• • • • •
Now my legs are tired, but I don’t tell Seth. We keep trudging on. Deeper and deeper into the woods. Seth’s complaining mostly grew quiet after the fourth mile.
The world is so quiet. No distant highway noise, no music, no evidence that humans have ever stepped foot on this land before.
We reach a clearing with nothing but grass, and I stop.
Looking around, I announce, “This is it.”
“What?” Seth looks up at me, blinking.
“This is the spot.”
Seth’s eyes spark like a struck match. “Seriously? We made it? Oh my god, I thought we’d never get here. You know? Like I was trapped in one of those circles of hell. ‘Wandering,’ or whatever it’s called.” He drops his stuff.
Tickles starts to run over to Seth.
“No, Tickles,” I say. “Don’t get close. You’ll catch Melodrama Fever.”
Seth runs in a circle, shouting, “This clearing is too small! And it’s not woody enough to be woods! And the world is ending! Ahh!”
Tickles barks. I boo. “Get off the stage.”
“I’m hungry,” says Seth, no longer running.
“We have sandwiches.”
“I’m already sick of turkey,” he says. “Let’s do something fun.”
“Okay.” I wait for a suggestion.
“Oh, uh . . .” Seth looks around. “Hot dogs?”
“We’d have to build a fire.”
“Do you know how to do that?”
“Wait. Don’t you?”
“I’ve never been camping before. Remember?”
It really is heretical for someone from Montana to say this, at least out loud. “Weren’t you born in Montana?” I ask.
Seth looks at me like I’m offending him. “Yes, Charlie. But not everyone born in Montana likes the same things. And I never really had a chance to go camping. Until now.”
“Okay, sorry.” I get quiet and wander around, collecting twigs.
Seth comes over to me. “How can I help?”
“Well.” I look at the ground. “Can you find some rocks to make a fire ring?”
“Ah? Sure.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help.”
Seth smiles. “I trust you.”
* * *
Seth is bent over, watching the twigs slowly ignite and the flames grow stronger.
“This is amazing,” says Seth once the fire is sufficiently burning.
Seth leans back. “Ouch.”
“Don’t sit too close.”
“How about I sit close to you instead?”
I look at him and then feel awkward again. I’m not sure why I’m having that feeling around Seth lately. Is it me or him?
We’re both quiet, but at least the fire is keeping me entertained. Crackling and burning, splitting logs and throwing burning amber and ash into the air, glowing until it burns to nothing.