by C Zinnia
Mauled by a bear wasn’t on Mel’s list of experiences she wanted to have on her vacation.
“You stop worrying about bears,” Dana said. “Now, come inside and have some breakfast before you try to talk yourself into leaving.” She went inside before Mel could respond.
Mel stood up and stretched loudly. She folded up her blanket and took it upstairs. She placed the romance novel on the desk. Mel loved the concept of love and soulmates. She loved the thought of two people coming together as one. She felt like anything could be healed with love. My soulmate could give me faith in being in a relationship, Mel thought. While the book was well-written, she wished someone would write one that fit her more.
Mel realized she was still in pajamas. She quickly changed. She wasn’t about to let her day get ruined by Bill making some inappropriate comment about her attire. The fact that Mel had to alter her attire to try to dodge inappropriate comments infuriated her. It was also a concept she was used to. She remembered in school a teacher freaked out on her because her bra strap was showing. It sent a clear message to Mel that she was held accountable for a male’s reaction to her attire. The male, however, was not held accountable for his actions towards her.
She went downstairs to find everyone already at the table.
Even Daren had made it back in time for breakfast. His shirt was soaked with sweat. “I’m going to go change,” he said. He ran upstairs as Mel sat down.
“About time you showed up,” Dana said to Mel. She poured Mel a cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” Mel said. She mixed cream and sugar into her coffee.
“Good morning, Mel,” Bill said. “How did you sleep? Did you dream of anyone in particular at this establishment? Was it . . . satisfying ?”
Bill’s question riled Mel up. Even after she changed her clothes to try to not draw attention, Bill still bothered her. Who’s to blame for him asking such inappropriate questions? Mel thought. “No, but I did sleep great,” she answered. “Because I have a strong lock on my door.”
Lee almost choked on his coffee. His cough kept him from laughing.
Bill frowned at Mel, but she was too busy trying to ignore him to notice.
Daren had come back into the room and heard the entire encounter. He scowled at Bill as he sat down. He looked like he wanted to punch Bill. Suddenly, Daren smiled at Bill. “Why didn’t you ask me how I slept? That seems rude. Don’t you want to know about my dream? It was very vivid,” he said with a wink.
Bill was horrified by Daren’s sudden flirty behavior.
Mel and Lee glanced at each other. They were both fighting not to react.
Dana gave Daren a look. He better calm down before Bill decides to get violent. We don’t need a conflict with a human, Dana thought.
Mel heard the thought and looked at Dana, stunned.
Trixie was ignoring Bill and Daren as she held an ultrasound picture. She fawned over it. “How does it feel to know you’ll soon have her in your arms?” she asked Thomas and Jim as she handed the picture back.
“I can’t begin to describe it,” Thomas said.
“I’m thanking Allah every moment,” Jim said.
“I want children someday,” Trixie said. She looked at Bill.
“I don’t want kids,” he said emphatically. “They’re nothing but a nuisance. The world’s overpopulated as it is, so why contribute to it?”
Dana was relieved by his statement. She didn’t think those two were fit to have children together. Mel couldn’t help but agree. She remembered how she had first unofficially met them.
“Do you have all of your baby supplies?” Trixie asked.
“Pretty much,” Jim said. “We’re going over to Roanoke today to do some last-minute shopping.”
“Really? We were planning on going over there too. There are a couple of stores I want to check out,” she said.
“Speaking of which, we better get going,” Bill said abruptly as he got up.
“Bye Bill,” Daren said sweetly.
Bill didn’t look back as he left without checking to see if Trixie followed.
Trixie rolled her eyes. “I better go before the Great One leaves me behind,” she said sarcastically. She looked at Daren. “While I like your style, you know if he goes off, we’ll all get in trouble.” She left.
Thomas smiled at Daren. “I wish I had a friend like you growing up. It would have made school easier,” he said.
“What do you mean?” Daren asked.
