Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
Jaxson was awake. He didn’t move. Neither did she. It was like they both stopped breathing, and then quickly, as if on some kind of drug, they pulled away from one another at exactly the same time.
She looked at him, he looked at her. They stood, with only a small gap between them. “Morning,” she said, realizing if they even argued right now and an ogre appeared, they were going to die. Neither of them was prepared for an attack.
The best way to deal with this was to pretend it wasn’t happening.
“Morning,” he said.
“How did you sleep?” she asked. It was a perfectly reasonable and non-loaded question as far as she was concerned.
“Good. You?”
“Yeah, I slept well.”
Calliope didn’t know the last time she had slept that well. It had been a long time.
She didn’t know what to say to him. If she looked down, she might bring the direction of the conversation to the fact his ... dick was hard. Not that she knew if it stood out against his pants. This was just too much.
“Uh, how are you?” she asked.
“I’m good. You?”
“I’m ... great.” She offered him a smile.
They were going around in circles.
“I need to pee,” she said.
“Right, right. I guess we use cover around us, and some of these leaves, which might help.”
She chuckled. “That is a good idea. Such a great idea.” And she was reaching.
They turned their backs on each other, and Calliope found a spot. This was insane. She couldn’t believe she was using the great outdoors as a bathroom. It was odd, but a small bucket of water appeared, and she knew it was there for her to wash her hands.
“Okay, manifestation,” she said. “This is pretty neat.”
She couldn’t deny how cool that was. Also, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and even a comb, and some deodorant appeared. Now, this was just plain creepy, but she was not about to say that to the ... magic apparatus. If they wanted to appear out of thin air, then so be it.
Once she had washed herself as best she could, brushed her teeth, and even combed her hair, she felt good. Alive. Like herself.
As if by magic, her clothes changed as well. She was still in jeans and a shirt, but this time, the shirt was not thick, and she was wearing a vest.
“Oh,” she said.
Stepping out from beyond her cover, she found Jaxson standing near a fire.
“Did you make this?” she asked.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his jeans were riding low, showcasing his body. A body she hadn’t seen in a very long time.
“I came back and here it was,” he said. “I guess we did good, and we get to eat. There is bacon and sausage, eggs, and even some tomatoes.”
“That sounds good. So, uh, after, you know, you used the bathroom, did water and stuff appear?” she asked.
“Yeah, they did.”
“Thank you. I thought I might be going a little crazy, but it’s nice to know this place is providing everything. Even the change of clothes.” She picked at the vest top she was wearing.
“Yeah, I’m not sure I’m liking this change,” Jaxson said.
“Where is your shirt?” she asked.
“I wasn’t given one.”
“And I was given this vest top. Okay, so I guess today it’s going to be hot?” Calliope didn’t even need to take a second guess, as the heat was already rising. “They do know I am human, right?”
“Yeah, they know.”
“So, what do we think this change of temperature is all about?”
He shrugged. “I guess the heat gets to a lot of people. They either make sound decisions, or bad ones, or ... you know...”
“Sexy ones?” Calliope asked.
Jaxson nodded.
“Yeah, they really are attempting to take this out of our hands, aren’t they?”
“I guess we could say they’re acting in our best interests,” Jaxson said.
She couldn’t help laughing.
Jaxson looked good without a shirt on.
It didn’t take long for their breakfast to cook, and by the time she took a bite out of the sausage, she was starving, and it was getting hotter with every passing second.
They finished their food without a word, and then had some gulps of water. Calliope leaned back and titled her head toward the burning sun.
“Do you think we should stay here?” she asked.
“No, I think we need to keep moving. It will help us.”
She nodded and got to her feet. There was now a second backpack, and she picked it up and followed behind Jaxson.
“It feels wrong to be leaving this camp. We’ve got everything set up for us to make some food and possibly get some good sleep.”
“Yeah, and an easy place for us to get attacked,” Jaxson said. “Remember, there are still dangers around.”
“Yeah, but what if they are only part of our manifestation? What if we actually get along and nothing bad happens?” Calliope asked. She sounded a little too hopeful, even to herself, and it made her wrinkle her nose.