Sara woke up slowly luxuriating in the knowing that she was as of today officially on leave from work. She had two whole weeks for herself. Not that what she did could be categorized as work as far as she was concerned.

	As a samovila she needed to be close to nature and forests in particular. But with the passing of time people became more and more connected between each other and more and more disconnected from nature. Sara was forced to adapt to that way of living as she wanted to survive, but she'd learned to compromise. Since she needed work and money to survive in this modern day and age, she found work that was still close to nature. Unfortunately she could not escape the human element. And since vila's were solitary creatures by nature, socializing with people always wore her down.

	Which was why she needed her downtime from work as a wilderness guide and park ranger at the Pelham Bay Park. She served mostly as a guide, but she was also officially employed as a park ranger as well.

	Sara got out of her bed and slowly began going through her morning routine. The little girls room came first. Than the bathroom to wash her hands, teeth and face. Than a bowl of cereal and milk to get the metabolism working. A quick shower and than she started getting dressed for her morning run. Her running outfit consisted of a simple black sports bra, loose flannel board shorts and her Vibram fivefingers. Sure they looked goofy, but she wouldn't run in anything else on her feet. As for the shorts. Well, she never got into all this Lycra hype. [i]Yoga pants, leggings, jeggings, spandex, blargh! No! Give me a pair of loose shorts, a tight sports bra and comfortable shoes. Why would people wear those elastic clothes is beyond me!?![/i] They were good only for two things in her opinion. Gawking and ogling! And sure, she was guilty of both on occasion. She was only human after all! Yes, okay, maybe not human, but still she was not made of stone. And those damnable clothes did outline the human form in a rather fetching way.

	Sara shook her head to clear it from those thoughts. She secured her Vibrams, tied her shorts, adjusted her sports bra, strapped her phone to her biceps and put on her wireless headphones. She never ran without music. She selected her Celtic Woman spotify playlist, pressed 'shuffle and play', grabbed her keys and a small backpack and stepped out of her apartment, located in a small condominium in the Phelam Gardens. She usually ran the one point five miles to work every day and took a longer shower at the park's Nature Center which housed the offices of the park rangers as well. The ranger facilities had small locker rooms for the men and the women with a couple of showers.

	Sara put on her sun glasses, tightened the straps of her backpack and set off. She started at a slow jog, as a way of warming up. When she felt her muscles had had time to properly warm up, she increased her pace. Her Vibramed feet slapping gently against the paved sidewalk. Whit her headphones on and the angelic voices of Celtic Woman permeating her consciousness she was effectively cut off from the outside world. The only thing she knew in this moment was her slightly labored breathing and the cadence of her running steps. The rhythm of it all was calming, soothing. Second to her native Slavic music and rhythms she preferred only the Celtic music. Nothing else could put her in that almost transcendent state of mind.

	Before she knew it she'd reached the rangers' station. All too soon and at the same time not soon enough. She couldn't wait to collect her gear, which she'd stowed at the station the day before, and get lost in the deeper parts of Phelam Bay Park. She needed to get away from the crowds, be one with nature for a while. Reconnect!

	She greeted absentmindedly a couple of her colleagues on her way into the rangers' station. The were all used to her often vacant greetings. They knew that when the forests called to her, she had a one track mind. A tunnel vision of sorts. So they did not take offence. Sara entered the small locker room, stripped, showered good and long, then proceeded to dress in her most comfortable trekking clothes. She checked and rechecked her gear, shouldered her huge rucksack and made her way out of the station, bidding goodbye to her fellow coworkers in the same manner as she'd greeted them.

	"Have a good one, Nik!" Joyce, one of Sara's closest friends on the job, yelled after the departing wilderness guide.

	Sara turned and graced Joyce with a rare smile, reserved for the people from her inner circle. "Thanks, J-girl, I plan to." She winked at her friend, turned and walked away.