The day of our long awaited trip started out all bright and sunny. Andy’s tulips were popping up by the hundreds in the front flower bed and there were other kinds of perennials as well. The daffodils were in full bloom as I stood  in the front lawn looking up at the old house. It desperately needed a new paint job. Just another thing to add to my big list of improvements. Buddy was out in the yard with me, running around in circles chasing the birds. Getting his exercise, I guess. I was excited as well. Ben called and said he would be over shortly. I’d just finished packing the rest of my camping gear into the back of my truck. It had been a long while since I had been camping. Not since the army had I attempted to put up a tent. But back then, that was work, and this was for fun. Buddy knew something was up. He could read me like a book. He was excited and jumping, and knew that he was going along.

Ben came roaring down the driveway around 10:30 on his shiny black and chrome motorcycle. He had a trailer attached to the back and wore his usual leather jacket, black helmet, blue jeans and black leather boots.  As he dismounted, he winked and strutted over towards me. “You ready to hit the road, Travis?”

“Sure, I think I got most everything packed in the back. I guess if I need anything I can buy it along the way.”

He cocked his head and tapped me on the back, “Dude, this is going to be a fine day. Get that crazy dog of yours and let’s hit the road. You can follow me,” he said.

“I thought you might want to ride in the truck,” I said.

He looked back and smiled, “Oh no, today’s too fine a day not to be on the bike,” he said, hopping on the bike.

 It was sunny, but it wasn’t exactly the warmest of days. I suppose he was dressed warm enough if he could stand swimming in ice cold lakes. Ben looked back just as I was getting into the truck.

“Travis! When you see me holding my arm up making a fist, that means I want you to slow down because I plan to make a stop. I will point to either side of the road I want to stop at.  If you want me to stop. Hold your arm out the window and make a fist also. If you can’t get my attention, then tap your horn lightly. Sound good?”

 “Sure thing.”

 Ben revved his engine and rode towards the gate. I opened the door and called for Buddy. He jumped in and went straight for the passenger side window. I followed Ben to the front gate and he turned left. I had a feeling that he was going to be taking the back roads. There were a few cars here and there, but for the most part, the roads were ours. Ben seemed to know where he was going. We were basically heading south and hitting little small towns that I’d not been to since I was a kid.

The morning had warmed up some. I rolled my windows down letting the wind whip my hair. I wore my sunglasses  thinking it made me look somewhat cool. I wore a white t- shirt and jeans, but had packed warmer clothes for the trip. It felt great to be getting some sun. I was a pasty white color compared to Ben’s  golden bronze skin from all those days going naked. Today I felt young and  excited to be spending time with my new best friend.

As we entered some small town, I saw a sign that said. “You are now entering Mt Sterling.” Ben stopped at the light and looked back at me. He motioned with his hand as if he were putting something in his mouth. I guessed that he was asking if I was hungry. He raised his arm and made a fist and then pointed up ahead to a gas station. I nodded okay.  The light changed  then he pulled into a Shell station. I turned in as well. He dismounted and walked over to the truck.

 “Travis, I was wondering if you might want to grab lunch here. It might be a lot cheaper here than at a touristy spot like Natural Bridge.”

 “Yeah, that’s a good idea. What are you in the mood for?”

 He put his hand on his chin and said, “Have you been to Jerry’s before? The food is reasonably priced and the waitresses have always been nice.”

“Sounds good. It would be nice to go to a place that serves vegetables.”

We found a place to park and I left Buddy in the cab with the window partially rolled up. As I was locking up, a young man approached us saying that he’d run out of gas and was trying to get back home to  Lexington.

 I looked at him and said, “Sorry dude.”

 Ben patted him on the shoulder and said, “How much do you need?”

 The man smiled and his eyes got big. “Five bucks would be great if you have it.”

 Ben reached in his wallet and pulled out a ten. “Here this should be enough to get you there. I’m Ben by the way and this is my friend Travis. What’s your name?”

“Carl.”

“Nice to meet you Carl. You have a great day.”

As soon as we walked farther down the street I said, “Ben, Why did you give him money? Don’t you know that is the oldest scam in the book?”

