by Haley Walsh
Skyler wanted to back away thinking “rabies!” but he was hemmed in by the rocks and the tent.
As if it heard his thoughts, it suddenly withdrew its head from the packet and chewed, staring at Skyler with small, dark eyes. Its bristly whiskers twitched, its tiny ears flapped quickly dislodging a fly, and it blinked slowly.
Skyler was frozen to the spot, wondering if the thing was getting ready to charge. He had no weapons at all, save some rocks. When he tried to slowly lean over and grab one, the creature snorted a warning. Skyler snatched his hand back.
Finally, the creature twitched its muzzle again, grabbed the packet with its hands, and shoved its face back in again.
Skyler turned toward the tent and saw Keith just sitting there, casually fixing a buckle on his backpack, as if wild creatures weren’t threatening him at his very doorstep.
“Keith!” he whispered. “Keith! There’s a creature. Right over there. And it’s eating my food.”
“Shoo it away,” he said, not looking up.
“I can’t. It’s enormous.”
Keith glanced toward where Skyler pointed and smirked. “It’s a marmot.”
“It’s a what? A varmint?”
“A marmot. A rodent. Related to squirrels, actually. Otherwise known as a Groundhog. It’s harmless.”
“That’s a groundhog? It’s enormous.” It was as big as a medium sized dog and twice as fat.
“It’s not enormous. Just shoo it away.”
“I’d rather let him eat his fill. I don’t want him getting mad.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He rose and lumbered toward the creature. The marmot looked up from its feasting and roved its glance over Keith. It hopped down from the rock it had been using as a table, and with a raised nose as if in distaste for the whole affair, waddled its fat furry body away into the brush.
Keith picked up the packet and looked at it, showing Skyler. “There’s still some left. Want it?”
“No, thank you. I’m really not hungry.”
“You should eat. It’s the altitude sickness. It’s giving you a loss of appetite but you need the protein. You’ve burned a lot of calories.”
“I’m fine.”
“Have some beef jerky.”
“I really couldn’t. I’m just going to kick back here.”
Keith gave him a concerned look before he shrugged and retreated back to the tent.
§ § §
Skyler must have dozed again because by the time he looked up, the sun was hanging low near the top of the far mountains.
“Wow,” he said, then cleared his scratchy throat. “Didn’t mean to sleep all day.”
Keith grabbed one of the water bottles and offered it to Skyler. “It’ll do that to you. Feeling any better?”
“Not really. But I’m sure I’ll be fine by tomorrow. We can press on then.”
Skyler felt too tired to talk, but Keith went on as he fixed dinner, talking about the tryouts that he’d be holding next week. He was looking forward to being in charge of it. Apparently, every year, even boys who had been on the team, had to try out again. And then practice would be five days a week starting at five am. “Why so freakin’ early?” Skyler had asked.
“Because apparently, it’s freakin’ hot in the Inland Empire and if we don’t start that early it’s too damned hot for the kids.”
The Inland Empire had a shortened summer, with school starting again at the beginning of August. It gave the students and their families more time off for spring break and winter break, and it put the kids back in school sooner before they could forget all they learned over the summer.
Skyler was glad for it because he didn’t want the students to lag behind and he didn’t mind some of the time off either, though he knew from last year that much of that time was taken up with lesson prep and seemingly endless meetings.
Keith’s day with his students would be over by eleven, but he’d have plenty to do with the coaches and other plans for the rest of the day. For the two of them, it meant extra income during the two months off of school instead of digging into their savings, so Skyler didn’t mind. Besides, he’d be busy at the Lincoln museum making his own meager salary.
When dinner was ready, Skyler tried, for Keith’s benefit, to eat all his pepper steak. It wasn’t bad, as far as reconstituted food went. But in his present state, it tasted a lot like seasoned cardboard.
They flopped into bed when the sun set and surprisingly, even with the rocks in the small of his back, Skyler slept.
