Camp Wilderness (?) Chapter 3
i dont know if anyone is going on this journey with me but i cant stop now i've started! although it's hard work writing it all down i now have even more admiration for all you talented writers out there!
i dont know where i put this, but this story is PG for now. might be get more later though not sure i can write smut!
also, of course, these characters originally belong to annie proulx and i am not getting anything other than satisaction from reincarnating them.
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A hundred thougts raced through Jack's mind one after another. Wow, was the first thought. Jack thought he'd never seen anything as beautiful, then he thought maybe beautiful wasnt the word you used to describe a man. It was more suitable for ladies. He guesed handsome was more appropriate. Then he thought: how old is thig guy? Jack could not put an age on him. He could be Jack's age, but he could also be much older, in which case what was he doing here? The camp was for teenage foster kids. So he couldnt be older than 19, but something about him just said 'Man' whereas Jack knew no-one would describe him as more than 'boy'. And he could see straight away how different this man was from himself. He noticed the fair hair and how in the late evening sun it was glowing; a golden aura like you saw round the Angels in his mum's books. He noticed very faint stubble, like this guy had to shave every day. Jack himself could get away with every few days easily. Eyes were brown, a nice soft brown. Not the cold dark brown of his dad, nor the gentler but still dark brown of his foster mum. These were a warm brown, with flickers of what looked like gold in them, again probably just the light. His skin was smooth, really smooth. No sign of acne scars. Jack himself had never got many spots, one or two at any given time, and they always stayed fairly discreet. Not that he cared as he had much worse scars, but he knew he was in the minority with not having to overly worry about spots, and it seemed this Ennis had even better skin than him. His skin was a mixture of flushed and tanned which left Jack with the certainty that he must spend a lot of time outdoors. Jack's skin was only now beginning to get some colour after years of being indoors almost all the time. He was drawn back to the eyes, they seemed kind and then Jack wondered why on earth he thought that. How could you tell someone was kind from their eyes? He guessed it was just some instinct. He had seen a lot of two pairs of unkind eyes, and then lately, sympathetic and pitying eyes. These were none of those, these just seemed matter of fact and mildly concerned. And then they were gone as Ennis bent his head back down and Jack realised with a start he'd probably been staring for minutes. But actually, only a few second had passed.
"Um," Jack said not sure what to do next. His mind was whirling but he couldn't stand there all day working out why his heart was suddenly beating faster, why his stomach had just down a flip-flop inside and why he could actually feel his pulse throbbing at a higher tempo than normal.
"The tent...." he said and trailled off beacuse he didn't have a clue what they were supposed to do with the tent.
"Where do you want it?" Ennis asked in that deep voice that made the hairs on the back of Jack's neck stand on end. A jolt raced down his spine as Ennis looked up again, and right at him.
"Um" was all Jack could say, and then he started blushing beacuse he didnt know what else to do. He look around, no one was yet even attempting to put their tent together. They were stood talking in their pairs, or in bigger groups, pointing, gesturing, working out what was a good spot and what wasn't. Jack wondered if any of them even knew or whether it was all for show.
"Reckon over here would be good?" Ennis asked, although maybe it was a statement, not a question. He'd dragged the tent sack to a spot at one end of the large patch of grass they were all spread accross.
"OK?" Jack said, not sure if he was agreeing or questioning the choice.
"It's flat. Get the sun in the morning, shade when it gets too hot, shelter but not too penned in, should get some light too" Ennis said as if it was all crystal clear. But he wasnt patronising, he was just saying how it was, matter of fact, and he somehow made Jack feel as if he had helped make the decision.
"Great" said Jack and he grinned at Ennis. The corners of Ennis' mouth twitched up into a tiny smile, and as they did Jack felt strange sparks go off throughtout his body. Like someone had set off tiny fireworks in his heart and now they were exploding as his blood carried them flowing accross to his arms, up his neck, down his legs.
