Traces of Desire
Copyright© 2025 by Big Ed Magusson
Chapter 27
Saturday morning, I woke up all giddy about the hike with Lori. It looked like it would be a beautiful fall day. I had my hiking boots, day pack, canteen, gorp, and rain jacket all ready to go. I met Liz at her room and we walked down to her car. We didn’t talk much and she seemed a little nervous. After we left campus, Liz immediately pulled into a gas station. I volunteered to pay. It was the right thing to do, but at this rate, my wallet would be nothing but moths and lint by Halloween.
Liz fell silent after we got on the road again. She didn’t turn on the radio nor did she look over at me. Her arms were tense. By the time we got out of Boulder city limits, I was wondering if I’d made a mistake in asking her to do this.
“This is going to be fun,” I said to lighten the mood.
That shook her out of her thoughts. “Yeah. I hope so.”
“Mmm hmm.”
“So, do you know this friend of Lori’s?”
“Not really.” I remembered Len and Lori talking about how Carrie aced classes with teachers she liked and failed ones with teachers she didn’t, but I didn’t think I should bring that up. Besides, I knew Len and Liz had talked a lot when I wasn’t around. “But if she’s a friend of Lori’s, she can’t be that bad.”
“Yeah. Len really likes her, too.”
I nodded. But then, there were few women Len didn’t like. Though I got the impression that Carrie wasn’t part of his, um, harem. But that made sense. She was his sister’s friend, after all.
“I’m sure we’ll have a good time,” I said.
Liz smiled, a bit nervously, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. What was there to be nervous about?
But before I could ask, she reached for the radio. “How about some music?”
Ironically, the song was R.E.M’s “Swan, Swan, Hummingbird.” They’d played it at the concert right before “Superman.” That took me back...
I joined in at the top of my voice. Lori turned and we shared a huge grin. All my doubts faded. I was high on her smile.
Then the band hit the line: “I can do anything.”
I knew I could.
I reached over and took her hand. She squeezed mine. I twirled her. I actually twirled her! There wasn’t enough space to do it again so reluctantly, I let her hand slip from mine.
We arrived at the visitor’s center about ten minutes early and didn’t see Lori’s car in the parking lot. Fortunately, there were still several spots left, so we parked and headed toward the center ourselves. I wanted to wait outside but that felt a little too desperate. I needed to channel my “inner Len” if I was going to impress Lori. So we headed inside instead.
I looked around but didn’t remember anything. Of course, I hadn’t been here since I was in elementary school. It was just far enough from home that we’d had to stay overnight in a cheap motel with worn 1940s furniture. I remembered it far more than the park itself. We’d had only one room with two double beds. I’d slept on a cot, or tried to. Dad had snored.
But I did remember seeing my first elk. Maybe we’d see another this time.
Inside, the assistance station had several people at it so we wandered over to the big bas-relief map of the entire park. It was impressive. I hadn’t realized how big the park really was.
I was trying to decide what would be a good hiking trail when I heard rapid footsteps, followed by hands quickly covering my eyes.
“Guess who!”
“Mmm,” I said. “Well, you’ve got soft hands, so not a farm hand. You smell nice, so not a guy.”
Her laughter tinkled in my ears.
“I give up,” I said. “No clue.”
She laughed again and released me. I turned to see Lori’s smiling face.
“Oh, wow!” I said. “Lori! I never would’ve guessed.”
She slid to my side and we clasped hands.
“So this is Mike,” an amused voice said. The speaker was a dark brunette, about three inches shorter than Lori. She was paler than Lori’s tan and much slimmer. She looked like she was related to Elrond without the pointed ears. Still, she was the moon to Lori’s sun.
“Mike,” Lori said, “this is Carrie, my best friend.”
“Nice to meet you.” Carrie extended her hand. There was a twinkle in her eye, but a distance too. As we looked at each other, warmth crept into them.
