The Journey
Chapter 12
By Sunshine Boy
Dan sighed. He could lie with Sam forever it felt so...right. Sam was so warm and soft, he even smelled good.
"Hey bud?" Dan said softly.
"Mmm"
"We need to get up, we're probably way behind where we should be right now."
Sam sighed and Dan reluctantly pulled himself away.
Wearing only his undershorts, Dan stepped out into the cool mist outside the tent.
"Hey Sam, get up, you have to see this. It's beautiful."
"Coming." Sam moaned and dragged himself out of the tent also with only his underwear on. A heavy fog only a metre deep had settled over the black glassy lake. It drifted up the side of a mountain across the lake, almost right to the top. Only the mountain's bald, rocky peak was exposed. The sky was overcast with shades of grey and blue and becoming pink and orange around the bright spot that was rising over another mountain in the east.
"Damn." Sam whispered in the quiet stillness.
By this time Dan had found a suitable tree and the sound of him relieving himself made Sam giggle. "All this beauty and you just had to."
"What? I had to go." Dan said as he looked over his shoulder and grinned.
*
Beau finished deleting random system files just as Mrs. McKinnon entered the room.
"There seems to be something wrong with your computer."
"What do you mean?"
"I think you got a virus, a lot of your programs don't work including your Internet."
"Are you sure?"
"Well I don't know for sure but I had this exact problem once and it turned out to be a virus. They could fix it for you at the computer shop but it might be expensive, if you like I could fix it."
"That's alright Beau I don't want to trouble you further."
"Alright then. I'll get you an update about Dan from my computer. I really don't mind sending you updates for as long as you need them, after all, I'm already looking them up myself."
"I'm sorry to waste your time Beau, if I'd known this had happened to my computer I never would have called you over."
"It's okay, I had nothing better to do today anyway."
"Well I guess when Frank gets home I'll have him take the computer into the shop. I hope they can recover my files."
"Let me look at it, I got my computer certification this year, I'm sure I can fix it without compromising your files."
"No no, the shop will fix it."
"Okay then. Call me when you get it fixed."
*
Beau drove home with a huge grin on his face and things only got better when he got home. The previous day he'd called Tonya and left her a message suggesting they go see an appropriate chick movie he'd read about in the entertainment section of the paper. When Beau got home from Dan's house she called.
"Really? Okay, sure yes. Mhmm. That sounds great. Oh no worries I have a car. Of course. Tomorrow? Right, see you then. Okay bye.
Score!"
20 minutes latter Beau was just getting ready to go for a run when work called. "Beau I know you don't work today but Cody called in sick. Could you please cover for him, I'll pay you time and a half." Beau sighed. "Okay I'll be there in 15 minutes." And so it was that Beau spent the rest of his day serving ice cream and the like down at the local park.
*
Dan and Sam were walking side by side along a road that climbed a mountain pass and dropped back into the next valley. The road was really only a small gravel service road but at the highest point there was a small picnic site that had a breathtaking view of the valley they had climbed out of and the lake that the campsite was on. As they walked past the picnic area Dan glanced over and saw a boy his age sitting on a bench with a girl in his arm. Dan stared for a moment then looked over at his other side and saw Sam. Latter that day Dan would write in his journal, 'isn't it ironic, I paid $1,500 thinking I'd find a girl when It was over but here I am not quite half way through and I find that more and more I like Sam. I'm not gay; at least I thought not when this started. Something has happened to me, being so far from home, these mountains and trees and this boy...they've done something to me, something that scares me. I have to see this through however, as much as it scares me, it scares me more that if I don't see this through then I'd never know. I'd wonder what might have been. Sam doesn't feel for me what I do for him, he can't I'm sure. When this is all over the computer will choose a nice girl. In the mean time, I'm going to try my best to enjoy being in Sam's company without unnerving him."
Camp was made in a new valley on the shores of a different creek. During the day Dan had picked up some subs at a convenience store and they ate some more pork and beans.
After supper, Dan made tea and Sam settled into his arm as now had become custom.
