216 Nighttime Stroll

The day went by quite quickly as we allowed ourselves to relax surrounded by the wilderness. After eating and such, we cleaned the used bowls using the water faucets from the pavilion, and after that, we went hiking. It's technically just us roaming around near our campsite, but that's still technically the correct term for what we did.

On our walk, we saw the beautiful Spring season bloom. There were flowers blooming on the side of the dirt trail that we took, and nearby in the trees, the birds chirped on. With the vegetation were plenty of insects, but luckily, Alvelyn had prepared insect repellent, so those pesky insects were not a bother anymore. From the bushes nearby, we heard the sound of rustling, and occasionally, we would catch glimpses of the wildlife as they avoided us and went about on their business. It is an experience that one does not get to experience in the concrete jungle of the city.

As the night embraced the world, it slowly suffocated the noise and vitality in us. The energy drained from us during the day's hike led to us all feeling quite sluggish at night, and after cooking and enjoying a simple beef stew dinner, we sat by the campfire to kill sometime before going to sleep and ending the day. What we opted to do was simply just sit around and chat. Not sing a song or anything like that. It's rather quite stupid to sing a song when sitting around a campfire. The crackling fire is perfect for one to stare into and lose themselves in. It's just so absorbing and thought-provoking that it would often inspire simple conversations with a deep connotation. Words spoken around a campfire would often carry a heavier meaning.

What we spoke about was merely simple banter. I didn't speak up much and neither did Alvelyn. It would appear that both of us were not in the mood for conversing, but rather we wanted to simply gaze into the fire. Because of this, neither of us were able to listen in on what the others were talking about as our minds were simply captivated and absorbed by the crackling flame as it performed it's dance of life before us as it slowly withered and approached death.

When it came time to sleep, we prematurely murdered the flame, suffocating it and cutting off it's lifeline. Then, after showering in the separate shower shacks for the boys and girls, and after brushing our teeth in the restrooms, we returned to our assigned tents and prepared to settle in for the night.

"I really hope there's enough space to sleep comfortably," Zaksus said with a worried look on his face as we laid out the sleeping bags.

"If you wouldn't be so damn tall," Noah elbowed Zaksus in a joking manner.

"It's not just me," Zaksus quickly fired back. "All of you are a bit taller than average as well."

"But you're way above average," Noah concluded, successfully shutting up Zaksus as the four of us continued to lay out the sleeping bags.

"This should be good," Loyd said as he looked around while sitting with his knees crossed.

"This'll have to work," Noah sighed. "Still a bit more cramped than I would've liked it."

"Not everything will go in your favor," Zaksus said as he entered his sleeping bag and zipped himself up. "It's quite warm."

I yawned as time continued to flow deeper into the night, and yet we were only starting to prepare for slumber. However, after having just struggled with laying out the sleeping bags and listening in on the short banter between Noah and Zaksus, that killed my drowsiness. In order for me to regain that desire, I decided that I would leave the tent and take a short walk and enjoy the mountain breezes to give my mind some serenity.

"Where you going?" Loyd asked when he saw me unzipping the tent and exiting.

"A short walk," I answered truthfully. "Don't wait for me."

Without waiting for a response, I exited the tent and stepped foot in the dark world outside where no moonlight was available to illuminate the world due to the clouds overhead blocking the moon. All three tents are dark with their lights off, leading me to believe that everyone is sleeping so I continued down the trail path with soft footsteps so as to not disturb the others. Nearby, there were the hooting sound of owls that seemed to lull the world into a state of slumber, causing everything to be silent. The lack of crickets chirping led to me believing that we came at a perfect time since the crickets had not yet returned. A soft, gentle breeze blew by, gently caressing my face and moving my hair as it moved by. It wasn't cold, but I was wearing a thin hoodie just because.

Suddenly, a figure nearby the wooden shacks caught my eye. It was still dark, so I was only able to see an outline of the figure, but as the clouds drifted along overhead, it moved past the moon and allowed the celestial rays to shine down on the world once again. Standing there and looking up at the moon was Luna.

