Twelve Days

Day nine

It was incredibly hot outside today, so all three of us decided to kick off Clary's last day by driving a couple of miles away from Maroon Bells and visit some natural springs and go swimming in a mountain lake. "Ready for takeoff?", Alec asked and me and Clary nodded. We decided that the three of us could easily fit into one van so we wouldn't need to search two parking lots. As usually, Alec was driving and Clary and me sat in the back of the van, packing a backpack full of granola bars and fruit so we would have some snacks. As we found out, it was a short hike to the lake to we put our bathing clothes under regular ones and put on our hiking boots. She was wearing a light brown thin dress and had her hair up in a messy bun. Clary looked absolutely gorgeous as always. "Have you always dressed this hippie?", I asked after pointing at the several gemstone bracelets. "Kind of.", she laughed, "My mother was a yoga instructor and my dad studied ecology sciences, so we always went on meditative trips to the mountains and travelled a lot. So that lifestyle has grown on me, now my van is my second home and I just go with the flow and see where life takes me." I smiled- I could imagine. As free as the winds, as wild as the waves.

"Okay, let's go!", Clary laughed as we crawled out of the van to start our hike. The route was quite steep and little pebbles got caught in our shoe soles. Ruthlessly, the sun burnt down on us and I could already envision my future sunburn. Though the hike was quite short, all of us were out of breath as we saw the crystal mountain lake. "I thought we wouldn't make it.", Alec laughed and got rid of his backpack. Me and Clary did the exact same thing and I watched her take off her dress. Her wild hair has already made its way out of the bun and was dangling down onto her shoulders. Under her dress she wore a red bikini set, complimenting her cool skin. After a short glance in Alec's direction both of us took off our shirts and shorts and started running after Clary. The pebbles and little pine needles on the way scratched my feet but I kept running to catch up with Clary and Alec. To our surprise, there were no people there besides us so we had the whole body of water to ourselves. The wind rushed through my hair, cooling my skin from the sun. With a shriek Clary threw herself into the crystal clear water and I followed her immediately. "Oh my, it's freezing!", she laughed and immediately started jumping around in the water to warm herself up. "It's a mountain lake after all, isn't it?", I laughed and dove under the surface. The cooling was very much needed. When I got back up my hair was soaking wet and stuck to my forehead. "Beauty queen.", Alec joked and I splashed some water in his face in return. "Guys, look!", Clary exclaimed and pointed to something in the distance. After squinting my eyes, I could see what she wanted to show us- in the distance, you could see maroon bells, faint against the bright blue horizon. "The view is incredible.", Alec sighed as he ran his wet hands through his hair. "It's beautiful.", I said and took a deep breath. Who would have thought I'd end up here, I asked myself, looking back to my way younger self. Who would have thought I'd learn to enjoy ever breath and be grateful for every heartbeat.

It was late afternoon and Clary and I were in the back of her camper- she was going to have to leave in the next hour. After we came back from the hike Alec was so tired he decided to take a nap and in the fear of accidentally waking him up Clary and I made ourselves comfortable on her bed in the back of her van. Hers was a bit smaller than Alec and mine but it was obvious that she has decorated it with a lot more care. An aroma diffusor in the shape of an elephant stood right next to her mattress, making the whole van smell like wildflowers and apples. I laid on my back and stared at the ceiling that she painted blue and drew white clouds on them. Her head rested on my chest which was rising and falling rhythmically. "Crazy coincidence, huh?", she said, breaking the silence. "What do you mean?", I asked and felt her lifting her head off my chest. "I mean me falling in the Garden of the Gods, the two of you finding me, us going on all those adventures together. And we are both from New York. That's rare if you meet someone in Colorado.", she explained and I grinned. She wasn't wrong. Although that didn't make a difference to me anyways. "When do you have to leave?", I asked. "About now.", she sighed, "But that doesn't mean we can't see each other again, does it? Maybe we can hang out some time when you are back in New York?" "Maybe.", I said as my voice broke from trying to hold back my tears. As much as I wanted to see her sparkling emerald green eyes again, I couldn't look her in the eyes while lying to her face. There wasn't going to be a 'back in New York'. But she didn't have to know that- what was the point, anyways. "Well, then that's no goodbye but a see you later.", she grinned as I got out of her van. "Sure.", I smiled weakly and hugged her a bit tighter than I usually would have. Because it wasn't a see you later. There was no later. It was a goodbye. And it was final. A tear rolling down my cheek I saw her van drive away from the parking lot, back home, full of hope whilst I stood there, knowing there was nothing to hope for.