Chapter 5: Forests and Friendships pt2

We had our own cabin. My parents called it a cabin, but it was huge. It had a separate bedroom and an additional sleeping nook with two single beds upstairs, and two bathrooms, and a huge kitchen, and a whole lot of stuff. I enjoyed taking a bath a lot. It was like going for a swim in the river, except you could make the water warm and nobody watched.

Lately, I don’t like somebody watching me when I’m naked. I will be 12 soon. My body will begin to change soon. I am not afraid – I read a lot about it. I know that I will grow hair in all kinds of places and my breasts will swell and ache and someday I will start bleeding once a month, and one day, when I’m old enough, I will be able to bear children. I know all about these things. Still, it’s a different things to read about it in a book – lots of books, in fact – and experiencing it yourself.

Anyway, I appreaciated the opportunity to be alone with myself in the quiet comfort of the bathroom. After that, I had to go exploring. I can’t stand to be cooped up in a building for a long time. School is bad enough as it is. But school is over for this summer, and I won’t worry about it for now.

My mother made pancakes for breakfast and we ate them standing in the kitchen because we were too excited about what the trip would have to offer to sit down. Mother told me to be friendly to strangers – if I ever wasn’t – and to have fun with Oliver.

For now, I was happy not to see Oliver. I had to explore the woods first.

“Well”, my father said, “you probably won’t get lost, but still, try not to get into trouble.”

“Me, getting into trouble?”, I asked with a sweet smile that I knew always defeated his resolve. “Of course not.”

I knew father would go to the comminuty camp and play guitar as soon as my parents settled in. And my mother would probably spend time talking to everybody in sight. So I had the entire day on my own.

This part of the woods was very exciting. Tall pine trees, lots of open spaces beneath them. It was beautiful. I felt like I belonged there. Soon I forgot my problems at school or the lack of like-minded people to share my thoughts with and lost myself in observation of nature and life happening all around me.

There had been a really magical place with a pond and a waterfall. I spent there some time, watching the fish in the clear water and listening to the falls.

At some point, I lay down and watched a pair of eagles soaring above the falls. One even swooped down to catch a fish!

It had been so peaceful there. I fell asleep and woke up when it was full dark.

I had to make my way home in darkness. Thankfully, my parents had gone to sleep already, otherwise they would have scolded me for staying out for so long.