Ember Of Hope

She had packed a day before so she revised her mental checklist to see if she had missed anything. She was just about to grab a book when the door to her apartment banged open and in came Sarah like hounds of hell were chasing her. Raegan rolled her eyes at her best friend’s antics.

“Damn it’s cold outside today”. Sarah plopped down next to her after dumping the breakfast bags on her kitchen counter.

“Dude I think I need to confiscate the keys from you. I thought it was a thief. If I was anywhere near that door, I’d have clocked you”.

“Hah. Even if it was a thief, what’d he have found in here? Books?” Sarah laughed.

Raegan punched her in the shoulder. “How’d it go? What did your parents say?”

“Well, they weren’t exactly happy about you going with a bunch of strangers by yourself, but I managed to convince them that you’re a big girl, you’ll be alright. Besides, your parents would’ve let you go. They just care about you, you know.”

“Yeah I know. And I love them for it”. She sighed.

“Hey. Come here”. Sarah leaned forward and hugged her tightly. “Now you owe me Vegas”. She said in a singsong voice making her laugh.

“Yeah I know, I know”.

“I have something for you. You’ll love it”. Sarah said, reaching for her purse near her feet.

“Oh yeah? What’ve you got me?” Raegan grinned broadly. She and Sarah were almost telepathic in some matters. They always knew what to get each other for birthday gifts or what the other wanted to eat.

“Here, see for yourself.” Sarah extended a small gift bag towards her. And as soon as she peeked inside Raegan squealed with delight.

“Oh. My. God. This is perfect.” She said examining the Nordic locket with a dragon’s head dangling on an antique long chain. She was a sucker for Nordic jewelry. She already had one with a wolf’s head and that too was a gift from her best friend. “You are the best”.

Sarah laughed, “Yeah I know”.

“Let’s eat. I’m starving”. Raegan grumbled.

“Yeah let’s”. They didn’t bother for plates and dug in the boxes of food Sarah had just brought.

Raegan looked at the time and stood, “I think we should probably head out now if I want to be on time”.

“Let’s go Bilbo. Let’s get you to the company of James Hunt”. Sarah said; quoting The Hobbit. And off they went.

………………………………

Once Sarah had dropped Raegan off at the coffee shop where she was to meet with Chris and Taylor, the two with whom she’d then be going to the airport, she ordered herself another dose of caffeine because she believed in “you can never have too much coffee”, and waited. Chris was a new yorker like her while Taylor was actually from Texas but had been living in NY for 6 years now.

They had been introduced on a Skype conference call to get acquainted with one another before the trip. And now it seemed the wait was over as she saw Taylor entering the coffee shop with her luggage. She waved to let her know she was already here and the girl came over and sat down in the seat opposite her. She rubbed her hands together and blew into them; “It’s really cold today”.

“Yeah it is. How are you Taylor?” she inquired politely.

“Good, good. Chris isn’t here yet? We don’t have a lot of time before we have to head out for the airport, do we?”

“Nah we don’t so he better hurry”. And as if summoned, Chris entered the cafe and found them in no time.

“Hiya ladies”. He chirped.

They greeted him in unison. “We were about to leave you behind, you know”. Raegan grinned at him.

“Nah I don’t believe you. You couldn’t possibly leave me behind or you’d have been too bored on your tour without me. Besides, I’m too pretty to be left behind.” he grinned, flashing perfect white teeth, “Right Taylor?” Chris winked at her and she blushed. She actually blushed. Damn girl. Raegan looked at her phone to check the time and they only had enough to grab a coffee and hail a cab.

Chris was fun and Taylor was a shy little goat with big, thick rimmed glasses. She was pretty in a nerdy way. The flight went well with Chris cracking jokes and Taylor laughing shyly at every one of them, good or not. That girl had a massive crush on him but Chris was most definitely more interested in talking to Raegan about their journey ahead than being asked what his hobbies were aside from traveling to archaic sites. Too bad she wasn’t looking for a guy right now.

Their first stop was Jamestown. There, the whole group was to meet at the hotel where they’d be staying for the next three days and then travel to Jefferson via Richmond before heading for Shenandoah National Park at the end of their fortnight tour. They had settled in their respective rooms and now all they had to do was wait for the remaining team to arrive.

………………………………

The three day stay in Jamestown went by so fast that she couldn’t believe it had happened. When she first saw James Hunt, she was like a kid meeting his superhero for the first time in life… star struck and all awkward. On the other hand those three days were enough of a time for her to get friendly with the whole group. And she had a concrete belief now that Taylor was already in love with Chris. The girl had stars in her eyes whenever Chris talked or even looked at her. It was cute to watch her blush. But something told her that for whatever reason, Taylor didn’t like her very much.

Days passed as if in a blur and Raegan found herself in the Shenandoah National Park, about to fulfill a dream. Chris had become a dear friend on this tour and she was glad for his company. Sometimes she would catch Taylor eyeing them when they were laughing or walking together and she thought that Taylor was jealous of their easy friendship. Maybe it was only because Taylor herself wasn’t brave enough to befriend Chris on her own. He was very kind towards her but they didn’t have the kind of easy going friendship like he and Raegan did.

The trek started and only two days into their journey, people were starting to show their true colors. A fight barely fell short of turning into a flat out brawl and there were quite a few mean comments and ugly sneers. Poisonous insects and huge mosquitoes can do that to a person. But Raegan was in her own little piece of heaven… never having felt the kind of freedom she was feeling there in the wild. It called to her soul… like she was finally reaching a place she was meant for.