It was Spring in New Zealand, and it had been a long wet winter. The start of some clearer weather had brought about a change in Jenny one could liken to a snowball rolling down a hillside, slow at first but slowly building up momentum. She was shaking off the laziness that winter brings ready to set out and discover what had changed since last summer. Spring to Jenny meant the countryside was opening up its arms ready to embrace with the new life that was spilling forward, though one could never quite tell in New Zealand with the weather how long the sun would last before the weather would turn sour, or when the rain was pelting down, within minutes the sun would be basking.
Jenny had always carried a few extra pounds. It wasn't that she didn't get out and enjoy life, in fact she was an avid walker and had done most of the tracks around her local area. She had done most of the fad diets or crazy new exercise machines in her time but while some of her body responded to the onslaught she found that her thighs, buttocks and chest never really changed.
At 31 years of age she had come to the conclusion that her body wasn't going to change, and while she still thumbed though the magazines that told her what a female body ought to look like, when she looked at herself in the mirror she still saw a real woman; large breasts, still firm but they can only get so large before gravity takes over, wide hips, good for child bearing they say, although she was aware that she was missing the man in her life for that, her thighs suited her body, she thought, after all what good would small legs be at carrying around the rest of her. Her belly she was happy with, it wasn't small as such but it pointed out the front rather than the side, and when combined with her wide hips gave her a shape that was indeed womanly.
It was a long weekend in Spring, three days of bliss and Jenny hadn't made plans, most of her friends were married or close to it and had all booked their short vacation months ago, however Jenny lived week to week and so was rather caught out by three days with nothing to do and no one around. She awoke around midmorning to sunlight creeping through the crack in the window, and peering through the window to the bush covered hills in the distance thought it would be a lovely day to try one of the walking tracks, it would still be a bit early in the season for the tracks to be full of people but still warm enough to walk without carrying a large pack of equipment.
After a quick brunch Jenny jumped in the 4x4 and drove the 30minutes or so into the local bush reserve. There was a particular track she has discovered only at the end of last season that she knew not many people were aware of as it was a wee way down a back road. Pulling up at the side of the road to the entrance of the track she grabbed the small pack with her drink bottle and headed into the bush.
The first part of the walk was not an easy one which was why Jenny knew it would be deserted this early in spring, and after about 40 minutes of mostly uphill walking she was fairly exhausted, but she knew the track would level out into an easy valley and the going would be much easier. Jenny was glad of her choice of clothing wearing only mid knee shorts and a tee-shirt, which was by now showing large patches of little exercise over winter in the form of sweat marks.
Once in the valley the ache in her legs started to ease and she began to enjoy the freshness of the bush and the sound of the birds and insects. A small water droplet on her face made her glance between the overhanging trees to see that the day had begun to cloud over, but the canopy assured her that as long as the rain was not heavy she would be protected from most of the weather. Just in case she thought she'd put on her light rain jacket, but after reaching into her pack realised in her rush to head out of the house all she had put in her pack was her water bottle.
As she continued the rain became heavier and the sounds of the bush became over shadowed by the rain on the leaves, Jenny was beginning to get wet, she could no longer tell where the sweat patches ended and the rain soaked clothing began. Chiding herself for forgetting her jacket she remembered the entrance to a cave not too far ahead on the track. She picked up the pace and was almost running by the time she reached the cave, the rain seemed to sense her frustration and by the time she reached the cave entrance there was a constant downpour.
Puffing, but glad to be out of the rain she sat a small way back from the entrance and looked out to the driving rain cursing her bad luck. As she began to gain her breath back she realised that she was starting to get cold so she pulled off her tee shirt to wring out the water. Not wanting to wet the area she was standing in she moved to the entrance of the cave and started twisting her tee shirt free of water. Looking down where the water from her tee shirt was falling she noticed that there were bicycle tracks leading into the cave. Strange she thought, given that the tracks were still fresh. As she followed the tracks with her eyes back into the cave she was even more astonished to find that some way into the cave the bicycle that made the tracks was resting against the side of the cave.
As Jenny walked towards the bicycle she was aware of some footsteps towards the rear of the cave, and before she had time to think a man appeared from a tunnel towards the back. Jenny stood holding her tee shirt in surprise for what seemed like an eternity. The man shocked also, not expecting someone to be in the cave, let alone wearing only a bra and shorts, stopped, not wanting to break the surreal moment.
As Jenny realised her disposition she quickly threw her still damp tee shirt over her head and blushing, stammered, "I'm so sorry.....I didn't realise......I thought". "Hey no problem", said the man. "I'm Tom, sorry I didn't mean to stare, I just wasn't expecting........" Covered again but still quite embarrassed, "I'm Jenny. Yeah, sorry, I got caught in the rain and well, as you can see I wasn't really prepared for a major downpour."
Tom moved closer to where Jenny was standing and presented his hand. "I can see that, but I don't think it's going to let up for a while." Shaking her hand, "I hope you have some dry clothes in that bag of yours." "No, but I'll be OK", said Jenny, already starting to feel the chill of the wet clothes.
They sat on some rocks talking about where they had come from for about 30 minutes while the rain continued pouring. The warmth from the exercise had long left Jenny and though she was trying no to show it her teeth were beginning to chatter as she was talking. Tom could see the change in Jenny and was starting to get concerned. "Are you cold?" He asked. "No I'm fine, just a bit damp is all" She replied, teeth defying her very words. "Look at the goose bumps on your legs, you're freezing" replied Tom.
Jenny was a bit startled when Tom took off his top and presented it to her. "This is dryer" was all he said, demanding for her own good that she wear something warmer. Too cold to think about what someone thought of her body, Jenny removed her top and took the one Tom was offering. She was not offended when Tom did not look away while she was between tops, after all he was obviously a kind person, however she was a little curious as to what he might see in her. However it dawned on her as she was pulling Toms top over her head that considering her expansive bosom she would not actually fit into Toms shirt. She was halfway into the predicament and as she began removing the too small shirt from her head that she realised how silly she must look. Handing the shirt back to Tom, she turned away embarrassed and turning red.