“He wanted it and I had it to give,” said Ben, smiling.

“I doubt that he’s going to buy gas with that money. Did you see all those marks on his arm? He’s probably going to use that money for drugs,” I said.

“Travis, it’s not my place to judge that man, and besides, we do drugs ourselves. If you asked me for money I’d happily give it to you. No questions need to be asked. It made him happy and I’m damned well happy to be going camping on such a fine day. Aren’t you happy?”

“Well sure,” I said.

He smiled and patted me on the shoulder and said, “I’m hungry. Let’s go have lunch.”

Ben led the way. I admired his masculine confident stride as I followed behind. Two young college aged girls were leaving as we walked in the door and I noticed them smiling and looking back at Ben. The door clanged from the bells and alerted one of the waitresses of our presence. I saw one entire section of big burly guys sitting together eating with piles of plates. They were wearing ball caps and jackets. Some were older and most had beards. A few families with children were scattered about.

A thin older woman in her fifties wearing a red apron smiled and said, “Welcome to Jerry’s. Will that be two of you?”

“Yes ma’am,” said Ben. “I’ve been here before and loved your peach cobbler.”

She smiled, “Oh yes, it’s quite popular.” She led us towards a back booth against the window just behind the group of truckers. “Anything to drink while I get your menus?”

“I’ll have a root-beer,” Ben said smiling.

“You have Coke?” I asked.

“Will Pepsi be fine?”

“Sure.”

Ben took off his jacket and placed it on top his helmet. “It’s such a nice day to ride my bike. The air smells fresh and things are starting to bloom. The sun, the wind in my hair…”

I smiled back and nodded. I looked up and saw a younger waitress bringing a big plate of fried chicken to one of the truckers. It looked and smelled great. Our waitress came back with our drinks and the menus. I already had my mind set on fried chicken by now. We were browsing the menu and Ben put his down.

“Already know what you want?”I said.

“Yeah, I want salmon…so Travis, You know I’ve been working making a few pieces of furniture, well I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind tagging along to help me transport them to Lexington next week. There’s a guy there who commissioned a dining room set. I’ll buy you dinner and give you a few bucks for helping me.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun.”

“The guy said he’d pay me $12,000 for the whole set.”

“That is great! If they are anything like the sculptures in your front yard, I would say the guy is getting a bargain.”

“Thanks Travis.”

The waitress appeared and said, “You boys made up your minds?”

I spoke up and said, “Well I already know what I want. I want the fried chicken.”

“I’d like the salmon and rice,”said Ben.

“Sure thing. It will be right up,”she said writing it down in her notepad.

The food was great and all seemed fine. I’d just finished my meal and excused myself to go to the restroom. One of the big truckers walked  out and the place smelled. As I was unbuttoning my pants to pee, I felt that eerie feeling creeping back. There was nothing I could do but let the experience roll over me and hope that it would end soon. I grasped the side of the urinal and felt time slow to a crawl. I hated the feeling of losing control over my body. I felt trapped momentarily as my world faded away and got replaced by this darker foggy world. It was a terrifying experience similar to a bad pot trip, but much worse. The loss of control was very unnerving. Suddenly the experience ended and I came back, standing there in front of the urinals. I lost my balance and fell into the divider between urinals hitting my head on the way down. I had let out a yelp and peed on myself just a bit as I fell. I noticed a slight cut over my right eye as I was washing up. I walked back to my seat feeling a head rush and breathing heavy.  

“Travis, are you okay?” Ben said, taking my arm.

“Honestly, I really don’t know. I mean I’d been around a few explosions and saw some people getting killed, but I never really thought it affected me. I’m not so sure now. Been having these little spells recently.”

Ben furrowed his brow. “Do you think you’ll be okay to drive?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’m really looking forward to camping.”

“Well if you start to feel funny, just wave me down or honk your horn.”

The waitress came by and gave us our checks. “So boys, how’d you like your meal?”

“It was delicious, thank you,” said Ben.

“And what about you?”

I was still a little dazed. “Oh..yeah. Yes Ma’am, my chicken was very good thank you.”  

