“Let’s go for a walk.”
Staci sat up, and looked down at him like he was crazy. Brian grinned.
“Don’t look at me like that. Don’t you think it would be romantic?” he asked, sitting up also. Staci shrugged.
“I guess so.”
“C’mon! Let’s go!” Brian smiled, got up, and pulled Staci up with him. She sighed to herself.
‘I can’t believe I’m doing this. What if we get lost…? Wait a minute, we could get lost!’ She thought to herself. She quickly stopped Brian, and turned him around to face her.
“B, what if we get lost?” she asked frantically.
“Baby, don’t worry, we won’t. I’m here, so everything will be fine.”
Staci rolled her eyes.
“What?” Brian asked.
“I swear, if we can’t find our way back here, you’re gonna get it!” she threatened. It was Brian’s turn to roll his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah…”
They both grabbed an extra sweater in case it got cold, and made sure they had fresh batteries in their flashlights. Staci grabbed a pack, and put some extra food and water in it. Brian looked at her, confused.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Just in case…” Staci mumbled, and zipped up the bag. She walked past Brian outside, and waited for him to follow. He climbed out and sealed up the tent. He grabbed her hand, and led the way into the forest. They talked quietly, enjoying the peaceful night, and each other’s company. Brian looked up at the stars filling the night. Suddenly, he reached his arm up and pointed to the sky.
“See that star that stands out from the others?” Brian asked Staci. She looked up to where he was pointing.
“Yeah, I see it.”
“That’s our star. I’m making it official. I always see it when I’m at home, and it just reminds me of you. I don’t know why. It just seems to stand out, and it’s so bright and beautiful.”
Staci smiled, and squeezed Brian’s hand tighter.
“I like that idea very much,” she whispered, staring up at the heavens. Brian sighed, and started walking again, gently pulling Staci with him.
“This is so calm and relaxing,” Staci breathed. Brian nodded, putting his arm around her waist, pulling her close. Staci sighed happily, resting her head against his shoulder. Brian led the way along the path, turning every now and then, while the couple talked quietly amongst themselves. Staci stopped walking, and looked down at her watch. She pushed the Indiglo button in order to check the time.
“Brian, maybe we should head back soon. It’s after 11:00,” she suggested looking up. Brian nodded.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Don’t want to end up falling asleep too late.”
He took her hand once again, turned around, and began walking in the opposite direction they were heading to.
“You know what?” Staci asked suddenly.
“What?”
“I really had fun today. It was so nice to get away from your hectic life and spend at least a day together. We haven’t been alone in a LONG time!” Staci professed.
“Yeah, I know,” Brian agreed. “We both really deserved this. You needed a break from school and work also. Both of us need to get away more often.”
“It’s kind of hard though when we’re both always busy, and in different ends of the world half the time.”
“You know what?” Brian began. “I’m either gonna fly you out to where we are or I’m gonna fly home whenever we have a day off.”
Staci looked at him questioningly.
“Isn’t that going to be really expensive?”
“Baby, if you haven’t noticed yet, I’m in no financial trouble or anything! Trust me, I can afford it, and you can’t put a price on our relationship.”
“Yeah,” Staci agreed. “I guess you’re right.”
“Babe, I’m always right!” Brian exclaimed proudly. Staci rolled her eyes at his confidence. He laughed, hugging her close.
“Brian?”
“Yes.”
“Shouldn’t we be back by now?” Staci asked, looking around, seeing nothing but trees.
“I don’t think so. We’re going back the exact way we came.”
Staci looked down.
“Brian, we have a problem. First of all,
we didn’t go in a straight line when we were walking before, you were taking
us in all directions, and secondly, we’re not on a path anymore.”