A Soldier's Heart

Sleeping Arrangements (Beth)

Travis must have camped here before, 'cause there was a circle of rocks a couple of feet across, black with soot, and ashes on the ground between them. There was a flat rock close to the middle of the circle. Travis walked over to the creek and came back with a little plastic pail of water. I giggled, because the pail had yellow ducks walking all around it.

Travis laughed too. "It's one of my toys from when I was little. Mom keeps everything. It comes in handy here. I hang it on a branch by the creek until I need it. You always need a bit of extra water handy, in case the fire gets out of control."

I watched as he built a tiny fire and fed it with larger and larger sticks, until there was a nice blaze. He got his backpack from the lean-to, took a pot out of it and went to the creed to fill it. He put it on the flat stone by the fire and covered it. I wondered if he was planning to cook something.

There was a log on the ground just outside the fire pit, and we sat on it and watched the fire for a while, without speaking. My stomach rumbled, loud enough for Travis to hear. He dug a sandwich out of his backpack and offered it to me. Ham and cheese. I almost never got ham and cheese sandwiches. I ate it slow, enjoying every bite. Travis ate one too.

"I brought some sandwiches, too," I said. "Peanut butter and jam." I didn't want him to think I came unprepared.

"Sounds like a good desert. Or maybe for tomorrow. Ham won't keep in the heat, so we should eat those first."

"What are you planning to eat when the sandwiches are gone?"

"We'll fish, of course. And I brought a few other things."

The water in the pot was steaming. Travis reached into his backpack again, and pulled out a tin mug, a spoon and a packet of instant hot chocolate. He poured the hot chocolate into the mug and filled it with hot water. As he stirred and the aroma drifted over to me, my mouth was watering. He handed the mug to me. I wrapped both hands around it and closed my eyes as the chocolate flooded my mouth. It was heaven.

"Where's yours?" I asked, suddenly realizing he didn't have a hot chocolate.

He shrugged. "I only brought one mug. I'll wait 'til you're finished."

I felt hot, and it wasn't from the fire or the hot chocolate. Here I was, so proud of myself for being prepared, and I hadn't even thought about basic things like cups or plates or silverware. I finished the chocolate as fast as I could and gave him the mug. He made another hot chocolate without even rinsing it.

I looked around. "Where do you go to the bathroom?"

Travis laughed. "Out here, you do what the animals do, more or less. You can pee anywhere, but if you have to do more than that, good manners require you bury it." I must have looked confused, because he went on. "I made a little pit last week, to get ready. I'll show you where it is in the morning. Hopefully you won't need it before then. And when you're done, you just scoop enough dirt over it to cover it."

I had to pee right then and I told him. He walked with me to the woods.

"Find a spot where you're comfortable, preferably whee there is no vegetation. You don't want to squat in a patch of poison ivy, and you wouldn't recognize it in the dark."

I didn't tell him I wouldn't even recognize it in daylight. He started walking back to the fire. I did my business as fast as I could and ran after him.

We sat on the log again.

"It's not a campfire without marshmallows," Travis said. He took a couple out of his backpack and pushed them onto sticks from our woodpile. He showed me how to toast them. It was the first time I ever had a toasted marshmallow.

The fire started dying. Travis pointed out some of the constellations. I never saw the stars so clear and bright. I decided someday I would live where I could look at them every night, without having to hike for two hours to do it. The moon rose and moved across the sky so fast I wondered what was pushing it.

"Time to sleep," Travis said.

I opened my bag and took out my blankets. There was dew on the ground, so I spread out the bag and put the blankets on top.

"Go into the lean-to," Travis said. "Nights are pretty chilly here."

"No. I'll sleep here by the fire. I'll be fine." I folded the blankets so they were long and skinny, and lay down on one layer so there were three layers over me. Travis looked down at me for a minute, then went to the lean-to. I fell asleep in just a minute.