A sunset to remember

“Liana,” barked Mr. Demphy, “are you picking twigs or gassing with Tina over there? Come on!”

“Sorry! We spied a different type of ladybug below a stone, so we bent down to study it,” I replied, emerging from the bushes, carrying some dried wood.

I was on a week long adventure camp for the summer. Today was the last day, and the instructors, Mr. Demphy and Ms. Odgen had planned to do a campfire that night. They had asked their fifteen young adventurers to collect wood for the campfire.
Tina followed me and began to describe the ladybug in detail. Mr. Demphy leveled a glare at her, she promptly shut her mouth.

“Ok, everyone, gather around. We have a small announcement to make. Bring those who are still wood gathering!” said Ms. Odgen. Soon, the little group of teenagers got together.

“We have a new task for you. It is not something related to adventure,” said Mr. Demphy.

“Each of you must explore the surroundings of this lovely forest, within the limits, of course, bring something which is unusual or memorable and tell about it at the campfire. It can be an object or just a sight which you liked very much and wish to cherish,” said Ms. Odgen.

“You can go alone or in twos or threes. But make sure you have your walkie talkies with you. Be back before sunset” said Mr. Demphy, “disperse!”

“That sure is something new. How will they know whether we have made up that object or scene to be cherished?” Tina wondered aloud, linking her arm with mine.

I shrugged. I didn’t care. I was more curious about where Aiden was going. Aiden was my special friend, ever since I started this camp. He and I were the first people to volunteer for rappelling, on the first day. We were the only ones who reached the bottom. So, we had plenty of time to get to know each other.

I admit I was attracted to him. He did not seem to be like other boys. He was smart, in a quiet sort of way, cute, and most of all, it felt good to be around him. In the brief time which we had got to talk, he had made me feel valued. He had listened to what I had to say, and in turn, had spoken quite a few things about himself. When I look back at our conversation, it was nothing out of the ordinary. We had just talked like two people who were new to each other, but something about him had impressed itself in my heart. This was why I always glanced at him in the midst of whatever I was doing, hoping to catch his eye or just to have a look at him, as if every glimpse of him was needed to renew my energy or vigour.

Tina was pulling me the in direction opposite to where Aiden and his friends were going and blabbering something as usual about this and that.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked her.

“Huh?” Tina, if interrupted in her blabber, loses her flow of thought.

“Where are we heading? I believe, we’ll hit a dead end if we continue on this path,” I said. Though I may seem like a lovesick fool, I had better sense of direction than her.

Tina stopped and looked around. “Yeah, you are right! There’s that crooked tree as the landmark to the dead end ahead. So where shall we go?”

“That way!” I said without hesitation, pointing at the route taken by Aiden.

Tina agreed and a half an hour later, we were still in search of memories. Tina was grumbling, and it was getting at me. I had long stopped listening to her, but her whiny voice was hard to ignore. Aiden was nowhere to be seen, nor his friends. How could he slip away so fast?

“Ooh, look!” cried Tina, tugging at my hand, “There are Katie, Josh, and Ariana! Hey you guys, over here!” Tina was flailing her arms wildly to catch their attention.

“Hey, Liana, lets go join them. They are calling us,” she said.

“Go ahead, I’ll catch up,” I said. I did not like the notion of going with Katie, who was worse than Tina. I needed some time alone to think and look around.

“All right, don’t be long!” said Tina and skipped away. So like Tina; she only thought about herself. Soon they were out of sight, and I bent down to examine a wild flower.

“Liana?” a voice cut into my examination.

I looked up. It was Aiden! For a moment, I could not speak. The object of my thoughts was right there in front of me, as if he had materialized there.

“Oh. . .Aiden. What. . .are you doing here?” I stammered hastily.

“Looking for something to present at the campfire. What about you?”

“Er. . .same here!” I said, hating the way my lips curved into an awkwardly shy smile.

“Did you find anything worthwhile?” he asked.

“Not yet. This little flower showed some promise,” I said. He chuckled. I could not help liking the sound of it. It seemed natural and carefree.

“Did you find anything?” I asked.

“No luck either. Hey, did you know there’s a lake nearby?” he said.

“A lake? No. Never heard of it”.

“My friends and I discovered it few days back. We had slipped away because Eddie wanted to see something and that was when we found the lake. It's around here, but the trees shield the sight of it”.

I knew when he had slipped away from the group. It was on the third day of the camp, after lunch. The instructors had not noticed their absence but I had. Probably it was at that time they had found the lake.

“Hey, why don’t I take you there!” he said, “It's this way”
He plunged into the bushes to my right. I followed, giddy with excitement. I was getting to spend quality time with my guy.

Soon, I was welcomed by a little lake, covered by greenery on all sides. As I gazed around, the beauty of the lake and its surroundings rendered me speechless. I had not realized earlier that the sun was setting. The reddish orange rays of the dying sun spread their influence on the lake’s water.

“Sit down,” he told me. We sat down, side by side. I watched him pick up a stone and throw it into the lake. The surface of the lake rippled at the spot where the stone plopped. The water sparkled as it reflected the flame-orange hue.

Sitting by the lake and watching the sunset, he looked at me and said, “I’m very glad that I spent the last day of the camp here, with you!”
My stomach flipped when I looked at him. He was smiling. His light brown eyes shone with affection. I blushed.

“Now I have found my memorable moment,” he said and reached for my hand, “I will never forget this sunset, which I shared with you”.

"Me neither," I said.