Some invitations feel less like opportunities and more like dares.
Saleem and I signed up online for a weekend youth getaway somewhere deep in the woods.
It was advertised as an escape from the noise of everyday life, a chance to unplug, meet new people, breathe some fresh air and forget about responsibilities for a few days.
Transportation, accommodation, food and activities were all taken care of.
All we had to do was show up.
Simple enough.
No long list of requirements. No complicated registration. Just an anonymous organizer promising a weekend away from everything.
I remember the morning we left vividly.
The sky was heavy with dark clouds, the kind that made morning feel much later than it was. Rain fell steadily over the neighborhood, drumming against rooftops and gathering along the roadside. A cold breeze moved through the nearly empty streets, carrying with it a strange stillness that made the morning feel unusually quiet.
I stood there with my bag and looked up.
“I don’t think today wants us to leave.”
Saleem followed my eyes to the sky.
Then laughed.
“You’re looking at it all wrong. This is perfect camping weather. A whole weekend in the woods. Good food, good music, beautiful girls who might need comforting…”
He nudged me.
“With some luck, you might even come back with a girlfriend.”
“Huh.”
I considered it.
“I didn’t think of it that way.”
And just like that, apparently, my survival instincts were defeated by the possibility of romance.
A horn sounded somewhere
down the street.
Our bus.
Music poured through the open windows before it had even stopped. Someone was singing terribly and with admirable confidence. People were laughing. A girl leaned out of one of the windows, shouting at someone behind us.
Whatever uneasiness I’d felt began to disappear.
Saleem practically ran aboard.
I followed.
And then
someone looked at me.
You know that strange feeling when you step into a crowded place and, for no logical reason, your eyes immediately find the one person already looking at you?
That.
She sat a few rows from the back.
Natural hair, slightly messy. Soft features. Beautiful brown skin.
Nothing dramatic.
There was simply something calming about her, especially against the chaos of everyone around us.
She gave me a small smile and moved her bag from the empty seat beside her.
Saleem caught it too.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
He gave me the stupidest grin I’d ever seen.
Girlfriend.
I ignored him and started down the aisle.
Suddenly, I became ridiculously aware of myself.
Walk normally.
Why do human beings forget how to walk the moment someone attractive starts watching them?
I reached her row and sat down.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
And that was about as impressive as our introduction got.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t uncomfortable.
Rain began tapping against the window. She rested her head against the glass, quietly watching the drops race each other to the bottom.
I tried thinking of something interesting to say.
Nothing.
Twenty years of vocabulary, and apparently hi was the best I could do.
Saleem was already somewhere behind us making friends, laughing like he’d known everyone for years.
The girl beside me and I?
Still nothing.
But somehow, sitting beside a complete stranger I’d barely spoken a sentence to made the morning feel a little less gloomy.
So I relaxed.
It was just a weekend away.
A little food.
A little music.
Some new faces.
Nothing more.
I leaned back and watched the city drift past the rain-streaked window.
Eventually, the buildings became fewer.
Then the traffic thinned.
Then there were more trees than houses.
Somewhere along the way, the roads I knew disappeared.
loved this!! thanks for sharing ☺️
Nexxxxt😫🥹