Chasing Fire

Never Let Me Fall - Part 7

Noralee was three feet off the ground and sitting next to Bear on a thick branch from a special tree he picked out for her. She was still uneasy about being off the ground, but she was comfortable with his arm around her. He had a firm grasp on her and she felt confident if she did fall he would catch her and pull her back up.

"This is my home." He waved his hand around the softly waving tree boughs. "Nice view isn't it?"

"It is very nice. Very peaceful." She was acutely aware of how close he was to her. She felt warm and safe. The idea of falling slipping quietly away.

"Do you think you have it in you to reach another branch like that one. It is only a few feet higher." He was pressing her gently, but she didn't want to go any higher.

"Maybe tomorrow. I think I am good right here." Noralee was getting anxious about going any higher despite Bear's trusting smile.

"Come on. The air is fresher the higher you go and you can breathe that pure oxygen and let it energize your whole being." He had this new age approach to living. Everything, mind and body was connected to the Earth and nature.

"I will try it for one minute and then I am coming back down." She knew he wouldn't give up trying to coax her up the tree. How could he possibly love climbing trees so much?

"Good girl." He guided her to the next available branch and she slipped a little because it was wet and gave herself a heart attack. He quickly grabbed her hips, a little to close to her behind, but it was an accident and she didn't hold the butt grab against him. He pushed her up by giving her rump in a mighty shove and that she could have done without. She was up and perched on the new, higher branch like a bird and could hear more of the birds tweeting happily. He climbed up next to her and put his arm around her waist like before. Noralee tried not to look down at their dangling feet because they were ten feet from the ground.

"It is nicer up here. Listen to all those birds. They are so sweet. I wonder what they are saying to each other. They sure do tweet a lot." She was nervous about being up higher and him being so close to her, but that was in a good way. She had a habit of talking when she was nervous and usually it was inane, meaningless blather, but he took her question sincerely.

"I think they are reciting sonnets to each other. I think birds are poets." She looked at him and smiled, then started giggling. He was absolutely serious and not having her on.

"You may be right." She thought he had a lovely way of looking at the world. It was never dark or morose, only light and positive.

He started whistling like the birds. It was incredible that he could imitate them perfectly! The birds began to tweet and whistle back at him believing he was one of them.

"Why are you always so happy?" She took his hand, "I don't mean that critically. I just want to know your secret."

A big smile slid slowly over his face, "I start every day with a nice run through the forest. It is so good for you. And when I was a kid, I broke my leg in my upper thigh area and had to be put in a body cast for six months. Every day all I could think about was running in the forest and climbing trees. It was agonizing laying there for months and not being able to move, not to mention itchy! I promised myself when I got that cast off I would never stop moving. I would appreciate every single day I could go do what I wanted."

"Oh wow! How did you break it?" She couldn't imagine him having to lay still for five minutes, much less months.

"I tripped on a bucket running. My Da had to hold my leg together to get me to a hospital. I was raised in the wilderness, so going to the hospital was worse than breaking my leg. Rooms with no window. Constant beeps and alarms going on and off, distracting me from sleeping. I couldn't wait to go home. If someone told me I couldn't live free like this, I think I may not have as positive as an attitude as I have now. I attribute everything good about me to the wilderness."

"You are a very reflective person. You are very bright. Did you know the moon has no real light of its own? The light from the moon is reflected from the sun. So, even during the night we are still getting our light from the sun. You are like the sun. You reflect light over everything and everyone around you." She spoke softly and sincerely, meaning all the things she was saying about him. He really was healthy to be around.

His face changed a little between a half smile and a dreamy, sleepy look, like he was half dazed, "That was amazing what you just said. Probably, no it is , the best compliment anyone has ever given me. You see people, Noralee, I mean really see into them for who they are and not ignore them. I think that is extremely beautiful way to be in life."

"You aren't bad yourself." She was starting to blush a little because he was trying to look into her eyes and got very close to her face.

"Wait." She thought he was going to kiss her and she held her breath she was so excited. He had really nice, full lips and she was sure he was passionate about everything he did, so his kissing should be mind blowing. She closed her eyes and waited patiently.

"It is a spider in your hair..." At that moment, Noralee's eyes flew open and she went crazy shaking her head and body in a maniacal, herky jerky mambo on the tree limb and went flying off the limb. Quickly, Bear grabbed her by the foot with one hand and held onto the tree with the other, but poor Noralee was hanging upside down from the tree branch and flailing her arms and free leg.

"I hate spiders! Oh my God! I hate spiders! Get it out! Get it out!" In her terror over the spider in her hair, she forgot all about her fear of heights as she screamed and twisted helpless over the forest floor.

Bear pulled her leg up to her thigh and pinned it between his own and then pulled her up by one arm. They sat locked in an unusual tantric position as a frantic Noralee slapped at her hair and he tried to calm her down.

"Shhhhhh. Calm down, Noralee. It was a little spider and it is definitely gone now." He was cradling her backside firmly with his warm hands.

In her terror, she didn't realize how close and intimately they were sitting in a yoga like pose she would term later "Reverse Downward Bear" or "Happy Bear Salutation". If it wasn't for the goofy craziness of the situation, Noralee would have thought the pose erotic. She calmed down slowly, but still remained scissored between his legs. "I think I am over my fear of heights now. I will never be over my fear of spiders, though. I will never be over that one."

They couldn't help but look deeply into each other's eyes. It seemed like they were both falling, but not out of the tree.