Grant stepped out of his pick-up truck and pointed to the river bend as Hazel stepped out of the truck on the other side. He drew in a deep breath and grinned. “Can you smell that?”
Hazel nodded her head. “I smell something… dirt, maybe?”
Grant smirked. “Come on, Hazel. I love camping and I want to share this experience with you. I used to come here all the time with my dad.”
“You make it sound as though your dad is gone.”
“I don’t mean to. I know you say you hate camping, but you’ve never been before. I just want you to experience it and if you don’t like it, then we’ll never do it again.” Grant said. He stuck his hand out to his girlfriend. “Deal?”
“No deal,” Hazel took his hand and he led her down to the stream. “I’ve never been camping because I’ve had no interest in it and I don’t think I’m going to last out here. But I don’t want you to never go camping again because of me. If I really don’t like it, I’ll still come with you once in a while.”
Grant kissed the back of her head. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Hazel replied, “but I might kill you by the end of the weekend.”
“Have you ever skipped rocks before?” Grant asked ignoring her comment.
Hazel narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, I skip rocks in my above-ground pool…”
“Alright, alright. No need to be snippy.” Grant chuckled. “Find some flat rocks.” He let go of her hand and started looking on the ground.
“Shouldn’t we build the tent?” Hazel asked pointing to the truck. “Or build a fire or something? Doesn’t that keep bears away?”
“Oh, I found one.” Grant said still ignoring her. Though now he was wondering if this was such a great idea. This whole weekend might be filled with Hazel panicking and him trying to calm her down and convincing her they won’t get eaten by bears.
“Great.” Hazel sighed. “How is that little rock going to protect us from the bears?”
“Calm down, would you? We’re not going to get eaten and the rock is for skipping.” Grant got behind her and pushed her toward the water.
“If you push me in…”
“Would I really do that to you?”
“Yes,”
Grant hesitated. “Well, not right now I wouldn’t.”
“Gee, thanks…” Hazel grunted.
Grant, without another word, put the rock in her right hand and held onto her arm from behind. He did a couple of swinging motions before telling her to let go of the rock. She did and the rock plopped into the river.
“Huh.” Grant stood up straighter. “That was a lot more romantic in my head.”
Hazel burst out laughing. She turned around and gave Grant a kiss on the cheek. “You’re a delightful idiot, you know that?”
“I’d like to think so.” Grant agreed deciding to take it as a compliment.
“It seems like we both need some practice skipping rocks.” Hazel stated. “I bet, by the end of the weekend, my rocks will go much farther across the river than yours.”
Grant grinned. “You’re on!”
The two of them pushed away from each other and spent a good chunk of their afternoon scurrying about the shore in search of flat rocks, tossing them into the river, but none of the rocks going very far.
Words: 568
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