Elouise
Holding a hand over my mouth,I try to muffle my cough.
Why did I bring vodka? I should’ve brought a bottle of wine. Or a few cans of hard cider. Or literally anything other than straight vodka. But it seemed the most compact and discreet option when I was packing.
I plug my nose and take another sip.
“Don’t sip it. Gulp it.”
Rebecca’s voice startles me so bad that I end up inhaling half a mouthful.
“Christ, woman!” I cough out. “What the hell?”
She laughs and crawls over to where I’m sitting, “Gimme.”
I hand her the bottle and watch as she takes a pull of the clear liquid like a pro.
“Thanks,” she hands it back.
“You’re welcome,” I screw the cap back on and set it in my bag. “You sick of Bob’s moves already?”
Rebecca shakes her head, “Not yet. I just came for my blankets. It was freezing in there last night.”
“I bet,” I grumble.
She eyes me as she bundles up the blankets in her arms, picking up on my displeasure. “You okay in here? Did you want me to stay?”
“No, no.” I wave her off. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Totally sure,” I nod. “It’s just been a day and I’m ready for sleep.”
She smirks, “I’ll be ready for sleep in about 30 minutes.”
I wrinkle my nose, “Ew.”
Rebecca laughs and makes her way back out. “You know what they say… If the tent is a rockin’…”
“Ohmygod, get out!” I look for something to throw at her, but she’s zipping the tent shut before I can find anything.
As silence settles around me, so does the cold.
I glance at the bag with the vodka, wondering how much I’d need in order to not feel it when I freeze to death tonight. But on the off chance I survive, I don’t want to drink so much that I have to get up and pee.
With nothing left to do, I reach over and turn off the lantern, allowing darkness to descend upon me.
I know that I’m not the last one to fall asleep, but the space between the tents must act like a sound buffer because the eerie quiet makes me feel like I’m all alone in these woods.
After trying to get comfortable for several minutes, I finally accept defeat and sit back up.
Since I had to use my normal sleep shirt as a towel this morning, I was left with just my thin tank top to sleep in. So I thought I’d layer on my sweatshirt for warmth, but try as I might, I just feel too restricted to get comfortable. Add that to the small sized sleeping bag and I’m about ready to scream myself to sleep.
With minimal struggling, I get the sweatshirt off, straighten my tank top and shimmy back down into my sleeping bag. Then, feeling like a genius, I lay the sweatshirt over my sleeping bag like a mini blanket.
There. Better.
Silence answers me.