[Home] [My Stories] [Previous] [Next]

Camping? Julie? For Real?

Part 2 of 2

Next morning we awoke early due to the unfamiliar surroundings and the sound of the birds singing all around us.  Brian and I slipped out of our zipped-together sleeping bags and went off to run the trails.  Julie didn’t join us; she was more interested in a little more sleep.  It was a beautiful morning.  Brian and I started out walking first just to get loosened up.  Then we did a few minutes of stretching.  Then we went into running mode - nothing record setting; just an easy run down the dirt trails.  We ran them all and then walked part of them again.  Walking is a good cool down, but being outdoors in the morning like that was so enjoyable that we just kept going, taking in all of the beauty of our natural surroundings.  It’s always so good to be back here.  It just feels like home. 

When we got back to our campsite after stopping to shower off first, we saw that Julie still wasn’t up and around yet.  We tried to be quiet as we got out something for breakfast, but we weren’t very successful and Julie came crawling out of the tent before long.  She was still in a sleepy stupor, so we were able to get away with lobbing off a few jokes and friendly insults at her until the coffee was ready.  Then she began to truly wake up and go on the offensive against us and start joking around again.  (“I had this terrible dream last night!  I dreamed I was stark dressed - in the middle of nudist camp!  Everybody saw me like that!  It was awful.  I was so embarrassed.  Oh wait!  Thank goodness.  I am bare ***!”)  On and on - there was no end to them.

I continued to introduce Julie to people as they happened to stop by as they were beginning to go about their various activities.  And I introduced Brian, too, if it was someone I knew and he didn’t.  There were a number of people that I’d never met before and – now here’s what’s embarrassing for me – there were a few I’d met before but had forgotten their names.  Everybody was good natured about it though.  Many asked Julie if this was her first time and she or I would tell a little bit of her background about that.  One person asked her if she was doing OK with it.  And true to form she said, “I’m doing OK except I’m kinda having withdrawal from not having to decide what to wear.”  As part of the act, she pretended to be worryingly searching through clothes in her closet.  Then in pretend exasperation, she said, “Oh, I have nothing to wear!”  Then as if she’d just had a sudden revelation she added, “Hey, wait a minute!  Maybe I could make that work for me here!”  That got a few laughs.  One of the ladies we were talking with laughingly said, “It’s likely your best outfit.”  Picking right up on it, another said, “It’s certainly your color.”  And still another said, “It suits you very well.”  Even though they were light-hearted responses to Julie’s joking around, they were complimentary and Julie picked up on that. 

Amanda came by and the three of us girls began to talk again, picking up where we left off last night.  Amanda had a lot of questions for Julie about college and fashion and living on her own in the city – and of course, there was lots of talk about guys and dating.  She and Julie continued to hit it off well.  I was very glad to see that, because I really wanted Julie to meet some people that she could interact with here and that had been a worry to me.  Julie is not always as open as she should be to others not close to her own age and having her interests.  Then Angie came by, too, and it was a foursome again.  She, being the youngest and still in high school had a little bit harder time keeping up with all of what was being discussed (and that was probably best), although she tried and was being fairly good natured about it.

If it sounds like Brian is being left out of a lot of this story, it’s only because there were times when I was hanging out with my girlfriends that he would go hang out with some of the other people camping around us.  Brian is a great conversationalist – I think I’ve told you that before.  He truly enjoys visiting with people – even people he may not have much in common with - so that’s how he spent a lot of the time when we weren’t right there together. 

The day warmed up nicely and we moved our conversation down to the pool for some swimming, soaking, and sunbathing.  It was a totally relaxing way to be.  We also went for some walks together.  Then I left Julie with the gang and Brian and I spent some time walking, talking, and visiting with others.  It’s so cool to just be walking along, meet someone, and just strike up a conversation.  People are just naturally in a talkative frame of mind here.  No one is rushing around for anything.  They just enjoy being where they are at the moment and enjoy talking to whoever happens to be there, too.  Everyone seems to have a genuine interest in the people they’re talking with right then and it’s easy to put yourself into that fame of mind, as well.  You just kind of let it happen.  Even though Brian had been here before, he still remarked on the freshness of it.  It’s so different from everyday life, although it shouldn’t be.  We should always have more interest in others than we do in just ourselves and our own frantic routines. 

