A Stride of Lust

II

RUTH POV

**'BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP'**
Rang in my ears, the discomfort already causing a croaky grumble to escape my throat like some disturbed, slumbering monster. *God, my head...* is all I could complain about as my scruffed-up bird's nest of a head of hair got up from the pillow.

The blood rushed to my head, making me let out more curses under my breath and groan, "Fuckin' hell... what time is it...?" My voice was coarse, and my throat was sore while I sat there processing what vivid memories I had from the events of last night. Standing up wasn't an option while the stale glass of water on my bedside table had never looked so inviting, the painful lean over and my concerning sweaty grip on the glass before tilting my head back with the cup against my chapped lips, chugging it down; tap water had never been so good. The week-old stagnant water felt like a fresh breeze down my irritated throat. I sighed as my thirst slowly disappeared while the stale water refreshed my head lightly.

It had been a couple of hours. I'd managed to swing my legs out of bed and hobble over like a haggard witch to get my dressing gown, which cloaked my shoulders to my knees in fluffy pink leopard print. I followed that with a pair of Uggs that protected my feet from the arctic temperatures of my checkered tile kitchen flooring. Now that I woke up with the sound of the kettle beginning to heat up, the distinctive hiss filling the slightly cluttered room, I looked at my phone for the first time this morning.

An overwhelmingly bright picture of Hot-Shot and I flashed-banged my sight; *I forgot to adjust my brightness, goddammit.... I quickly swiped up and put the brightness down; my attention was sharply shifted by the 5 missed phone calls from 'Hazel aka Instructor Lady.' A confused syllable left my mouth as one of my brows cocked up slightly.* My eyes landed on the sight of my voicemail app being crowded with '9+' notifications, and clicking on the first one sent, which proceeded to be Hazel just blabbering about yesterday, but the 3rd one that played continuously afterward caught my attention."Heyy," chimed from the phone, her voice halting as she paused, "assuming you were probably asleep in a bush in front of the pub—"it *was one time...*"but when you hear this, letting you know you were signed up for a 5-day camp in two days." I froze as I stared at the ground; a bit dumbfounded, all that broke my train of thought was a sweetly sung "bye bye~." *How do you sign someone up for a camp without their knowledge? Like, don't they need my word directly?* A grumble erupted from my throat, the kettle behind me boiled, and steam raged out of the spout. I already knew that it was hopeless to try and reject it. My eyes narrowed at the realisation that I would have to pack up and be semi-organised.

I stood in front of a small wooden cabin that was shielded by large fir trees that were peppered all over the campground.

My brows slightly furrowed at the garden bursting out the gutter, but other than that, the paint was newly coated, and the windows had no sign of fingerprints. "Lovely..." I muttered, my arms throbbing from my 'minimal packing,' my steps were heavy as the fabric weights I had created dug into my shoulders while I hauled up the steps towards the door, using my elbow to pull down the handle till I heard the small click that let the door swing in. Warmth overlapped the chill on my arms from the breeze outside. I entered and went right into an open-plan kitchen and living area; the floor was a dark wood, its grooves still visible and genuine. The walls were plain off-white, and dark-framed paintings and photos filled the walls as decoration. One painting caught my attention, a larger canvas that sat above the mantle of the small fireplace, with an age-tinted background, while 3 white and liver hounds stood side by side, their wagging tails and lively eyes seemingly captured in a still pose.

The strap of my duffle bag slumped off me as I dropped my shoulder in relief, an indent of the bag heavy with contents aching on my body. I shut the door behind me as I began to wander around my surroundings.