We paid our checks and Ben said, “You sure you’re gonna be alright to drive? We can always go back and I can drop off my motorcycle. I would have left it behind if I had only known.”  

“Don’t worry Ben, I’ll be fine.”

Ben put his arm around my shoulder and looked deeply in my eyes.

“Don’t bullshit me. Are you going to pass out while you’re driving?” Said Ben.

I felt comforted by feeling his arm on my shoulder and his gaze caused me to melt. I shook my head up and down, “Ben. I’ll be fine. They happen so fast, almost as fast as I can blink my eye, then they’re gone.”

“Do you black out?”

“No, actually I don’t black out, but I feel like I’m somewhere else.”

Ben looked confused, “Somewhere else, as in Iraq?”

“No I really don’t know. The place is dark and fuzzy. They did a brain scan to see if I had any trauma or abnormal spots and said everything looked fine.  Go ahead and get on your motorcycle Ben. I’ll be fine I promise.”  

Ben hopped on his ride and I buckled up. Ben looked back wearing his helmet and gave the thumbs up. Back on the road things felt normal. Buddy happily hung his head out the window as the wind blew his eyes shut and his slobber onto the back of the seat.

It kept getting hillier and hillier until we were actually driving through mountains with lots of trees and rocky outcrops towering above the winding roads. Little shacks with yards littered with junk cars and broken appliances were commonplace as poverty was rampant among the hill folk. The only difference between them and us was the location.

Ben pulled into a nearby campground. I followed behind as he scouted the area for more privacy and nearness to a river. He waved for me to pull over, then he spun around and came up beside me with his motor roaring. I was impressed at how easily he maneuvered that powerful sleek engine that bucked, popped and shot out hot puffs of smoke from the shiny chrome tailpipe. He took off his helmet, turned towards me with a mischievous grin.

“Travis how about we find a place to pull off the road, park our vehicles and just hike as far into the woods as we want? It ain’t against the law to do that is it?” said Ben.

“I really don’t know, but there probably are places like that where you can just park in a lot and hike and camp. We could always go ask a park ranger. They would know,” I said.”

We drove around the area for a while and finally found the ranger station. Ben got off his bike and started chatting up a female park ranger. I sat in the car and watched his animated gestures. He smiled and winked at her and she was eating all this attention up. Ben was one of those guys who talks with his hands resting on his hips. It looks sexy and makes a guy look powerful, but I was never a guy to take up that habit. It never felt natural to me. I envied his self confidence and charm. The plump, butch ranger lady wearing tight brown shorts and a mountie hat chuckled heartily then waved her arms and pointed down the road. Ben worked his charm and strolled over to my window.

“Hey Travis, the park ranger just said that we can register and get a permit to hike and camp in the woods. They have parking places down the road for a small fee. We can hike the trails and find a great spot near the river and be far from other people. We can make a campfire, play guitar sing, get loud, smoke pot and go nude if we want.”

I was taken aback. Did he say nude? Two guys in the woods together nude. It was something I’d been thinking about yet would not allow myself to even say it. I was trying desperately to hide a growing erection at the slightest possibility of having sex with my new found best friend. I was both excited and terrified at the idea. I still would never picture Ben to be gay. When Ben said those words, it seemed too innocent and there was no flirtation in the voice or any sort of wink or gesture to indicate a sexual advance. I was confused and the last thing I wanted to do was risk ending a wonderful friendship over a misunderstood phrase. Better I keep silent and wait for him to make any first moves. But one thing was for certain: I would not be getting much sleep that night.

We hiked through some pristine forest with ancient limestone boulders covered in moss and ferns jutting out all along the trails. Lots of trees were blooming, others were sporting tender young leaves. I wished I’d brought a camera. The air was cool and crisp and I was glad I brought my jacket. Ben led the way with Buddy at his side. I lugged a heavy backpack complete with a tent, sleeping bag, water and food. I was so high from Ben’s pot that my feet felt like lead and I was huffing and puffing. It had been a while since I’d been on such a serious hike. Ben was full of energy and I just smiled back at him. I didn’t want him to think I was a wuss.  We stopped for a water break and he took off his jacket and shirt saying he was hot. I caught a whiff of his musky scent. After the break I followed close behind, admiring the view of his lean hairy body as he trudged forward.

