“Come on girls. We’re going for a run slash hike.” Amber’s mom bounced into her bedroom dressed in one of her lavender warm-up suits. “You two need a break from all this studying. You’ve been at it all day. Enough’s enough. Your Saturday’s going to be over before you even know it.”
Amber flopped back on her bed and groaned. “A break makes sense, Mom. But a run? That’s not quite what I had in mind. Do we have any Oreos?”
Brittany’s eyes widened. “Oreos sound good to me. I ran on my treadmill this morning.”
“Nope. No cookies in the house. Besides, you two have been inside sitting on your duff for weeks—you used to run all the time. Youneed fresh air, activity … and so do I. It’s going to be way too cold to hike in the mountains in a few weeks—so come on, let’s go.” She checked their feet. “Brittany, I see you have your running shoes on already. Amber can loan you some warm clothes.”
Brittany stared at her Nikes.
Amber could read her mind. She knew Brittany wished with everything in her she’d worn high-heeled shoes that day. Why, oh why, had she worn running shoes? Across the room, Mom had her foot up on a desk chair, stretching her calf.
It’s no use. “We’d better get this over with, Britt.” Amber shook her head and laughed. It had been a long time since she and Mom had gone running together. Maybe it would be nice to get out and stretch a little. “How far are we going to go?”
“I want to jog the Hidden Falls trail. You remember? The one that runs along Jenny Lake and overlooks the cascade.”
“Mom, that’s got to be five miles long!”
“We’ll go up two and a half miles and then return the same way.” She laughed. “You can do it. We used to go much farther than that. We’ll take it slow and walk when we have to.”
“Okay with me, Mrs. Stevens. Sounds kind of fun, actually.”
Amber shot Brittany a look. What changed her mind? Oh well. Maybe it would be fun.
They collected what they needed and headed to the garage. Amber scurried barefooted, carrying her running shoes, across the cold cement garage floor and climbed into the car. While her mom drove them to their starting point, she pulled on her socks and tied her shoes.
Brittany pulled her hair into a ponytail.
Finally ready, Amber relaxed and watched the beautiful, familiar terrain out the window. Immediately, a sense of peace washed over her. Why would anyone live anywhere else? “We should go skiing this weekend. There’s enough snow at the higher elevations. And with Christmas next month, the slopes are going to get busier soon.”
“Not a bad idea. We had better get as much use as possible out of our season passes—I doubt we’ll be able to afford them next year.”
Sigh. Thanks for the wet blanket, Mom.
“Here we are.” They pulled over outside the park entrance and got out of the car. The echo of three doors closing shuddered through the mountains.
The sharp, crisp smell of the evergreens awakened Amber’s senses. Amazing how a few short miles up the mountain completely changed the air—changed everything, actually. She inhaled a few times, clearing her lungs and her mind with every breath.
They stood beside the car and stretched their muscles. “Ready?” Mom sounded eager. “Let’s go.”
They set off in a jog up the mountain trail, the pine needles crunching beneath their feet. The frigid air felt much colder than their home in the valley.
Her breath making little white puffs of smoke, Amber said, “This really does feel good.” Gasp. Puff. “I forgot what fresh air could do for me.” Gasp. Puff.
“It sure doesn’t sound like it feels good.” Brittany laughed as she easily kept pace.
They jogged along the western shore of Jenny Lake in silence except for the rhythmic crunch … crunch … crunch… of the evergreen needles beneath their feet. The air got thinner as they started the slight rise up the mountain—going downhill would be so much easier. Suddenly, big, white snowflakes started to fall around them. The flakes filled the air andswirled in front of their faces, landing on their cheeks and melting into little droplets of water.
No one broke the silence. Amber figured her mom was praying—she had that look on her face—and Amber could understand why. They couldn’t feel closer to God than the Wyoming mountains, especially when it snowed. Amber closed her eyes for a brief moment. Can You still hear me, Lord? Or have I wandered too far from You?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and took a deep, raggedy breath to fill her lungs with oxygen. “I think I need a break.”
“No you don’t. Push through it.” Mom smiled. “Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Wait for that second wind.”
They continued on. And on. They trudged up the slowly rising elevation toward the cascade in what Amber would call a jog, but was probably more like a fast walk. It happened just like Mom said it would. After a few minutes, Amber fell into a pattern again, able to keep up the rhythmic pace. She glanced at Brittany, who jogged alongside her on the right. Not even a tiny huff or puff. Well, if I were that small, I’m sure it would be easy for me, too.
They reached the end of the trail at an elevation of almost seven thousand feet. Trying to catch her breath, Amber staggered over to the guardrail and peered over the cascade at the treetops below. Beautiful. Not a care in the world. It felt good to rise above the trials of life.