“Someone who challenges macho behavior,” he said.
“We better head out as well,” Jim said. “Thank you for breakfast, Dana and Lee. It was delicious.”
“Yes, thank you so much,” Thomas said.
“You’re both welcome,” Dana said.
“You two will have to come back and stay again with the baby,” Lee said. “We like having well-mannered guests like y’all.”
“Have a good day, Mel,” Jim said.
“Thanks. You too,” she said.
After everyone else left, Lee turned to Mel. “So, what are your plans for the day?” he asked her.
“Well, I was going to hike today down that path Daren had pointed out, but now I’m not so sure,” Mel said.
“Because of bears?” Dana asked.
Lee was confused. “What bears?” he asked.
“I told her that there were bears in the country, but that they won’t bother her around here. I don’t think she believes me,” she answered.
“Well, there was that one time a black bear waltzed right into the hospital in Rocky Mount. Turned out the bear was sick,” Lee said.
“Where’s Rocky Mount?” Mel asked.
“You passed through the town when you got off the highway,” he replied.
“Oh,” she said. “What happened to the bear?”
“They killed it,” he said.
“Oh,” Mel said. The last thing she wanted to do was run into a wild bear with a tummy ache. She had seen how cranky humans can be when they’re sick and didn’t want to experience the same with a beast with claws. “I think I’ll just hang out inside today. Maybe I’ll feel braver tomorrow about adventuring into the wild.”
“No way, you can’t skip out. You got to take advantage of the nice weather today,” Daren said. “We’ll go kayaking today at Philpott.”
“That’s a great idea!” Dana said. “We can all go. What do you think, love?”
Lee smiled at the term of endearment. “It does sound wonderful,” he said. “Come on, Daren. Let’s go load up the truck.”
Daren and Lee left.
Dana started clearing the table. Mel tried to help, but Dana refused. “You can sit and visit, but I don’t want you doing any work.” She poured Mel another cup of coffee before she started washing dishes.
Mel stared at her mug. A question bubbled in her mind, but she didn’t know the right way to ask it.
“Honey, I can practically see smoke coming from your head. What’s on your mind?” Dana asked.
Mel was quiet for a moment. “Why does Trixie stay with Bill?” Mel asked. It hadn’t been what Mel was thinking about, but Mel didn’t know how to ask her other question yet.
Dana sighed. “That is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Why does anyone stay in an unhealthy relationship?” she said. “I think for some people, it’s all they know. For others, they may subconsciously feel like they aren’t worthy of being in a healthy relationship. Some people feel like they have to sacrifice themselves for another person in order to be worthy of existing. Some people feel the need to rescue the ‘broken puppy.’
“Others still had partners that at first were loving and attentive and gave them far more love than they had ever experienced before revealing their true colors. For those, they hold onto the dream of what they used to have and keep hoping things will go back to how they once were.
“For some, the relationship is better than what they grew up in. For some, they are too dependent financially on their partner and don’t ha
ve anyone else.
“As for Trixie, she has always been a thrill seeker and has always enjoyed chaos. She comes from a good family, or at least they always appeared to be. My first assumption is it deals with Trixie, but who knows what her parents could be like behind closed doors. I think her relationship with Bill fills that chaotic need for her. Does that make sense?” Dana said.
“Not to me, but I believe you,” Mel said. She couldn’t fathom ever being in an unhealthy relationship like that. Mel was sure she would spot the red flags before ever getting into one of those dysfunctional relationships. She realized now was the time to ask her real question.
Mel asked; “Have you ever heard of underground fighting?”
Chapter 10
Dana was surprised by the question. She laughed. “Whoa, that came out of nowhere! I didn’t take you for the fighting type.” Although she was teasing, she had slightly tensed up.
Mel realized Dana knew something about it. Whoa, there is underground fighting in Ferrum! she thought. She smiled. “You’re right, that was extremely random. I saw something about it happening in the city the day before I left and wondered if the same sort of thing happened here.” She put down her cup. “I’m cutting myself off from anymore coffee today before I come up with any more obscure questions.”
