CYOA Page 7

[lumy12]

Page Seven

You're not in such a hurry that you'd want to bypass a fucking river. Yes, it's only been a couple days out here, but you're used to being able to shower whenever you want. Thinking back to the Boston trip, you're not sure how you managed to not go crazy, being deprived of such a thing. You at least want to wash your hair; dirty hair tends to make your scalp itch, whereas dirt everywhere else doesn't really bug you.

You really fucking hope that Joel isn't wrong about the river being this way.

...but, of course, he's right. Isn't he always? You hear the pleasant rushing sound of the water before you see it, and the horses intuitively head that way without needing to be told. Yours even picks up the pace. Jeez, you'd think we didn't have our fill of fresh well water last night! That shit was downright tasty. And you don't think of water as having much taste -- unless it's bad.

When you do make it to the river, the horses pretty much choose where you're going to stop and rest by making a beeline for the closest stretch of riverbank. You picket the horses rather than just tether them to a tree, so that they have more range of movement. Letting them wander around totally freely is a risk you'd rather not take; if they get spooked and take off, you'd be fucked.

Joel is not particularly impressed with the spot. You think it's perfectly nice... beautiful, even, with the sunlight glistening off the water, the overgrown grass rustling in the breeze... but you think you know why he's agitated. "Too open for you?" you guess.

He just grunts. Keeps looking around... like, really looking around and not just the casual looking that you both do when you eat, with him facing one way and you the other. Constantly on the lookout for trouble, even though like 99 times out of 100, there won't be any. Well... maybe 49 times out of 50. ...39 out of 40? Just... usually not.

He's still standing, looking around, while you've already spread out a blanket for your little picnic lunch, and started eating your elk sandwich. "Here!" You thrust his sandwich at him. "The sooner you eat, the sooner we leave, you know," you reason. Joel has eaten while riding before, but usually you can get him to rest.

He takes the sandwich and eventually sits... grudgingly. Takes giant bites of the thing. And you know he's not doing it because he's starving. You used to do that... but you've learned it's better to nibble. To savor it. Make it last longer. In Jackson, you're never hungry for more than a few hours at a time, and you have at least two meals every day.

You look out over the sparkly water rushing by and wonder if maybe this isn't really a good place to take a bath. The water's not flowing that fast, but it is flowing... you like that, though. It looks fresher than stagnant, algae-coated lake water. But you know Joel doesn't want to stay here long. You could just wash your hair real quick while Joel finishes his sandw-- except he's already caught up to me. Ha! No matter: if he protests, you can just turn on the charm and get your way like you always do.


If you convince Joel to let you take a bath, turn to page 11.

If you convince Joel to just let you wash your hair, turn to page 15.

Comments

[owlofnevermore.livejournal.com]

A picnic! How sweet.

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

Ahh, this is getting cool. I just wonder how complicated this must be for you.

Re: Carlos

[luminations.livejournal.com]

It kind of was the first time through because I was going in page number order -- the exact way not to READ the story. That was sooooo fun! It was still fun the second time through when I was following threads, but there wasn't the same sort of "oh boy which story do I get to work on next" feeling to it :) And I still screwed up the page numbering once! (I wonder if anyone will notice the one time where I deviate from my usual page number pattern, to fix the error... lol probably not)

RE: Re: Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

oh, wow.