Nature Calls

HELEN

My eyes eased open. My lids were still heavy with sleep, but even a corpse couldn’t stay dead in this fucking light.

~Where am I?~

As my nylon surroundings came into focus, everything returned to me.

I’d spent the night in a tent. Camping. For the first time ever.

I’d been alone in the woods.

Alone with ~Sam.~

Shockingly, my sketchy stepbrother hadn’t touched me.

Maybe Mom was right. Maybe I could trust him after all.

~BIG~ maybe.

To say I’d been freaked out about sleeping next to him would’ve been the understatement of a lifetime. The guy had seemed like he’d wanted to jump my bones since he’d laid eyes on me.

But after he’d set up the tent, made a campfire, and started cooking up the hot dogs he’d brought us…

To be honest, he hadn’t been so bad.

The bullshitter ~had~ brought some weed with him (homegrown by a “friend” he said—yeah right, pothead).

We’d shared a bowl and stared at the stars, keeping warm by the fire as the night cooled down.

When bedtime came, I hadn’t liked the idea of sleeping on the ground, so Sam had let me use the inflatable mattress he’d packed for himself.

He’d brought two sleeping bags for us, so I didn’t have to subject myself to any surprise spooning in the middle of the night. In fact, he’d slept on the opposite side of the tent, just so I’d feel more comfortable.

Sam had fallen asleep before I had. I’d lain awake for a little while. His face looked so peaceful and calm when he wasn’t teasing me or staring too intensely.

Turned out he was a real gentleman…

If you looked past the fact that the prick had tricked me into camping in the first place.

“You’d never have tried it otherwise,” he’d told me last night.

Well…he had me there.

I sat up in my sleeping bag, rubbing my eyes in the morning light. It must’ve been early AF.

~Where is that asshole?~

His bag was already stuffed away, resting in a corner of the tent.

~GRRRRRRRRR…~

~Holy hell!~

~What the fuck was that?~

I heard footsteps. Big ones.

Some kind of animal was outside the tent. It sounded big. Like a wolf—or a bear.

Maybe it was that Grizzly from a few days ago, back to finish me off.

~Sam, you dog turd! Where are you?!~

I hugged the bag close, trembling. My heart was thumping like crazy.

~HELP!~

I did everything I could to keep from screaming.

The footsteps soon receded, and I heard branches swishing and snapping back in what I thought was the direction of the trail.

My heartbeat slowed, and I looked out the tent window.

The coast was clear.

~So this is camping…~

~Yeah. Still not for me.~

I cautiously unzipped the flap and stepped outside.

~Seriously, where is Sam?~

I could’ve been a bear’s fucking breakfast!

“Sam?” I hissed. “~Saaaaaaam?~”

“Right here, sis!” his cocky voice boomed from the treeline.

~Ugh. What a jerk!~

Sam emerged from the woods, bedhead—or rather, sleeping bag head—in full effect. Not that I probably looked much better after sleeping in my clothes.

He was zipping up the fly of his jeans like it was no big deal. I averted my eyes.

“What the fuck?! Were you taking a pee?”

“Nature called,” he said matter-of-factly.

~Gross!~

I turned back as he crouched by the remnants of last night’s campfire. He struck a match to light the fire again.

Hadn’t he heard of a lighter? We’d lit the bowl with matches last night too.

~Weirdo.~

“What’s for breakfast?” I asked.

“You almost stepped in it,” he said, not turning from the little flame he’d started.

When I looked down, I almost jumped into a tree.

There were two dead rabbits, right by my feet!

“What the hell, Sam!”

The asshole laughed.

“I got up early to set a trap. No better breakfast than bunny rabbit.”

I frowned. “I’d prefer a Pop-Tart.”

“You’re kind of a house pet, aren’t you?”

“At least I’m not feral.”

I hesitated. “Speaking of which...”

Knowing that Sam had recently relieved himself reminded me that I hadn’t since we’d left the house yesterday. I’d been holding it so long it was starting to hurt.

“Um…where would a lady find a toilet out here?”

“That’s the great thing about nature. The world’s your toilet, and the TP grows on trees.”

I groaned. “Come on, Sam! Help me out. Some of us aren’t exhibitionists.”

“Look, if you’re looking for plumbing, you’re shit out of luck. But you can go over there in the trees.” He pointed over the trail. “Watch out for poison ivy. It’s the little plant with three leaves. Sometimes has a reddish hue.”

“Gotcha,” I said, trying to hide the fear that I might imminently wipe my ass with a poison plant. I walked toward the forest. “Don’t you dare peek!”

***

After breakfast—which wasn’t so bad when I tried to forget where it’d come from—Sam put out the fire while I attempted to take down the tent.

After twenty minutes, I was still struggling with the poles. Unfortunately, the overgrown Cub Scout came to my rescue.

He wanted to hike down to Forest Lake. The weather was still nice, and he thought it’d be good swimming.

You wouldn’t catch my ass in some dirty old lake, though. I didn’t even have a bathing suit.

Sam probably just wanted to get me down to my bra and panties.

My stepbrother clearly had a one-track mind.

The trail down to the lake was really steep, and I was huffing and puffing like a pig with asthma. As a rule, I hated cardio. I’d never met a curvy girl who didn’t.

The earth was loose underfoot. If I wasn’t careful, the ground would give way beneath me, and I’d fall the whole way down to the shore below.

I slipped on a loose rock, and Sam grabbed my waist before I fell.

“Thanks,” I managed breathily.

