran around Annie and grabbed her dress to tackle it along a bit and then let it go again. She giggled and laughed and then suddenly came to an abrupt halt. "Catch me if you can!", she exclaimed and then took off again with a quick dash.
"So now you have met my little niece I suppose. She is such a little rascal, always jumping about and getting into trouble", she said with a smile on her face. "Would you care to join us for some afternoon tea? I could imagine that you are quite thirsty, being such a hot day as it is!"
"Only if I'm not intruding", I somewhat hesitantly implied. "Oh, nonsense! In fact I would be delighted to have some company now that my sister has been here for her summer visit and we have exchanged our thoughts on almost every topic we care to talk about! Oh, I did say that she is quite the talker, haven't I?" she wondered.
Their home was a beautiful country house sitting in the midst of trees, bushes and flowers as far as the eye could see. A table with some tea and pastry stood in the half shade with Annie's little niece sitting there playing beside it. I could not deny that I felt a bit thirsty and hungry as well and I looked forward to getting to know my new found friend and her family a bit better.
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