Begin Again (Formerly known as Reese)

Chapter Six - Adventuring

"So what are we doing?" I asked as I followed him into the woods. There was what looked like an unkept, narrow path that we were following. He didn't answer my question; he just kept walking. Instead of demanding for an answer like I normally would, I kept my mouth shut. I'm not sure why I did, but something about walking alone in the woods with him at such an odd hour was almost....peaceful.

I was finally getting used to his fast walking pace when suddenly he stopped. Because I was staring up at the sky through the tops of the trees when he did so, I ran smack dab into his back at full speed. "Ugh," I said, startled. "Jesus Christ. Why'd you stop?"

"Shh," he said, moving behind me and wrapping a hand around me to cover my mouth. Had it been anyone else I would have shrugged away from him, pried his hand away from my mouth and punched him in the gut, but I froze, breathing slowly and letting my eyes dart around me. "See that tree over there?" he whispered in my ear, taking his hand off of my lips and pointing to a tree far off the path. It was taller than the others and much thicker around. My eyes followed the bark of the tree until they halted about half way up. "That's where we're going."

He took my hand, leading me through the thick shrubbery. His hand was much bigger than mine. He had a firm grip. But as we walked, he didn't let go; at all. He didn't even let go when we finally got up to the tree. Unsettled, I pulled my hand away. He didn't even seem phased. He was so into this whole adventuring thing, I don't think anything could break him out of the zone he was in. "How do we get up?" I asked him, confused.

He glanced at me and then started to walk around the tree again. I stayed where I was, staring up at the tree house. There wasn't a ladder or step stool. There wasn't even a rope. Then, he popped back around the tree. "Come on," he whispered, motioning for me to follow him. I walked quickly around and realized how we were going to get up. There were little notches in the tree that someone had cut. I assumed they were meant to be a kind of reverse rock climbing system up the tree. Rather than sticking out to grab onto, they sank in to stick your feet in. 

I looked at him, standing next to me and watching me as I ran my hands gently over the bark of the tree. His lips were in a natural pout, his eyes sparkling under the moonlight. How could I have not noticed how perfect his skin was until now? 

"You're up first," he said suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"Quick," he said in a hushed tone. "They're coming."

"Who?" I asked him, even more confused.

He put a hand on the small of my back. "You don't want to find out." I looked around me quick and then turned my attention back to the notches in the tree. Taking a deep breath, I placed one foot in the first notch and placed another hand in a higher notch. I hoisted myself up. As soon as I was off the ground, I felt two hands on my waist, steadying me. With another deep breath I continued to climb. Eventually I was too high for him to steady me. 

"Don't look down. Don't look down," I whispered to myself, breathing heavily. Yes, I'm a dare devil: on the flat ground. 

"Keep going!" he called up to me, still whispering. I shook my head, took a deep breath, and continued to climb. When I finally reached the trap door, I looked down to see Nixon climbing up after me. "Just push up on it."

I did as he said and it immediately flew open. I gripped the sides and pulled myself up. It's a good thing I do a lot of push ups or else I wouldn't have had any arm muscle to do any of this. I found myself laying on wood ground in a good sized room. I sat up and saw a small, twin mattress laying on the ground in the far left hand corner of the room. There was an orange colored couch in the far right corner of the room and a good sized, navy blue chest with tons of magazines on top of it. I got to my feet and looked around me. It was astoundingly awesome.