3
Best Friends
I woke to the cry of a loon echoing over the still lake. Hannah was still sleeping, so I put on some warm clothes and quietly unzipped the front of our tent. Lilly and Madison were huddled around the fire pit with some mugs in their hands and I joined them.
"Morning, Jade," Lilly said. "Did you sleep well?"
"Like a baby. It must be all this fresh air and clean living. Hannah and I fell fast asleep shortly after our swim last night."
"No bear nightmares or intrusions?" Lilly chuckled.
"No, thank God," I said, wondering if Lilly and Maddie had heard the noise from Bonnie and Emma's tent. "Though I did hear some other rustling around the camp..."
"Oh?" Lilly said. "It might have been raccoons trying to steal our leftovers."
She looked up at the high tree branch where our garbage bag from last night still dangled twenty feet off the ground.
"Looks like they weren't able to solve our little challenge."
She handed me a steaming mug filled with dark fluid.
"Would you like some hot chocolate? Sorry we don't have fresh coffee, but we couldn't exactly fit a coffee maker in our backpacks."
I nodded at Lilly and took the mug between my two hands to warm my fingers.
"We're really roughing it, eh?" I said.
"Good one!" Lilly smiled at me. "You see—you're already starting to sound like a real Canadian."
I peered out across the quiet lake and marveled at the serene beauty of the landscape. The water was smooth as glass, and the sunrise reflected over the surface in a dimpled crimson glow. Tall evergreen trees rose from the rocky shore surrounding the lake, and there was no sign of movement other than a pair of low-flying geese skimming low over the water.
"It's gorgeous out here. You were right, Lilly. It's just as magnificent as you said it would be."
I took a sip of my hot chocolate, then peered up at her.
"So, what's on the agenda today? More skinny dipping and fish-wrangling?"
Lilly chuckled.
"We'll wait ‘til the rest of the girls get up. But I was thinking maybe another canoe ride and some more exploring. There's so much natural beauty to explore up here. We can try trolling for fish in the deep water. Maybe we'll catch a pike or a muskie. That'd be enough to feed us for a whole week!"
I heard the sound of a zipper opening as Hannah stepped out of our tent groggily.
"Morning, sleepy-head!" I called out. "Who's the lazy morning person now?"
"Ha!" Hannah said, taking a seat beside me on the log. "We're supposed to be chilling up here, remember? I haven't slept this well in a long time."
"So you didn't hear our little visitor last night?" I asked, probing to see if she'd been woken up by Bonnie and Emma's little play date.
"We had a visitor?"
"I just heard a bit of rustling around the camp." I glanced up toward our hanging trash bag. "Lilly thinks it might have been a raccoon trying to reach our little waste receptacle."
"Speaking of," Hannah said. "I think I need to do a little disposal of my own. What's the protocol up here?"
Lilly reached behind her log and threw Hannah a roll of toilet paper.
"Do as the bears do," she said. "There's a small spade over by the tree. If you can dig a shallow hole and bury it when you're done, it'll help keep the place clean for other campers."