Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 30148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
He jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over the tent, then stomped out. “I’ll just go see a bear about that firewood.”
“You do that,” I called, then grabbed my shoes. “Just be safe. Remember, act big when you’re small.”
“I am big,” he snapped.
I held up my hands and followed him out of the tent, still laughing, though the laughter was short-lived once we were five minutes into our walk for kindling.
“August,” I hissed. “Don’t move.”
I saw everything before he did. He was clearly still delirious from waking up with a boner and had zero brain cells left. I was still triumphantly telling myself it was because I caused it, made him dizzy with thoughts and confessions. I should hate him, but in those moments, I kind of wanted to throw myself all over him and make him crazy again just to see what he’d say.
August held up his hands without looking back at me. “Why am I not moving? If this is your weird idea of freeze tag, I’m not a fan. I’m too hungry, tired, horny—and yes, I said horny, so get over it—to deal with a prank right now.”
“It’s at the campsite behind us. I think it’s a bear, or maybe that raccoon again. It’s hard to tell from here with the tree branches blocking a lot of my view.”
“Is it white? Brown? Black? Does it climb? Is it a matter of life or death? Is it eating my chocolate? Because I swear if those Hersheys get stolen, I will lose my shit.”
“It’s not eating your chocolate; it’s chewing on those tongs we used to move the hotdogs around.”
He exhaled. “My fault. I should have put them away.”
“Either way, it's not looking like a grizzly,” I said as the animal wandered off.
“He’ll be back.” He slowly looked over his shoulder, hands still up like we were in a holdup. “He’ll be back for sure after tasting that wiener.”
I stared.
August stared right back.
I stared harder.
He sighed. “It’s still early. My brain isn’t functioning.”
“I kind of like not-functioning August.” I winked. “And I think it’s a she.”
“How so?”
“Safe to say, the tree branches are no longer an issue, and she’s huge. Like she’s carrying her young.”
“Shh, quiet. It could spur her to turn back and chew on things, mainly us. Us equals things.”
“Well, she took our shelter, and we’re seconds away from climbing up into our own tree right now. So, I’m sorry for panicking about the thief.”
The sound of wolves howling filled the air. August cursed under his breath. “Yeah, well, that checks out, doesn’t it? Why not add wolves to the mix of hell from nature?”
“Shh.” I clapped a hand over his mouth. “They’ll hear you. And I can’t run faster than you.”
August slammed my hand away. “That was actually an option for you? Letting me die?”
I winced. “I mean, as long as it’s not me.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And you’re just—” My mouth dropped open. “Don’t move.”
He froze. “Those are not safe words in a safe sentence.”
“Just…” My eyes were wide as I took in the situation. “It’s not a big deal, just stay very still while I think.”
“Think about what? What thoughts? What’s going on?” he hissed between his teeth. “Hazel?”
“It’s going to be fine.” I said it like it was true while panic ensued.
Chapter Eleven
“When all else fails, pivot.”—Hazel Titus
August
“Are you allergic to any sort of insect?” Hazel asked slowly as she pulled her hand away from the tree and stared me down. “You know, like murder hornets or something crazy like that?”
“Those exist?” I asked, my voice cracking while still looking behind her and wondering if I had to find a machete because of the bear or just roll around in the sand to repel insects.
“No. I mean, yes, but we don’t have any here right now. It was just a general question after the whole don’t-move thing.”
“Bees.” My dark, hushed tone wasn’t making me feel better. If anything, it was like I already knew. “I’m allergic to bees, the honey ones.”
“Oh.” She perked up like she’d just gotten a shot of adrenaline and clapped her hands in front of her. “Good. Because I think it’s just a really big hornets’ nest, but it’s scary close to your head, and they just started moving a lot. I think if we move a lot with them, then they’ll move more, so maybe we very slowly climb up past them. Or just take our chances with the bear.”
“How many hornets?” I ground my teeth.
“A lot.” The buzzing picked up near my right ear. I nodded and slowly started moving toward her. The tree bark was rough against my palm. We could easily go up past the hornets’ nest and wait for the bear to leave, or we could just make a run for it toward the water and hope it would scare the bear and not make him or her chase us.