As late afternoon settled in, we were hungry early, so we went ahead with fixing dinner and eating.  Many others were starting to do the same thing.  There were a lot of good smells in the air.  I always think it’s going to be a big hassle and disaster when I try to cook something outside, but things turned out fine – not always perfect – but plenty good enough.  Brian is pretty good at grilling and we had a tasty meal. 

After we were done and had everything put away, I organized another little sunset pilgrimage over to the hillside for the evening ritual.  Julie again poked a lot of fun at me about it, but Brian has come to appreciate the sunset like I do.  We picked up Amanda and Angie on the way, so there was a larger gang of us out there that evening.  It was again beautiful.  And while they all chattered away missing the magnificence of it, Brian and I sat side by side, my arm around his, taking it all in, hardly saying a word. 

We stayed out there until well after dark before we made our way back to our campsite and there we continued talking on well into the night.  Somewhere during that time somebody got the idea that all of us girls should spend the night at Amanda’s campsite.  Her parents had this screened in cabana kind of thing that they set up beside their camping trailer and that’s where she usually stayed unless the weather was really uncomfortable.  She and I had done that once way back when, when her family had invited me over to spend the weekend with them.  Angie was quick to accept; I declined.  I didn’t want to leave Brian all alone, but I encouraged Julie to go if she wanted to.  She finally decided that she’d hang with them. 

We gathered up Julie’s sleeping bag, moved it over to Amanda’s family’s place, and then the four of us went to do our bedtime regimens.  I resisted pressure from all of them to change my mind and stay with them, leaving them there and returning to our campsite.  Brian was already in the tent so I crawled in, zipped us in, and then slipped inside our sleeping bags.  It was getting a little chilly out and I was glad to be under the covers. 

“You’re warm,” I said as I snuggled right in next to him.

As he put an arm around me and pulled me close, he said, “And you’re cold, babe.”

“Mmmm…I’ll be OK now,” I said, enjoying the warmth and the closeness.

“Didn’t want to hang with the girls tonight?” he asked.  “You could, you know.  Sounds like they had big plans.”

“Huh-uh,” I said, snuggling in even closer to him.  “That was fine…when I was a girl, but now that I’m a woman – thank you very much – I’ll stay with my man.”

“No complaints from me,” he said. 

And then he gave me a long, languid kiss – the kind that leaves me breathless and my heart racing. 

“I love you so much,” I said, speaking exactly what my heart told me to. 

“I love you, too, babe,” he replied.  I love to hear him say that; his voice conveys so much sincerity. 

“So…” I said slowly in my just-for-him voice, “…now that we’re unexpectedly alone for the evening…”  I left the sentence unfinished, but not the thought.  

“You always know how to read my mind,” he said.

“It’s not your mind I’m reading,” I replied.  That drew a quiet laugh and then another of those kisses, the kind that tells me without a doubt that all of his attention is completely focused on me – just me.  I love that; my heart just melts for him in moments like these. 

When I recovered enough to speak, I said, almost in a whisper, “But listen, we’re gonna have to be really quiet, OK?  I don’t think this tent will hide any sound at all.” 

To which he responded, “Mmm-hmm” in a way that told me he wasn’t nearly as worried about it as I was.  Then another one of those lovingly luxurious kisses. 

Again, I had to catch my breath and then I said a little more earnestly, “I’m not kidding, babe, we’re gonna have to be really, really quiet.  OK?” 

I must have sounded a little bit like I was pleading, because he responded with, “I know, I know – really, really quiet.”  And then jokingly, he added, “Hey, don’t worry.  You won’t even know I’m here.”

