Where You Are

Table Head

Birgitta

We continued on down the trail for another couple of kilometres before the forest ended and the coast began. We reached a fork in the trail and there was another sign with a picture of the map on it. I paused and studied it.

'Sorry, I just need a minute,' I told Jesse. 'I'm not great at navigating.'

'Well, lucky for you, I'm an excellent navigator,' he grinned and stepped up to the sign.

'Hey, I'll bet you are!' I grinned and took a step back, allowing him to examine it.

'So, we're here,' he pointed to a spot on the map. 'This way is south, and it will take us back to the car park,' he pointed to the right. 'This way is east and will take us to the trailhead.'

'Okay,' I said, taking a step towards the left path. 'You're still okay to keep going?'

'Yeah, definitely,' he nodded and followed me.

We walked quietly for a moment before he spoke again.

'Tell me something, Birgitta,' he said.

'What's that?' I asked.

'How is it that someone who can travel the entire world and make it back home again multiple times can't read a simple map?'

'Hey!' I whipped around to glare at him. He was grinning and his eyes sparkling. I found I couldn't help but grin back. He was only teasing. 'It's called Google Maps.'

'Yes, but as the name suggests, that is still a map!' He chuckled.

'It tells me which platform to go to, what train to get on, and what stop to get off at. That's all I need to know.'

'Well, seems to have worked out for you so far,' he shrugged.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed again.

'How do you know which way is south and east?' I asked him.

'I was fitted with an internal compass in flight school,' he replied at once. I snorted.

'Of course, how silly of me,' I rolled my eyes.

It was much windier now that we were on the coast and I was grateful I'd dressed in layers. Some parts of the trail were muddy, but Jesse seemed to manage just fine. We stopped quite a few times so he could take pictures. I took a few myself. I'd done this trail before in five hours, but I had a feeling it was going to take much longer than that today, and I didn't mind. The sky was a bit overcast, which made the ocean sparkle and look beautiful against the rocky coast.

We talked about a variety of different things. He told me about his family, his brothers and sisters-in-law, his nieces and nephews and how he hoped to have children of his own one day. He told me what it was like growing up in England and playing European football and rugby all the way through school until he started flight school. He said there was a casual league back home that he joined when he was around, but he couldn't be consistent because of his schedule. I understood that. That was partly why I thought I had a hard time making friends, because I couldn't join a consistent, weekly activity. I'd either miss out on half the meetings, or fall too far behind to continue.

It was well after lunch time when we stopped at the trail head to eat.

'What have we got for lunch? I'm starving!' Jesse exclaimed, pulling the backpack off and opening it. 'What sort of sandwiches are these?'

He pulled out the baggies I'd put the sandwiches in earlier. I didn't know how hungry he would be, so I made four, knowing I would only have one.

'Peanut butter and jam,' I told him.