Small

Walk

It was light out but not very sunny when I woke up. Darren was still asleep beside me. There was a thin line of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. It was hard for me not to stare at him as he slept but I didn't want to risk him waking up to see me staring.

I rolled onto my back and looked above me at the top of the tent. I could barely see the leaves on the tree through the thin material. I blinked and my vision became a little blurry. I blinked again but it didn't go away.

I rubbed my eyes with my fists, trying to clear away all the sleep so I could see clearly. When I opened my eyes, everything was blurry and it didn't seem like anything I did would make it go away.

With a huff, I sat up and immediately regretted it. My head was spinning and I felt nauseous. Something was wrong and it scared me.

I turned to Darren and, seeing he was still sleeping, I began to shake him. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and focused on me.

"Aly? Is everything okay?"

"Daddy, I don't feel good."

He pushed himself up and turned so he was facing me. "Like how? Where don't you feel good?"

I put my hand on the side of my head. "My head."

"Do you feel any pain?"

"I just feel... dizzy a-and I can't see very well."

He put a hand on my cheek and I leaned into his touch. His hand was warm but it felt nice. "You might have a migraine. I think I have some Tylenol in my bag. Let me check. Why don't you lie back down?"

I did as he said as I waited for him to look for the medicine that would help me. I pulled Ted into my chest.

He climbed out of his sleeping bag and dug through his bag. He came back to me with one hand curled into a fist and the other holding a water bottle. "Here, baby. Take this and drink some water. That'll help."

I swallowed the pills he handed me and drank a few sips of the water.

He brushed my hair away from my face. "Go back to sleep, Aly. The medicine will start working soon and you'll feel better."

"I'm sorry, daddy."

He shook his head. "Don't be sorry. You can't help feeling bad."

"But I don't wanna ruin our trip."

"You're not ruining the trip. Now, relax and we can continue our trip once you're feeling better."

I exhaled as I pulled the top of the sleeping bag up to my chin. Darren was probably right that I needed some sleep but I'd just woken up from sleeping all night and I felt bad so maybe it wasn't the solution after all.

Darren went through his bag and pulled out a new pair of clothes. He knelt by the door and turned to look at me. "I'm going to find the bathroom and get changed. I won't be more than five minutes."

"Okay."

Darren looked at me for another few seconds before he stepped out of the tent. I heard his retreating footsteps as he headed to the bathroom.

I really hoped that I wouldn't ruin the whole trip by feeling bad. I knew how much Darren liked camping and he said he liked taking me. I didn't want to be the reason he stopped going.

I was asleep by the time Darren came back to the tent. I didn't think I was tired but I ended up sleeping for several more hours.

When I woke up again, Darren was crawling back into the tent. He glanced in my direction and stopped when he saw I was awake.

"Hey, Aly. How are you feeling now?"

"A little better."

"Good. Do you think you can try eating something?"

I glanced at the backpack. Eating couldn't hurt. "What did you bring?"

He grabbed the backpack and carried it over to my side. He sat down facing me and laid out several granola bars, bags of chips, and even some candy. He grabbed the sippy cup he'd packed and filled it with water then he handed it over to me.

I sat up and took a sip of the water. My headache was gone and I felt better. I just needed to get up and stretch and I'd feel good as new.

I reached out for a bag of gummy worms and tried opening them. I pulled at the sides to no avail. I tried using my teeth but they wouldn't budge. I huffed and held the bag out in front of me. "Daddy, can you open this for me?"

"I should have known you'd pick the candy first."

I smiled and watched as he opened the bag for me.

He took a granola bar and slowly took bites out of it. We ate in silence for several minutes. Outside, birds chirped at one another and I heard the rustling of the leaves.

Darren finished his food and brushed the crumbs off his hands. "Are you up for going for a walk today?"

I nodded. "I think so. Where are we gonna go?"

"There's a path around the campground. We could do the one around the lake but it's long and I don't want to take you too far away from the tent."

Maybe the next time we went camping, I'd suggest it. I never went for walks often so the length would be new to me. I probably wasn't in the best of shape for a long walk just yet. A short one would have to do. "Okay."

"Let's you changed and then we can go."

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Edited 8/13/2022