But instead of laughing, I whispered, “Oh-h-h…you’re there alright!”


Next morning, we’d been out for a run and were back at our campsite having some breakfast when Julie came wandering in looking like she’d been awake all night (because they had).

With fake cheeriness in her voice, she asked, “Did you kiddies have a nice quiet night without me?”  

What a coincidental choice of words!  Brian and I looked at each other and smiled; I couldn’t help laughing.  Brian calls it my I-know-something-you-don’t-know laugh.

Julie was pouring herself some coffee.  Without stopping, she just shook her head and said, “Why do I not get the joke and yet I know what happened?”

As we were sitting there around our picnic table talking about her night, she mentioned to me that Angie had seemed a little bit put off or peeved about something.  Julie thought maybe it was because I had decided not to hang out with them and hadn’t really spent any time with her this weekend.  I knew from our e-mail exchanges that she was looking forward to her and I having some time together so I decided I needed to make sure she was at the top of the list today.  As we were putting things away, Amanda came over and while she and Julie were hanging out, I slipped away to go see Angie. 

When I got to their place, I visited with her parents for a little bit.  We knew each other from previous times I’d been there.  We talked about their son, Jason who I’ve also written about before.  He hadn’t come with them that weekend.  Finally, I asked about Angie.  Her mom said she was inside the camper and that she’d come home earlier than expected and seemed a little out of sorts about something, but wouldn’t say what.  She opened the door to their camper and told Angie that there was someone here to see her.  She appeared in the door. 

“Hey, girl!” I said in greeting as she stepped down out of the camper.

“Hey,” she said in response.  It looked like she’d been sleeping.

“Rough night?” I asked, laughing.

“Yeah,” she said, groggily pulling her hair back with both hands. 

“Wanna go for a walk?” I asked.  “You can tell me about it.”

“OK,” she said, yawning, stretching, still groggy and a far cry from being the usual animated bundle of energy she usually was. 

We started off down the path away from the camping area.  “So…did you have fun last night?” I asked, trying to get a conversation going.

“It was OK,” she said, sounding like she didn’t want to talk about it.

“Julie said it was fun,” I replied, continuing to try to engage her.

“She would,” Angie responded in a rather icy tone. 

Hmmm, wonder what this is all about, I thought.  At first I had thought she was ticked at me, but now I was sensing it wasn’t that.

“So…like…what happened?” I pried.

“Nuthin’,” was the reply.

I said, “Well, OK, but I can tell something’s bothering you.  Maybe I can help.”

“How?” she asked, just trying to put me off.

“Well, I’m you friend,” I said.  “I know you.  And…that’s what friends do…help each other…and be there for each other.”

We went round and round like that a little more, but finally it began to come out.  And as it did, it didn’t take me too long to piece together what happened:  someone had gotten Stitched.  Poor thing – she’d been completely blind-sided and still didn’t realize what had hit her.  And poor me – I had to try to explain it and smooth things over without laughing myself and making matters worse.  Not easy when you know all the players and can just see and hear it all happening just as surely as if you’d been there.  So I proceeded very carefully.

“You know, Julie sometimes over does it when it comes to joking around with people,” I said. 

No response.

“She didn’t mean anything by what she said,” I continued.  “Not for real.”

Still the silent treatment.  I’m sure Angie thought I was taking sides against her.

“I know it’s no fun to be the butt of somebody’s joke when you don’t want to be,” I said sympathetically.

“How would you know,” she said.  The iciness was still there.

“Well…’cause you’re not the first person Julie’s ever made fun of,” I said.  “She does that with everybody.”

“Even you?”

“Oh yeah - especially me,” I said and then added “She doesn’t mean anything by it.  It’s just her way of having fun and trying to make people laugh – even the one she’s pulling the joke on.”

“Well…it’s not always funny,” Angie said.  Then after a pause, added, “Has she ever thought about that?”

“You’re right,” I agreed.  “She’s takes it way too far sometimes – no doubt about it.”