"So, now...." Jack started but he had to stop. He'd opend the tent bag and emptied out the contents. A bewhildering mass of poles and a huge sack had plopped out. It meant nothing to Jack. He knew tents were supposed to be like triangles but he couldnt see how this one load of canvas and a dozen or so metal roads was going to be converted into a pryamid they could sleep in. He turned to look at Ennis, but Ennis had his backed turned to the pile and was gazing across the patch of grass. He was looking in the direction of the girls who might be sisters.
"Ok, Jack, you can do this, you can do anything" Jack muttered quietly to himself. Self motivation and encouragement were all well and good, but no understanding dawned so he just knelt down and started shifting the poles around, maybe try and work out if there was a corner or something. He wished Ennis would turn back round, but he still stood with his back turned, and Jack noticed his shirt was a bit short, or too small, because he could see an inch of Ennis' tanned back before his jeans started. Jack had extra long t-shirts that he always kept tucked in. Ennis was quite skinny. But not in a bad way. Not in a not-fed-properly way, just in a does-lots-of-exercise way. Again, Jack wondered why he assumed this, how he could tell.
"Fine bird", Ennis said quietly, turning back round.
"Beg your pardon?" Jack said. Maybe a bit too quickly.
"Just saw a lovely red cardinal over there", Ennis said, gesturing back over his shoulder with a flick of his thumb, "probably got a mate stashed away somewhere, looked like a proud male to me".
Jack just gazed up at Ennis, and he realised his mouth had fallen open so he shut it. It made him feel warm inside to know that Ennis hads not been checking out the twins but was in fact admring his natural surroundings. And the he started to feel a little anxious and he wasnt sure what to do next.
Luckily Ennis seemed to know what to do as he soon had the poles arranged into a very large cross, and had the material spread out into a flat almost circle. He then showed Jack how to attach the ends of the cross to the material through some loops and hooks, and then instructed Jack to stand up and hold one end. Jack silently obeyed, in awe at this magnificent person who knew exactly what he were doing. Ennis stood up at the other end of and with a swift movement he hoisted up the middle of the cross so that the arms bent and an igloo like frame was formed. Jack instinctively reached to grab the pole arms as they started teetering. He could see how this was working now, and as he held the ricketty frame, Ennis hooked the tent material to the frame, and the canvas expanded into a large blue dome and their tent was up. Ennis busied himelf securing and tightening things and Jack looked round and saw that no one else had even got their poles toegther.
"We won!" He exclained excitedly, and Ennis gave him another small sweet smile. He gave Jack a thumbs up and wondered off in the direction Joe had last been seen. Jack stood by their tent. THEIR tent. He couldnt believe it. He felt a huge sense of satisfaction and pride even though he really hadnt done anything. But still, he'd learnt how to make a tent and it wasnt a traingle at all! He was going to sleep in that thing for months. And Ennis was too. He almost couldnt wait to get in there and close out everyone else and start sorting out his thoughts and maybe start being friends with Ennis. Cause Jack had never had any real friends and things had seemingly got off to a good start with Ennis.
He looked around but his new hero had disappeared. Joe was ambling towards their tent, smile on his face. "Looks like you get the pick of the bedding" he smiled at Jack. Jack smiled back and looked aorund. All eyes were on him, or more accuately, the tent. He walked over to the nearest pair, which happened to be Chris and the least popular guy from the back seat, and asked "Want a hand?".
The rest of the evening passed in a bit of a blur. Ennis was no where to be seen but Jack helped everyone else put their tents together, he really was an expert now. Really, once you knoew how it was quite simple, everyone agreed. But they were still all very grateful to Jack and he got a lot of pats on the back, high fives and generous compliments. The girls liked him even more when he passed on the really soft and feathery looking matress and pillows and said he didnt need them, he was quite happy just with a thin mat and his sleeping bag. He panicked momentarily when he thought he was expected to choose Ennis' bedding for him, but Joe said "It's ok, Ennis said he dont need no fancy stuff either, said he disnt want no pillow and already has himself a mat". Jack felt all happy inside that he shared his non-need for luxury with Ennis.
