Fireside (a distant sequel to "As the Lightening Strikes")

The tree was the same that they had passed only a half an hour earlier. The sun was beginning to dip into the west and they were losing light and fast. “Fuck! I can’t believe we’re lost.” Dave swore mercilessly and shamefully as he and a fuming Wil rounded yet another all too familiar patch of clearing in the dense woods. “Of all the rotten luck. The one time I don’t pack my GPS is the one time I get lost. I don’t think God likes me too much.”

“Your bellyaching isn’t helping the situation David..”

“Who asked you?? I swear that the campsite was around here.” He held up the ratty old map for the fiftieth time and mumbled something about the continental shifts and erosion.

“If anything, this would be an excellent area to stop for the evening. There is a stream right there, it’s shaded from rain, and we’re on top of a hill. If you ask me, this is probably the ideal spot to get some rest. The sun is almost down and we hardly have enough time to gather fire wood.” Wil shook his back off his back and rifled through it. Popping out a large switch blade, he strode to the nearest and oldest looking tree and began to tear off the longer limbs, breaking them in half, and stowing them under his arm.

Dave followed his lead. “You’re the woodsy type right? So how much wood do we need?”

“Just enough to keep the wild animals away all night.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“A lot.”

“Oh”, he tore off more branches as quickly as possible.