Camping Trip [1]

CAMPING TRIP

I was out of breath and sweating; everywhere on my body was aching and millions of thoughts flew around and tumbled in my head. My sister was below me, her entire body covered in a thin layer of sweat, leaving a glow to her skin when the evening sun beamed down on her. She looked up at me, flashing that charming smile she always abused while biting her bottom lip, her eyebrows curling up to a sad, anxious expression. Her damp curly hair matted down around that angelic face while her small tank top clung to her form and flawless curves, not leaving much to imagination, especially after that rigorous episode that just happened.

The fuck did I just do? Am I stupid? Does she blame me? She totally did this. She knows that, right?

I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes, shaking my head and letting out a slow, assuring breath while I grasped her hand and pulled her up onto the embankment; the various tattered and destroyed equipment lay at the bottom of the gulch, including her tent and sleeping bag. I glanced back at my friends who were on the ground laughing, while some others, mostly their girlfriends, gave us pitiful looks, asking if we’re okay.

I re-check the straps on my backpack and pull them extra tight for safe measure, while my now bare-back younger sister clings to my waist to avoid falling.

“Yep, all good. Sh-.. I should have checked to make sure everything was fastened before we cleared that.”

Hannah mouthed a silent ‘sorry’ while looking up at me. I shook my head and smiled, ruffling her hair a bit and pulling her along with the back of the group of teenagers, only minutes away from our campsite.



It was the end of Summer, with Fall fast approaching and my parents knew I was going on a camping trip with friends. They were all bringing their girlfriends, and my parents knew I kept complaining about being that third wheel. Their solution? Bring my younger, introverted sister along. While she was only 16 years old and I was 17, she still had younger mannerisms that kept my mindset of treating her like a child. Apparently she was like God’s gift to our family; she was intelligent, caring, and above-all outrageously cute. Even as a sibling, I had to admire her incredible power of sweeping grown men off their feet at her charm.

Unfortunately I didn’t get that luck. Puberty hit me like a train, and it took years of hygiene, dieting, and exercise to attain my looks. I may not be the sexiest man alive but damn did I try to counter that with my body. It was no wonder up to this point I had admired her from afar; Hannah was in the major leagues and all the boys her age knew it. Only thing I could do was fight off the addicts and let her wits filter out the others. She’s never had a serious relationship, and for some reason that made me feel incredible. She is my sister, so maybe that’s sibling love. ..Right?



Anyway, due to our previous engagement, she kept her hand clung to mine while I zig-zagged between trees and rocky slopes, only taking another 15 minutes to get to our nice little secluded spot. The sun was soon to set, so getting all the unpacking done now meant for 2 days of relaxing, drinking, and enjoying ourselves. I shouldered off and set down my backpack while she stood idly by, a bit nervous to be around an older group. I exercised my patience and motioned her closer, asking for help to attach the poles together and to hold the corners of the tent steady to slide them in. Luckily we made up for our previous loss and finished the setting-up before anyone else. The dark-green tent was made of a thick material and was well crafted. Unfortunately it was a bit small, which is why the price was modest. I could only shrug when she gave me a worried look at the size and I began to unroll the thick, comfortable sleeping bag which came as a set, covering the entire surface area of the ground inside.

“Don’t stress, it’s okay, this happens. We’ll share the bag and worse comes to worse, we’ll figure out another sleeping arrangement tomorrow, okay?”

She nodded and I grinned, my hands going into auto-pilot while I unpacked the backpack, tossing together everything we would need and brought: books, matches, flashlights, batteries, etc.