Please remind me (who I really am)

Chapter 15

Jennie woke with a start. At first, she wasn't sure why she was awake, but then, she felt it. Something was on her face. Frantically, she pawed at the air, trying to push the... whatever it was, away. It was light and felt like... gossamer? And everywhere she pushed at it, there just seemed to be more. Her sleepy brain finally put it together. The mosquito net that she had been sleeping under had detached from its place and settled on her face instead. Scrambling up as quietly as she could, she pinned it back to the top of the headboard, and settled back down, but unfortunately for her companion, her elbow landed on her hair, pulling it hard.

"Oooowwwwww Jennie," Lisa whined, waving a tired hand in the air towards Jennie's face. "You're on my hair!"

"Sorry!" Jennie stage-whispered, before lying back down and pulling the covers back up. As she lay there though, she got a fit of the giggles, and no matter how she tried to stop herself, she could feel the bed silently shaking beneath her as she tried to stifle her laughter.

Lisa groaned and rolled over. "Jennieeee..."

"Sorry, sorry, I'm trying to stop," Jennie said, her pitch climbing higher as she failed to stop laughing.

Lisa shoved her gently in the back and grumbled, "go read a book or something if you're going to keep laughing!"

Jennie climbed out of bed, her hand over her mouth, and picked up her book and her cell phone from the nightstand before padding out of the small bedroom and into the spare room at the end of the hall. It wasn't long before dawn, and she sat down on the sofa and switched the light on.

It was December and they were in New Zealand. Neither Lisa nor Jennie had ever been, and over dinner on the one-year anniversary of the day Lisa spilled coffee on her, they'd decided on a whim one day to book flights down to the country to spend Christmas, their second together, somewhere warm, just for the novelty of it. Lisa hadn't banked on it being quite as warm as it was, and was spending most of the days melting, all of her cardigans forgotten. Jennie acclimatized quicker to the heat, somehow, although she did tend to stay out of the sun as much as she could anyway.

Jennie let Lisa choose the places they were going to stay, handing over her credit card in order to make the bookings, and perhaps that was why they were now staying in the middle of nowhere, in a rustic loft in a converted barn on a working farm, with a composting toilet Jennie had been almost too terrified to use and chickens clucking and scratching around the ground floor. There were more spiders in the shower room, which was almost entirely open to the elements on one whole side, than she had ever seen in her life, and she had to wedge the door shut in order to keep the chickens from joining her in the shower. On the other hand, they did have freshly laid eggs in the mornings, which Jennie had cooked, crouched over the tiny stove which was, for some inexplicable reason, in the bedroom.

It was an extremely peaceful place, she had to admit. There was a river nearby and the sound of it had lulled them to sleep the night before. Although, she had been rather shocked when she opened the window the first day in this particular room and come face to face with a cow, which had come over to inspect the noise coming from the building.

Lisa had declared that they were "going on an adventure!" and enthusiastically waved a map around when it came to their three weeks driving around the North Island of New Zealand. Jennie had kissed her for getting the geeky reference in there, and they'd booked several sights. The first place they'd stayed was in Auckland, and they'd spent several happy days wandering around the city, Jennie taking in the museums. She was very happy to not be recognized very often, and the staff in restaurants mostly left them alone. They took boat tours, enjoyed the fresh sushi available practically everywhere, and took walks around the city parks.