“I mean, not everybody’s gonna be like her,” Angie said, finally realizing I wasn’t against her.

“True.”

“…or Amanda,” she added.

“…or Amanda,” I repeated in agreement.

“So, like, what do they think anybody can do about it?” she asked, irritated. 

“They’re…not even thinking like that,” I explained.  “They were just having fun and yeah, it was at your expense and yeah, they should’ve been a lot more sensitive to the fact that you didn’t think it was funny.  That’s their fault – not yours.  But look, knowing Julie like I do, I can tell you for sure that she didn’t mean anything by it and that she’s probably long forgotten all about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  It’s like…she doesn’t plan this stuff.  It just happens.  Boom.  And then it’s over.  That’s it.  That’s all there is to it.” 

“So I should just, like, forget about it?”

“Well, yeah,” I said and then added as more or less a rhetorical question, “I mean, what else are you going to do?”

“Well, I didn’t mean, like, beat her up or anything,” she said intentionally being silly for the first time since this whole conversation started.

“That’s good,” I said acknowledging her changeover to light-heartedness - a welcome change. 

Then with that little gleam of orneriness returning to her eye, she added, “But I bet I could.”

“I bet you could, too!” I said, laughing with her, but hoping she wasn’t getting any crazy ideas. 

As we walked on down the trail and continued talking, we came past this small shed or outbuilding a little ways off and there was a flower bed along the side of it closest to us; the purpose of which must have been an attempt to beautify an otherwise not very beautiful structure. 

“Those are pretty flowers over there,” I remarked.

“Yeah,” Angie said in passing, not really noticing.

“Which ones are your favorite?” I asked. 

“I don’t know,” she answered and then added, “I don’t know anything about flowers.”

“I don’t either,” I said.  “But I still think they’re pretty.”

“Well…o-ka-a-a-y,” she said in a way that told me she was wondering why I was belaboring the point.

“You see those ones in the back?” I asked.  “The tall ones?  I think they’re pretty.”

“Yeah…so?”

“Well, I just think they add an important dimension to the whole display, you know?”

“O-ka-a-a-a-y…”

“It’s like, the whole display wouldn’t be near as pretty if it wasn’t for each different kind of flower.”

No response.

“I think those are called holly hocks, those tall ones,” I said.  “See how they stand out above the rest and even though their flowers maybe aren’t always the biggest and they don’t always have the brightest colors and they’re not right out there in the very front, they still add something that the others can’t - a beauty all their own that stands out and is every bit as beautiful as any of the others.  And that’s important – we’d miss them if they weren’t there.”

“Oka-a-a-y…”

“Well…that’s just why I like them,” I said in conclusion.  “And I bet that’s why whoever planted them decided on them.” 

It was quiet between us for a number of steps.  Then...

“Hey!” Angie said suddenly.  “Are you, like, talking about me?  You know…like…with the flowers and all?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, intentionally leading her on – that was exactly what I was talking about.

“You know!  The…what were they?”

“The holly hocks?”

“Yeah!  The holly hocks!”

“What do you think?” I asked.

She answered slowly with deliberation, “I’m-m-m thinkin-n-n-n’…yeah!”

“I think you’re right,” I answered calmly.  Angie had finally connected with where I’d been trying to lead her in our conversation as we continued our walk.  She was now talking with more excitement and animation, but I was only partially able to continue focusing on that.  The reason for that was because I’d had a very sudden and unexpected revelation of my own.  Immediately as I’d made that last statement, I was hit with the sudden reminder from the distant past that that was something my mom had often concluded with when she was trying to lead me to some conclusion by asking me questions or throwing out ideas for me to learn from in the same way that I’d been trying to do with Angie.  When Angie had finally got it, I’d confirmed her by saying exactly what my mom had often said to me, “I think you’re right.”  But the real shocker was when I heard myself say it, I sounded just like her!  The same tone of voice; the same inflections – everything the same - I literally heard my mother’s voice as I spoke!  Nothing like that had ever happened to me before and it really shook me up.  I’d had dreams about my parents over the years that were so vividly realistic that I would wake up, but I’d never experienced anything like this before.

