None of this is true, not one damn word. But I wish it were.
I.
After a couple of years of wandering the world looking for direction, I found myself planning on spending a long summer at my parents cabin in the mountains. I wanted some company, so I had invited a friend of mine, Eva, to join me for the summer. We had been close friends all through grade school. Her family moved away over ten years ago, but all through high school and the years after trying to find myself, we had kept in touch through email and phone calls. She hadn't found herself yet either, so a summer in the mountains with few distractions seemed just the thing. At the last minute, she asked if she could bring a couple of friends. I told her that was fine; I was looking forward to a quiet summer, but would enjoy a little diverse companionship.
I had gone to the cabin a week earlier to get it ready for the summer. It was early May. The nights were still cold, and it took several hours for the clear mountain air to warm up after the sun rose each morning, but the location was beyond perfect. The cabin sits on a couple hundred acres of isolated land in the high mountains. There are no other cabins or campsites for several miles in any direction, so it's common to go weeks without seeing anyone.
A small lake is off the front porch, and forest surrounds the house. Across the lake are some granite mountains. The view is absolutely spectacular and unspoiled.
The cabin is an open, two-storied building, with a huge common room, kitchen and master bedroom on the main floor. A staircase along one side of the common room leads to a landing and two smaller bedrooms looking out the back of the upper floor towards the woods. The front of the cabin is mostly high windows looking out at the lake, mountains and azure sky. It is the most calming and welcoming place I know.
For several days, I cleaned the cabin, chopped firewood, washed windows and generally got the place ready for the summer. .Despite the isolation, the cabin had some of the modern conveniences. A silent generator out back provided electric lighting and refrigeration. A pump and septic system provided running water. Cooking was done on the most awesome wood-fired stove. It was over a hundred years old, but with some careful experimentation, it could bake perfect bread or broil a t-bone or fry eggs.
After working most of the day, I would go for a quick swim in the lake followed by a soak in what the family called "the hot tub." The hot tub was a small pond a short distance from the cabin. A small mineral hot spring flowed into a pond and then into the lake. The distance from the spring to the pond was just right, so you could soak in the warm waters of the pond without scalding.
We enjoyed the pond so much that some years before, my dad and uncles had altered the flow of the water out of the spring for the summer and built a small tiled hot tub and large concrete patio right where the pond was. The tub was large enough for twenty people or so and had places to sit. The water was hot enough that plants wouldn't grow in the water and fish or other crawly things stayed away. A little scrubbing around the edge and it was ready for the summer.
On the day Eva was to arrive, I headed to the airport full of youthful excitement. My good friend, whom I had not seen in years, was coming to spend time with me. I was anxious to share my beautiful cabin and woods with her. I looked forward to fishing, hiking, swimming and relaxing together. As it turned out, we would do all those things and have a great time with each of them. But the summer held many more activities and surprises than I anticipated when I walked into the terminal.
II.
I checked the monitors and found her plane had already landed. I walked the short distance to baggage claim and spotted her immediately in the crowd. Despite not seeing her for over ten years, I knew instinctively who she was. I looked at her in awe for just a few seconds before she spotted me and her entire being visibly filled with joy. My young friend had turned into a beautiful young woman. She came running over to me and gave me a crushing hug. We wrapped each other up in our joy. We hugged tightly for a few moments and said, "hi" in each other's ears. There was nothing more to say in those moments. Our mutual happiness at being together was more than enough, and no words were needed to express how we felt.
She introduced me to Jenn and Ryan, her two friends. Ryan was tall and slender and quiet. Jenn was petite and very sure of herself. We gathered their bags and headed back into the mountains.
When we got to the cabin, they were all in awe at the quiet splendor of the surroundings. "This is going to be a great summer," Eva said. Everyone agreed.
We spent the next few days relaxing into a rhythm and getting to know each other. Right from the start, everyone got along great. We often got each other to laugh with jokes or stories or little practical jokes. In the evenings, we would sit by the fireplace in the great room, watching the sun go down, drinking wine and talking about whatever. As the nights wore on, we often ended up draped over one another giving foot rubs or backrubs and falling asleep with someone's head in someone's lap.
Just when it seemed everyone was going to fall asleep for the night, someone, usually Jenn, would declare, "that's it!" and herd everyone off to their bedrooms. We all bitched about it, but getting a good night sleep in a bed in the mountains meant we always woke up refreshed and ready for the next day.
When I got into my room, which was the master, I would light a fire to keep away the cold until I fell asleep. Each night, I would lie on my back, watching the fire slowly go down until there were hardly any flames and drift off to sleep. One night, after Jenn had surprised us a little by breaking up the party a little earlier than usual, there was a quiet knock on my door.
"Come in," I said, a little curious and surprised.
The door opened, and in the darkness and shadows, I could not clearly make out who it was. She approached the bed, and as she came up next to me, I realized it was Jenn.
"I'm cold. You have the fire. Can I join you?"
"Sure." There was no hesitation. "I sleep naked," I warned. I pulled the covers back on the open side of the bed. She didn't say anything. She just pulled her long flannel nightgown off over her head and my eyes widened in surprise as I realized she, too, was completely naked.