It wasn't cold, but I was wearing a thin hoodie just because

Dressed in a simple white T-shirt and a skirt, she did not appear to be in any sense of discomfort of any sorts standing outside. Rather, she appeared to be rather comfortable in this temperature as she enjoyed the gentle breezes of the night blow by, moving her long, silver-white hair in the air and causing them to dance gently. She does not seem to notice me standing not too far from her position and observing her and I did not notify her. Rather, I continued to observe her, curious as to why she was out at this time.

Why would she not be sleeping? I guess I'm not the best person to be asking that question since I'm also not sleeping.

Luna seemed to have finally noticed me after a short while when the clouds drifted even more and allowed the nighttime sky overhead to clear up even more. With an astonished expression, she looked over at me from the corner of her eye before she smiled and turned to face me.

"What're you doing up so late?" Luna asked me with a gentle expression on her face as she brought her left hand tenderly up to the left side of her face, holding her hair still as a breeze blew by once again.

"What're you doing up so late?" I calmly repeated her question as I stood there with my back somewhat slouched and my hands in the pockets of my hoodie.

"I guess you can ask that question," Luna softly chuckled. "I just can't sleep."

"Me too," I answered as well.

"What's on your mind?" Luna asked me but then softly laughed. "Wait. You're gonna ask my that question, huh?"

I nodded my head without saying anything.

"I don't know," Luna continued speaking and smiled. "I just...can't sleep."

"Huh?" I nodded my head as I listened to her.

"It's weird, I know," Luna gently laughed in a self-deprecating manner. "Like we're supposed to be relaxing when we're here..." Her facial expression softened as they seemed to have hints of sadness imbued within the slight crease of her brow.

Another gust of wind blew by once again, moving our hair, the blades of grass on the ground, and rustled the leaves on the trees. The ambiance sound was rather loud, but it was rather tranquilizing and perfect for a slumber.

"What about you?" Luna then asked. "How are you recently?"

I was originally going to answer her question as to why I am still not asleep, but what she added right after that changed the question all together. It was about my current state. This was something new that I haven't prepared for. In all honesty, I had not had a chance to interact with Luna one-on-one ever since the start of this new timeline, so I'm still not entirely sure of our relationship.

"I'm fine," I recollected myself and calmly answered.

"Is that so?" Luna lowered her head and smiled somewhat nervously as she gazed at the ground. "Right..."

"Is something wrong?" I tensed my brows and asked.

"Nothing," Luna looked up at me and said. "It's just that...it's been a while since we've talked like this. It's been so long that it's a bit...awkward."

"Yeah," I agreed and nodded my head.

She's right. Even if this was the original timeline, even if somehow Luna did survive to this point, speaking after not speaking for such a long duration of time would eliminate a good portion of any chemistry that is developed between two people. That chemistry will have to rebuilt again, but it will have to endure the awkwardness once again.

"How's everything going for you?" I asked her as I kept my eyes trained on her to keenly observe her.

"It's...alright I guess," Luna paused momentarily before she continued. "Things have been...rather weird for me. There's things about my boyfriend and stuff. I—"

"Right," I muttered as I nodded my head, recalling the fact that she has a boyfriend. "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"No," Luna smiled. "It's fine," she whispered. "It's fine."

"Huh..."

I paused and looked at her. Neither of us said anything as we stood there and bathed in the moonlight. This period of silence and tranquility seemed to have lasted a rather long time as we meditated our minds. However, the seal of silence and inaction was ultimately broken.

"I think I'll go to bed now," Luna looked up and into my eyes while smiling. "It's getting quite late."

I nodded in agreement.

"Goodnight," Luna waved to me as she started walking and made her way past me towards her tents. "See you tomorrow."

I nodded as I took a step to the side to allow her to pass by. With my hands still in my pockets and back still somewhat slouched, I watched as she made her way back to her tent and unzipped the entrance. Then, she entered the tent. Just before she disappeared entirely and zipped up the zipper, she paused and smiled at me, waving her hand and mouthed a soft "Goodnight". She then zipped up the zipper to the tent, leaving me standing there alone outside underneath the starry sky.

Another breeze blew by, caressing my face, moving my hair, and rattled the leaves in the trees surrounding me. Slowly, I looked up at the moon, perplexed about the conversation I just had with Luna.