Dana had finished cleaning. She didn’t fully believe Mel, but she also didn’t want to get deeper into the subject. “Why don’t you go get ready? If you brought a bathing suit, you may want to put it on underneath your clothes. And you may want to bring a long sleeve shirt and a hat too. We have some sunscreen for guests in case they don’t have any, but you won’t have any shade in the lake, so if you’re prone to burning, you’ll want to cover up,” Dana said.
“Thanks for the heads up,” Mel said. “It is very easy for me to turn into a tomato.” She went upstairs. She paused at the desk and opened her notebook. “How sweet and docile the scenery/ Yet underneath is a feral ferocity,” she wrote in her notebook.
She waited for more words to flow, but her mind remained blank. She closed her notebook in frustration.
She didn’t have a bathing suit, so she put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She grabbed sweatpants and a long-sleeve shirt.
Mel went back downstairs. “I don’t have a hat,” she said.
Dana plopped a large straw hat on top of Mel’s head. “That’ll cover your face and neck well,” she said. “And here’s a little plastic bag for your phone in case you want to bring it so you can take pictures.”
“Thanks,” Mel said.
They went outside to find Lee and Daren had strapped four kayaks into the bed of a rundown looking truck. They all hopped into the cab of the truck. The drive to Philpott involved a few windy roads in the middle of the forest.
They ended up in the parking lot that had a boat ramp.
“Have you ever been kayaking?” Lee asked.
“No,” Mel admitted. “Is it hard?”
“No, you’ll get the rhythm of it,” Dana said.
Daren helped Mel carry a kayak to the ramp. They placed it in the water. Daren held it still as Mel ungracefully clamored in. He handed Mel her paddle
Lee and Dana carried a kayak and Lee held it as Dana gracefully got in. He handed her a paddle as he stole a kiss from her. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too,” she said. She used her paddle and lightly splashed at his ankles.
His eyes twinkled. “I’ll get you for that later,” he said.
“I hope so,” she fired back playfully.
Lee and Daren carried the last two kayaks and languidly got in.
Dana gave Mel tips on paddling as Daren led the way.
Mel was amazed by how beautiful it was on the lake.
There were no houses on the lake to obstruct its beauty. The lake was calm and reflected the lush forest, blue skies, and large cumulous clouds off its still surface. The woods were thick with large trees covered with green leaves. There were splotches of autumn colored leaves amongst the branches.
There were small shady spots along the coast, but most of the lake was exposed to the bright, warm sun.
The sun beamed down on Mel. She was grateful Dana had loaned her a hat. Mel’s legs reflected the light from the sun and Mel knew she was going to need her long sleeve and pants soon.
Mel followed them under a concrete bridge that a car drove across. They came across a man in a small boat fishing close to the bank in one of the shaded areas.
“I’ve never fished before,” Mel said. “Is it fun?”
“Depends on if you’re the man or the fish,” Dana said. “We don’t fish unless we catch to eat. I won’t stand for fishing or hunting unless it’s for food. We don’t believe in needless suffering.”
“How is the fish suffering?” Mel asked.
“The poor fish ends up with a large hook through their cheek. How is that enjoyable?” she asked.
Mel winced at the visual. “Good point,” she said. “Do you all hunt?”
“I do,” Daren said. “Deer mostly. I clean it afterwards and freeze it so we have meat throughout the winter. I also make a good deer jerky.”
“Look, there’s red-tailed hawk,” Lee said as he pointed to a tree branch.
Mel saw the hawk. It sat erect as it surveyed its surroundings. Mel slowly pulled out her phone and took a picture. The hawk was too far away to get great detail, but the picture showed a large bird in a tree. “I’ll have to show Grandma. She’ll get a kick out of it,” she said.
