On Vacation With A Former Crush

An Unexpected Splash

She inhaled. Then she exhaled. Then she inhaled again. Then she exhaled again. Then she inhaled for a third time. Then she exhaled for the third time.

In an outdoor village resort in North Dakota called the Wildlife Sanctuary Resort, twenty-three-year-old Stacey was meditating. With her legs crossed and her arms lying on her knees, she was sitting on a large rock near the resort's giant, beautiful lake. This was the perfect place for her to do her mindfulness meditating as the nice, warm summer sun shone on her and she could hear nothing, except the peaceful sounds of nature with birds tweeting and acorns falling from the nearest trees among them.

Stacey needed this because she had been through an awful lot from the worst two years of her entire life. Among the many worst things that happened to her, she was struggling to find work, despite her incredible school and college achievements. She even struggled to get a volunteering job. She had always been a very popular girl from day care to college, but since she left college, she lost contact with all her friends as they moved on with their lives. But the very worst thing that she was struggling to recover from was all the abuse her boyfriend Alec put her through. And Stacey couldn't ask anyone for help, not even her parents as they were having problems of their own with each other.

Stacey knew that it would take more than just one week to recover all from what she had to put up with from the last two years, but she was grateful that she became one of the lucky people who won free tickets to the opening week of this brand-new outdoor village resort as it was a great start. She liked the small log cabin she was given to stay in, she was very interested in the activities in even though she hadn't tried any of them yet and she was very interested in the restaurants and the food that they served, but what she liked most of all was the peace and quiet areas for her to be by herself. She was glad that Alec didn't win a ticket to join her at the resort because she couldn't even start to try to relax if he did. As she left, he did make her feel bad for going, but she still went because she knew the only other option would be to stay and be more abused by Alec if she didn't go.

Then Stacey heard some noises, including loud galloping and loud neighing and shouting.

"Whoa, boy! Whoa!"

She got out of her meditating pose and looked behind her to see who was making that noise. It was approaching her so fast that she couldn't make out who it was. It appeared to be a big brown horse and someone was riding it but was struggling to control it. They were both getting closer to her.

The horse finally stopped, but its rider flew off and landed in the lake. Stacey got splashed and her beautiful purple tank top, her tight white shorts and her pink sandals got very wet. As she took her glasses off to dry them, she could just see the rider rising to the surface and gasping for air.

"Hey, jerk!" Stacey yelled at him. "What's wrong with you? Can't you control a –" After she put her glasses back on, she gasped as she saw the rider in the lake. "Max Goof? Is that you?"

The guy who fell in the lake gasped too as he looked at Stacey. "Stacey? Is it you?"

After realizing that they had been staring at each other for too long, Stacey snapped out of it. "Yeah, it's me, Max. She approached the edge of the lake and held out her hand. "Come on, I'll help you up."

Max Goof took Stacey's hand and she helped him out of the lake. Then she got out a white towel from her brown bag and gave it to Max to dry himself over his face, his yellow sleeveless shirt and his brown pants. Then he took off his black trainer shoes and white socks so that they and his feet could dry off along with the rest of him as Stacey gestured him to sit down on the rock she was meditating on. She sat next to him because it was big enough for the two of them.

"I'm so sorry I splashed you, Stacey," Max said. "I was trying out a horse-riding trip with a group of horse riders, but that Mr. Stubborn Hooves ever there decided to go his own way. I tried to control him, but he must have a mind of his own."

"That's okay, Max," Stacey said. "So, you're one of the lucky people who won the free tickets to the opening of this new place?"

"I suppose I am."

"And how are you enjoying your visit so far? Apart from your rough horse ride?"

"It's great," Max replied. "I'm really enjoying this place with its fun, exciting activities and I'm enjoying nature as it's the perfect place for relaxation. How are you finding it?"

"Yeah, it's great and fun," Stacey said. "This place is also helping me relax."

"Why? You've been busy with a lot of work and stuff?"

When Stacey didn't respond, Max could tell on her face that she was very sad and she wasn't even trying to hide it.

"I'm sorry if I was being too nosy," he said.

"No, you weren't," she said. "It's just that – It's just –"

Then they heard a very loud neigh.

Max sighed as he got up. "Well, I must get Mr. Naughty Horse here back to the sable master before I get into even more trouble with him." He put on his shoes, which were still a bit wet but not as much as it used to be, and he put his wet socks in the left pant pocket because they were still too wet to put them back on his feet. "Thank you so much for helping me out of the lake and for lending me your towel, Stacey."

"No problem, Max," Stacey said. "It's just great to see you again."

"You too. Maybe we might bump into each other again."

"Or splash into each other," Stacey joked.

Max laughed at her joke as he grabbed the horse's reins. "Yeah, maybe even that. Well, see you soon, Stacey."

"See you later, Max," Stacey said, as she watched him leave. It looked like he decided to walk the horse back to the stable masters instead of riding him.