“Nice to meet you, too.” I shook her hand, and somehow the touch lingered. I felt something I couldn’t explain. She must’ve felt it herself because her smile now reached her eyes. Earlier, it hadn’t gone that far.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said.
“Good things, I hope.”
“Great things.”
I blinked in surprise. “Well ... I don’t know about that.”
Carrie chuckled. It was low and earthy—a marimba that contrasted with Lori’s bells.
Liz cleared her throat.
“Oh,” I said, “where are my manners?” I made introductions all around.
“So you’re Liz,” Carrie mused. “Nice to meet you. Len didn’t tell me you were Asian.”
“Second generation.”
“Cool.”
As Liz and Carrie shook hands, something felt off to me. Carrie’s smile was more polite, and didn’t reach her eyes. It was probably just because I was a guy, but that didn’t feel quite right. I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Lori smiled at Liz. “I’m Lori.”
“Figured you had to be,” Liz said with a grin, pointedly looking at where Lori and I were holding hands.
“She’s been talking a lot about him, too.” Carrie playfully rolled her eyes and Liz laughed.
“Oh,” Liz said, “he’s been just as bad.”
“Shouldn’t we be going hiking?” I protested.
The women laughed and Lori squeezed my hand.
We spent a little time looking over the map and discussing trails.
“I think we should start with the Bear Lake trail,” Lori said to Liz, who nodded.
I nodded too. That was one of the beginner-rated ones. It was wide and flat all the way around the lake.
“Shall we then?” Carrie asked.
After some nods, we filled up our canteens at the drinking fountain. All of us had packs and Lori carried lunch for all of us. I offered to take the heavier pack and she smiled.
“That’d be nice,” she said.
So we switched packs. Hers was a very expensive REI day pack but fortunately mine wasn’t too shabby. After adjusting the straps we headed toward the door, Lori and I in front.
“So...,” Liz said to Carrie, “Len said you went to Yellowstone last month?”
“Yeah. That was so rad...” Lori smiled at me. Then her eyes darted behind me. She squeezed my hand and grinned.
We all climbed into Lori’s car, which turned out to be a wise decision. The parking lot at the Bear Lake trailhead was jammed with cars and people. We had a tough time finding a spot for even one car, much less two.
During most of the first part of the hike, Lori and I walked hand in hand and mostly didn’t talk. A few feet behind us, Liz and Carrie chattered enough to make up for us. I didn’t really listen to it because—well, Lori. Next to me. Holding my hand—why should I care about the conversation behind me? Lori and I talked only a little even though I was sure she was as aware of me as I was of her. Instead of talking, we just hiked and enjoyed the scenery.
We eventually encountered a junction with another trail that led off up a hill. The new one was steeper and also a lot less crowded.
“This is nice,” Carrie said, “but how about we go that way?”
I nodded I was ready to be away from all the other people. Well, further away. Carrie and Liz took the lead and Lori and I followed.
The new trail led over a short rise. It was too steep to hold hands, so Lori and I just walked near each other—side by side when the trail was wide enough or one after the other when it wasn’t. After the hill, the trail alternated between light pine forest and grassy meadows, with the occasional small stream. After about an hour, it was just us, without any of the crowd from the parking lot around. Added to that, the weather was amazingly gorgeous, warm, and sunny with only a few scattered puffball clouds. I felt ... amazing. Happy. The perfect weather and the perfect company.
Lori and I started talking more, at first about hiking and camping and all sorts of little stuff. She knew a lot more about wild animals that lived in the areas than I did. In turn, I shared stories of my camping days as a Boy Scout, before I’d dropped out my freshman year of high school. Lori’s family didn’t do a lot of camping, but they did have that cabin up near Winter Park and she told me a little about it.
Meanwhile, Carrie and Liz weren’t talking all that much. Oh, they did from time to time, but Carrie always seemed a step or two ahead of Liz on the trail. She’d blaze forward and then wait for us to catch up.
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