In the morning, he felt weird, dazed, and just as uncomfortable as he had yesterday. When he rubbed his eyes, even one of his eyes felt strange. “What the…?” He tried to open it but it was shut tight.
He elbowed his boyfriend. “Keith! Something’s wrong with my eye.” His fingertips glazed over it. It felt swollen and hot and if he pried at it he could open it a little.
Keith sat up and looked at him. “Holy shit. It’s swollen like a plum.”
“What? What happened?”
“Probably a spider bite.”
“A spider bite? To my eye?” Panic clutched at his chest, and he found it hard to breathe. The altitude didn’t help and he suddenly felt light-headed. “I’m gonna go blind!”
“Skyler, calm down. It’s just a little allergic reaction. And it probably just bit the eyelid. Can you open it at all?”
“No! God! The wilderness hates me.”
“Oh sweetheart, no it doesn’t.”
He felt like a stupid child, but he let Keith take him in his arms and hold him. He was tired, rundown, still achy, still a pounding head, and now his eye was shut tight with swelling. Would it ever end?
“Listen,” said Keith, kissing the top of his head. “I’m going to go up that ridge and bring back some snow for your eye. That will help. And take some Tylenol and some Benedryl. I’ll be right back.”
Skyler crawled out of the tent and looked up to the ridge. Yes, there was snow there, but it looked far. Though he couldn’t quite tell with the 2D vision of only one eye. “You’re going to leave me alone?”
Keith glanced across the camp but the Germans had left yesterday. “I’m just going to be up that ridge. You’ll be able to see me.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll be fine. And you’ll be fine.”
He touched it again. “Does it look terrible?”
Keith wasn’t very good at his poker face.
“I’ll be right back, Skyler. Try to relax, babe.” He leaned over and kissed him, cringed a little when he examined his eye, then grabbed one of their plastic bags and set out.
Skyler felt like a complete failure. Here he tried to be a macho backpacker for his man and all he did was fail miserably. Marmots, spider bites, altitude sickness. He was a mess.
§ § §
Even though he was able to watch Keith it took hours for him to return. Or at least it seemed like it. Once Keith was back, he put some of the snow into a clean sock, and pressed it gently to Skyler’s eye. “Just lay back, Skyler. Relax. I’ll take care of you.”
Skyler pressed the cold sock to his eye and looked up pathetically at Keith. Keith gazed at him for a long time, before he fished out his phone, put it to his ear, and walked some distance away.
Maybe he’s calling for a medevac to helicopter Skyler out of there. Was it that bad? Was it poison? Was he going to lose the eye? Was he going to die? He felt light-headed again from panicked breathing.
When Keith returned Skyler took the sock from his face and asked stoically, “Is it bad? You can tell me.”
Keith looked at his face this way and that. “It’s actually looking better. But tell you what, Skyler. I think that our little experiment has gone as far as it could. I think in a little bit we’ll pack up everything and head down.”
“No, Keith. This is your trip.”
“It’s our trip, babe. And the problem with altitude sickness is that the only cure is to go lower.”
“But Keith…”
Skyler watched dejectedly as Keith broke down the tent and carefully packed it all again. He also noticed how Keith put the majority back into his own pack rather than sharing it in Skyler’s.
It didn’t take long, and then Keith was crouching in front of him. “Let’s take a look at that eye.” He tugged the icy sock away from Skyler’s face and looked at it critically, touching it, prying the lid open. “Looks better. Let’s give you a drink of water and then we’ll be on our way.”
You’re treating me like a ten-year-old. But he didn’t say it aloud. He had no right to grumble when he was ruining Keith’s vacation.
He said nothing as Keith helped him on with his pack. And then they were going back down the trail they had arrived on only two days ago, through the tall pines, and then over the ridge to the dreaded switchbacks.
It was downhill and Skyler thought it would be easier but he hadn’t counted on the shock to his knees and thighs being in that semi-crouched state, tromping down, down.