There were a couple of miniature waterfalls they came across during their trip. Some of the waterfalls trickled into the lake while others had a steady flow.
They paused to let Mel take pictures of the scenery. They came across a couple of other fishermen and a few kayakers.
“Did you tell Viola we were coming?” Dana asked Daren.
“I did. I called and invited her, but she has clients she’s training today, so she couldn’t make it,” he said.
“Well, you tell her she needs to get her behind back over to the house to visit,” Dana said. “I’ve been missing her and text messages aren’t good enough.”
“Why don’t you tell her that?” he said.
“I have,” Dana said. She was sad. “My guilt trips aren’t working. I even offered to make palomilla steak and yucca the way she likes it, but she says she’s busy. I need my mommy-daughter time.”
“Business at the gym has picked up a lot,” he said. “She doesn’t even see Nana and Papa hardly ever and they live together.”
“Why does she live with your grandparents?” Mel asked.
“Not my grandparents, but surrogate grandparents to V and me,” he said.
“That’s nice,” Mel said. “It’s always good to have additional grandparents.” She wanted to ask why Viola lived with them, but realized it wasn’t her business. She heard a soft splash and looked around. “What was that?”
“A fish jumped out of the water,” Dana said.
“They do that?” Mel asked.
“Sometimes,” she said. “They do it to try to catch bugs on the surface. I saw a fish jump out and catch a dragonfly one time.”
“That’s amazing,” Mel said. She looked at the landscape around her, unable to put to words how she felt both small and yet how large because she was connected with everything around her. Her heart warmed as she looked from Dana to Lee to Daren. “Thank you so much for bringing me out here.”
Dana smiled. She said; “You’re welcome. Though, you may want to wait until we get home to thank us. You’re going to be sore before we’re done.”
~ * ~
By the time they arrived back at the B&B, Mel’s hands and arms hurt. Despite the soreness, she felt a newfound peace and vigor she hadn’t experienced before. When she mentioned it to Dana, Dana laughed.
“Of course, you feel better! Being outside in nature is imperative for your health and wellbeing. It’s grounding and better connects you to the world around you,” she sai
d. “It’s a way to remind you that we’re all in this together.”
“So, you feel this way all of the time?” Mel asked, stunned.
Dana smiled. “Majority of the time,” she said. “We all have those times where we may feel disconnected or feel like only our world is crashing down around us, but getting out in nature helps decreased those periods for me.”
“Since we have the time, would you care for a romantic stroll through the woods?” Lee asked Dana as he offered his arm.
“I would love to,” Dana said as she looped her arm through his. “We’ll be back in a while.”
Mel realized she and Daren were the only ones at the house. She ran upstairs and grabbed her guitar and notebook before joining Daren on the porch again. She sat beside him on the swing.
“Oh! Are you going to serenade me?” Daren asked as he fluttered his eyes and pretended to stroke his non-existing long hair.
Mel laughed. “I can try,” she said. Mel knew Daren had completely platonic feelings towards her. He was naturally an extrovert and enjoyed being around people. She was grateful for him. She lost a couple of male friends because they wanted a romantic relationship with her. Daren was a reminder that there were men out there who wanted a sincere friendship and nothing more. “Do you think people are inherently good?”
“Ah, a philosophical question,” Daren said. “Yes, I do. I think the world hardens people, but I think at their core, every person is a beautiful soul.”
“Even Bill?” Mel pressed.
“Even Bill,” Daren said. “Don’t get me wrong, if Bill tried to be inappropriate with you or tried to harm me, I’d still knock the shit out of him. You can’t just let people be cruel without some sort of repercussions or without some sort of protection for those who people like Bill try to target. While people like Bill may be inherently good, being ugly means they’ve got some sort of soul sickness going on that needs to be addressed, but if you’re not careful, it’ll spread.
“Or maybe they’re mean because they know they can get away with it. Who’s to say? What about you? Do you think people are inherently good?”