I plopped myself down in the grass and laid my back against the tree. I let my head rest back and closed my eyelids. I could feel a migraine emerging and tried to take deep breaths to rid myself of it. Luckily, Josh noticed that I wasn't feeling the best and offered to take care of the kids for a bit.
It was nice to be in the shade of the leaves and out of the harsh daylight, even for a moment. I just listened to the sounds of the forest. It was silent in the trees. Except for the birds. Silence and birds.
"Ahh!" I heard the scream and shot up from where I was sitting. I looked around and saw where Josh and the kids were. I knew that Josh had things under control, but my worry forced my legs to run towards them. As I got closer, I noticed that Josh was laughing. I got to them and saw Lucas pointing down at the grass.
"What happened?" I asked, slightly out of breath from running.
"There was a frog on me!" Lucas said. I couldn't help but laugh. He glared at me and I stopped, clearing my throat. Josh crouched down and picked the frog up. He held it out in his hand, delicately. I took a step closer and pet it. The kids said 'ew' and made faces while Josh and I just laughed. He carried the frog away from where they were and let it go in the bushes.
-----
"Seriously?" a voice said, loudly.
"Shh!" another person said.
"Sorry," the first voice said, quieter. I sat up in my bunk and looked at who was talking. I saw Josh talking to someone on the porch of our cabin on the other side of the screen door. I checked the clock and furrowed my eyebrows at the time. Why was Josh awake at 2 am? Why was I awake at 2 am? I pulled myself out of bed and over to where they were.
"What's wrong?" I asked, opening the door. Josh looked at me with a playful smile upon his perfectly shaped lips. I forced my eyes to meet his.
"Hayley is gonna dye my hair," he said, grinning. I cocked an eyebrow and laughed.
"When?"
"Right now!" she said, excitedly. She grabbed his hand and began pulling him away. Josh waved and followed her lead. I watched them run off in a state of confusion. I laughed and walked back inside, being careful to not make too much noise.
I laid down on my stomach and tried to force myself to sleep. That task seemed too difficult and I let out a strangled sigh into my pillow. When I had had enough of just laying around, I pulled my journal out of it's place under my mattress and picked a pen out of my bag. I let the words flow onto the page like water. I wrote swiftly yet calmly. The words and phrases didn't seem to make sense, but I knew that, one day, they would.
The door opened and I looked up. My mouth gaped open slightly as I took in the view. There Josh stood, a tuft of violent red hair on top of his head. I got out of bed and he walked closer, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Wow," I breathed.
"I know right!" he whispered, ecstatically.
"It's really red." His smile wavered for a moment.
"You don't like it?"
"I do!" I reassured him. His smile returned. "I do like it. I just wasn't expecting it, I guess." I laughed a little before turning back to my bunk.
"What were you doing?" he asked, starting to get ready for bed. I peered at the clock and read 3:45am.
"Just writing."
"A song or a poem?"
"I don't know yet," I said, shrugging. He laughed a perfect, quiet giggle and I smiled to myself.