The Journal

Chapter Six

"Oh, man, that was much needed!" Daniel said, feeling satisfied by his half-pound burger. He crumpled up the greasy paper the burger was wrapped in and tossed it on his tray, ketchup oozing out of the crinkled crevices. As Daniel was leaning back in his chair, the waiter dropped off the check without a word. Daniel pivoted forward in the seat, preparing to see the financial damage from their lunch.

Brooke abruptly smacked his hand before he could grab the leather-bound folder with the bill inside. Daniel only stared at Brooke with an expression that conveyed his misunderstanding.

"Oh, stop. I wasn't really going to make you pay for both of us!" Brooke answered Daniels's unasked question. "I owe you for last week anyway. I'll cover this one." Brooke explained as she slid her credit card from her phone case. Daniel did not argue, for he knew there would be no arguing with Brooke once she had offered.

"I'll get the tip then. I have cash on me." Daniel replied, pulling a few crisp bills from his wallet. They both silently agreed to each other's terms without any further question and left the burger joint.

The drive back to Daniel's house was short and just on the outskirts of their small mountain town. He pulled the truck into its usual spot and hopped out to the ground, leaving the driver door open and the vehicle running. As he dashed inside past the living room, he realized he had left the T.V. on earlier in the morning. He ran right past it, only acknowledging that he hadn't turned it off in his rush to leave hours prior.

Once in his room, he yanked the closet door open and pulled out a large, hard plastic case about the size of a microwave off the top shelf. Daniel toted the trunk and clumsily jogged past the illuminated television without a second thought, running out the front door once again. After placing the box in the backseat, Daniel leapt back into the driver seat and shut the door in one fluid motion.

"Hang on. It's going to get a little bumpy!" He warned Brooke as he buckled his seat belt.

"Bumpier than the driveway?" Brooke asked as she grasped the handle on the ceiling of the truck.

"Much," Daniel confirmed. "I'm going to cut across the field and over the ridge to the neighbor's property. It'll be faster than going the long way around on the road. And it'll be a lot more fun, too!" He whooped, cranking a knob on the dash into the four-wheel drive position before tearing across the waist-high grass. Daniel only slowed once he reached the beginning of the hill that separated his small property from his neighbor's expansive one. He skillfully navigated through the trees and up the mountain on the skinny trail, primarily designated for four-wheelers, throwing clumps of dirt from his all-terrain tires.

"Wow, what a view!" Brooke said as they reached the crest of the ridge, stunned by the overlook. She loosened her grip on the handle atop the cab but still kept her hand in place.

"Yeah, that's the other reason I like taking this way. It's more of a scenic route." Daniel proclaimed, eyes glued to the trail maneuvering his small truck around a hairpin turn of a switchback in the path as it descended the hill. The vehicle only slipped a tire once on the descent as Daniel drove through a thick bed of pine needles.

They made it safely to the bottom of the hill and emerged from a small thicket of trees into another open field with the width of many football fields, bordered by tall, tree-lined ridges on either side.

"Man, this guy has a ton of land!" Brooke said, eyes wide as she peered around the expansive valley.

"No kidding, he has well over five hundred acres! You have to drive all the way through this field, through another small patch of woods, cross a creek, and then drive through a second big field to reach his house, and that's just this side of his property!" Daniel said with excitement and a hint of sadness, almost a longing weaved into his voice.