Clay and Josh (Part 2)
The mechanical sound of the engine, mixed with the sound of the road and the constant dull roar of the waves that pounded the sandy beaches were much more noticeable now as Clay and Josh headed up to the Mount Sutter trailhead in Clay's Jeep. The radio was off--the sounds of being on the road were more significant than any radio station could be-- especially at this time of the night. It was 1:10 in the morning and every respectable soul was fast asleep in bed, or at least in for the night, wherever they may be. This is what drew Clay to such adventures. Like many other nights in the past and many more to come, tonight was his, open by invitation only--and tonight he chose to include Josh.
Even though Clay did this sort of thing all the time, with many of his friends and co-workers, he had never asked Josh to tag along. When he was with others he had had purely adventurous motives--to explore the outside world in all of its glory by whatever means he had chosen. Tonight, however, was different. he had been on this hike a number if times before, but never with Josh. Josh was different, at least in Clay's eyes. Sure he was a co-worker, a friend, but there was something else--something more. Tonight he was going to tell Josh how he felt, or at least that was the plan.
"How much further is it?" Josh asked, interrupting the sounds of the Jeep and the road and the surf.
"It's about ten more minutes up the road. The road's gonna curve sharp to the left where there's a lookout point. We'll park there, cross the street, and then we'll be at the trailhead. You wouldn't even know it was there, even in the daytime, unless you were looking for it... So, you've never done this hike before?"
"No, never. I've known Of it, but I didn't want to hike it alone...Actually I thought about asking you to take me up there a few times, but I just never asked."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. I guess I just figured you were busy or something" Josh shrugged.
"Oh... Um... no, I uh, mean sure, whenever we have a little time off I'm always doing something or other, but you shouldda told me you wanted to do something like this--I've always got room for another!" Clay looked over at Josh who was staring at him. When their eyes met they both simultaneously looked away, Clay's eyes returned to the road and Josh seemed to have found something interesting on his paw he started scratching at. Once again the sound of the Jeep and the road and the surf became became audible as the two carried on in awkward silence.
"So... what's the plan?" asked Josh.
"wha" Clay's ears pricked and gripped the steering wheel tighter with is paws.
"What's the plan on hiking this trail? How long's it gonna take? I mean, we have to be at work at 9:00 tomorrow... er today, and we'll get our tails chewed if we're late." Josh returned, apparenty not noticing Clay's sudden nervousness.
Clay breathed a breath of relief and loosened up on the steering wheel. "Well, it's a pretty straight forward hike," he explained. "We've got flashlights, and, well, we're going up to the summit. The trail is pretty well established, there might be some swordgrass we'll have to cut through, which is why I brought the machete, just in case... The hike up is only about 45 minutes in the daytime, so I expect it to take about that long. Comming down will be faster, obviously. All in all we can be up, down, and on our way in two hours easy. Sure beats going to the movies, eh?" Clay glanced over his shoulder at Josh.
"Sounds like fun... and I happen to LIKE going to the movies, thank you very much!" Josh stuck out his tongue ever so slightly at Clay, but kept his head straight, watching the yellow lines on the road blur by in the glow of the headlights.
Minutes passed. "Is this it?" Josh asked as the road curved off to the left and a huge blue wall came into view. There were steps up the wall and almost a dozen empty parking spaces.
"Yup" said Clay as he slowed down and pulled up to park parallel to the wall so that he took up two spots.
"You think you should park like this?" Josh questioned as the Jeep slowed to a stop.
Clay chuckled, "I don't think anyone's gonna mind. The trailhead's there." He pointed across the street.
"Wow, I see what you said about this earlier--I NEVER wouldda found it on my own!"
"Ha yeah, I don't know how many times I passed by it and never saw it... Heck, I even passed it up twice the first time I went looking for it! Grab the backpack and let's hit the trail!"
Backpack in hand, josh followed Clay across the street. "Like I said, the hike is pretty straight forward. What time is it?" Clay asked as he opened the backpack on Josh's back and took out the two flashlights, handing Josh.
"It's 1:31" Josh said.
"Good. We've got plenty of time. You see? This is what life's all about. None of this 'hurry up and wait' bullshit. Just taking your time, seeing and doing whatever... You should only stress out when you feel it's necessary, you know?" Clay already started down the red dirt trail surrounded by mostly small brush with Josh right on his heels. Josh just sighed. Taking in what his friend had just said he kinda got lost in his own head, deep in thought.
"Hey!" Clay barked as he turned around to see Josh, clearly not paying attention to where he was going, almost missing a turn and about to step off a slope into the blackness that loomed to one side of them.
Josh jumped and looked wide-eyed at his hiking paprtner. "...Oh, sorry about that. I guess I just zoned out for a sec there."
"Well don't! This is an easy hike, but one slip and you've got a sprained ankle at the very LEAST!" Clay's eyes glowed white in Josh's flashlight. He continued on a few steps, then turned around to see Josh still standing there, his ears laid back against his brown and black head. Clay looked down then back up at his friend and continued in a soothing tone "...trust me, I know from experience." He shined his flashlight on his right rear hock to reveal an Ace bandage wrapped around his leg, down into his black jump boot.
Before Josh could ask, Clay realized that his words were unnecessarily harsh and explained "I was on another hike, by myself yesterday. I wasn't paying attention and fell down a seven foot sinkhole in the sword grass. All I could do is tighten up my bootlace and continue on--I was too far in to go back... made it back to the Jeep three and a half hours later by hiking along a creek then up a ridgeline to the road..." He chuckled and shook his head, "I guess I zone out too, from time to time." He walked over to Josh and put his arm around him. "I didn't mean to be a jerk, shall we continue?" Clay motioned up the trail with the flashlight.
