You Are the Key

Chapter Six:

The pavilion was not a small, dainty one. It was large, with metal roofing, a plank floor and mesh mosquito net walls. I liked it, as well as the variety of people celebrating underneath. Sharron and Bill, the happy couple we were here to toast Solo cups to, had their picture taken by many of their camp friends. She wore a long red and white sun dress, her greyed hair done up in hair-sprayed curls.

The festivity was over-all very welcoming. Brandon and I ventured elsewhere, with a few Mike’s Hard’s hidden in the waistband of his jeans. We ended up on the far side of the lake, so we hiked up a steep bank and into the cluster of trees there. I held Brans hand and walked along the shale cliff. The drop into the water below was only five feet at the most.

Once we got to a secluded shady circle of trees, we sat down on the moss laden ground. Bran ripped the caps off the bottles with his teeth and tilted his back. I had a cellophane wrapped sub and a cup filled with fruit salad sitting on a warm sun-bathed stone beside me. I rolled over onto my stomach and kicked my feet up. The bottle was ice cold against my lips, and the hard lemonade was sour in my mouth.

The sensations surrounding me made life at the moment feel like Paradise…

My stomach cooled with the relief, knowing this was a trusty safe-haven. I could go here at any time of day with an icy drink and simply lie down. Brandon did his own little thing, which included scarfing down my sub. It was just about the only time I’d seen him eat voluntarily. Maybe this was a relaxing place for him too?

The trees swayed in the small breeze, leaves rustling overhead. I turned onto my side and looked up. Large, sturdy branches made easy access to the canopy above. Anybody could climb up the obvious footholds.

“If only Shaun was here to play his guitar…” Brandon sighed and sat up. I sat up too, reluctant to share knowledge of our newfound utopia.

“Do we really have to tell the guys?” I asked, kicking my shoes off. “Can’t this place just be special? We share everything else… why not just keep one secret?” I scrambled for a further explanation.

Brandon laughed lowly. “It sounds nice. Having a place to just… get away.” 

“Right?” I asked, still propped up on my side. He smiled as I ate a grape from the salad and snatched a chunk of pineapple for himself. The tranquility of just simply spending time apart from our whack-job friends was aweing.

We’d most certainly be spending more time here, I could tell. Brandon seemed genuinely happy here. It was nice and cool, comfy and quiet. Just the kind of thing everybody needs. It was the kind of thing we were both lacking.

While we wiled away the hours, we got to watch our first sunset together. It wasn’t a huge mile-stone like having a first kiss, but it was still a nice moment to remember. The birds had started to sing their last few songs of the day and the lake glowed orange in the radiant light. Lightening bugs danced, making nice with each other.

Brandon caught one and held it up for me to see. It floated out of his cupped hand, like dandelion fuzz and settled on my nose. I dare not move and disrupt it, but crossed my eyes to get a good look at the luminescent creature. It lit up and flew off.