After the tents were sorted they were taken on a brief tour, and then fed a filling meal of soup followed by stew and then apple pie. Jack ate every bite of his, it was all delicious. They were all sat round one big table, Jack in the middle surrounded by Jenny and the twins who seemed to have found a deep admiration for him now as well. Even the back-row queen, who it turned out was called Kirsty, was glancing in his direction every so often. Jack felt quite embarassed but thankfully no one said anything. Ennis re-appeared soon after they all sat down to eat and parked himself at the end of the table where he quielty ate his dinner, not really joining in the conversation.
After the food they all stayed round the table talking and getting to know each other. Most of the talk was of what they were planning on doing tomorrow, which jobs they'd try and what they'd do to fill their spare time. Most of the boys seemed excited about the quad bikes, no one seemed to share Jack's enthusiasm for the pool. "It's outdoors man, gonna be freezing" Chris said, but Jack was not going to be put off. He'd get in there the first oppirtunity he got.Then talk moved to where they were from, what they were going to do after the summer. It was all about the future, no one willing to dwell on the past.
Jack didnt say much that first evening, he just listened and tried to remember what people said for later. Ennis said nothing, and no-one volunteered why they were here. Unspoken understading that their sad stories were not suitable for their first night together. The truths would seep out as friendships grew.
No one wanted to be the first to bed, but it had been a long day and eevryone was tired. Finally, around eleven, Ennis just stood up tilted his hat at the group and walked off. The circle broken, the girls took this as their cue to leave and all ambled off together muttering about trying out the shower block facilities. Jack thought a shower could wait till morning and so he walked away from the dining hall with some of the other boys and headed for his tent. He had to make sure it was his tent as they all looked alike in the dark, and by now, although the moon was up, it was pretty dark. But he could see his large bag with all his stuff propped outside. He unzipped the flap and hauled his bag inside. It was pitch black. He started feeling aorund his bag for where he's put his torch (they'd all been told to bring one) when a bright light suddenly shown out from the other side of the tent.
"You alright?" Ennis asked. He was already lying down inside his sleeping bag, pointing a large torch in Jack's direction. Jack saw a medium sized case at the foot of Ennis' sleeping bag with Ennis's jeans and shirt thrown on top. Jack wondered what Ennis had on inside the sleeping bag and then thought maybe it was nothing and this made him blush deeply. He hastily bent over and located his pyjamas and his torch and then he put his case at the bottom of his sleeping bag, simultaenously recalling that he hadnt picked up his sleeping bad from the minibus, and wondered who it was that had done and had then so thoughtfully laid it out on the thin matress and even placed a pillow at the head of his new bed. "All set" he said holding up his stuff for Ennis to see, but Ennis didnt say anything, just turned off his torch and put it next to his head. Jack switched his torch on, but one he'd unzipped his sleeping bad, he turned it off, and in the dark he got undressed, put on his pyjamas and wriggled into his sleeping bag. It wasnt that dark once you got used to it. He could see the shape of Ennis about 2 feet away. He wanted to ask him so many questions. How did he know how to put up a tent? Was he used to sleeping outdoors? How did he know about birds? Where was he from? What was he hoping to do for the next 2 months? And above all he yeared to know what brought Ennis here. Whether it was a story like his own which would make it easier to tell his if he were ever asked, or maybe it was something worse? But there was to be no talking tonight because as soon as Jack had got himslef in a comfortable position, as if Ennis could tell and had waited, he heard a whispered "Night Jack" from the other side of the tent, and within moments, there was slow and deep breathing, and Jack concluded he must be asleep.
Jack smiled to himself. It felt great to be in this tent he'd helped build. Outside in the middle of nowhere about to experience a whole range of new and exciting things. He felt so safe and cosy in his sleeping bag, the gentle breathing a lovely reminder he wasnt alone. He'd only been here a few hours, but already Jack was convinced he was going to have a great time.