Down the backside of a steep mountain we came upon a small clearing in the river gorge.

“This looks like a nice place to set up camp. What do you think Travis?”

“Sure, doesn’t look bad at all.” At this point I really didn’t care. My back hurt and I just wanted to sit down and smoke more pot. I dropped my backpack to the ground. A weight had been lifted.

“This looks good to me, we have a nice clearing with some nice big rocks to sit on. There’s a nice view of the river and no people around. We probably should set up the tent first so we can have a place free of mosquitoes. After that we can do whatever we want. I brought my guitar, fishing poles and weed and some tasty snacks for the munchies.”

I looked at Ben with a huge grin.

“Yeah, I thought you’d like that last part,” Ben said with a wink.

It didn’t take us long to put up our tent. Buddy got a little too eager to help and I had to scold him a bit. He pouted and looked hurt to be told to stay, but he was getting better at commands. These new tents are so much better than the ones I had as a kid. They were usually just two poles with lots of rope, stakes and blue tarp and they always leaked or fell in a bad storm. These new ones were made of nylon and had bendable hollow aluminum tubes attached by an internal string. A much smarter design for a tent that even the most urban of city boys would have no problem erecting. We tossed our backpacks into the tent. I brought out the water and some snacks. Ben took off his boots and walked around barefoot.

“Ahhh feels so good to be barefoot,” he said.  

I was amazed that he could walk around and not be in pain from the sharp rocks and briars. He had feet as tough as leather. I used to have feet like that as a kid. I could walk on anything, but years in the Army and wearing boots and sneakers made my feet tender. I just forgot how wonderful and free going barefoot makes you feel. That cool soft feeling of grass and powdery dirt and dust on a hot dry day. I felt obligated to take my shoes off as well, maybe because I wanted to be like him and maybe because I wanted Ben to feel that I was worthy of his friendship. I walked around feeling the coolness of the grass and bare dirt, but also the sharpness and hardness of the rocks. I tried to ignore the pain and not let it show on my face. Ben just smiled and raised an eyebrow at me. I think he knew how silly I was being.  Ben sat down on one of the big rocks and dug through his pockets and pulled out a little red pipe and some weed. I watched him pack the bowl, he handed it to me.

“Here, you first.”

“Thanks,” I said as I reached for the pipe and the lighter.

“This stuff will knock you on your ass!”  

I took a big hit. It smelled great and skunky. I started to get a tickling cough and knew that I was going to be very stoned. We passed the pipe back and forth. The third time he passed it to me I had to wave my hand back and forth shaking my head …no more.

“I told you this was good stuff,” he said.

I looked over and saw that Ben’s eyes were all squinty and he was smiling. “We need music!” He opened the tent and pulled out his guitar and sat back down on the rocks. He looked down towards the river and  plucked the strings, forming chords. Random pecking soon became a series of old songs and ancient tunes, first a song from the civil war called Aura Lee then The Man on the flying Trapeze. Finally he was playing things that might have been played in a middle English Renaissance fair. Haunting tunes to hear when you are stoned and in the woods.

We continued to smoke more pot. It was getting late in the day and the mosquitoes were starting to attack. It gets dark very early in the shade of the mountains, but I  somehow managed to build a decent fire. Ben played tune after tune and by now my nudist friend had stripped himself bare and continued to play and sing. I tried not to stare down at his body and focused on the flames. Ben looked over at me and saw me staring off into the flames.

“What we need is a drum. Travis, how would you like to be a drummer?”

“Me?” I looked at Ben in confusion. “I know nothing about music except I like to listen to it. I have no rhythm.”

“It’s easy, we all have rhythm if we only listen to it. You start clapping your hands like this and as you start to change the rhythm I will play along with the guitar.”

I crudely started to clap and Ben followed along. I tried to keep a steady clap and Ben adjusted his playing. As Ben played he also  beat on the side of his guitar. He stood up and  marched around the perimeter of the campfire plucking the strings and beating the side of his guitar. Buddy saw this and got excited and followed behind him.

