ivy

into the woods (clays perspective)

clay was startled awake at 6:30 am and immediately panicked, thinking he was late for work, until he realized it's saturday. he relaxed and laughed to himself for a moment before remembering his plans to go hiking. it was a new trail in a new area, and he wanted to get an early start so he had plenty of time to explore and enjoy himself. he laid in bed for a few minutes before getting up to take a shower. as he let the warm water wash over him he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reminding himself that he's not in a rush. he stepped out of the shower once he finished washing his hair and grabbed the only fresh towel available. he then started to pack things he'd need while he dried off. he figured he'd bring lunch and some snacks, just in case. he also brought a large water bottle and water filtering drops, also just in case. better safe than sorry, right? once he finished packing he put on pants, a shirt and a jacket. he packed a few extra clothes in case of rain and then got in his car. as he started the three hour drive he plugged in his phone and shuffled his favorite playlist. hearing the familiar words soothed him. "you can drive all night, looking for the answers in the pouring rain" he sang along to one of his favorite songs softly. ironically as he was singing a light downpour began to softly coat the leaves of trees in a dewy mist. "hopefully it'll stop soon, if not i brought a rain jacket so i should be fine" he sighed. he loved the rain, but hated hiking in it. he didn't have the best hiking shoes and had never bothered to get better ones. he had the money, he'd just never really looked into it. he made a mental note to go to the shoe store near his house and see if they had anything. as the playlist changed to a more upbeat mood, the line of traffic slowed and eventually stopped. he put his head down on the wheel in frustration, careful not to accidentally honk and startle everyone around him. while waiting for the line to move, he grabbed a packet of goldfish from the seat next to him. as he munched on the crackers, the traffic started to break up and so he put down his snack. "i'll finish it late- fuck." he cursed as they spilt on his seat. as if the day wasn't already going poorly enough, now there were cheesy fish shaped crackers everywhere. how fucking lovely. hopefully the hike would go relatively smoothly and calm him down. frustrated as he was, he had to admit he was grateful to not be at work. clay was a generally content person, but sometimes got hot headed. for example, he hated when people cut him off, so when a blue honda swerved in front of him he let out an impressive string of curse words. "at least i have a wide vocabulary" he snickered to himself as he remembered middle school clay. once he started actually paying attention to the road he realized he almost missed the exit. he sighed in relief and annoyance at how inconvenient existing was. finally reaching the hiking spot, he grabbed all his gear and tried to find a trail sign to tell him where to go. after walking around for about ten minutes he spotted a small map. he grabbed one and upon opening it realized that this trail isn't in a national park. that usually means more trash, campers and no park rangers to help him if he got lost. fucking wonderful. he started down the trail at a slow pace, reluctant to see how much worse this already shitty day could get. with his luck it'd start pouring halfway through and he'd have to run back to his car and probably sprain his ankle in the process. trying to think positively, he began daydreaming about relaxing with a medium cheese pizza for dinner, and maybe some minecraft if he wasn't too tired. unfortunately, about five minutes into his cheesy fantasies, he look down and realized there was a very angry snake in front of him. he let out his signature tea kettle laugh because it was so ironically funny. how much worse could this really get? he didn't think it could get much worse, and once again wrapped up in his thoughts he continued with his hike, following a small stream for a few miles.