Caged Byrd

Chapter 11 - History

 "You forgot the space heater," I said in disbelief. The cold had already started to creep into my fingertips. I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets.

"I didn't forget the space heater," Alex argued. "I forgot the generator to power the space heater."

"Which means we don't have a space heater," I said. I rolled my face towards the sky, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. "We have to go back."

"We can't, it's fifteen minutes till sundown. It'll be too dark to find our way back to the house. We wouldn't even make it halfway there," he said.

"You planned this," I accused, narrowing my eyes at him. His lips twitched. My eyes widened. I had only been half serious. "Are you kidding me? You actually- Ugh!"

His laughter filled the tent and I angrily unzipped the door and stormed out into the crisp evening air. Alex was right. The waterfall was stunning. I could still glimpse it from where we had set up camp, but we were far enough away that we didn't have to shout over the crashing water. I let out a huff of air, trying to release some of my frustration. I should have seen that one coming. It was a welcome distraction from Alex's little speech before we left for the hour long drive though.

Alex stepped out of the tent before zipping the door shut. I kept my back to him as he approached. "Do you want to start a fire?" he asked.

"Well that's probably a good idea since we don't have a space heater," I shot back, still irritated.

"I'm sorry," he said gently.

"Are you though? Did you really leave it behind on purpose?" I said, glaring at him.

"Yes and no," he said. "I wasn't going to be able to carry the generator and the gas we would need along with all our supplies for the week."

"We could have made two trips. We've been here for a few hours. Why didn't we go back sooner?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"We would have just been getting back now. We wouldn't have had time to set up the tent or gather wood or anything before it got dark. Listen, I know you're irritated. We can go back in the morning if you want to pick it up," he offered.

I huffed, still annoyed. "Fine." A gust of chilly air swept across us. I shivered, burrowing my hands deeper into the fleece lined pockets. Alex started to reach for me, like he was going to wrap an arm around me, but I took a little small step back towards the kindling. He got the hint. "Do you have matches or a lighter?" I asked, piling together some dry leaves before making a cone shaped tower of small sticks above it.

Alex shuffled over to our bags, pulling out a small battery powered lantern and flicking it on. As he dug through the bags looking for matches, I separated the kindling out by size and thickness so I could quickly add them in as the fire grew bigger. We worked together in silence. With the wind, it took a little while, but we managed to get a sizable fire going within thirty minutes or so. Alex pulled a load of metal rods out of the gym bag on the back of the four wheeler. I watched as he constructed an A-frame of some sort.

Alex placed it over the fire and attached a chain. A small smile flitted across my face before I caught myself. Alex didn't see it. "Is that to cook?" I asked.

The light from the flames danced over his features as he looked up at me across the fire. "Yeah. It's a little easier than trying to set pans down on the actual fire. It'd be better to cook over coals but I think we should keep the fire going tonight."

"I've seen these before, but I've never used one," I said, scooting closer towards the warmth. "When my family went camping, they usually wanted to sleep in the RV. I was the only one who wanted to sleep in the tent. Daniel always brings along a little charcoal grill..." Thinking of my stepdad sobered my mood a little. I missed them so much. I was really close to my mom and Daniel.