Kyrie sat just outside her tent, enjoying the humid midsummer night. The moon was full and bright, and everything was illuminated silver and white, except the deepest shadows. She had reckoned on it being a hot night, given the heat of the day, but she hadn't counted much on not being able to sleep because of it. She had stripped down to just her underthings and was debating on removing even that. It was an isolated camping spot, far away from the usual places where you'd find the occasional drunk college kids or recently divorced dads trying to find some escape in the depths of nature.
For Kyrie, this was a birthday tradition, one that had started when she'd first turned eighteen. Since then, every year around this time, when the moon got high and she got restless, she would take off work, pack up, and head for the gorge. Today she had picked a location just off the Green River where she'd found a quiet pond. From the lack of beer cans and other refuse, she figured it was secluded enough, secret enough, to enjoy a quiet evening alone in reflection.
Kyrie knew her concerns were tame compared to other things people must worry about. She was mostly worried about rent, food security, enough hours at her job to cover the basics, it all weighed on her, especially this time of year. Maybe it was a holdover from her birthdays as a child, but she felt that she should be treated at least a little special when the heat moved in, and the mugginess, and all the other things that heralded summer in the Southlands. Still, concerns over money aside, she could find the peace of wild things out here among the stars and moon and the insistent singing of tree frogs out looking for a good lay. They were especially vocal tonight, adding to the list of things keeping Kyrie awake.
The air was heavy with anticipation, as though as storm were coming, but there were no clouds that Kyrie could see. Still, she couldn't shake a tingling sensation that ran up her spine and along her arms, giving her gooseflesh despite the heat. The air smelled of good earth and the nearby pond, nothing to give a hint of a change in the weather. She told herself it was just her nerves about changing shifts at work, or maybe the scant twenty dollars in her bank account, something mundane like that.
She wiped the sweat from her eyes and not for the first time looked at pond glowing in the moonlight. Swim in me, it said, cool off and refresh yourself. Most of its perimeter was lined in cattails, but there was a break nearby, a perfect spot to just slip in and let the water take away all her worries. She debated a few minutes more before making up her mind and, standing, stripping to her bare skin. A thrill of excitement shot through her and she laughed, a pink flush spreading across her face and down her chest. The humid night air wasn't all that cooler now, but she felt freer at least.
Not knowing how deep the pond was, or what lay beneath the surface, she didn't go about diving in, but waded in gently, the water shocking in its coolness against her feet, then thighs, then on and on until she was standing with the water just under her breasts. A shiver of excitement, and not a little bit of chill from the cool water, ran up her spine. Ducking low, she dunked her head under the water, soaking her short black hair into a shining blue under the moonlight. She fell onto her back and relished in the feeling of weightlessness as she floated there in the calm, still water, the sound of her heartbeat and rushing blood all she could hear. Then there was a splash, and laughter, and she bolted upright, hands covering her bare chest.
Kyrie looked around frantically to see who had come to disturb her quietude, and there, not twenty feet away, was another woman. She was as pale as Kyrie wasn't, skin like marble in the brightness of the full moon. Her hair matched, a light straw blonde, and it fell to past her shoulders where it was a bit darker from having been wet in the pond. Kyrie turned to hurry out of the water and back to the seclusion of her tent when she saw the woman turn and seem to notice her for the first time. Her heart jumped into her throat as the other woman swam effortlessly over to her. The woman's speed shocked Kyrie for how quiet she was gliding through the water.
When she was just a few feet away, the pale woman stopped and stood, towering a good foot over Kyrie, her breasts level with Kyrie's eyes. And they were nice breasts, Kyrie had to admit, perfect and round and perky, not big enough to be obscene. Each was tipped with a ghostly pale nipple that barely showed a change in color from the rest of the flesh. They were hard from the chill of the water, and Kyrie suddenly realized she was staring. Blushing, she looked away and cleared her throat.
"It's a beautiful night for a swim, don't you think?" the woman asked, seemingly oblivious, or completely nonchalant, about Kyrie's staring.
"Y-yes, yes, it is," Kyrie answered, clutching her arms around her chest, her face flush with embarrassment.
"The name's Selene," the woman said, extending her hand in greeting.
"Kyrie," Kyrie said, shaking Selene's hand before wrapping it around her chest again. "I was just leaving. Sorry if I bothered you," she said, turning to go.
