calling it that ever since. One of my brothers narrated the story of the places naming with far more assholeish
mockery than I could ever hope to match.
“Sounds fun!” Mark laughed at the story. “I wanna go.” He looked to Julie “You want to join us babe?”
“No, I think I’m fine right here.” She smiled from where she was already laying out working on her tan.
“What about you Hun?” He asked Anna.
“I think I’m gonna stay here with mom.” She said while throwing a towel down on the sand beside her mother.
The rest of us made our way out to Beggar’s Point and spent the day jumping from the cliffs and swimming in
the cool deep waters beneath. There was a lot of laughing and splashing. Someone dropping in a cannonball,
and at other times dunking each other. I tried focusing on anything, but somehow my mind kept wandering
back to Anna, I knew I was stupid for leaving her last night and ignoring her today. I just couldn’t bring myself to
face my mistake so I continued down that path. I wondered if she was thinking about me. I wondered what she
thought of that kiss we shared—if she even thought about it at all.
The day seemed to melt away far too quickly and soon the sun was in it’s decent on the horizon. All of us,
pretty much exhausted, climbed from the lake and began making our trek back to camp. Anna and Julie were
cooking burgers over the coals when we made it back.
“There’s food!” Julie called to us as we arrived. “Anna’s got the stuff!” She pointed to the young girl who was
deftly cutting up some fresh produce—lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.
I grabbed a bun and a burger then walked over to where Anna was, smiling at her as I drew closer. I stopped in
front of her, waiting for her to look up at me before saying anything. She never did. Someone behind me
barked “Shit or get off the pot!” I looked over my shoulder to see Mark and my brothers waiting for me to move
aside. I grabbed some lettuce and a few slices of tomato and got out of the way.
I ate my food near the fire, watching Anna when no one was looking. I waited for the chance to catch her
attention so that I might have an opening to talk to her. She never glanced my way. My heart sank when she
got up and walked away from the fire without ever saying a world to me or even looking my way. Now what?
There was a ledge nearby, another “secret” spot I had found. To the rear of the camp was part of the canyon
wall as it peel away from the waterfront. Here the wall towered up about thirty or forty feet. I had found a spot
that was between ground level and the top—about twenty feet up. The path, a mere jagged crack in the rock
face, was hidden by a small cluster of bushes so it was hard to tell the ledge was even there.
I liked to come to this place and watch the stars. It was high enough that the light from the fire didn’t blind your
star-sight, but it still shielded you from the constant winds that plagued the area once you crested the canyon
wall. I climbed up, threw a pillow down and lounged back under the clear starry sky. It was silly, but for as long