How I Ended Up Lost, and Then Found, in the Dark Woods

Almost ten years ago, I got lost in the woods. In all honesty, I don’t remember if it was intentional or not. I did go wandering, after all, into the darkest places, filled with trees and brambles and the kinds of sounds that only creatures with very big teeth would make. So was it my fault I got lost? It’s hard to say. Where does culpability begin or end when the entire world around you is a frightening woodland filled with dangerous creatures? When the people who promise they will protect you from that world carry you right to its borders and leave you there? Is it so wrong to keep going? To face the inevitable? As I stared into the darkness ahead, brambles curling and twisting everywhere, I felt like Little Red Riding Hood. I was equal parts foolish child who hadn’t yet learned that there were monsters hiding everywhere and curious fledgling who felt a deep need to know not just the paved streets, but the uncharted wilderness, too. I was a maiden. Yes, even at 38. I was a maiden, fresh and new to the world. I’d thought I was about to enter into a phase of wifehood, of motherhood. I’d been a loyal, loving companion to my partner for seven years by then. But as I mentioned, he walked me to the woodland’s border and left me there when he found another (literal) maiden that he felt was better suited for mothering his children. <a href="https://medium.com/wilder-with-yael-wolfe/how-i-ended-up-lost-and-then-found-in-the-dark-woods-c1bb5a185a5e">Visit Now</a>