Enjoy
the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were
the big things. Robert Brault
I
don’t remember much of the night’s festivities but I do remember waking up with
a dry mouth that felt like someone had snuck into my tent in the middle of the
night and dumped a bucket full of used kitty-litter in my mouth. I felt around
for my canteen and quickly realized I was not alone in my tent. I slowly rolled
over and saw a full head of brown, tangled hair. I tried searching my memory of
who this person might be and why they were sleeping next to me but all I drew
was a blank. The last thing I remembered was laughing and falling off the log I
had been sitting on by the fire.
I
slowly crawled out of my tent and headed for the pond. I scrubbed my face with
the cold morning’s water and leaving using my t-shirt as towel to dry my face.
I tried to shake loose the cobwebs of the previous night’s debauchery as I
headed back to the camp and bits and pieces of my memory started to fill in. I
was almost certain the girl in my tent was Teresa but as to why she was there,
I had no clue.
I
quietly crawled back into my tent and lay on top of my sleeping bag using my
hands as my pillow. The confusion that filled my mind was not completely new to
me but it was more extensive than I had experienced before. I did not remember
how Teresa got in my tent or when she arrived. Did I ask her to come in with
me? Did she crawl in here accidentally? Did we do anything with each other?
What are my new friends going to say? Does she have a boyfriend and if so is he
going to kick my ass for this?
I
felt my tent-mate stirring and I looked over and saw it was in fact Teresa who
was lying next to me. As she rolled over her eyes opened and I could see she
was a bit confused. “Hi.” I said.
“Mornin’
Skip.” She mumbled and then began to rub the sleep out of her eyes. “What time
is it?”
“About
eight or eight-thirty is my best guess.”
“Ugh,
I should still be asleep.”
“Well,
go back to sleep. I’m not going to stop you. I could use some more myself.”
“Don’t
think I can. Umm…”
I
looked at her and could tell she was uncomfortable. There was something
bothering her and I don’t think she knew how to say it. She started to play
with her hair and I could see she had coiled some around her left forefinger.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I
don’t really know how to ask this, but… umm… did we… you know?”
“You
mean did we do anything?” I filled in.
“Yeah,
did we?”
“You
don’t remember?”
“Not
really, I don’t even know how I got in here.”
I
laughed a bit. It was a mistake, I suppose Teresa took offense to it and
slugged me in my arm. “Ow! Why did you do that?”
“You’re
an ass.” She cried and she started to climb out of the sleeping bag she was in.
“Hold
on… hold on.” I said “I don’t know why you’re upset, but if it’s because I
laughed, I’m sorry.”
Teresa
was sitting up and she stopped moving. I could only see her back and I could
see her shoulders moving up and down. Her head was lowered and I could only
guess she had her hands covering her face. Soft sobs were slowly filling the
tent. I reach out and rubbed her back. “Look Teresa, I really don’t think
anything happened between us last night. First off, we both have our clothes on
and second, you slept in your own sleeping bag and I slept in mine.” I
explained.
She
twisted around and looked at me through the tangled mass of hair that hung in
front of her eyes. She reached out and touched my leg. “I sorry for hitting
you, I just don’t like being laughed at.”
“Teresa,
I wasn’t laughing at you; I was laughing at the situation. Besides, when I get
nervous or scared I have a tendency to laugh.” I explained.
“I
guess we have a lot to learn about each other.” She smiled at me.
“Yeah,
I have a lot to learn about all you guys.” I said “You really don’t know how
you got in my tent?”
“Nope.”
“What’s
the last thing you remember?” I asked.
“I
remember when you left the fire to go to sleep. After that, things are a bit
sketchy. Too much rum and too much weed.” She let out a nervous chuckle.
“I
think I missed the weed.” I said.
“Yeah,
Mike brought it out right after you went to bed.”
She
laid down next to me and fumbled around in her sleeping bag for a minute.
“Shit.” She exclaimed.
“What
is it?”
I
could use a smoke but I can’t find mine. You got any?”
“Sure,
but let’s open the flaps first.”
As
we scooted around in the cramped tent we bumped into each other, boney elbows
and knees ended up in soft fleshy areas and grunts, groans and cries of pain
filled the tent which were shortly followed by laughter. “You should get a
bigger tent.” Teresa suggested.
“I’ll
get right on that.” I said.
We
got situated, both of us with our heads sticking out of our own sides of the
pup tent flaps. I pulled my pack of cigarettes out, slid the matches out from
the cellophane, handed Teresa a smoke and then popped one between my lips. I
lit a match and cupped it in front of her, she leaned forward and took a few
puffs and nodded her head to me. I quickly lit mine and shook the match out,
licked my left thumb and forefinger and pinched the burnt sulfur and then
discarded the small piece of cardboard.
The
camp was quite and we could hear the periodic snores of our friends in their
own tents. The birds were flittering between the trees, squirrels and chipmunks
were battling each other for tree supremacy and as my gaze drifted towards the
pond I could see a Doe standing watch while her Fawn drank deeply from the cool
water I had only moments before washed my face in. I nudged Teresa and nodded
towards the deer. I heard her gasp slightly and I turned my attention to her.
She was grinning and there was a twinkle in her eyes.
“Wow.”
She whispered. “That’s amazing.”
“One
of the reasons I love being in the woods. I get to see all the animals.” I
quietly answered. “The fawn can’t be more than a two months old and see the way
the momma stands guard while her baby gets water… she is protecting it from
predators.” I explained.
The
deer stayed for a few more minutes, taking their time with their own daily
chores. Their existence intersected with ours for only a few minutes, the fog
of their morning breath scattered in the morning light and blended with the
gentle fog coming off the pond. We watched in fascination and silence, our
wonderment in the common creatures of the forest seemed to overtake our worries
of our lost memories. Some smaller creatures pranced close to the deer but
maintained a respectful distance. Once the deer had taken their fill of water
they leisurely strolled away, not knowing the memories they had gifted two
juvenile delinquents stuck in the limbo of the 80’s and on a quest for self
discovery.
