Free Fire Down Below by Andrea Simonne Page A

and some Neanderthal asshole dragged me out of my
bed.”
    “Here, sit up and have some
water.”
    I sat up and gulped water as fast
I could and then handed it back it to him, laying my head down on the ground
again.
    “Take me home Ben,” I said.
“Please.”
    And that’s exactly what he did. He
carried me piggy back style all the way down to his jeep, which was pretty nice
of him, although I think he did it partly because he felt guilty.
    And now here I am again, about to
go on another tortuous hike, although at least this time I’m not hung-over. I
heard the shower turn off and a few minutes later Ben came out of the bathroom
with a towel wrapped around his waist.
    “Good, you’re up. Why don’t you take
a shower while I make us some breakfast?”
    “I have a better idea,’ I said
softly, letting the sheets slip down so my breasts spilled out. “Why don’t you
come back to bed for a little while?”
    Ben stopped and stared at my open
invitation and I thought—yes, I’ve got him! But then he did something I’ve
never seen him do before. He closed his eyes and turned his head away. “No way,
Kate. Come on, you said you’d go today.”
    I pulled the sheet back up and sighed
loudly. “Do I really have to?”
    He came over and sat beside me.
“It’ll be fun—I promise. And it won’t be at all like last time. It feels great
to get outside early in the morning. Plus it’s really good for you too, you’ll
see. You might even like it.”
    “I don’t like things that are good
for me.”
    He chuckled. “Don’t you think I’m good for you?”
    “Yeah,” I grumbled and leaned
against him in a resigned way. “I suppose you are.”
     
    ***
     
    We started our hike and at first
it wasn’t so bad—definitely better than last time. Ben was right, in that it felt
good to be outside in the morning air. Walking through the woods, I thought the
light was amazing, and kept noticing how the sun dappled through the trees,
changing color. I’ve never been into painting nature scenes, but for the first
time I understood how someone might be drawn to it. There were a few times when
I found myself standing completely still, mesmerized by all the shades of green. 
    The problem was that I kept losing
Ben. He’d wait for me, but then he’d get antsy and tell me he was going to walk
up a little further, but then he’d get so far ahead of me that I’d have to run to
catch up with him. I finally complained and told him to slow down.
    “This isn’t a race, is it?”
    “What?” He looked surprised. “Sorry.
I got so lost in my thoughts I didn’t even realize how fast I was going. I’ll
slow down.”
    “What are you thinking about?”
    “I don’t know.” He shrugged.
“Nothing. Everything.”
    “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell
me.”
    He smiled, but didn’t say anything
further, remaining enigmatically silent.
    We continued hiking for a couple
more hours, eventually leaving the woods behind us as we moved into a clearing
where the trail grew steeper. The sun was high above us now, and as we trudged
along I had to admit I was bored, not to mention tired of walking. I was
beginning to feel like I’d joined the army or something. So far we’d only taken
one short break where we’d sat on a fallen log, eating these energy bars that
tasted like a mixture of sawdust and dung. I tried talking to Ben as we walked,
hoping some conversation would liven things up, but it was too hard, since I
kept getting winded. At some point Ben must have sensed the mutinous feeling
building in me because he turned and asked how I was doing.
    “I’m tired,” I said. “Can’t we
take another break?”
    “Do you see that bend in the trail
right up there?” He pointed to where the trail forked. One of the paths led
straight up a steep and rocky part of the hill we’d been climbing. “Right at
the top of that crag are some of the best views of the entire valley. Do you
think you could make it up there?”
    I studied