Perception

"The trouble started, as always, in the woods. I found myself ever drawn to them, their nooks and shadows, their secrets, even as my industry scrambled for ever more inventive new ways of engineering their destruction. The old well was one of my first haunts; it was a perfect sitting-spot, and I often worked there instead of my office when I wished to be away from the noise and unwelcome company of the factory. It was at this well that I d̷evise̵̴d t̶̄h̴e e̴a̵̴̴̷rl̵̵̄ies̶t pr̄o̶to̵̷tȳ̴p̵̵̴̴̴e̵ ̷o̷̷f̵̷ th̴̷e̶ <Furiously scribbled out>, of which you should know well by now.

---

Aimlessly moving forward, constantly looking behind himself to make sure he was staying straight, trying to ignore the thought that this direction is just arbitrary anyway, Jasper walked. The ground grew slightly darker as he passed out of the small clearing, clambered down a ridge of mud and roots, and crept deeper into the woods. Sparse winter grass gave way to matted leaves and branches, and bare maples were soon crowded out by shadowy pines. Fighting back a perpetual urge to break into a sprint, he slowly kept onward.

Far ahead, in another grassy patch between the trees, was a weathered, dirty pile of rocks. Or, so it first appeared. The ancient well was not only crumbling and eroded, but it was also covered in small brown vines, giving it a dirty, almost hairy look. A sloping pile of dead leaves and dirt filled the shaft, nearly reaching the top of the bricks. And on the other side of the well was... a shoe. Hum.

It looked like a girl's dress shoe; black, rounded, with a single belt. Its owner was probably several years younger than him, but it was hard to tell; he had exceptionally large feet. Not a very good point of reference. Despite being encrusted in mud, it seemed fairly new, as far as he could tell. A once-white sock, now barely visible in a patch of thick mud, pointed toes first to a trail of muddy alternating foot-shoe prints. This... was something! This meant people!

Although, Jasper had a pretty good idea of who this might be. Frankly, he wasn't entirely sure if he was willing to deal with her right now. Especially now that the sky wasn't beginning to darken -- that meant either a storm or the night, and he didn't like either option.

Does Jasper continue going east (or, really, whatever direction he was going, since it was NOT the time he thought it was), follow the trail of muddy footprints, or stay at the well and find a way to wait out the storm/night?

SpoilerShow

This is my 3000th post! Hooray! Originally I was going to make a big Officequest Megaupdate, but I figured this story was more important to me in the long run.