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i dont know where i put this, but this story is PG for now. might be get more later though not sure i can write smut!
also, of course, these characters originally belong to annie proulx and i am not getting anything other than satisaction from reincarnating them.
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A hundred thougts raced through Jack's mind one after another. Wow, was the first thought. Jack thought he'd never seen anything as beautiful, then he thought maybe beautiful wasnt the word you used to describe a man. It was more suitable for ladies. He guesed handsome was more appropriate. Then he thought: how old is thig guy? Jack could not put an age on him. He could be Jack's age, but he could also be much older, in which case what was he doing here? The camp was for teenage foster kids. So he couldnt be older than 19, but something about him just said 'Man' whereas Jack knew no-one would describe him as more than 'boy'. And he could see straight away how different this man was from himself. He noticed the fair hair and how in the late evening sun it was glowing; a golden aura like you saw round the Angels in his mum's books. He noticed very faint stubble, like this guy had to shave every day. Jack himself could get away with every few days easily. Eyes were brown, a nice soft brown. Not the cold dark brown of his dad, nor the gentler but still dark brown of his foster mum. These were a warm brown, with flickers of what looked like gold in them, again probably just the light. His skin was smooth, really smooth. No sign of acne scars. Jack himself had never got many spots, one or two at any given time, and they always stayed fairly discreet. Not that he cared as he had much worse scars, but he knew he was in the minority with not having to overly worry about spots, and it seemed this Ennis had even better skin than him. His skin was a mixture of flushed and tanned which left Jack with the certainty that he must spend a lot of time outdoors. Jack's skin was only now beginning to get some colour after years of being indoors almost all the time. He was drawn back to the eyes, they seemed kind and then Jack wondered why on earth he thought that. How could you tell someone was kind from their eyes? He guessed it was just some instinct. He had seen a lot of two pairs of unkind eyes, and then lately, sympathetic and pitying eyes. These were none of those, these just seemed matter of fact and mildly concerned. And then they were gone as Ennis bent his head back down and Jack realised with a start he'd probably been staring for minutes. But actually, only a few second had passed.
"Um," Jack said not sure what to do next. His mind was whirling but he couldn't stand there all day working out why his heart was suddenly beating faster, why his stomach had just down a flip-flop inside and why he could actually feel his pulse throbbing at a higher tempo than normal.
"The tent...." he said and trailled off beacuse he didn't have a clue what they were supposed to do with the tent.
"Where do you want it?" Ennis asked in that deep voice that made the hairs on the back of Jack's neck stand on end. A jolt raced down his spine as Ennis looked up again, and right at him.
"Um" was all Jack could say, and then he started blushing beacuse he didnt know what else to do. He look around, no one was yet even attempting to put their tent together. They were stood talking in their pairs, or in bigger groups, pointing, gesturing, working out what was a good spot and what wasn't. Jack wondered if any of them even knew or whether it was all for show.
"Reckon over here would be good?" Ennis asked, although maybe it was a statement, not a question. He'd dragged the tent sack to a spot at one end of the large patch of grass they were all spread accross.
"OK?" Jack said, not sure if he was agreeing or questioning the choice.
"It's flat. Get the sun in the morning, shade when it gets too hot, shelter but not too penned in, should get some light too" Ennis said as if it was all crystal clear. But he wasnt patronising, he was just saying how it was, matter of fact, and he somehow made Jack feel as if he had helped make the decision.
"Great" said Jack and he grinned at Ennis. The corners of Ennis' mouth twitched up into a tiny smile, and as they did Jack felt strange sparks go off throughtout his body. Like someone had set off tiny fireworks in his heart and now they were exploding as his blood carried them flowing accross to his arms, up his neck, down his legs.