After I dropped Angie off and walked back to our campsite, I called Brian over.  He had been visiting with neighbors.  Julie and Amanda were somewhere else.  As soon as Brian saw me, he knew something was up.

He said, “Babe, are you OK?”

“Brian,” I began hesitantly, “you’re gonna think I’ve completely lost it when I tell you this.”

“No I won’t – what is it?” he asked with concern in his voice.

“I was talking to Angie,” I began, “trying to build her self-esteem a little.  I said something to her…and right as I said it, I remembered it was something my mom used to say to me.  And I sounded just like her!”

“Well, that stands to reason, doesn’t it?”

“I know, but I mean, I sounded exactly like her!  I mean, I said something she sometimes said to me, but I swear it was her voice I heard!  It was like she was there and said it instead of me!  I’m not kidding, Brian!  It was so weird.  It scared me.” 

“Wow,” he said.  “That’s hard to imagine…but I can see how it’s affected you.”

I felt tears starting to flow as we continued talking about it, sitting together at our picnic table.  He had his arm around me to comfort me.  About that time, one of our camping neighbors came around the side of their camper next to where we were.  “Hey, kids,” she said.  That’s what she called us the whole weekend.

We looked up.  Brian said hi back.  I tried to wipe away the tears before she noticed, but I was too late.  “Uh-oh.  Bad time.  Sorry.  I’ll come back later,” she said. 

Brian said, “No, it’s OK.  Sunny was thinking of her mom – you know, missing her and all.”

That called for an explanation of how I’d lost my parents and then about what had just happened a few minutes earlier with Angie that we were talking about.  Brian told me later he told her all that because he didn’t want her to think we were arguing or something.  At any rate, it gave me a chance to dry my tears.

She said, “Oh, I see.  I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks,” I said. 

Then she said, “You know, most of us gals are afraid of becoming like our mothers.”  She laughed and we did, too.  I’d heard other people say that before.  She went on to say, “But I’d say it’s probably different for you.  I’ve had kinda the same experience.  There’re some things I say that my mother used to say and I pretty much sound just like her when I do, I think.  But I’m sure I was a lot older than you when I first noticed it.  Yeah, I was probably in my forties then.  But I’d say it’s different for you.  And I’ll bet once you get over the shock of it, you’ll find some comfort in it.  I hope you do.  It’s certainly not a bad thing.” 

“No, it’s not a bad thing - not at all.  Just…shocking.  Yeah…a shock.  That’s for sure,” I said.  And then reflectively, I continued with, “I wonder if it’ll happen again.  I guess it will.  Maybe it won’t catch me so off-guard next time.  At least I hope not.”

We visited a little more before she went on her way.  I’m glad she came by when she did; I felt better after talking about it.  By then, Brian and I were both getting hungry. 

“I wonder if Julie wants to eat lunch with us,” I said.  “Guess we better ask her.  She’s probably down at Amanda’s.” 

“Let’s just go on and eat without her,” Brian said in orneriness. 

“No,” I said laughing, “She’s our guest.  Tell ya what – I’ll get out lunch and you go over and see if she wants to join us or what.”

He said, “OK, I’ll go save them from the Stitch.”

“Hey now…be nice,” I said laughing.  I knew he was kidding.

A few minutes later, I glanced down in that direction as I was putting things on the table and there they came walking back to our campsite – the two people that are so very important to me.  They were talking together – laughing.  It pleased me to see that.  They’ve both said to me at different times that they would not likely be friends if it weren’t for me.  They think they’re so different from each other – too different to be friends easily.  But I think they’re alike in many ways – more so than they realize.  I love them both. 

