Dell (part 1 of 2)

Dell

"The minute you don't respect a woman is the minute you lose her,"

Dell's mother

The morning was red and orange.  It was very much like a dream to Dell except so much more real.  They traveled together for close to a week now.  The dense brush of the forest near his house gave way to prairie which gave way to more forest.  Forest gave way to thick grassy prairie again as they returned to Valen.  He and his companion, Mara, both knew that wilderness and so ruled it with pleasure and power.  Today was easy and they treaded through thin grass easterly.  

They exercised a seamless routine each night preparing for the Newtopian cold and dark.  Dell would make the fire while Mara prepared shelter.  The dry kindling started playfully tonight; the fire sipped the small wood and leaves when Dell ignited them.  They also decided against preparing the compact tent tonight because it was so warm.  Mara in a desire to be useful restored their fresh water and gathered moss and barriers.  If they had to stop and trap they would.  Two days of trapping could get them two days of meat.  And three days of trapping might get them enough for four or five days. But that is three days standing still and not getting any closer to Valen, Dell knew.

Dell liked eating cooked meat again but he like sleeping next to Mara’s warm body more.  He thought he heard the insistent heckle from his brother who urged him to grab around different parts of Mara’s body.  But before he got very far he heard his mother say, “The minute you don’t respect a woman is the minute you lose her.  And you better remember this the night you’re alone with a girl wondering if you should…” 

So his family members he so badly missed never seemed to leave him alone.  And most of the nights ended with him holding tightly onto her.  Kissing and making-out was a different story because they did that a lot.  Always at night after dinner they would get close, next to the fire and make-out until they got tired.  They did it during the day sometimes too but that was harder since they had to hike so much.  Once when they were trapping they found a waterfall that plunged into a small, green pool.  They kissed for hours letting the power of the waterfall send a gentle mist over them.  When they stood up they were weighed down by thousands of droplets of water that leaked from their clothes and hair.  There was kissing and hiking.  Hiking took its toll every day.  Whether it was carpets of prairie or foliage and deer paths.  Hiking led to lunch then morning hiking then sweet, sweet sleep.

Tonight was more than a usual evening stretch.  Although the routine was executed they moved differently.  There was a step in Mara’s gait that Dell soon recognized to be rhythm.  She came back bobbing her head and smiling with acorns and moss squeezed between her fingers. He felt a song under it all and moved in rhythm with her steps. When they met she threw up the acorns and moss.  He recovered from the shock of that quickly and moved different again.  Now he jumped around her. Mara shook her hands up and down.  She bumped back into him intentionally.  He continued a trot and danced in front until he thought she was tired of it.  But when she slowed she still moved in some rhythm.  He just watched at first but then realized that the song had changed.  He slowed his dance too.  They came together for a slow, fox-trot before retiring for bed.