Chasing Fire

Come in Out of the Rain - Part 4

Sometime in the night, a few hours before dawn, the rain started pouring down fat, heavy drops that woke Noralee from her sleep. The fire was extinguished and she could smell the sweet smoke as it died out. She felt sorry for Bear sleeping in the rain, so she unzipped her small tent and peaked her head out and waved him to come into the tent with her. "Come in out of the rain. It is ok."

Oddly enough he was sitting there smiling and staring up at the sky and enjoying the rain rolling over his face. Once he saw her he jumped up like a wood sprite and climbed into the tent with her no questions asked.

"There is no way I could keep the fire going. Sometimes, the rain wins." He had an open, honest face that looked younger than he really was, Noralee had learned he was five years older than her.

She dug through her backpack and gave him a towel. "It is clean."

"Thank you." When he said it, she knew he meant it. No kindness was lost on him. "Do you have a lantern?"

"Yeah, it is right over here." She stretched over her sleeping bag and dug out her small, red lantern and gave it to him.

He lit the lantern and she watched the subdued light spread across his handsome face, the drops of rain sparkling with the ambient light and his red hair glowing and highlighting the different shades of ochre and ginger.  He took his wet shirt off and began to dry the slender muscles of his nicely toned torso. Noralee tried to look away, but it was too much of a treat for her eyes, they stayed fixed on him and she hoped the shadows hid her bold gazing. He was a beautiful, young man, especially now, freshly damp from a good soaking. He shook his hair like a dog shakes off its fur and it made her giggle a little.

"What?" He smiled a big, hearty grin and finished drying his hair.

"You are just too cute." Oops! She hadn't meant to say that to him, but it slipped out and she was glad the muted darkness of the one-person tent could hide her flaming cheeks.

"Thank you." He sat still for a moment, which was a phenomenon witnessed about as often as Haley's Comet, "May I say you are a very beautiful woman."

"Only if you  sincerely mean it." But she knew by the soft look in his eyes he really did mean it and it made it hard to breathe normally. Noralee had a habit of holding her breath when she was nervous and sometimes she would pass out cold. She got into the habit of reminding herself to breathe. This was one of those moments.

He had an intense, drawing magnetism with the combination of his open, sweet expression and direct and focused gaze. Noralee had to break her eyes away because like an open fire blazing, it was too much to stare at for very long.

"Do you want to stretch out over here next to me. I don't think it would be too inappropriate given the circumstances." She was tucked inside her sleeping bag and thought he was probably uncomfortable crouched in the corner.

He looked surprised by her suggestion, "Yeah, that would be nice. This is a small tent." He climbed over her and laid down next to her. They didn't snuggle or lay close enough to be touching, but the tight quarters were enough to make Noralee's heart race. She could hear their breathing beginning to sync with each other.

The heat from his body was radiating outwards in the close quarters of the one-person tent, now occupied by two. Soon, Noralee started to feel warm and then almost hot as they both stared up at the nylon ceiling of the tent, listening quietly to the sound of the heavy raindrops beating down and their breathing. It lulled Noralee back to sleep and she dreamed of her hometown. Bear was with her, holding her hand walking down a pretty lane in the old part of town with its Antebellum homes lining the streets on both sides. She could smell the sweetness of the blooming Magnolia tree blossoms. It was Springtime in her heart. She could hear birds singing and that is when she realized she was waking up. She rolled over and saw Bear sleeping on his side, they were face to face. He looked so relaxed and peaceful like a sleeping child. Even his dreams are innocent, she thought as she looked at him. His eyes fluttered open and she smiled sheepishly.  She had been caught watching him sleep and hoped he didn't think it was weird. 

"Good morning. The rain stopped." He wiped the sleepiness from his face. "I sleep so well when it rains, if I can get out of it. It is not very relaxing with it dripping on your face all night. Thanks for letting me sleep with you in the tent."

"It would be like Chinese Water Torture." She laughed nervously, the intimacy of laying so close to each other, their body heat warming the other was both soothing and exciting. There was a cosmic energy between them like two planets falling into each other's orbit. Sooner or later they would collide and if that happened the big bang would create a bright star made up of pieces of both them. She touched his hand, it was warm and slightly rough from work. She held it and couldn't help smiling. "I am really glad I got to meet you. I think this trip would have been a disaster if I hadn't. Small miracles show up in the most unexpected places. I was looking for something else and I found you. Serendipity."

"Yeah, weird like...Déjà vu. I feel like I knew you before. I don't know why, maybe you remind me of someone else."

"Actually, what you are feeling is Déjà Vécu.  Déjà vu means "already seen". Déjà Vécu means "already lived through." 

"Wow.  You are smart."  He leaned closer to her, "Déjà Vécu."  Repeating the words slowly few times, committing it to memory, pursing his lips on the last syllable.  It was a sexy the way he whispered it back to her. 

"I am not that smart.  I read a lot.  Not that this knowledge is going to make me rich."  She laughed a little.   All her knowledge was "nickel knowledge" as her Daddy would say, "Can't even buy a cup of coffee with it, but you sure sound fancy."   

They laid there in the quiet of a sleepy, but rousing dawn, holding hands and listening to the leftover rain dripping off the trees and their slow and measured breathing. It was like they were the only two people left in the universe on a long-forgotten planet.