Abby coughed as the stinging scent of bug spray pierced her nose. The bitter taste lingered on her tongue and she spit for good measure.

“Ack! I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

Cate smiled, “Come on, it’s not that bad. Nature can be healing and you’ve been so down since Mike—“

“Don’t even bring him up!”

The only thing more annoying than the mosquitos whining in her ears was the thought of her lying cheating ex dumping her on their anniversary.

Cate shrugged, “Give it a chance. The views of the lake are really beautiful this time of year.”

Abby tucked the bug spray into the net pocket on her backpack. The pocket designed to carry the metal water bottle she’d unfortunately forgotten on her kitchen counter after filling it up. She trudged after Cate.

“Of course you’d think nature was healing, you’ve always followed those trends.”

“What trends? Hiking?”

“No. Like back in high school. You loved astrology and yoga.”

“Yoga is a legit exercise and has a long history—“

“What was it? Mini goat yoga? Paddle boat yoga?”

Cate turned back to Abby. She looked like an angry first-grader with both hands gripping the shoulder straps of her backpack, her checkered bucket hat sat crookedly on her flaxen hair, tucked away into two French braided pigtails.

“First of all, it was hot yoga, which isn’t even that crazy of trend, and second, astrology is totally a real thing.”

“Well I don’t believe it.”

“That’s because you’re a Capricorn,” Cate’s eyes lit up, “which is an earth sign. You definitely need this hike! Just try to open your mind and relax. Take in all the sounds and sights around you.”

Abby tightened the pony tail she’d barely gotten her short dark hair pulled back into and sighed dramatically.

“Fine.”

Cate squealed happily, and began walking again. The truth was Abby was always going to take Cate’s advice, but she needed to give her a hard time about it first. She didn’t know why she did that.

They followed the dirt trail and for a while Abby kept her eyes down. She watched her sneakers crunch over the dead pine needles sprinkled across the trail. The whole place smelled like pine, or sap, or both. She noticed a couple of tiny footprints, and some animal was chittering loudly in the brush, maybe a chipmunk or squirrel. She looked around under the plants that lined the trail to see if she could spot the cute little animal. Maybe this would be fu—

A gross sticky feeling crossed her face. It felt like very fine hair, but clung to her fingers as she brushed it away, wrapping around each one.

“Gross! I just walked into a spider web.” Abby ran up next to Cate, “Is there a spider in my hair!?!”

Cate reached up and pulled off the remains of the web laughing, “no, you’re fine, there’s nothing.”

Abby decided not to look down any longer. She kept her eyes firmly in front of her.

The leaves had an interesting way of filtering the sunlight. The path looked like a quilt of shade and light patched together on the ground. Sometimes the breeze would blow the leaves just so and the quilt would fold and stretch.

The trail sloped downward bringing them to a small creek. Three stones large enough to stand on stuck out of the water. Abby could see where the trail picked up again on the other side.

“I don’t think I’m agile enough to cross that.”

“It’s not deep, you could just walk it, but the stepping stones give it a sense of whimsy.”

Abby rolled her eyes.

“Take my pic?”

Cate handed Abby her phone and hopped to the middle stone. She struck a pose and flashed a cheeky smile. Abby couldn’t help smiling back as she captured the image. Cate crossed back to grab her phone.

“Your turn. Don’t worry. Their not even slippery.”

Abby nodded and carefully stepped onto the first rock. The water was still, the color of a penny and flecked with algae. It suddenly reminded her of Mike’s eyes…She shoved the thought to the back of her mind. She was here to forget him.

She wasn’t as graceful as Cate, but she managed to turn around and smile.

After the creek the trail climbed uphill. Abby thighs started burning. The air in the trees was thick, and it felt a little moist. Almost like she was breathing in what the forest had just exhaled. Which only made her pine more for her forgotten water bottle.

“Cate, I don’t think I can make it.”

“Just a little further. It’s easier heading back, I promise.”

A few more labored minutes and they came to a clearing. Looking over the edge of the hill top Abby could see the lake below them. Cate was right, it was beautiful. It mirrored the cloudless sky perfectly, so still it looked like a painting. The plants around it were vibrant, bursting to life in the late spring morning. A spotted fawn and its mother were on the opposite bank, lowering their heads for a drink.

It made Abby feel small, but in a good way. In a way like the world was bigger than her problems and still full of possibilities.

She turned to find Cate watching her.

“I know that look.”

“Yeah ok, you were right. I do feel a little better.”