"So, now...." Jack started but he had to stop. He'd opend the tent bag and emptied out the contents. A bewhildering mass of poles and a huge sack had plopped out. It meant nothing to Jack. He knew tents were supposed to be like triangles but he couldnt see how this one load of canvas and a dozen or so metal roads was going to be converted into a pryamid they could sleep in. He turned to look at Ennis, but Ennis had his backed turned to the pile and was gazing across the patch of grass. He was looking in the direction of the girls who might be sisters.
"Ok, Jack, you can do this, you can do anything" Jack muttered quietly to himself. Self motivation and encouragement were all well and good, but no understanding dawned so he just knelt down and started shifting the poles around, maybe try and work out if there was a corner or something. He wished Ennis would turn back round, but he still stood with his back turned, and Jack noticed his shirt was a bit short, or too small, because he could see an inch of Ennis' tanned back before his jeans started. Jack had extra long t-shirts that he always kept tucked in. Ennis was quite skinny. But not in a bad way. Not in a not-fed-properly way, just in a does-lots-of-exercise way. Again, Jack wondered why he assumed this, how he could tell.
"Fine bird", Ennis said quietly, turning back round.
"Beg your pardon?" Jack said. Maybe a bit too quickly.
"Just saw a lovely red cardinal over there", Ennis said, gesturing back over his shoulder with a flick of his thumb, "probably got a mate stashed away somewhere, looked like a proud male to me".
Jack just gazed up at Ennis, and he realised his mouth had fallen open so he shut it. It made him feel warm inside to know that Ennis hads not been checking out the twins but was in fact admring his natural surroundings. And the he started to feel a little anxious and he wasnt sure what to do next.
Luckily Ennis seemed to know what to do as he soon had the poles arranged into a very large cross, and had the material spread out into a flat almost circle. He then showed Jack how to attach the ends of the cross to the material through some loops and hooks, and then instructed Jack to stand up and hold one end. Jack silently obeyed, in awe at this magnificent person who knew exactly what he were doing. Ennis stood up at the other end of and with a swift movement he hoisted up the middle of the cross so that the arms bent and an igloo like frame was formed. Jack instinctively reached to grab the pole arms as they started teetering. He could see how this was working now, and as he held the ricketty frame, Ennis hooked the tent material to the frame, and the canvas expanded into a large blue dome and their tent was up. Ennis busied himelf securing and tightening things and Jack looked round and saw that no one else had even got their poles toegther.
"We won!" He exclained excitedly, and Ennis gave him another small sweet smile. He gave Jack a thumbs up and wondered off in the direction Joe had last been seen. Jack stood by their tent. THEIR tent. He couldnt believe it. He felt a huge sense of satisfaction and pride even though he really hadnt done anything. But still, he'd learnt how to make a tent and it wasnt a traingle at all! He was going to sleep in that thing for months. And Ennis was too. He almost couldnt wait to get in there and close out everyone else and start sorting out his thoughts and maybe start being friends with Ennis. Cause Jack had never had any real friends and things had seemingly got off to a good start with Ennis.
He looked around but his new hero had disappeared. Joe was ambling towards their tent, smile on his face. "Looks like you get the pick of the bedding" he smiled at Jack. Jack smiled back and looked aorund. All eyes were on him, or more accuately, the tent. He walked over to the nearest pair, which happened to be Chris and the least popular guy from the back seat, and asked "Want a hand?".
The rest of the evening passed in a bit of a blur. Ennis was no where to be seen but Jack helped everyone else put their tents together, he really was an expert now. Really, once you knoew how it was quite simple, everyone agreed. But they were still all very grateful to Jack and he got a lot of pats on the back, high fives and generous compliments. The girls liked him even more when he passed on the really soft and feathery looking matress and pillows and said he didnt need them, he was quite happy just with a thin mat and his sleeping bag. He panicked momentarily when he thought he was expected to choose Ennis' bedding for him, but Joe said "It's ok, Ennis said he dont need no fancy stuff either, said he disnt want no pillow and already has himself a mat". Jack felt all happy inside that he shared his non-need for luxury with Ennis.