During lunch I visited with Julie about Angie and suggested that she had gone a little too far in her joking around with someone younger that didn’t know her very well.  Julie’s first response was this silly laugh she sometimes does when she remembers some kind of joke or trick she’s pulled on someone.  She truly had forgotten all about it.  When I reiterated about not playing so rough with Angie, she said, “Oh, she needs to toughen up and not get her panties in a knot so easy,” immediately followed by, “You know, there’s a lot of expressions that just don’t work very well around here, aren’t there?”  Some things - and people - you just can’t change. 

Later in the afternoon, we got some volleyball going on.  I was surprised at how much interest there was in it and how many people wanted to play.  We played in various combination and various team sizes depending on who was there at the start of a game and wanted to play.  Finally, it got down to two on two - Julie and I against Brian and another guy.  Volleyball isn’t really Brian’s thing, but he’s a good all around athlete and so was the other guy.  Julie and I used to play together in high school and in some pick up games after that, but neither of us had done anything with the game in a long time.  All things considered, we were pretty evenly matched and had a lot of fun laughing at our foibles and congratulating ourselves on any good plays that we happened to make (by pure luck).  Of course, there was a certain amount of impromptu rule writing and loose interpretations and questionable side-out calls, but despite all the pretending to get mad over a call or something crazy, a lot of fun was being had. 

We were now on the deciding set of a match in our two-person teams.  The first two sets had both gone past 21 and we were now going back and forth on this match set, as well.  We were all getting pretty tired by now, but neither side was about to let up and cut the other side any slack if we could help it.  Julie was getting especially worn out – she hadn’t done anything this strenuous for this long since who knows when. 

So now here we were – Julie and I were up by one – it was our ball - match point for us if we made it - my serve.  Julie and I were talking things over.  I held the ball against my side under my left arm and let my right arm hang free, resting and relaxing it, as Julie and I talked over our game plan.  Actually, most of the time, we didn’t really talk about a game plan at all.  Instead, we just stood close together talking quietly about who-knows-what just to psych out the guys and make them think we were coming up with a big play.  Funny!

It was during one of those times that Julie said tiredly, “Let’s just get this thing over with, OK?”

“Tired?” I asked.  The answer was obvious – sweat running; hair disheveled; breathing heavy.  All I got was a nod and a breath exhaled upward like she was trying to blow her hair out of her eyes or something.

“Tell ya what,” I said half-jokingly.  “If I ace this, will you watch the message board on the Website for me during the week we’re gone on vacation this summer?”  I’d asked her for this favor a couple of times already and she’d told me “no way ever.” 

This time she said, “Hey, if you ace this…I’ll watch your stupid message board for a whole month.”

“You’re on,” I said, turning to go to the end line.  Now keep in mind that the odds of me acing this serve were almost nil.  Like I said already, I’m not that great of a player and up to today, I hadn’t played in a long time.  Combine that with the fact that our opponents were good enough that they weren’t likely to let a decent serve get by them, and you can see that Julie’s little challenge was a pretty safe one. 

Julie got into her ready position and started off on a string of smack talkin’ to taunt and distract the guys.  I’d been doing mostly overhead serves all day – that’s why my arm was tired – and I decided that since we were up one, I’d try being a little more aggressive this time with a jump serve.  The guys wouldn’t be expecting that.  I paused, relaxed, collected my thoughts and sneaked a few peeks at where I wanted the ball to go based on where the guys were situated in their ready positions.  Then in one series of moves, I stepped back to allow some room to jump, then crouched slightly, sprang up tossing the ball with my left hand, and driving the ball with solid contact with my right.  I came down running forward to my position on the court as the ball cleared the top of the net and hit the sand in our opponents’ court with a dull thud.  It was untouched – an ace!  Amazing!  But it was just luck – I cant’ claim any real skill.  The only way it happened was that the guys were apparently as tired as we were and each thought the other was going to set it up and therefore each had hesitated until it was too late.