"Tell me a story Dan."
"About what bud?"
"Anything."
"Hmmm...let me think, ah...oh no wait I can't tell you that one...hmmm."
"Why not, what's wrong with that one?"
Dan grinned.
"What?" Sam asked.
"Your funny."
"Why?"
"You have no idea what the story is about but you think I'm hiding a good story from you."
"No I don't...well...tell me anyway, please."
"Well I honestly didn't really have much of a story in mind... I was going to tell you about the spiral tunnels... we'll be there in a while, maybe a week. They're really cool, these long spiral train tunnels that were cut into mount Ogden and Cathedral mountain like back in the early 1900's. they say they're haunted."
"Kewl, really? Have you been there?"
"Oh yeah, they're real, but I don't think they're haunted."
"Why do people think they are?"
"Well, I guess I do have a story to tell you." Dan smiled. He proceeded to tell Sam what he knew about the story, involving a worker who got blown up during the tunnelling.
*
"Cool. Is it true?"
"Well the tunnels are real, I don't know about the rest I could never find any reference to the event when I looked up the story a while back to use at a camping trip. My dad told me the story, my great grandpa had a house where the train now runs, he told grandpa the story and it got passed down...apparently he was involved in the construction. I'm sorry that I don't have anymore facts for you but that's all I have."
"That's okay, it was still a cool story."
There was a long pause then Dan tried to encourage more talk.
"How about you, did you have any family that saw cool things like that? You never talk about your family."
"Umm...no not that I know of. My family is boring, there's nothing to say really." Sam said quickly. Dan looked over at Sam and realized he was hiding something but decided not to push further.
"Well I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed." Sam said.
"Okay, I'll be there soon, I'm just going to write in my journal."
"Okay." Sam said as he got up. Dan sighed, as he had to release Sam then suddenly felt cold and empty without him in his arm.
Dan quietly wrote his entry and then joined Sam.
*
Sam was awakened by the sound of the campfire. The logs were snapping and crackling loudly. He opened his eyes slowly and saw that he was alone in his sleeping bag next to the fire. He sat up quickly, rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was surrounded by darkness, there was nobody, even the tent was gone! He heart was racing in his throat and he was starting to panic. Suddenly in the distance he could hear singing. He strained to hear it over the beating of his heart. "Dan!" He called, but after a moment he realized that it was a woman's voice a long way off. It was coming from right behind him and he turned quickly to see a faint flickering light coming toward him. The woman's voice was becoming clearer and clearer as she approached; she was carrying something that was making a flickering light. Sam realized that there were no words to her song just a beautiful melody. But as she got closer he grew afraid. He could almost see what she was carrying. Then suddenly with a violent motion she rushed at him head first with such speed he didn't have time to move. Just as he thought she would hit him he realized he was falling and he landed hard on his bottom on some something cold and black. The woman now face to face with him jumped back and started singing happy birthday at a tremendous volume. She sang faster and faster and danced around Sam with a flaming birthday cake. Her singing got faster and faster, her voice louder and louder and her dancing more violent and spasmodic. Sam realized right away that this woman was his mother. He wanted to call out to her to slow down before she hurt herself but he was too petrified with fear. As the woman danced, the black space around them turned white; a blinding white. He tried to close his eyes but he couldn't, and he couldn't cover his ears. Sam watched as the flames on the cake grew steadily higher and engulfed his mother's face. She didn't seem to mind though. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday..." She kept going faster and faster then suddenly she screamed and threw the cake away revealing her destroyed face. Sam screamed as her blackened skull flew at him laughing and screaming.
*
The first thing Sam realized was that he was being held and his natural instinct was to yell. In the instant before he was about to scream, a soft, urgent voice spoke his name and instead of a yell Sam gasped, "Dan."
"It's okay, I'm here." Dan said holding Sam tighter. Sam was sweating, breathing hard and shaking. "It was just a dream."
"I know." Sam gasped.