“Get up Travis!  This is fun!” he said. My modesty kept me sitting but part of me wanted to join this wild man. “What’s holding you down there Travis? I can tell that part of you wants to get up and dance around a campfire. No one can see you except me and Buddy.”

I let my guard down and stood up. I  shuffled and clapped my hands as I followed Ben. I tried to ape his movements. I felt awkward and clumsy. He seemed happy to see me trying to keep up. As he marched around the flames, he tried more complicated steps and turns. Ben  chanted and spoke words I had never heard before as he slapped the sides of the guitar. It was amazing to watch him frolic naked around the campfire. He worked up a sweat and  it glimmered against his skin by the light of the fire. I was aroused and the pot had me under some sort of spell. My head was swimming and occasionally I would happen to glance at Ben, and for an instant, I thought I was looking at something other than Ben. Something animal-like, wild, hairy, and beastly. Flashes of cat like eyes, horns, teeth, claws, not menacing, but sexy and I could smell a raw masculine scent. I was horny, erect and glad that I was wearing clothes. Not sure how long this dancing lasted, but it was quite dark by the time we decided to stop and smoke more pot. I was hungry by now and dug into my backpack for sandwiches and snacks. I fed Buddy some of his dog food and got him some water. He lapped it up for a few minutes. I suppose it wore him out because he curled up next to the fire.

“That was so fun!” said Ben, breathing hard and smiling big. “We should get some sleep and wake up early to do some fishing.”

“Yeah, I had a ton of fun.” I said, also breathing heavy. As the fire started to die down we finished off the sandwiches and chips. Ben packed another bowl, took a big hit and passed it to me.  

“We should sleep well tonight, Travis.”

“Yeah, haven’t had this much exercise in a while.”

The light from the fire was all but gone and all that remained was a few glowing red embers. I decided to pee on the embers to put them out and Ben stood across from me and joined in. I was trying to fight back an erection as I stared at Ben’s cock extinguishing the flames. I walked over and unzipped the tent. The mosquitoes had gotten worse as the temperature dropped. I called for Buddy and he got up, shook himself,  came over and entered the tent with us.  I took off my clothes and crawled down inside my sleeping bag. It felt so good to be naked and cozy in my soft bag. I took my pants and jacket and wadded them up to make a pillow. Ben got down inside his bag as well and stretched out beside me. He smelled ripe and it turned me on so much. Buddy stretched out at the other end of the tent near our feet.

Ben looked over at me, smiled and said, “Thanks so much for coming here with me. This is the first time in many years that I’ve been camping with someone other than myself.”

“Same here, last time I went camping was in Iraq and that certainly wasn’t fun. I’ve had a very nice time myself. Probably the best time in many many years. Night Ben.”

Sometime during the night Ben got up and left the tent. Buddy stirred a bit but lay back down. I heard a rustling and sat up. Peering out the vent in the top of the tent, I saw something moving in the moonlight. It looked like a deer. A second deer approached the first one sniffing its nose. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked again, but this time instead of a second deer, it was Ben crouched over and naked, petting the first deer. My mind must have been playing tricks with me. A short while later, Ben returned to the tent and crawled back into the sleeping bag. I pretended to be asleep.

It got a bit chilly during the night. I fell asleep and when I woke up I noticed that Ben was spooning me. His arm was draped over my shoulder and his chest pressed up against my back. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck and feel its warmth. I was in heaven. It had been months since I had a man lying next to me like this. I was a bit more confused than before. Was this his way of coming on to me or was it just a sign of friendship? Maybe he had no idea he was doing this in his sleep. Either way I didn’t want this moment to end. I just lay there cozy in the arms of a man I was falling in love with.