After the tents were sorted they were taken on a brief tour, and then fed a filling meal of soup followed by stew and then apple pie. Jack ate every bite of his, it was all delicious. They were all sat round one big table, Jack in the middle surrounded by Jenny and the twins who seemed to have found a deep admiration for him now as well. Even the back-row queen, who it turned out was called Kirsty, was glancing in his direction every so often. Jack felt quite embarassed but thankfully no one said anything. Ennis re-appeared soon after they all sat down to eat and parked himself at the end of the table where he quielty ate his dinner, not really joining in the conversation.
After the food they all stayed round the table talking and getting to know each other. Most of the talk was of what they were planning on doing tomorrow, which jobs they'd try and what they'd do to fill their spare time. Most of the boys seemed excited about the quad bikes, no one seemed to share Jack's enthusiasm for the pool. "It's outdoors man, gonna be freezing" Chris said, but Jack was not going to be put off. He'd get in there the first oppirtunity he got.Then talk moved to where they were from, what they were going to do after the summer. It was all about the future, no one willing to dwell on the past.
Jack didnt say much that first evening, he just listened and tried to remember what people said for later. Ennis said nothing, and no-one volunteered why they were here. Unspoken understading that their sad stories were not suitable for their first night together. The truths would seep out as friendships grew.
No one wanted to be the first to bed, but it had been a long day and eevryone was tired. Finally, around eleven, Ennis just stood up tilted his hat at the group and walked off. The circle broken, the girls took this as their cue to leave and all ambled off together muttering about trying out the shower block facilities. Jack thought a shower could wait till morning and so he walked away from the dining hall with some of the other boys and headed for his tent. He had to make sure it was his tent as they all looked alike in the dark, and by now, although the moon was up, it was pretty dark. But he could see his large bag with all his stuff propped outside. He unzipped the flap and hauled his bag inside. It was pitch black. He started feeling aorund his bag for where he's put his torch (they'd all been told to bring one) when a bright light suddenly shown out from the other side of the tent.
"You alright?" Ennis asked. He was already lying down inside his sleeping bag, pointing a large torch in Jack's direction. Jack saw a medium sized case at the foot of Ennis' sleeping bag with Ennis's jeans and shirt thrown on top. Jack wondered what Ennis had on inside the sleeping bag and then thought maybe it was nothing and this made him blush deeply. He hastily bent over and located his pyjamas and his torch and then he put his case at the bottom of his sleeping bag, simultaenously recalling that he hadnt picked up his sleeping bad from the minibus, and wondered who it was that had done and had then so thoughtfully laid it out on the thin matress and even placed a pillow at the head of his new bed. "All set" he said holding up his stuff for Ennis to see, but Ennis didnt say anything, just turned off his torch and put it next to his head. Jack switched his torch on, but one he'd unzipped his sleeping bad, he turned it off, and in the dark he got undressed, put on his pyjamas and wriggled into his sleeping bag. It wasnt that dark once you got used to it. He could see the shape of Ennis about 2 feet away. He wanted to ask him so many questions. How did he know how to put up a tent? Was he used to sleeping outdoors? How did he know about birds? Where was he from? What was he hoping to do for the next 2 months? And above all he yeared to know what brought Ennis here. Whether it was a story like his own which would make it easier to tell his if he were ever asked, or maybe it was something worse? But there was to be no talking tonight because as soon as Jack had got himslef in a comfortable position, as if Ennis could tell and had waited, he heard a whispered "Night Jack" from the other side of the tent, and within moments, there was slow and deep breathing, and Jack concluded he must be asleep.
Jack smiled to himself. It felt great to be in this tent he'd helped build. Outside in the middle of nowhere about to experience a whole range of new and exciting things. He felt so safe and cosy in his sleeping bag, the gentle breathing a lovely reminder he wasnt alone. He'd only been here a few hours, but already Jack was convinced he was going to have a great time.
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