Dan had gone to Sam when he'd sat bolt upright yelling and still dreaming. Dan sat next to him holding him sideways. Now however he got up and sat on the pillow directly behind Sam. Putting one leg on each side of Sam, Dan pulled Sam against himself and held him tightly. "Shhh...it's okay." Dan whispered as Sam gradually calmed down.
"I'm sorry Dan, I just have these nightmares sometimes and..."
"Don't be sorry Sam, please don't be sorry around me, we all have nightmares there's no reason to apologize."
"Yeah but not nightmares like mine."
"What was it about?"
"It was bad." Sam said simply.
Nothing was said for a while.
"I guess I should go back to my side of the tent." Dan said sleepily; the time of night and the warm body in his arms was making him very drowsy.
"Do you have to? I don't want to sound like a little kid but that dream, it really bothered me. Could you stay just a bit longer?"
"Sure." Dan sighed. "But not much, I'm getting really sleepy."
*
The car was vacuumed and cleaned, the address looked up and memorized, and theatre times and locations were researched.
Beau pulled up at Tonya's house exactly on time because he'd been parked down the block waiting for the right time since he got there 20 minutes before.
Just as Beau was about to get out of the car and walk to the door, his passenger door was opened and Tonya got in. "Hiya." She smiled.
"Hey." Beau said in surprise, "I didn't see you coming or I would have opened the door."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Beau nodded.
"Cool."
There was a long pause before Beau recovered his bearings and started the car.
"So what movie are we seeing?" She asked.
"Umm... it's called the diary or something like that."
"The Notebook?"
"Yes that's it."
"You want to go see The Notebook?" Tonya asked surprised.
"Sure." Beau lied.
"Well okay. Hey, did you see Fahrenheit 911?"
"No I really want to though, I hear it's very good. Have you?"
"No." Pause. "Hey how about we see that instead of The Notebook?"
"Umm...okay, are you sure?"
"Sure I'm sure."
As Beau sat in the theatre next to Tonya it struck him, this was not what he'd expected. She'd insisted on buying her own ticket, she even engaged him in a fascinating political conversation before the movie which really shocked Beau because he always regarded his political side as geeky and best hidden from prospective girlfriends.
Afterwards as Beau drove Tonya home and they discussed the movie she asked, "did you really want to see The Notebook or did you pick a chick flick for me? Honest."
"I picked a movie for you." Beau confessed nervously.
"Cool." She was sincere and Beau felt suddenly warm and had to swallow hard to keep driving. Then without even thinking he turned on the stereo and the car was instantly filled with the music of the Beatles. Beau felt embarrassed but to his surprise Tonya was actually enjoying it. "The Beatles! Do you have paperback writer?"
"Sure, it's on one of these tapes, check the glove box." Beau answered.
When Beau pulled up at Tonya's house he was about to walk her to the door when instead she quickly thanked him for the movie, said they'd have to do something else soon, kissed him on the cheek and while he was recovering from that she got out and walked to her front door, turned and called "goodnight."
"Wow." Beau whispered and smiled back.
*
As Dan ascended the layers of consciousness to almost awake he became aware of the warm body he held very close to his. It reminded him of a stuffed teddy he used to sleep with and immediately he pulled the 'teddy' closer and planted a kiss on its bald forehead. Feeling shocked by the lack of fuzz on his 'teddy' he opened his eyes and gazed at Sam's face, fast asleep and inches from his own. Dan remembered sitting behind Sam, holding him because of a bad dream but that was it, he didn't remember falling asleep with him. Somehow he fell asleep and had ended up laying next to Sam in his sleeping bag, holding him. But it sure was comfortable, he felt amazingly peaceful and happy and that feeling grew ten fold when he suddenly realized that Sam was holding him back. It wasn't morning yet, the sky was still dark but Dan sensed that it would only be an hour or two before it began to grow light.
Sighing, Dan reached up and touched Sam's hair and was pleasantly surprised by how soft it was. He smiled and was about to fall asleep again when he realized that it might be a good idea to go back to his own sleeping bag at that point but he didn't think it would be possible to do so without waking Sam so instead he gave Sam another soft hug and closed his eyes.
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