~Could I be less physically fit?~

Sam removed his hands slowly.

“You alright?”

~I’d be a lot better if you’d never touched me in the first place,~ I thought.

~Then again, I might also be dead.~

After another hour of mountain goat climbing, we reached the shore.

The lake was huge and undeniably gorgeous, stretching between two snowy Rocky Mountain peaks.

Our little rocky beach was secluded, but I saw little docks jutting out from the opposite shore. Even a few boats were gliding through the water.

There was a whole community up here...

Strange.

Bear Creek seemed so remote. You’d never think it had so many people.

“Forest Lake divides all the little towns up here,” Sam said, apparently reading my thoughts. “Our side’s called High Lake, where the water’s the deepest. Shade Lake’s on the side, where the water’s more shallow.”

He continued, “There’s a town called Hawcroft on the north shore. That’s where High Lake and Shade Lake mix and mingle.”

“Sounds kinda political,” I said.

“More than you know…,” Sam muttered.

Before I could prod him further, he was stripping off his shirt. I shielded my eyes, watching him through cracked fingers.

“Sam! What the fuck?”

“I told you I was going swimming!” He pulled off his pants, then reached for the waistband of his boxers...

This time I turned away for real. There was ~no way~ I wanted to see my stepbrother below the belt. It was probably illegal!

~SPLASH!~

I heard Sam dive into the water. A big whoop echoed across the lake.

“Damn, it’s cold!”

“Well, duh! It’s March!” I shouted, retreating to the tree line. I heard him paddle toward me.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“No, Sam! You’re fucking naked!” My face was on fire, and it wasn’t from the sun.

“You mean you’ve never skinny-dipped?”

“I’m not some hillbilly!”

“You never heard of a nude beach?” He laughed. “I hear they got ’em all over Europe!”

“Sam, it’s disgusting! We’re related!”

“What are you talking about? That’s what makes it ~not~ weird!”

I groaned. “I’m not going in, Sam. Don’t ask me again.”

I guess the big lug had finally gotten the message because I heard him paddle off. I risked a glance at the water. Thankfully he was deep enough that I couldn’t see anything but his head bobbing above the lake.

I walked back down to the water and made my way to the tip of a rocky finger that extended deep into the water.

The sky was a pristine blue, but the lake water looked green and murky—I preferred the ocean—or better yet, a pool.

Still, the scenery was breathtaking. It was like something I’d seen on Planet Earth one time while I was stoned. I’d never seen a landscape like this in real life.

I took my sketchbook out of my backpack. I had to finish up my spring break assignment for Professor Hammond—a piece inspired by what we’d done on vacation.

~I wish I had some paints to capture the colors, but maybe later I can fill them in from memory to give the piece an impressionist take.~

I was feeling inspired.

My pen flew across the blank page, shaping the mountains and lake. As I began to fill in the details, water splashed my notebook.

“Whatcha doin’?”

“SAM!”

My stepbrother was treading water nearby, watching me. I angled away from him, relieved that the murky lake made it impossible to see anything below his neck.

“I didn’t know you were an artist,” he said.

I sighed. “~Trying~ to be.”

I felt water on my back. The fucker was splashing me again.

“I swear to God, if you do that one more time—”

“What? You’ll come in here and get me?”

I couldn’t stop myself from glaring at him. He was wearing his stupid smirk.

“You wish,” I snorted, going back to my notebook.

“Why don’t you give it a try, Helen? You don’t have to skinny-dip, just come in for a swim.”

“I told you not to ask me again—”

~SPLASH!~

Water soaked my face.

~That little worm!~

I put my notebook away before I dripped all over it and marched closer to the shore.

“Fine, okay? You win. If you agree to leave me the fuck alone and let me finish my drawing, I’ll put my foot in.”

“But—”

“A foot is all you’re getting. Deal or no deal?”

We stared each other down.

“Deal,” Sam said.

I took off my shit-kickers and socks. Then I stepped closer to the water. Sam’s eyes were glued to me.

“Okay, here goes…”

Keeping one foot on the rocky ledge, I dipped the other in the water.

~BRRRR!!!~

The lake was cold as fuck!

But if I was being honest, kind of refreshing too…

I stuck my foot in further.

“See? Not that bad, right?” Sam said. He swam closer…

“Back off, buster!” I warned him. “No funny business!”

Laughing, Sam retreated.

I dangled my foot further, going up to my shin…

Maybe I ~would~ go in a little deeper…

But then I saw the fish swimming inches from my toes…

“AAAAAAAAAAHH!”

I shrieked and lost my balance, falling into the lake with a splash. It felt like I’d been submerged in the fucking Arctic Ocean.

My head broke the surface. I spit water to the sound of Sam’s laughter.

“Ha ha. Yeah, yeah, very funny,” I said, clamoring back up the rock.

Sam swam closer. “Are you okay? Seriously.”

I recognized his earnestness again. I didn’t hear it much, but when I did, Sam was like a different person. A stepbrother I could trust—not one I had to run from.

“A little water won’t kill me,” I admitted, peeling off my jacket. I wrung it out over the lake. “Actually, it was kind of nice.”

Sam grinned. It was infectious—I had to smile back.

~BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!~

Distant gunshots echoed in my ears.

~Hunters?~ I wondered.

I looked to Sam for an explanation. His smile had disappeared. He was swimming for the shore, his face clouded with a dark expression.

“What was that?” I shouted.

“There’s no time to explain,” he barked. “We have to go home. ~Now.~”