"Of course, dude! I'll try to be more careful." Josh's ears had returned to normal and he started walking up the trail again.
"...Just don't expect me to carry your fat ass if you hurt yourself!" Clay joked and playfully nudged Josh's muzzle with his paw.
"Who you callin' fat, fatty?!" Josh returned. They both laughed at each other and continued up and up toward the summit.
The sun had set before they were even out of work, and a full moon was large in the sky, iluminating the trail and landscape that was not touched by the flashlights the two used to watch the ground before them. The rolling hills looked as a dark green sea, highlited by tufts of white moonlight from the tops of the grassy fields gently blowing in the sea breeze. The ocean was visible at times, too, which stretched on to the horizon, and to complete blackness. Above, a million stars shown brightly in the night sky, almost mirroring the view of the ocean in its vastness. The only sound that could be heard over the boys' footsteps was that of the breeze and the occasional croak of a toad close by. The flashlights made the toads' eyes--dozens of them--glow like little moons, scattered about the trail in pairs.
"Watch your step," Clay mentioned, "toads are everywhere on this part of the trail. We'll be past them in another hundred yards or so." They were in a small thicket of trees now, tropical and broad-leafed. It was much darker here due to the lack of moon light that made it through the canopy above. "During the day time in the Spring months this is where you'd see hundreds of black and iridescent blue butterflies all over the place. They chill on the leaves and branches of the trees and when you walk through this area they start flying everywhere... It's kinda like snow, only blue and black, and well, butterfly-ie heh" Clay snickered at himself.
"I bet that's a beautiful sight" Josh sighed, though his attention was at his feet watching out for little glowy eyes in his immediate footpath.
Every so often Clay would look back and tell Josh about the trail, the mountain, the things he'd seen at different points, and every now and again his eyes would meet Josh's, just for a split second, and every time, for just a split second, Clay could feel his cheeks get warm and he would face forward again to hide the sheepish grin on his face. So on they went, up and up toward the summit.
It was getting very near now, and Clay stopped at a fork in the trail. "There's a crossroads here," explained Clay, "to the left there is a lesser peak, and to the right, right up there is the summit, see?" Clay's outstretched paw pointing off in the summit's direction.
"Hey, it looks like we're almost there!" said Josh, looking in the direction Clay was pointing.
"Yup, we'll be there in another minute or so."
"Race you up there!" said Josh as he took a position to start sprinting up the last stretch.
"Whoa, hold on a sec, that's not a good idea," Clay warned, "it's nothing but boulders and clay the rest of the way."
"Aw, c'mon, where's the Crazy Clay that asked me to go 'night hiking' with him?" Josh challenged.
Clay laughed, "'crazy,' not 'stupid' my friend."
"Ha! yeah, Whatever you say," said Josh and the two finished the final stretch hopping boulder to boulder, side-by-side.
"Aaaand this is it!" stated Clay, with an aire of accomplishment.
"...Whoa..." is all that Josh replied.
From the top of Mount Sutter the boys had a panoramic view of the entire island. The moonlight was just enough to paint a vague picture of the island in its entirety. Here and there was the glow of tiny villages nestled within the hills and far off in the distance the hotel district that lined the shore seemed to scream "tourists here!" Just inland was the airport, the running lights illuminated the runways like a spider's web laden with morning dew glistening in the sunlight.
"It's so peaceful up here," Josh said in astonishment.
"I know...whenever I need a break and I have a little time on my hands I come here. You should see it in the daytime--the shapes of everything are the same, but the colors of the hills and the jungle and the ocean are absolutely breathtaking."
Josh leaned up against a large boulder and closed his eyes, relishing in the awesomness all around him. For minutes neither of them spoke.
"Well, it's now or never," Clay thought to himself, seeing the peaceful look on Josh's face. He walked over to him and leaned up against the boulder next to him.
Out of nowhere, a thick blanket of fog, low level clouds, actually, enveloped the moutain top. Josh opened his eyes in awe.
"Wow, it sure got foggy quick, didn't it?" Josh said, staring out into space.
"Yeah..." Clay sighed, tilting his head to see Josh. "Josh?" Clay started, but looked away when josh turned his head in respose.
"Yeah?"
"I'm really glad you came up here with me tonight."
"Yeah, me too. This is amazing."
Clay took a deep breath in. "Josh, you're a great friend to me, and you know that I've always got your back, right?"
"Of course, dude. We always have fun whenever we hang out."
When Clay looked back over at Josh he saw that Josh was staring at him with a half smile, half frown upon his face, and their gazes locked. Clay felt hot all over, his stomache was doing somersaults and his paws started to tremble.
"Josh?" Now Clay's voice started trembling as he tried to say the words that, in his heart, he so wanted to. Josh was silent, seemigly paralyzed by the tone in his friend's voice. They were standing now very close, almost muzzle to muzzle when Clay almost whispered, embarrassed at what he was going to say next... "I...I really like you..." and took Josh's paw in his, his eyes now wide with apprehension.
Nothing moved. The wind stopped blowing, the fog stopped moving around them, it was as if the world itself froze in reaction to Clay's words and in anticipation of Josh's response. The only movement at all was that of their iterlocked paws--Josh was trembling, too! The tension, as thick and as still as the fog surrounding them, was unlike any other the two of them had ever known.
Finally, Josh replied in a voice even lower than Clay's "I...really like you too."
Just as though it seemed that nothing could cut the tension of the moment and jumpstart the world again, Josh closed his eyes and leaned his head inward ever so slightly--so slight in fact that an observer would not have even noticed--but to Clay it was absolutely larger than life! Clay took one paw, the other still holding on to Josh's and brushed Josh's cheek. He leaned his head in, their muzzles touching, closed his eyes and they kissed...