I
“Hey, Ochako?” Izuku spoke gently, nudging her to wake up. “Wake up. We’re almost there.”
Her eyelids opened slowly as she yawned, groggily muttering a few words under her breath. She pressed down on the button by the window, watching it gradually move downwards. Wind slapped into her face as she glared hazily at the blurred environment that swiftly changed from trees and foliage to meadows of wildflowers within moments. Before they had set off, she had put in one of the CDs from the glove compartment, “Abbey Road (Remastered)”, it was playing “Here comes the sun” after the album was looped at least 5 times. In only about 10 minutes their trip would really start. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of managing to escape from everything: her job, stress, financial burden, and just life in general.
The car took a turn off the highway and the noise of tyre pressure was left behind as they drove down the uneven road ahead of them. Ochako reached behind her seat for her hiking boots, slipping them over her caramel coloured socks then tying the laces. She wasn’t able to look down for long because of motion sickness, leading to a sick feeling in her stomach. Her belly dropped each time they went over a bump in the road, God she hated it. Aside from the nausea that creeped over her she still focused on the alluring scenery beyond the car that she felt blessed to set eye upon. White and black dots scattered across the pasture resembling sheep, wooden fence caging the secluded creatures.
Ochako turned to the phone that sat at the dashboard, they seemed only seconds from their destination. The car turned, began to reverse, and then came to a halt. They had arrived. Izuku left the vehicle and began lifting out their bags from the boot, placing them on the dusty ground. Ochako rose up from her seat, leaving the car shortly after. The door and the boot slammed shut simultaneously, and as she came to Izuku he gestured towards her bag that rested by his foot.
“Was your nap good?” Izuku questioned, taking out the car keys from his trouser pocket and locking the car as Ochako finished gathering the rest of their essentials.
“Yep!” She beamed, swinging the bag over her back and clipping the chest straps together to even out the weight. “Have we decided on what trail to take yet? I don’t remember picking as we were too indecisive when we checked the website”
“Not yet, but we can always pick at the information building, you know.” Izuku responded, as he led them towards a small one-story building a couple meters from where they were standing.
The building had cream walls and a roof with a glossy wooden finish. A middle aged woman sitting at an information desk at the other end, and a few notice boards hung onto the other walls. As the door creaked to a close behind them, the lady spoke up.
“Hey, can I help you with anything?” She asked cordially, her long fingers creeping into the desk drawer to pull out a couple leaflets. “Most people that come round here like to decide their trails once they arrive so I believe you’ll probably need these.
“Oh right, thank you!” Ochako replied as she was handed the leaflets. After scanning through a couple with Izuku, they decided on a medium-length route once realising their first choice had been closed off for the late summer, before returning the rest back to her.
“We appreciate your assistance, we should be back in a day or two thanks!” Izuku informed her as they exited through the back door, and began the forest trail.
The soft crumbling of the dirt as her boots crunched into the dirt reverberating against the forest floor with each step she took, leaving a subtle trail of trampled grass. Ochako glanced at the others ahead of her, the distance between them increasing every mere second. Her dark brown eyes focused on the myriad of trees and shrubs that surrounded her and Izuku. Izuku began to slow down and as more and more time passed, the dusty path they were following gradually merged with the rest of the forest leaving no distinct route to take. Did they take the wrong trail?
“Is everything okay?” Ochako asked tentatively, catching up to them once she had noticed they stopped.
“Yeah,” Izuku responded absently as he returned his gaze back to his phone. “I think we might’ve taken a wrong turn, or this area on the map might just be outdated I guess.”
She figured since they were stopping she’d take a break. After transferring her camping bag from her back to the floor, Ochako stretched out her arms and rolled back her shoulders. It had been around 11am when they had left his car in the reserve parking and set off to find somewhere to set up the tent. Taking out a water bottle from the side of the bag, she twisted off the lid and took a sip, soothing her dry throat. She wondered what time it was now, fortunately the sun showed little sign of setting yet.
“Izuku?” Ochako called, it had been at least 5 minutes since they’d stopped walking and Izuku hadn’t stopped muttering to himself since. “Have you figured out where we’re going now?”
“Yeah, not really but I suppose we could just keep going until we find an opening large enough for the tent.” He sighed.
She agreed, hauling her bag back onto her back and strolled forwards after Izuku. Since they had started walking again, the canopy of branches had thickened dramatically, yet the sun still glowed, releasing rays of warmth shining against her skin. Glaring down into the dirt helped Ochako cope with the weight on her back, each bit of gravel was unique in its own way. Different shades of brown, grey, black and the occasional odd hue of orange, contrasting shapes and marks, ranging from an unusual triangle to smooth sphere.
“Ochako! Ochako?” Izuku called, attempting to get her attention after he realised she was absorbed by her thoughts. “What do you think about pitching up the tent around here? Ochako?”
“Shit, sorry.” Izuku’s voice had sliced into her thoughts, sharp like a blade. “Could you repeat that?”
“Haha okay.” Izuku chortled gently. “I was asking whether we should pitch up the tent here. It’s not bad and the clearing is rather pretty, plus I think we’re both getting rather tired from hiking.”
A fallen tree log lay down on a patch of grass, the tree canopy weakened here. [input desripting of forest clearing cus rn icba]
“It's beautiful.” Ochako murmured, setting her bag down for a second time that day. “Let’s get to setting it up then. I think staying here would be lovely.”
Izuku removed the tent bag from his rucksack, and together they took out the tent cover, poles and pegs, beginning to form the skeleton of the tent once slipping the formed poles through the pocket in the fabric. As they began pushing the tent pegs diagonally into the dirt, the sun gradually began to set.
“Well damn.” Izuku sighed, slightly disappointed they weren’t able to get everything done that he had planned for today. “I guess there's always tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” Ochako said joyfully, she decided it was for the better if she were optimistic. She zipped open the sheet tent door and crept in. “Hey Izuku, can you pass me our bags, I’ll prepare where we’re going to sleep.”
“Okay, also I’ll be back in a couple minutes after I find some wood for the fire.” He passed the bags through the gap, before walking away to find kindle wood.
Ochako emptied out the contents of their bags: