Take a hike! (Sunny)

[Trapper Petano]

There was a chill to the breeze that morning that Trapper agreed to go hiking with Sunny. Trapper thought it would be nice to go somewhere in the area of the Black Brook area of New York, just less then a two hour car trip over the line from the collage. They packed the car, stopped for gas and Trapper just had to get a soda. Trapper drove and let Sunny play with her radio. As the morning sun rose, Trapper would smile at the sunrise as the suns rays bathed the car with warmth.

Once in the area, Trapper drove to the Fern Lake area, thinking maybe they could get a skinny dip before returning to collage later that day. Being out in the open of nature, Trapper loved it and sadly she wasn’t able to do things like this because of school. Yet, today she was there and a smile was growing on her face. She took her day pack out of the car and locked the car up after Sunny gathered her things. Taking a good drag from her soda, the pair set out.

“So, what do you think of this place? Nice? Ah?” Trapper asked Sunny.

[Sunny Adams]

Most people thought Sunny was the kind of girl who would hate nature, but that was far from the case. She had no illusion that nature was nice or sweet like it was depicted in the Disney movies, but the woods were always a nice place to think and relax.

On the drive up, Sunny kept switching radio stations as each station slowly faded into the distance, left with that mysterious classical radio that seemed to play even in the most remote parts of the US. She mostly sat in silent, just appreciating the rush of wind past the window and the slow disappearance of buildings in the distance.

Sunny made sure to pack lots of water and snacks for the hike, offering a small smile to Trapper as she lead the way and saying, "Nice little place. Surprised it's managed to avoid getting too much snow. You come here often?"

[Trapper Petano]

Trapper had not been on a good hike for at least a few years, but one never forgets stops of great treasure. Those treasures that can’t be put up in some bank or stolen, just treasured in ones own heart. The sun was seeping through the trees like little golden beams of heaven raining down on them.

Trapper smiled back to Sunny “Well, no I have only been up here a few times, but it’s a nice place to get away from things and just think, you know what I mean?” she said as she gestured with her hand out of habit. There was something about being in nature that made her more sensitive almost to the point of crying when she would ever leave it. Her sensitive nature in the outside world like at school usually was very well hidden. There were times she would snap and weep but those times she would find a good hiding spot to express those pent up feelings.

Today though was a good day and Trapper was enjoying her time out with nature and her friend from school, Sunny. Yeah, her name didn’t always fit her mood, but who has all good days? Look at her own name, Trapper, who names there kid Trapper? Maybe her mother or father liked MASH or Trapper John MD? She never thought to ask her parents about her name but that was ok, it didn’t matter she liked the name despite the meaning of it. She did like using her nick name a lot ‘TJ” it was her first name and middle name mixed together, Trapper Jane - ‘TJ’. Anyway.

There was a pleasing silence for sometime while the pair walked deeper into the woods. Trapper could hear the birds chipping in the heights of the tall trees, the sounds of a squirrel digging for food. They even saw a lone doe leap and flee once it saw them.

Once they were good and deep into the area near the pond, Trapper sat down and started to dig through her pack. “Let’s have something to eat, do you need anything?” Trapper asked Sunny as she pulled her food out. Trapper also took out a sketch book with sketch pencils and some watercolor colored pencils, it was something she was trying. She still didn’t like any of her work but people always would make cute comments, maybe trying to be nice. She took the last swallows of her soda and crumpled the cup and slipped it into a small plastic bag and tucked it into her pack.

Out of the blue, Trapper asked Sunny about her ability “What’s it like? I mean when you do what you do?”