There was something that sometimes felt magical about the woods by my cousin's house the way sun light filtered through the trees and even if you didn’t see it you could practically feel it teaming with life.

Tracy and I were trying to navigate our way to a well known spot in the woods. We fallowed some dear trails or forced our way through if we had to and eventually, we found it still covered in the blue tarp underneath that it also had a car cover on it. When we removed the tarp and Tracy pulled away the car cover it revealed a ivory colored vintage VW Bug and Tracy loved it.

Apparently it had been abandoned there by the previous owners before my cousin’s immediate family moved in and he said that if Tracy ever wanted to try to tow it out of there she was welcome to. With all the adult trees and stuff in the way the only way we could get it out of there without leveling a decent portion of the woods is to disassemble the car and then put it back together once we got it back to Madison and that would be the easy part. The car would need a lot of work, a lot of repairs and replacement parts and I remember how hard that was with the VW bus but maybe things wouldn’t be as difficult with the Bug one could only hope. Every time Tracy comes up here we have to visit this car. The exterior of the car seems to be in pretty good shape but according to Tracy the undercarriage left something to be desired and the interior needs work too. The seats would need to be reupholstered or replaced completely, it would need new carpet on the floor of the car and the engine was in bad shape too. The car keys were in the glove box. The first time we discovered the car that’s where they were along with a pristine pair of leather driving gloves which Tracy claimed and still owns till this day. Hanging from the rear view mirror is a small dream catcher with some small wind chimes hanging from the bottom. Tracy says I can have and take the dream catcher any time I want. She knows I collect them and would love to add it to my collection but I told her that for now we’ll just leave it where it is. Tracy opens the door and got in the car I did the same getting in next to her “Could you imagine me driving this one day?”

“Truthfully yes but it needs a lot of work Tracy.”

“So did the bus but that never stopped me.”

“It’s not just the repairs that it needs it’s the dismantling and reassembly.”

“I can take apart and put together cars easily this would be a cinch.”

“If you say so you’re the car expert here not me.”

“If this car could talk, what stories do you think it would tell what memories it holds?”

“ I can’t even begin to fathom it.” I said.

“This is where you confessed to me that you had a crush on me.”

“You were really sweet the way you went about letting me down.”

“That was all true you know, I was flattered and honored to have someone like you; my best friend to have such strong feelings for me and part of me wished I could have returned them but I just didn’t feel that way. I do love you but like a sister not romantically.”

I sighed “It was for the best I am with Draya now and you have Jeff so in the grand scheme of things it all worked out and I’m happy, happiest that I can ever remember being.”

“Me too you are right about Jeff too he is a keeper.”

“I hope Draya is?”

“What do you mean?”

“I love her Tracy like really love her, more than I thought I loved you, no offense…”

“None taken.”

“The more I am with her the more I want to be with her and when we are apart, I can’t stop thinking about her and that scares the crap outta me because then I remember that this is short term, temporary, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when it’s all over.”

“Maybe if she knew how you feel it wouldn’t have to end.”

“Or it could all crash and burn.”

“That’s not for sure it could turn out great.”

“That’s not for sure either” I countered.

“So it appears we are at a stalemate.”

“Seems that way.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Enjoy it as much as I can while I can and hope that my heart doesn’t get irrevocably damaged in the inevitable end.”

“Damn that sounds bleak.”

“Maybe but it’s all I can do.”

“Let me ask you just one thing do you think she loves you?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s crap! Tell the truth, do you think that she loves you?”

“Honestly yes I believe she does but just because I believe it doesn’t mean it’s true and I don’t want to take that chance.”

“Well, this just got very depressing.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s ok sometimes shit happens.”

We are quiet for a long time when I decide to break the silence “You really believe that you can take apart this car and put back together?”

“Definitely it would be a snap.”

“It’s a lot of work Tracy remember how hard it was rebuilding the VW bus?”

“I know but you know as hard as rebuilding the VW bus was it was also lots of fun, I enjoyed looking online and going through junkyards to find parts and had a really rewarding end result.”

“That’s true and going to the junkyards and stuff with you was fun.”

“Would you be willing to do it again?”

“You bet I would.”

Tracy smiled at me then pulled out her phone and played The Beach Boys from her list of downloaded albums from iTunes “Can’t beat the classics.” she said

We sat there a long time listening to The Beach Boys greatest hits singing along to the ones we knew then my phone pinged alerting me to a text from Shane

{you two better start heading back before you lose daylight also collect fire wood on your way back…bonfire tonight!}

“Shane just texted me, he thinks we should start heading back and wants us to collect fire wood as we go, guess he is planning a bonfire for tonight.”

“Okay, sounds cool.” Tracy said getting out of the car. I get out too and help her put the car cover back on and then we pull the blue tarp over it weighing it down with some rocks and big logs then we begin to head back stooping down to pick up firewood. As we got to the edge of the woods the sun is dipping low on the horizon and Shane along with Brian were starting to build a fire. My Draya was lounging under a tree. I go and add the wood I gathered to the fire wood pile and then go over to where Drays is sitting “Mind if I join you?” I asked.

“Not at all darling.” she said smiling and patting the ground next to her. I plopped myself down next to her and rested my head on her shoulder.

“Where is everyone else?” Tracy asked.

“In the house getting brats and hot dogs, the skewers and s’more supplies.” explains Shane. As he said it we see the rest of our friends heading towards us carrying all the things Shane had mentioned and as dusk fell Shane finally got a fire going. It wasn’t long before it was built up tall and shooting orange sparks into the air as it crackled and burned. We laughed and joked a lot as we cooked our food and made s’mores for dessert. We sang songs and Shane started telling old Native American stories and legends. I smiled contentedly as I sat in Draya’s lap her arms around me and the heat from the fire washing over us and keeping us warm and cozy. It was just another perfect day.

The end story continues in story titled Fear ( Week In The Country)