Gloom and Glow

Camping Trip

Terry

It took me a while to arrive at this place with Sel, and usually back then from what I've heard, vampires live inside forests because it is dark but in modern days. Those dark times had been left behind, and now the forest is full-on-sunlight that made me hide with my hoodie despite it is during a hot summer day. Selena and I has yet to find a spot to rest in this thick forest that I hope we know our way back later.

She looked excited, and that is no surprise because this girl loves nature.

"The sun is going to burn me today," I mumbled.

"Nooooooo," Selena said.

Selena stared at both of her hands a while before looking at me, "can we hold hands?"

"Why?"

"What kind of reaction is that?"

I held her hand, and she enjoyed it, she said, "yay!" Like a child getting a candy from her parents, it was cute but I knew something when I do this.

After 30 minutes of desperate walking, she told me to slow down because she is tired, and she couldn't catch the speed I was walking.

"Okay, okay, slow down, I am tired," she said breathing heavily.

"Knew it."

After a while walking, and hearing her scream that she found a lot of the specimens she needed joyfully. I decided that we should settle on this spot, "come on, we need to set up the tents," I told her.

"Here?" She asked, looking annoyed.

"You've been collecting a lot of specimens, I guess this is where you have to be," I said kneeling down on the ground as I put the lapis blue backpack I was carrying down on the ground to take out the things out, I turned to her to look at her in the eyes and told her, "after all, you managed to collect many different stones, so..."

"Wow, you are so smart Terry!" She said excitedly.

Her words didn't really make me happy. I unzipped my bag and took out the camping guide book that I prepared and started scrolling through the pages, "because I actually bothered to buy a book on camping," I told her.

"No one needs a camping book, they need a sense of survival," she said with sparkles in her eyes.

"If I die because you die at camp..."

I always wondered; what kind of coincidence had led us together? What kind of strings tied us together to the point that I probably would have died if she had died? Like what are the odds? Why does this happen? Is there a greater reason?

Not important right now, I just need to focus on setting up the tent.

I started lifting up the tent sheets up to see how big it is, I took a few steps back and noticed that she was behind me taking steps back too, "if you aren't helping, stand at the side," I told her.

She started going to the other side of the tent sheet and helped me up with a serious look, "no, I want to help you."

After a while setting up our own tents. I went inside the tent and started drawing things I saw earlier, I wanted to have some ideas on what to paint when we get back.

"Terry, come and swim!" I could hear her screaming outside.

"Do you want me to die from sunlight?" I shouted back, it's hot outside, and everyone in the face of earth probably knows, vampires and sunlight don't mix well together. I am no exception to that rule.