Sam & Leo | Forest Hike (Chapter 1)

The hike had been long, but the reward was worth it.

“Look how cool this is.” Sam trotted ahead, pointing at a huge moss-covered tree trunk lying across the path. He took a running start, scraped his leg against the bark, and landed beside the trunk. He rubbed his leg, sitting in a half split, with a goofy grin on his face.

I sat down on the trunk and pulled a muesli bar out of my backpack. “Hungry?”

Sam scrambled to his feet, wiped a dirty hand across his sweaty forehead and sat down beside me.

“I think we’ve been walking for three hours already.” I broke off a piece of the bar and handed it to Sam.

“At least.” Sam laughed, his face a flushed field of freckles and smudges of dirt. Ever since kindergarten, it had been ‘Leo & Sam’ - ‘Sam & Leo.’ Wherever one was, the other was too.

“Just look at this place, man.” Sam’s legs drummed against the imposing trunk.

It really was a wonderful spot. Nearby, a stream babbled along, and the sunlight filtered through the leaves directly onto the blond hairs on Sam’s thighs. A drop of sweat slid through the dust on his neck into the hollow of his collarbone. I quickly looked away when he nudged me.

After the short break, we followed the sound of the stream. The water flowed over gray stones that we had to cross to reach the path on the other side.

Sam took the first few steps. “Careful,” he called over his shoulder.

“I can keep my balance,” I replied just before my foot slid half a meter forward over a slippery stone. Sam turned around, grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him. And just like that, we stood together on the same stone - his chest a few centimeters from mine - surrounded by fast-flowing water.

“What did I tell you?” He looked at me teasingly and didn’t let go of my hand until we reached the bank, more or less with dry feet.

We ventured deeper into the forest and by late afternoon we discovered a clearing to set up camp.

“Okay, expert,” Sam said, dropping his backpack. “How does this tent go together?”

I sank to my knees, fiddling with the poles. “I think this one goes through the side loop... wait, no.”

Sam bent over me and chuckled. “It looks like you’re fighting a giant spider.” He pressed his knuckles against the top of my head and ruffled my hair.

“Shut up and help me.” I poked him in the butt with a tent pole.

After a lot of messing around and laughter, the tent was finally standing.

After the last tent peg had been driven into the ground and we both agreed no tent had ever stood this solidly, we left the campsite in search of refreshment.

Deeper in the forest, we pushed through the ferns until we reached a broad flat rock that formed a plateau, with a pool of water below it fed by a waterfall.

“Woow, check this out!” Sam kicked off his sneakers and twirled his shorts above his head. His butt stood out white against his sun-tanned upper body. He took a running start, grabbed his knees and plunged down into the water beneath like a cannonball.

“Leo, come on!” he shouted as soon as his face emerged above the water again.

I took off my shoes and socks and sat on the rock watching him move through the water like an otter, with first his upper body and then his round buttocks gliding through the surface.

Sam swam to a shallow section where he could stand. The water rippled around his thighs.

“The water is amazing!” His voice echoed loudly off the rock walls. “What are you waiting for, wimp?”

My one foot fidgeted with the other. I looked around to see if there were any people. There was no one. I took off my shirt.

“Just jump in already!” Sam encouraged. Impatiently, his flat hands splashed against the water, chanting: wimp, wimp, wimp, wimp!

I stood up, and when I pulled off my shorts, I almost slipped again. I tossed my shorts onto the pile with my shirt, socks and shoes, suddenly very aware of my pale body. I jumped before I could change my mind.

After the splashing around in the pool, during which Sam had dunked me under twenty times, we returned to the campsite. Along the way, he loaded my arms with dry kindling, twigs and branches for the campfire. We dropped the haul in front of the tent and Sam immediately began arranging the kindling into a small teepee shape.

After we had dragged over a few sturdy tree trunks and had to rummage through the soft ground of moss and pine needles looking for the little fire starter that Sam had dropped from his pocket, the moment of magic finally arrived. Sam’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he struck the flint against the steel.

“Stand back,” he gestured as though a massive burst of flame might suddenly set the entire forest ablaze. When a small spark obediently ignited the kindling, Sam grinned with satisfaction.

We sat beside each other on the tree trunk all evening, more or less in silence. The smell of burning wood filled the air. Sam poked at the fire with a stick. He was noticeably quiet. I looked from the tense chewing muscle in his jaw to the orange sparks and back again.

“Leo?”

I didn’t know why I suddenly had to swallow hard. “Yeah?”

Sam stopped poking the fire. With the stick, he scraped a large figure eight deeper and deeper into the dry ground between his feet.

“Do you ever think...” He swallowed. “I mean... we’ve been together for so long. Since kindergarten.” He looked up as raindrops began to fall. “Do you never wonder whether we...” He gazed back into the fire.

“What?” My fingers searched for a grip in the rough bark of the tree trunk we were sitting on.

“I don’t know.” He tossed the stick in the flames. More and heavier raindrops hissed down onto the glowing logs. He finally looked at me. “Whether we’re just fooling ourselves?”

A fraction of a second later, thunder cracked directly above us. The cloudburst killed the fire and threw us into pitch darkness.

The lightning just struck. Find out what happens in the dark in part 2:

part 2

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