But that didn’t stop Julie and me from celebrating and congratulating ourselves big-time.  Nor did it stop us – especially Julie - from rubbing our opponents’ noses in it.  She’d poured on the smack talkin’ all throughout the game, but now she really let them have it with lots of bragging about stuff like gender-superiority and much more.  But it was all in fun, everybody knew that, so no harm done.  We all just laughed as she carried on.  They responded in kind and tried to save face as best they could, but hey, it was Julie, the master of insults – it was no contest.

As she, Brian, and I were walking back to our campsite after the game, Julie was talking about how worn out she was and how she hadn’t played like that in a long, long time. 

I said, “I’ll bet you’re gonna be sore tomorrow.” 

 “My boobs hurt now,” she replied. 

“Maybe that’s just a little bit of payback for the way you’ve treated somebody recently,” I said. 

She immediately launched into her fake perky voice with, “You’re absolutely right, Sunny.  I should be much more thoughtful and considerate of my sisters who aren’t as genetically well-formed and blessed as I.  After all, it’s not their fault.  Oh, how I’ve learned my lesson!  From now on, I’m a changed a person.  You’re gonna see a kinder, gentler, more compassionate, completely understanding Julie.  Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention…(and then under her breath, but with the full intention that I’d hear it, she added)…little girl.” 

Is it really getting Stitched when you see it coming a mile away?  I think not. 

We stopped by the showers to wash off the sweat and sand on the way back to camp.  Very refreshing.  Then we just lazed around camp resting and drinking water and soft drinks and taking life very, very easy.  Just chillin’.  It was great. 

Here’s another funny thing that happened, but it’s going to take a little bit of set up to tell it.  Those of you who’ve read my other stories may recall the one about the trip I took to the Caribbean with my friend, Emmy.  Near the end of the week that we were there, I told her that I thought I was a nudist.  When I said that, I was trying to make a statement that was more about attitude and spirit than just simply being nude, but I guess that didn’t come across very well in my story.  Then when Julie read it, she thought that was just about the dumbest thing in the world to say when there I was on a nude beach.  Anyway, Julie would bring that up and tease me about it every now and then after that. 

So now, it was later on in the afternoon and we were all down at the pool.  Brian was in the water talking to a couple of the other guys and we four girls were lying on lounges on the pool deck.  We were all pretty low-key by now.  I think lack of sleep had caught up with Angie and Amanda and both the physical exertion from all of the volleyball and lack of sleep was wearing on Julie, not that anything like that ever slows her down much.  The conversation hit a lull and Julie, never one to let that happen for long, let out a long sigh and in reference to what I’d said to Emmy, which was unbeknownst to Amanda and Angie, said, “You know what, Sunny, I think I’m a nudist.” 

Du-uh!” was the immediate response, but it hadn’t come from me and the surprised look on Julie’s face betrayed the fact that she was caught completely off guard.  It only took a second or two for us both to realize that it had come from Angie who, lying on her tummy, we’d thought was asleep.  When I realized it was her and I saw the surprised look on Julie’s face, I just burst out laughing.  Angie had just unknowingly Stitched the Stitch.  Even though it was only Julie and I who understood the whole thing, Julie knew that she’d had the joke turned back on her.  I love it when that happens and I continued to laugh.  The fact that it was Angie who had done it just made it all the sweeter. 

Later, back in our campsite, the three of us were sitting around again.  We had just said goodbye to Angie and her family as they pulled out.  We had said goodbye to Amanda and her family about an hour before that.  We, too, were partially packed up.  Brian asked me when I thought we should finish packing and leave.  I in turn asked Julie if she wanted to go.  She said, “It’s up to you guys.  I’m with you.” 

I asked, “Well, do you have anything going on that you need to get back for?”

“Nope, not a thing,” she answered in a way that said she was leaving it all up to us to decide.

“It’s such a beautiful evening,” I said and then suggested, “How about we stay a little longer?”

Brian answered, “Fine with me.”

Julie in turn said, “Yeah, that’s cool.”  Then her eye brows shot up and she added, “Hey, I know!  Let’s go watch the sunset again!”

