Free Astounding! by Kim Fielding Page A

belongings. He didn’t have much to show for three and a half decades of life. A lot of books and magazines. A dying desktop computer and a decent laptop. Cheap and fairly dowdy clothes, which fit poorly now that he’d been eating properly and exercising daily. Crappy kitchenware, crappy linens, crappy furniture. His phone, and a bewildering collection of chargers. Office supplies. A single photo album containing snapshots from his teens and early twenties. If he never returned from his trip with Freddy and Keith, or if his landlord seized all his belongings before chucking him onto the street, the only things Carter would mourn were the books and photos.
    He went for an evening run, showered, and walked to Perk Up, where Cami greeted him warmly.
    “I thought you worked mornings,” he said.
    “I’m picking up some extra shifts. My girlfriend proposed to me and I want a bigass wedding.”
    “Congratulations!” He stuffed a twenty he couldn’t afford into the tip jar and winked at her. “Can I have a bigass coffee?”
    “Done.” She unearthed an enormous ceramic mug and filled it to the brim, glanced around quickly, and pulled a cookie from the bakery case. She held it out to him. “Lavender shortbread. Try it. It’ll rock your world.”
    Naturally, the cookie reminded him of John. Carter nibbled slowly while sitting at his usual table, surfing the Web on his laptop.
    Where did he want to go?
    When he was growing up, his family had gone on a few road trips, probably more out of a sense of obligation and thriftiness on his parents’ part than a desire for togetherness and adventure. Twice they’d driven to eastern Washington to visit his mother’s parents, once they’d headed north to British Columbia, and once south to some godawful motel on the Oregon coast. None of the trips had been especially enjoyable for any of them. Everyone squabbled. The adults complained how expensive everything was. Carter’s half sister, Jennifer, got carsick and puked. Carter kept his nose stuck in a book as much as possible. Returning home had always been a relief for all of them.
    But that had been a quarter century ago, and surely an excursion with a couple of friends would be a big improvement. The RV might be fun too. Carter had never ridden in one.
    And now, apparently, it was up to him to choose a destination.
    The cookie was long gone and the coffee cup drained by the time he made up his mind. “Yosemite,” he said out loud, testing it on his tongue. He’d never been there. Maybe he’d get a glimpse of Half Dome and decide he really wanted to be Ansel Adams when he grew up.
    He pulled out his phone to text Freddy. I know where we’re going .
    Freddy answered right away. Care to enlighten?
    Yosemite. Assuming you guys don’t mind heading back down to California.
    We’ll survive. Yosemite sounds great. Maybe we’ll see bears. Freddy surprised Carter into laughing out loud by adding an emoji of a brown bear’s head.
    Monday? Carter sent back. He didn’t know how to attach emojis. Maybe his phone was too old.
    Ok. We’ll catch a flight & stay downtown. Dinner somewhere nice. Then we’ll roll out Tuesday morning.
    I call shotgun.
    Freddy sent him an emoji of a pistol.
     
     
    T RUE TO his word, Freddy called late Monday afternoon. “Come downtown and meet us for dinner in a couple of hours. Keith and I are going to take a nap first.”
    Carter smiled as he tucked the phone under his ear and placed books into a box. “Nap as in get up close and personal before I invade your privacy?”
    “Nap as in we almost missed our flight because there was a nasty accident on the 405 and then the security line was a million miles long and then the guy across the aisle almost gave Keith a concussion with his carry-on. We are feeling fraught. Give us some time to regain our composure.”
    “No problem. I’ve got some stuff to do here anyway. Just call when you’re recomposed.”
    After disconnecting the call, Carter put down