But mile by mile, foot by foot, as they returned slowly to a lower altitude, he was beginning to feel better. Which all seemed a waste since they were going home. Ruining Keith’s trip. And he wouldn’t have another chance since the kids were starting tryouts on Monday.
A little over three hours total of hiking downward and they were at the trailhead parking lot again. Skyler trudged miserably behind his boyfriend and followed him to his truck. Keith helped him off with the pack and secured it in the truck bed and he did likewise with his own. Silently, Skyler climbed into the passenger seat, pulled down the visor, and looked in the mirror at his face. He was scruffy with two days’ worth of beard, but his eye! “Oh my God!”
He stared at it. His eye was nearly shut—at least it had opened a bit with the application of the snow—but it was swollen and puffy with one tiny little red dot where the beast must have bit him.
“Looks much better,” said Keith.
“This looks better?”
“You should have seen it before.”
Skyler would have cried if he weren’t afraid of drowning his eye.
“I’m sorry I messed up your camping trip. I’m just not the world’s most masculine person.”
Keith had been pulling his seat belt strap over his chest and stopped mid-way. He let it slide back and turned to Skyler. “Whoa. Wait. Where’s that coming from?”
Skyler shook his head, staring at his hands in his lap. “I’ve always known it. I mean, I thought I was fooling everyone. Everyone at school, but it turns out I was only fooling myself. I thought I ‘passed’ as straight. What a joke.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’m not macho, okay? I know it.”
“Skyler, you are a masculine man.”
“No, I’m not. I get it. It’s the way I talk, the way I gesture, the way I move. It’s obvious.”
Keith scooted toward him, his right arm across the seat back so that he could lean in close. “Skyler, listen to me. You are masculine. The way you don’t back down in a fight. The fact that you never give up or give in. The way you stand up for the weak, the disenfranchised. And you’re strong, Skyler, in your convictions even in the face of opposition. You’re very masculine, in all the ways that matter. Masculinity isn’t what’s on the outside. It isn’t a hairy chest or a six-pack. It’s who you are inside and how you face the world. You’re the most masculine man I know.”
Skyler looked up at him sheepishly with his stupid puffed eye and his stupid shaggy face. “Really?”
Keith smiled gently. “Yeah. And you can beat up anyone who tells you otherwise.”
Sitting back, Skyler sighed. “I…I never thought of it that way.”
“Well you should.”
He stared at the dashboard for a moment before raising his eyes to Keith. “You really think I’m masculine? I thought you were attracted to me because I’m…you know.”
“I’m attracted to who you are. Not by any gender perceptions.”
Skyler felt a smile coming on. “And my cute ass.”
“Well…I did notice that, too.”
Keith gazed at him for a long moment before he leaned in and bestowed a soft kiss to Skyler’s lips. He reached over and stroked Skyler’s cheek. “Wow. I couldn’t even see this facial hair. You are really blond, aren’t you?”
Skyler reached up and felt his own cheek, rubbing it, touching the hairs on his chin and upper lip. “Feels scruffy, though. By the way, who were you calling earlier? For a hopeful moment there I was fantasizing that it might be a medevac helicopter.”
Keith snorted. “Uh…no. Actually…” He turned away and fastened his seat belt again. He took hold of the steering wheel. “I called the Independence Motor Lodge and made a reservation. King size bed, swimming pool, Jacuzzi. I felt you needed a little reward for giving backpacking a try.”
Skyler felt a lump in his throat. “Really? You did that for me?”
“And a little for me. To tell you the truth, my back isn’t as young as it used to be. Those rocks were killer.”
“But…that can’t be much of a vacation for you.”
He started up the truck with a roar of the engines. “Well, there is fishing locally so I can still do that. I hope you’ll come with me. And we can go on day hikes. Nice, sensible day hikes.”
