Detour Ahead

“I hate how camp is mandatory,” Jake growled under his breath, throwing a rock at the path before him.

“I think it’s rather exciting, we all get to bond with one another,” Amelia yawned out, stretching her arms. “And we get to be in an atmosphere of clean air, which is pretty great to wake up to.”

“You know our phones are dead, right?” He completely ignored her, instead choosing to walk away. She followed after him. “And we have to do this stupid trek, you know I hate trekking.”

A group had gathered in the middle of the open field. Most of the people were still yawning, lids half open, stretching as they tried to shake off what remained of their slumber. Amelia grabbed Jake’s arm and dragged him towards the crowd as he cursed to himself silently.

“Good morning Amelia!” Sam called out, embracing her tightly. She started a conversation with him, one that Jake completely ignored as he tried to escape.

“Jake!” Liam’s voice, a little too loud for the morning, startled Jake’s footsteps. “Excited to hike?”

“Not particularly, but I see you are.” Jake commented, pointing at Liam’s hiking sandals.

“You bet I am!”

The trek started faster than Jake anticipated. After a few more moments of playful conversation the walking tour guide had appeared, and all of them were off. Jake was separated from Amelia; instead he was stuck with the overzealous Liam, who was able to identify every single flower and type of grass. Somehow, out of his consciousness, Jake had made it to the very front of the group, Liam leading them. His mind was wandering, there was nothing he wanted to do more than go home and sleep on his bed.

Their guide paused in front of them.

“Detour?” Liam asked immediately. Jake snapped out of his daydream.

“Well,” The guide smiled at them. “I think we should go to the lake instead, how does that sound?”

At this, the collective of students applauded and yelled in approval.

“The lake sounds better than another hour of trekking,” Jake said to Liam, who nodded vigorously.

After a few quick minutes, all of them had arrived at a lake that was just large enough to fit them. The water was clear, though the bottom of the lake was dark. There were a few people already swimming and splashing around, but the group of students did not mind.

A few of them hastily stripped down and jumped inside, followed suit by more. Jake tossed his shirt and discarded his shoes before racing into the water. There he found Amelia once more.

“Isn’t this exciting?” She laughed, making him smile. Amelia swam closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she giggled.

“Best detour I’ve ever had.”



Katya Tjahaja