☁️Little Charlie☁️

CH 46 // The lake

When morning came, Charlie woke up to find himself still in the same bed as Alex. He looked up at the sleeping boy and smiled. He reached a hand up and placed it on his cheeck before leaning in to plant a kiss on his nose.

He felt pretty awake. So he went ahead and got up for the day. He slipped his shoes on and stepped out into the cool morning air.

Mia was by the fire eating a bowl of ceral. She heard the cabin door creek open and turned around.
"Good morning" she greeted.

"Mornin" Charlie yawned. He grabbed a bowl off the picnic table and poured himself some frosted flakes. After grabbing a spoon he took the milk out of the cooler and poured some into the bowl. He then joined Mia by the fire as he ate.

"Alex still sleeping?" She asked before sipping her coffee.
"Mm-hm" Charlie replied.

She nodded and looked back at the fire. "I hope he's doing okay" she spoke. "Poor kid has been so down lately".

Charlie thought about last night. He wondered if he should tell Mia about it. Then again, he didn't really think it was his place. Alex told him and him only cuz he trusted him. He didn't want lose that trust with Alex.

Besides, Alex would be okay from now on. He promised Charlie he would tell him if something was going on.

So Instead, Charlie told Mia about their green visitor.

"He was so big!" Charlie explained.

Mia laughed. "And he touched your hand?!"

"He did! I feel so blessed!" He looked at his hand and grinned. "I think it means good luck".

"How did he even get in?" Mia asked with amusement.

"Oh, Alex left the door open when he stepped outside"

"What was he doing outside?"

"Trying to cool off. He was too warm. Thats when we returned the frog to the pond".

"Oh good. I'm glad the frog found his way home".

Charlie giggled and finished up the rest of his ceral before tossing the disposable bowl and spoon into the fire. Just then Alex stepped out of the cabin rubbing his eye. He walked over to Charlie sluggish like and wrapped his arms around the shorter one. He rested his chin on top of Charlies head and closed his eyes again.

"Well hello there sleepy head" Charlie giggled. He hugged Alex and rubbed his back soothingly. Alex hummed and nuzzled into Charlie's hair.

"Mornin" he mummbled.

"Here" Mia said handing a fresh cup of coffee. "You'll need this. We have a whole day of Adventure ahead of us".

*******

After the boys had woken up a bit, Mia drove them out of the campsite and down the road to a nearby mountain trail they could hike on. Alex was a little hesitant at first. He'd rather just stay in his cabin and sleep the day away. He still felt pretty tired. That coffee barely did anything for him.

Not wanting to be a stick in the mud though, he kept his complaints to himself and followed along. They grabbed their bags and exited the car onto the side of the road. Alex looked at the trail ahead of them.

"How long is this trail again?" Alex asked hoping for a very small number. The quicker they got this over with, the quicker he could get back in bed with a book. Or just a really long nap. He adjusted the straps of his backpack trying to loosen them.

"1.7 miles" Mia replied. She grabbed the bug spray and sprayed some into her hand to rub on her arms and the back of her neck. She handed the spray to Charlie who used a generous ammount for his legs and arms. He hated mosquitos with a passion. Other bugs were okay though. Like Catipilars. He smiled just thinking about them as he gave the spray to Alex.