I have wandered far from the campsite, loud with men reliving their youth with one-up stories and their bored wives shooing children. I have neither one-up stories nor children and seek peace and quiet. After an hour or more of walking the creekside I come to a calm pool created by rocks and a fresh beaver dam. The aspen trees along the bank show the signs of the beaver teeth that felled their grove fellows, the sharp scent of the bark reminds me of my childhood, Summer trips to the mountaintop to gather wood for the next Winter, cookouts with my parents and siblings, the deep sky of stars in the night. The pond is new and the bottom is covered in rounded stones, the dam has not had time to form silt beneath the water. In the clear water I can see tiny schools of minnows and the shadow of the rainbow trout that live there. Camping in a tent for three days has made me cranky and miss my shower back home. The campsite is on private land, I haven't seen another human for hours since I sat down on the grass of the creekbank.
The water is cold when I dip my bare toes freed of the confines of socks and sneakers. I am up to midthigh in the cool water, and think, 'why the hell not?' I step back out on the bank, shuck my cutoffs and tee-shirt, and jump back in the cold water. The shock of full body exposure to glacial fed water takes my breath away. I let out a yell and then laugh out loud at the joy of the feeling of the water on my sun warmed skin. My body acclimates to the frigid water as the midday sun warms me and lulls me as I float on my back in the sun and water. I wonder how many stories of near hypothermia I would have to listen to if I were to relate this adventure back at the camp. My forty-three year old fiance and his cohorts often look on me as a young and tenderfooted greenhorn, much to my disgruntlement. I am the one who grew up in the country and mountains, but to hear them tell it, camping was invented by city-slickers like them. Hummf. But I really should be out of the cold water by now, and scrubbing the camp dust from my hair only takes a moment more. When I raise my head from the water, I see a vague human form standing over the pile of my clothes on the bank. Oh Shit. The water in my eyes makes it hard to really see who is there, but hopefully they aren't standing close enough to see too much.
"Hey, did you know that sunlight refracted in water can cause a really bad sunburn?" a voice says on the bank.
"I am not burned, but I might be blushing." I reply. "Be a gentleman and throw me my shirt."
A shirt lands in my hands, I cover my face to wipe the rest of the water from my eyes and then hold it in front of me. But it doesn't smell quite right. It smells of warm cotton and clean sweat and man. Mine should smell of campfire, pinesap and spilled ketchup, a gift from one of the children running through camp. I look up and see a bear. Without my glasses the figure before me is very large, fuzzy and getting closer.
"Bruce! You could have said you were going to be around, I would have dressed for the occasion."
You wrap your arms around me and hug me to you. You are warm and the strength of your chest against my breasts tingles deep inside of me. I wrap my arms around your neck and you lean your head down to kiss me. Your tongue is warm, exploring my mouth, tracing my gumline and the edge of my teeth, then teasing the soft skin inside my lower lip, claiming my mouth and stamping me with your imprint.
"You might catch cold out here Maggie, I had better warm you up."
"I wasn't in the water that long."
"I know, I heard you. I was down the way fishing when I heard a cry and thought it was a damsel in distress, but when I got here it was a Water Sprite in her element. Now that I have caught her, I get a wish."
"I think you have your faery stories mixed up, sonny."
"Can I make a wish anyway?"