I awoke to the sounds of birds singing, and the roar of the river below. Sun light shone through the canopy producing a dappled pattern of wind blown leaves upon the tent. Ben was no longer lying beside me. Both he and Buddy were gone and I was alone. There was a definite chill in the air. My breath condensed on the inside of the tent and was dripping down the sides. I needed to pee so I put some clothes on and crawled outside. The wind was blowing, the air felt crisp, and the sun was in a clear blue sky. I sat on a big boulder and put my shoes on. I walked over to the tree line, looked around and unzipped my jeans and peed. Steam rose as it splashed on the dead leaves. I walked back to the tent and dug around for a jacket. I zipped the tent and walked to the river below. It was visible a few feet from the tent. Ben sat on the rocky limestone bank, naked holding a fishing pole. Buddy sat beside him with his head on his ankle. As I stepped on some dry leaves, Buddy raised his head and watched me coming down the hill. He jumped up and ran towards me.

Ben called out, “You finally woke up sleepy head?”

“Yeah, the birds were a bit noisy. How long have you been up?”

“I got up before the sunrise. I swam and wanted to get some early fishing in. I caught two large mouth basses so far. Buddy’s already been swimming.”

“How can you stand to be naked in this cold?” I’m freezing and have to wear a jacket.”

“I guess I’m just used to it,” said Ben, smiling. “I brought your pole in case you wanted to fish also.”

We sat on the bank of the river fishing as the sun rose higher in the sky. It was getting warm sitting on the rocks, so I took my shirt off. It had been a long time since I had gotten a suntan. Ben always had a golden tan and I could see why. His body was lean and hairy compared to mine. I was muscular, but carried a bit more extra weight around my middle. Not a lot, but enough to make me feel self conscious about having my shirt off. I guess I was considered more bear or cub while Ben was definitely an otter. Ben never volunteered anything about his past. All I knew was that he was originally from Johnson county in Eastern Kentucky.

“Ben, so what’s your family like? Do you have any friends back home that you keep in contact with?”

He looked over and smiled. “I don’t really know where the rest of my biological family might be, but the people who raised me were very nice people. My dad taught me to fish and to work with wood. My mom was a housewife and I remember that she loved to sing. I think I got my love of music from her. I suppose I was just a quirky kid. I had a few friends but they moved on, or more like I moved on and lost contact,” he said.

“I guess I’m sorta like you then. I don’t have much family left. I had close friends in the army, but I’ve lost contact with most of them. So what really brought you to Millersburg?”

“Something different I guess. A new place to explore. I usually stay a few years at a place and eventually move on. I liked living the life of a vagabond but was tired of not having a place to call home,” he said.

“Do you think you want to stay here a while longer or will you be leaving soon?” I said. Part of me was scared to hear his answer.

“I like it right now. I’ve made a great friend, I have a nice little place I’m renting, and the fishing is good. I have no plans to move on yet,” he said

“I’m so glad we met. Are you religious?”

“No, I don’t follow organized religion, I follow my own spiritual path found in nature. The woods, streams, deserts and seas are my temple, the animals and trees are my fellow travelers,” he said.  

“That sounds nice and simple.”

Ben stood up, winked and patted me on the shoulder. “That’s the key word Travis, simple. The less you own, the more you have. You eventually become a slave to your possessions. It’s better to live in the moment than to live for tomorrow, because when tomorrow comes, you might not feel like doing those things that you dreamed of doing. On that note, it sounds like a great moment to get stoned. Would you care for some?” he said. He reached into his pack and pulled out his pipe and plastic bag of weed.

We spent a few hours fishing in that spot and between the two of us  we caught six fish. When we reeled in our lines for the last time Ben and Buddy jumped in the river.

“Come on in Travis. The water’s not so cold.”

I thought about it and decided why not. I took my clothes off and timidly walked to the river’s edge. The rocks felt sharp on my feet and  the water felt cold, but I didn’t want to look like a wimp in front of Ben. I slowly waded up to my waist. I had goosebumps all over my body.

“Just plunge on in. It is easier that way. You’ll feel a lot better.”

Ben was laughing at me, so I dove in the ice cold water. After the initial shock was over the water didn’t feel quite so bad. I felt the current and didn’t want to go too far out. Buddy was paddling along making a little chugging sound. I couldn’t take much more and headed towards the bank followed by Buddy. I was cold, shivering and sat down on the warm boulders. Buddy came up beside me and shook, getting me wet again. “Aughhhhh!” A few minutes later Ben joined us on the shore.

