A short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage.
- Lorrie Moore
Sometimes we don't have the time for a long novel or story. Sometimes we just want the best glimpse of the most intriguing event.
This is a collection of short stories or novellas...
Cora folded her towel that she had let dry for a moment. Zander was packing up all the things they had brought and squeezed her towel in on top of it all when she handed it to him. The towels and the swimsuits would be hung to dry again when they got back to the cabin, but they were dry enough so they wouldn't make anything in the backpack wet.
He put the backpack on and she held out her hand to him. He smiled and took her hand before they started walking.
They had walked a few steps when Zander stopped and made her turn to him. He took a breath as if to say something, but hesitated. The slightly embarrassed look on his face gave her a hint, so she took a step closer. His eyes lingered on her lips until he closed them when she leaned in. They were about the same height, so she didn't have to stretch or bend to place her lips on his. She had almost expected him to purse his lips a bit too much, which was a common newbie thing, but it was just his perfectly soft lips that met hers. He was warm and had a scent that reminded her of sun warmed pine trees.
She quickly noticed that he held his breath, so she backed up a bit to let him breathe. As soon as he did, she caught him with another kiss.
Cora realized how much she appreciated the sense of control. She had only dated older guys who wanted to take the lead. Some girls might appreciate that, but she really enjoyed the feeling of taking the lead. She needed someone who appreciated her as the leader, and it felt like Zander could be that guy.
After a few kisses, they kept walking to the cabin. Cora held Zander's hand and guided him through the rough terrain from the lake.
"We should bake a cake", she said when they could see the cabin through the bushes.
"A cake?"
"Yeah. A cake that might make Sam realize what day it is. He must have totally forgotten it's your birthday, and I would really like to throw it in his face when he comes back."
"The cake or the fact that it's my birthday?"
Cora smiled. "Both would be fun..."
There wasn't much to use to bake a cake, but they had ingredients for pancakes, so they made a pancake-cake. They even started with dinner since it was close to dinnertime, but decided to make a pasta salad that they could eat cold. The rest of the group might be late after all, so cold food felt more fitting.
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The sun started to get low and the shadows stretched long outside the cabin. Cora had planned to ignore the fact that the others were late, but she soon started walking up to the windows for a look every once in a while.
Zander sat by the dinner table and kept an eye on her. He looked worried, but let her do the pacing.
The shadows grew and the night had soon engulfed the woods like a thick blanket. Cora stood like a statue in the window facing the north-east woods. The sky had a deep, pink tone beyond the threes while the ground was covered in total darkness.