“Ok-a-a-a-y,” I responded looking at Brian in pleasant surprise to Julie’s change in attitude about sunsets; then added, “I didn’t think you were much into sunsets.”

“Oh, I don’t know - I guess it grows on you,” she said.  “I mean, we’re here, so why not?”  Then she added, “Anyway…do we have anything to eat?  You guys look hungry,” which of course was her way of saying that she was hungry. 

So we grabbed what we had left and a blanket and headed off to the hillside where we spent the rest of the evening watching the sun settle slowly to the horizon against the backdrop of an ever intensifying red-orange sky.  It was a very serene end to a great weekend at the campground - the kind that makes you wish it could just go on and on. 

It was just after dark when we finished loading up the car, got dressed again, and started home.  It’s always sad to go, but at least this time, I knew it wouldn’t be too long before we’d be back.  That helps. 

The talk in the car started out pretty lively at first, but as soon as we got over to the highway, the conversation quickly dropped off and was replaced by the sound of the stereo with the drone of the car as background– or maybe it was the other way around.  At any rate, we were all pretty tired. 

During this lull, I thought a lot about Julie, about how she had reluctantly agreed to come along with us, but then she had really gotten into the spirit of things very quickly in spite of her early misgivings and nervousness.  She had made friends easily and readily interacted with anyone who engaged her - not just those close to her own age.  I’d also been pleased to see that she had been able to be herself without her unique clothing and accessory style and fashion trademarks.  She’s always considered that to be her means of setting herself apart from the crowd.  I hadn’t thought about this before, but I now realized that this weekend had given her the opportunity to establish her own true identity and personal style among people she didn’t previously know without reliance on anything material.  It had definitely worked - she was uniquely Julie totally by means of her own individual character, attitude and style.  Yes, having this experience of a longer stretch of time in a true socially nude environment had been a positive growth experience for her in my estimation, but I wondered if she realized it.  I knew I wanted to discuss it with her in depth sometime to get her views on it. 

She had definitely made a lasting impression on many that she met this weekend – there was no doubt about that.  It had been fun to observe their various reactions.  It was Amanda’s mom who probably summed it up best when about Julie, she had said to me, “You never know what she’s going to say, do you?”  Thinking about that made me smile. 

“What’s so funny?” Brian asked.  He had noticed me smiling even in the dim light from the dash.  He doesn’t miss much. 

“Oh, I was just thinking about Julie and this weekend and everything,” I said and then went on to tell him what had me smile.

He chuckled, too.  “Yeah, they’re probably not going to forget The Stitch anytime soon,” he said - then added, “Speaking of which…it seems awfully quiet back there.”

I glanced back.  Julie was sitting directly behind me slumped in the corner with her arm stretched across the top of the back seat with her head resting on her arm.  She appeared to be sound asleep. 

“Out like a light,” I said to Brian.

“You mean Ms. The-Party’s-Never-Over?” Brian asked. 

“Yeah,” I responded.  “Even she has her limits, I guess.  I’m pretty tired, too.”

“Go ahead and sleep if you want to,” he said. 

“Nope.  I’ll stay awake and keep you awake,” I said. 

“I think I’m OK,” he said, “but thanks – I like the company.”

“Me too,” I replied.  Then I added with a coy attitude, “Besides…if I slept now, I’d have an unfair advantage over you when we get home.”

Smiling, he said challengingly, “Oh is that supposed to be a threat?  It doesn’t worry me in the least.”  Then he added simply as a comment: “It’ll be nice to get back to a real bed again.”

Just to set him up, I said, “Oh yeah?  Like…what did you have in mind?”

Facetiously, he replied, “Oh…nothing.”  We both laughed at the absurdity of that.  Then smiling as he glanced my way, he said, “I’m sure we can think of something.”

“We always do,” I replied. 

Imagine our surprise when suddenly from the back seat came…

“Oh, that’s so cute, kiddies!”

End - Part 2 of 2

[Home] [My Stories] [Previous] [Next]