“That felt great!” he said.  We made a fire and fried the fish over the embers along with some rice and dandelion greens that Ben had gathered.

After eating, we packed up our tent and gear and hiked to an even more remote part of the forest. We got off the main trails and Ben led me to a place near the top of a mountain. I was worried that we might not find our way back, but Ben assured me that he’d been this way before. The cliff overlooked a huge valley and there was a nest of buzzards nearby.

“This is awesome! How’d you find this place?”

“I just stumbled upon it one day last year. I thought you might enjoy it.”

“I do, thank you for showing it to me.”

We set up camp high on the cliff. It was late in the day and after we put up our tents we sat and got stoned watching the sunset perched on some boulders still warm from the afternoon sun. I was hungry again and pulled some snack foods from my backpack and I got Buddy some of his dry food.  Ben got out his guitar and played a little. I was tired from all the hiking we had done so we turned in a lot earlier than we did the previous night. After the sun had gone down the wind had picked up and the temperature dropped. I snuggled up next to Ben for warmth. Buddy was keeping my feet warm. I put my arm on Ben’s shoulder and he snuggled closer. I loved being able to touch his arm but that was as far as I felt comfortable going. I was horny, but fell blissfully asleep.

The next morning Ben woke me up very early. “Travis, Travis get up.”  I could feel him shaking my shoulder.

“What’s up?”

“I think we’re in for a storm. We’re high up and lightning could strike us here.”

I looked out and saw dark clouds in the western sky. “I don’t think we can make it back to the truck before the rain hits,” I said.

“No, we won’t, but I know of a cave not too far from here. We can go there and ride it out until it’s safe to go back down.”

We hurriedly packed up the tent and loaded everything onto our backpacks and he led me down through the woods. He moved agile like an animal. I could smell the coming rain and the wind grew stronger. It got dark and thunder boomed in the distance. I tried to keep up and Ben kept telling me that we were almost there. The rain fell in big drops and drenched me to the bone. Ben ran around the side of a rock wall and called out to me.

“Travis, over here!”

I followed his voice. Below some boulders there was an entrance to a cave partially hidden and small. Buddy popped out and I followed him back inside. Ben stood just inside the entrance to the cave taking off his backpack. It opened up to a much larger space making our footsteps echo in the hollows.

“When did you find this place?” I said shaking the water off my face.

“I found it last year while I was exploring. It’s a huge cave. I’ve only been a few feet inside because I didn’t have a light.”

The rain fell down in buckets outside, but we were staying quite dry here. The sky lit up with lightning and I jumped from the roar of thunder. I was shivering and cold. Ben suggested we make a fire. He stripped naked and ran out into the rain to find firewood.

Ben came back with an armload of wood that looked somewhat dry. He built a quick fire as I stripped off my wet clothes and wrapped the sleeping bag over my shoulders. The rain continued for hours and I was getting hungry. I donned a change of warm clothes and sat before a now blazing fire as Ben cooked stew. I imagined us as cavemen sitting around a similar fire, feasting over a fresh kill, seeing our shadows cast eerily upon the walls of the cave.

After lunch the rain let up. Ben said it should be safe to go

As we packed up our things, I noticed a strange marking on the cave wall.

“J. Swift was here,” it read. “I guess the cave is not so hidden after all. Looks like people have been here before,” I said.

“Yeah, I guess you can’t go anywhere without seeing graffiti,” Ben chuckled.

The sun came out and Ben led us back to some trails. The ground was wet, soggy and very slippery in places. We scaled down some steep cliffs and I felt a bit scared. I lost my balance once, but he reached out and grabbed my arm. He made me feel safe. Once I was back on more level ground I confessed to Ben how scared I was and Ben turned to me laughing.

“Well I hope so. You can’t have excitement without fear and a little danger. If there’s no risk then things can be a bit boring, don’t you think?”  

It was a very long hike back to our vehicles. I was hungry, cold, a little wet, and too tired to talk. We walked together in silence as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.  When we reached my truck. Ben got his helmet and leather jacket from the cab and I put on a jacket. He smiled and let out a big sigh, “I’m ready to go home.”