driven, Pokey's notes

She tells us to come on.
"Follow me," in the cutest most awesomeness anything ever.
Then she turns to head down a trail she's never been.

I need to write a story for Trail Miser and Balanced.



It was our first night but second time at Sipsey. We'd stopped, had dinner, driven. It was nearing dark and he'd already said we'd just get far enough to set up camp but not past the cave. Dark comes fast when you're trying to see the ground in front of you and there's one beam of light telling you where to step. And that night at Sipsey taught us vulnerability in the form of your foot may slide right out from under you several times. Be careful, genius.

I thought and then said out loud, "I knew we weren't going to be prepared for this."
I'm all about self fulfilling prophecies.

Other people's versions can differ about what happened on that log that night. It was the only crossing for I don't remember how long he said. I looked at that log over that narrow but still threatening wide river, stream, creek, tributary, I don't know. The boys have less foggy versions of things. They were Trail Miser, Trash Man, Jake, and DEEwayne.

I didn't represent women well. Most stories have an apology, right? Sorry, ladies, mothers, daughters, but I gave up before I stepped on that thing. Trail Miser had handled it well but still scared me a bit.

I will admit to being concerned once I heard it seemed like I just gave up and jumped into a mud which caught my left leg at the knee and pushed it's foot behind me. Trail Miser is kind but you can now hear the hugest smile come through the line when he explains, "I just think it was shaking and you were shaking and you did finally seem to come to the conclusion that you were never going to make it so you tried to control the fall."

"I just thought I had a better chance of clawing up that bank."

We both laugh and I remember why we do this. It's like I told her. Once I heard that kid belly laugh, every cell in me said, "I'm going to be a comedian." And I ain't even funny.


Today I am grateful that three guys helped pull me up that bank with Trail Miser laughing and Jake ordering, "Don't you give up."