17
Fireworks and butterflies and sparklers and rainbows and lightening bugs and cotton candy and unicorns and tiger lilies and a giant castle built of chocolate crystals with a chocolate river out front and kitties and tacos and wool socks dried on a woodstove and a bowlful of tropical skittles.
It was awe inspiring. She tasted like vanilla and brown sugar. Electricity engulfed their embrace.
It was only one kiss, it may have lasted a good ten minutes, a really good ten minutes, but it eventually cooled off enough for our young lovers to pry themselves free of the fire and retreat to camp, their respective camps, the moon had seen enough action on the quasi-celibate mountaintop.
Miles doubted it had been enough to cure his insomnia. He tried anyway. A smile glued to his face and his body primed with desire, conflict alchemized into content, the replay on repeat as he cherished every drop of forbidden chemistry. It had been something more than he ever imagined. How could he not want the rest of her?
If she was going to camp, then he had to be there, unbridled passion at gunpoint was sure to enflame the fledgling romance, plus they’d be in a position to actually do something about the deteriorating state of the union. And if she left and he didn’t, he was certain that every lonely smoke break and shift of the moon would drive him further into madness, as he was left cuddling with the regret of what could have been.
But what if she stayed? That was the only scenario that left Miles unsure of his own. He felt torn between partaking in resistance firsthand, and indulging in the nectar of everything good in the world. She would tell him to follow his heart, he wanted to follow hers, but he also understood that to be the same codependency that she had long ago sworn off. He couldn’t simply stowaway on her path with complete disregard for his own, especially since he had no clue which direction she’d go, it seemed that the only known constant was the pull he felt to Fossil Corp.
So that was it, huh? That’s where his guides were directing him? The map had most definitely unfolded itself with a serendipitous route to predestination, he anticipated feeling the fool if he didn’t answer her knock. Their threads were interwoven along this lifelong journey of discovery, the moon would pull them back together at just the right moment, he had to go for it, or else risk regressing to his past life of not going for it.
It felt right. His heart felt good about it. The more he let it settle in, the more right it felt. He was going to camp. And then he slept like a baby, for the couple of remaining hours, at least.
Sunbeams shook the tent awake, Spaz already had a thermos of coffee brewing, even Cap was up and moving as the retinue assembled by the van.
“Hell yeah,” greeted Paul. “You’re going with us.”
The forty pound duffle bag must have tipped his hand.
“Oh yay,” she bubbled. “I knew you’d figure it out, just had to get a little blood flowing was all.”
The uncooled memories swirled between them.
“How about you guys?”
“We’re gonna stay. For now at least. Help Cap finish this thing up, and then who knows, maybe try to get Timps home, maybe come bother you at camp, we’ll see each other soon enough either way, I’m sure of it.”
So was he. And he still felt solid in his own embarkment, he’d honestly figured this was how it would work out, and he couldn’t wait to share his own tales of adventure when that day finally did come.
“You come bother me anytime you want,” he doubled her entendre. “You too Cap, could probably use a dead air dj to motivate the troops.”
Cap traded him half an Earthbag of piñons for a bear hug, “You know, I might just do that. Wonder if I can get this RV back down the mountain?”
“Good luck with that one,” blurted Spaz. “I guess getting it back up here’s the tricky part though. Here Miles, I made some coffee for the road, and I got something else for you.”
He reached behind his back and pulled free the OG boomerang, “I want you to have this. I figure that the new one’s already got a confirmed kill, or at least an assist, and what do I need to carry two around for? Maybe you’ll run into a kangaroo or something while you’re out there.”
Miles was touched by their brotherly bond, he’d think dearly of Spaz every time he felt the slice of locust root, their hug extended beyond the gratitude of letting him make out with his girlfriend.
She waited patiently for her own farewell, or toksa as she put it, see you later, or sooner, way sweeter than any goodbye could have been. They held onto the moment as they held each other, he tried to commit her scent to memory, he felt the warmth of her lips press into his cheek, and it was over.
“I gotcha something too, bud.”
She reached into her jacket pocket and revealed a pouch made from Timpsileh’s raccoon. Miles had watched her work the hide, scraping it and stretching it and making a brain cocktail to soften the pelt, turns out that an animal’s brain is the exact size needed to tan its own hide, how convenient.
“It’s for your sacred belongings, whatever that ends up being for you. Rocks or sage or maybe your feather. I put a little note in there for ya, but I don’t want you to read it until the next new moon, and know that I’ll be thinking of you extra special that night. It’s the same moon that we’ll be watching, and she can see us both, and I’ll be able to feel you wherever you are out there.”
That called for another hug and an exchange of whispered recognition, fingertips the last to break connection, a quick belly rub for Timps as a thank you for the fur, and Miles hopped in the van.