“Where bears can’t eat me and spiders can’t bite.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Keith pulled the truck out of the parking area and turned onto the road. They barreled down the highway, and the town of Independence grew and grew in the windshield. When they got to Highway 395, Keith hung a left and drove a little way until they got to a 1940s motor court. It was clean and well kempt. Skyler loved the retro sign with its neon, the little cottonwood trees next to each door, and every room seemed to have its own front porch with Adirondack chairs and a small table. The turquoise pool was just visible between two of the bungalows and was a plain affair with a few tables with striped metal umbrellas and a few lounges, all with a chain link fence around it. But it did have a spectacular view of the mountains, as he was sure each room did.
His spirits lightened considerably. He had been willing to give the week a go, even after he discovered how hard it would be…with wild animals stalking their every turn. And he was saddened to be disappointing Keith like that, but at the same time, he was flooded with relief. He guessed he simply wasn’t cut out to be a mountain man.
Keith pulled the truck in front of the office and killed the engine. They both got out and walked through the entry that rang a bell above the door. Skyler delighted in every kitschy thing he beheld, from the colonial style of the desk to the cupolas on the roofs of the bungalows. There was white painted bead board on everything.
A man in a short sleeve dress shirt came out to the front desk and smiled. “What can I do for you gents?”
“I called a few hours ago. Keith Fletcher.”
“Oh, got your reservation right here, Mr. Fletcher. Let’s see. Oh! It’s one king bed. I can easily switch you to two queens…”
Skyler snorted a laugh.
“Actually,” said Keith, glaring at Skyler, “one king is what we’d prefer.”
“Oh.” The man typed on the keyboard, stealing glances at Skyler, before he printed out their reservations and had Keith sign it.
“Room Twenty-six. There’s free wifi in the rooms along with a coffee maker, fridge, and microwave. Pool’s open from eight to ten. There’s also a coin laundry by the pool. Have a nice stay.” He handed over a real key with the room number on a plastic fob.
Keith took it and steered Skyler out the door before he embarrassed himself with giggling. “Have you no self-control at all?” Keith hissed.
“’Would we prefer two queens?’”
“Stop it already. What are you, twelve?”
They grabbed their packs from
the truck bed and strolled over to their room. Keith unlocked the door and they walked into a stuffy little space. More white wainscoting in bead board, a cheap polyester quilt on the bed, a little built-in desk made of pine painted white, and in the bathroom an old-fashion tub and vintage cross handles. The tile was definitely original, and was pink with black diamond-shape accents. “I love it!” cried Skyler. He turned to Keith. “You’re pretty wonderful.”
“So if I’m that wonderful, I get the first shower, right?”
“Be my guest. But don’t be too long. I do not like me with a beard.”
Keith was quick as usual and when it was Skyler’s turn, he closed the door on the already steamy bathroom. He examined his eye in the mirror. The swelling was definitely going down. He wondered what the desk clerk thought of that.
After he was showered and shaved and dressed in fresh clothes, he felt human again. And it had only been two and a half days. He couldn’t imagine how he would have felt in a week!
Keith beamed. “There’s the Skyler I know and love.”
“All clean and shaved. And I’m starved,” he announced.
“I can boil us some dinner.”
“No thank you. Let’s find out what they call restaurants around here.”
“I've been looking at that.” Keith gestured with his phone. “Looks like most of them are back in Lone Pine. That’s just down the road about fifteen miles.”
They got into the truck and took to the highway. From their vantage, Skyler looked back at the sierras. He had underestimated them. They were deceptive in their looks. He had thought it would be easy, thought he could conquer them. But at least he had been up there, almost to the very top. That was a long way. He felt a little proud of that small accomplishment.
He couldn’t help but glance over at Keith. No one else would have done what he did, getting Skyler rested, fetching him snow! Finally ushering him down the mountain. Some other guy might have pushed him onward and maybe Keith should have. But Skyler was never more grateful for this man in his life.