Mom’s soft smile assured Amber she wasn’t worried about a thing—not that her faith ever wavered. Brittany’s face didn’t give away her thoughts, but her relaxed posture comforted Amber enough that she could stay in her own peaceful reverie and not worry about anything—a real rarity for Amber.
“Anyone need some water?” Mom took a bottle of water out of her jacket. Everyone took a thirsty drink—but not too much. They still had a long way to go to get back to the car.
One more gaze out over the valley revealed the setting sun in the western horizon. Mom must have noticed the same thing. “I think we’d better be on our way, girls.” She stretched her quadriceps by raising her foot and grabbing her ankle behind her leg. She gave it a few squeezes and then hopped in place for a moment to work the kinks out of her ankles. “Going back is downhill, so it should be faster. It’s harder on your shins, though. So, be careful.”
They set off on a nice, steady gait, enjoying the ease of the sloped terrain. The falling snow slowed with their descent and stopped completely when they made it about halfway to the car. The light feeling of being up in the mountains gave way to the pressures of life in the valley, the weight of the lower elevation evident both physically and mentally.
“I hope you girls aren’t too upset that I pulled you away from your studies and made you exercise.” Mom handed them each a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
Amber easily unscrewed the top of her water bottle—the seal had already been broken. Lovely—a used bottle that had been cleaned and refilled with tap water. She watched carefully, hoping her mom had the foresight to give Brittany a fresh bottle.
The seal on Brittany’s bottle snapped as she screwed off the top, then took a long drink of the cool water.
Amber breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at her mom with silent thanks.
Mom’s chin lifted slightly and she winked. She got it—most of the time.
“No, Mrs. Stevens.” Brittany leaned to the side with her arm over her head, her long, sleek, black ponytail swinging as she stretched. “Ididn’t mind at all. I think it was a great move—we needed it.”
“Yeah, Mom. We haven’t done that in a while, and I don’t think ever while it snowed. Cool.” Amber took a swig and leaned against the counter.
“We’ll have to do it more often, then.” Mom grinned.
“Now, it’s back to the books for us.” Amber held one arm out toward the doorway and waited for Brittany to join her.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Brittany’s face fell. “I think the break is doing us good. Let’s take the rest of the night off.”
“Really?” Amber checked the clock. It did feel nice to take some pressure off. They had studied for four hours straight before the run. And Brittany looked so hopeful. “Okay, Britt. We’ll quit for the day.”
Brittany grinned. “What do you want to do?”
“First? Sustenance. We’ll collapse and die if we don’t get food. Then we’ll talk plans.”
Brittany laughed. “Such a drama queen.”
Amber had already pulled the doors open so she could dig through the kitchen cabinets. “Aha! I knew it!” She triumphantly pulled out a half-eaten package of Oreos. “Milk!” Amber pulled the milk from the fridge while Brittany got two glasses.
Amber unscrewed her cookie and scraped the filling off with her teeth. She dunked the chocolate cookie part into her milk and held it there for a few moments.
Brittany dropped an Oreo into the milk and let it float there until it started to sink. She used a spoon to retrieve the milk-logged cookie and popped the whole thing into her mouth. It barely fit, and milk dripped out of one of the corners. She leaned forward over the counter and held up a cupped hand to catch the drip.
“Here, silly.” Amber laughed and handed her a napkin, then they polished off the cookies in the bag. “Okay, now that I’ve had enough sugar to last the whole week, we can talk plans. What do you want to do tonight?”
“I think a movie. My treat.” Brittany casually threw that last part on the end.
“Okay. I’ll treat next time.” Amber hoped she’d have money next time.
“Deal!”
“Amber, we’re leaving for church.”
She rolled over in her bed and mumbled good-bye to her parents. Barely awake, she sensed movement in the room. Brittany! For a moment she’d forgotten Britt had spent the night. Amber pried one eye open and peeked across the room where Brittany stood fully dressed, tying her shoes. Amber bolted up to her elbows. “You leaving?”
“Yeah, I told you my parents would be picking me up.” Brittany picked up the brush. “Your parents left already. Don’t they want you to go with them?” Brittany hesitantly asked.
“Want me to? Sure. But they don’t force the issue.” Amber lay back down and pulled the covers up around her. “They’re trying to let me find my own way.”
“Hmm.” Brittany smoothed her hair in the mirror.
Amber tilted her head. “Ah, I can hear the disapproval in your hmm.”
“Well, I think church would be good for you. If I were your mom and dad …”
“Oh, I know. You’d be a slave driver.” Amber threw her pillow at Brittany and they both laughed.
Brittany peeked out the window. “They’re here. Gotta go!” She grabbed her things and started to leave the room. “Next week, come with me. Okay?”
“Your church is so far away,” Amber whined. Brittany laughed. “It’s downtown—thirty minutes away. You’d drive farther to go shopping. You’re coming.”
“We’ll see, Britt.” We’ll see.