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The events in this story are true, as told to me by those involved; only the names have been changed to provide privacy. Hope you enjoy.
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Jim sat staring at the fire and listened to the sounds surrounding him as he sipped on his morning cup of tea. The sun had just barely risen and the mist from the night's rain hung under the trees giving everything a mystic feeling to it. This was his special place; the place that each person needs to get away to in order to keep their sanity from all the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day stressors.
Jim had found this place several years before on a backpacking trip into the Porcupine Mountains of Upper Michigan. Located along the Big Carp River the clearing wasn't accessible by the normal trail but only by hiking along the river's edge which was why Jim loved it so much. The clearing itself was only about 20-feet across but was near a small waterfall and had an elevated area of sand that was perfect for pitching a tent. That was why Jim had returned here every year since finding it and why he was here now.
At 23 years old, Jim had been one of those boy-geniuses that had leaped into the software programming field in the 1980's and 90's. Within 5 years he had opened his own programming and consulting company and was making more than a comfortable living on what he was doing. Then he had met "the one" and after a whirlwind courtship had gotten married.
Now at 31, everything was changing. The past year had been exceptionally hard for Jim. The economy had gone soft and his business had suffered a decrease of almost 20% in orders; his wife had decided that she didn't want to live with the changes in their lifestyle and had filed for a divorce. The financial settlement had been costly but at least Jim had been able to save the company. Almost immediately his ex- was seen by friends around town with another man. It wasn't until just before leaving for this trip that his suspicions had been confirmed and he obtained proof that she had been having an affair with the man prior to their divorce. Not that it mattered any more but she was also telling friends that she was pregnant with the man's child.
A child ... that had been the one thing that Jim had hoped for most but she had continuously put off "until everything gets settled." Now sitting at the campfire he slowly let it all fade away; there were more immediate things that needed to get done. Putting his cup of tea down, Jim rose and walked to his tent.
The rainstorm the night before had been heavy and he knew that while it had not gotten into the tent the humidity would have made his sleeping-bag damp so it would need to be hung out to dry and air in the sun. He also had to collect more wood for the fire and plan which meals he wanted to rehydrate for the day. But first, he needed to get washed up.
Reaching inside the tent, Jim grabbed his towel and other things before heading to the river. This late in the year the water was usually low and the sun heated it to just the right temperature for a "wilderness bath." Today was different though. The rain from the night before had caused the river to rise and the water cascaded over the waterfall where Jim usual washed forcing him to move to the opposite end of the pond where some small pools were located. Kneeling by one of the pools he began to wash but kept having the feeling that he was being watched. Several times Jim thought he had heard something but the sound of the waterfall and the wind blowing through the trees had made it impossible to determine where the sound had come from. It wasn't until he stood and was about to remove his pants that he heard the voice coming from under the waterfall.
"Excuse me! I'm not quite sure you want to do that right now."
Jim quickly turned and fastened his pants as she slowly emerged from under the falls. Dark brown hair cascaded down along the sides of face while vivid blue-green eyes looked directly at him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you but I didn't want both of us to become embarrassed before we met, especially since I'm in a rather compromised position already."
Turning back towards her, Jim noticed that she was still in the water up to her neck. "I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're talking about."
She remained silent for a few seconds before asking, "Do you by chance have another one of those?" as she pointed to his towel.
"Actually I don't but you can use this one," as he moved to give to her.
"NO!! Please stay where you are. I'm ... mmmmm ... well you see I don't have any clothes on. Why don't you put it on the ground over there?" she said as she pointed to a neutral spot on the ground between them.
"Ahhhhh, I understand. A little bit of skinny-dipping to start the day," he said jokingly.
"Not really," she started, "but I'll tell you all about it after I get out of here, the water is getting rather cold."
"Ok, but instead of me putting the towel down where it will get wet and dirty why don't we do it this way?" he said as he turned his back towards her and stretched the towel open behind himself like a shield. "I promise not to look."
True to his word he didn't turn when he heard the water dripping on the rocks behind him as she exited the pool and took his towel.
"You can turn around now."
Jim turned and stretched out his hand. "I guess we should introduce ourselves under the circumstances. My name is Jim."
"My name is Angie," she replied as she took his hand while holding the towel closed with the other. "Thanks for letting me borrow your towel."
"Hey, no problem. I always wanted to save a damsel in distress," he said as he began to laugh.
Smiling, she replied. "You have no idea just how right you are."
"Really? What's wrong?"
"I got into camp late last night just as the storm hit and I guess I must have put things up wrong because I was in such a hurry, now most of my equipment and all of my clothing are soaked. The only things still dry are my food and a pair of boots."
"You've got to be kidding."
"I wish I were. That's why I was down here. When I woke up this morning I tried to start a fire but my matches were wet so I just figured I'd come down here and sit in the water until I warmed up a bit. I was just getting into the water when I heard you coming through the woods so I hid under the falls."
"I'm sorry about that. I didn't know anyone was here," Jim replied as his eyes took in the beauty of the woman standing before him. Suddenly a breeze came through the woods and Angie gave a quick shiver. "I'm truly sorry. Where are my manners? Would you care to come up to my camp? I can make you a cup of something warm and maybe find some clothes for you to put on until yours are dry."
Angie stood there for a moment quickly running through her options; which were very limited ... come to this stranger's camp and get warmed up or return to her cold, wet camp and ... and what? No clothes, no fire; that settled it. "I'd love to see your camp."
Jim quickly led the way and immediately moved some of his supplies from the log he had placed next to the fire so Angie had a place to sit down. "Please sit down."
"Thank you."
"So what's your preference; I have tea or hot chocolate?"
"Tea sounds absolutely fantastic right now."
Jim quickly built up the fire and put the pot with water next to it to heat. "Ok, now how about we see if I have anything we can get you dressed in?"
Angie sat there as Jim rummaged through his tent and began to pull out fresh clothing, occasionally talking to himself as he attempted to figure out what might fit her. Finally he returned with a T-shirt, boxer shorts, a hooded sweater, wool pants and a military-style web belt to hold them up. "I'm sorry about the boxers but I don't think you want the wool rubbing against, ummm ... well anyway you'll probably have to roll up the sleeves on the sweater but it will definitely get you warm."
Angie rose and looked around for a place to change.
"Wait just a second. I can give you a little privacy." Jim quickly walked back to his tent and pulled out his sleeping bag and some rope. Tying the rope to two trees he opened the sleeping bag and draped it over the rope. "Hope that is ok?"
Angie smiled and walked around behind the sleeping bag. "This is fine. A lot better than I could have done under the circumstances," she said as she hung the towel over the rope.
For the briefest moment Jim saw the tops of Angie's breasts before turning away, thinking
"God, are you ever acting like a jerk. You're behaving like a school kid that has never seen a woman before."
"Ok, you can turn around now," Angie said as she walked out from behind the sleeping bag. The pants were rolled up at least four times revealing a pair of small, delicate feet with red toenail polish and the sweater hung down almost to knees. She had rolled the sleeves up but one had already come down and hung like a wet noodle as she lifted her hand. "Don't you dare laugh," she said barely able to hold it in herself.
"I wouldn't think of it," Jim replied in his most business-type voice as he covered his mouth to hide the smile covering his face.
"Liar," she said as she began to laugh.
"Yep, guess I am," and suddenly they were both laughing.
