Hiker's Tale

"ANDY!!!!" Tricia shouted, furiously. Andy was having a very good dream and sleeping very well, because of the coffee he drank at 1:00 last night, that he ignored this loud angry call of his name. "ANDY! Get up RIGHT now!!" Tricia shouted once more. She reached down, grabbed his arm and rolled him onto his back.

"Do you EVER use a nice tone of voice? Or do you just yell and scream around me?" Andy asked, blinking rapidly to avoid the light of the sun. Tricia pursed her lips, frustrated, and splashed the black coffee in Trevor's cup onto Andy's face. Andy jumped up and wiped this sticky liquid out of his eyes.

"Do you understand how bad coffee is for a nine year old late at night?" Tricia said, holding the empty cup up.

"You look better. You're actually standing up--"

"DON'T TRY TO SWEET TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS, ANDREW!" Trish exclaimed. "Why did you fill up Trevor's cup with coffee?" She held up the cup once more and stuck it in Andy's face. Andy peered inside the cup, curiously.

"There isn't anything in there--"

"DON'T SMART MOUTH ME!!" Andy took Trish's constant scolding normally, for he didn't have a bad temper at all.

"Sorry..." He said, acting as a small scolded boy. Trevor walked up behind Trish and placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

"Mom, Andy didn't mean to do anything to me, he just wanted to see me grow up." Trevor said, smiling at Andy. Trish was in shock. She had her mouth gaped open and was looking around at the campers.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! You placed the thoughts in his mind that he was GROWN up, didn't you?" Tricia shouted at Andy.

"Well...I--"

"DON'T!" Trish interrupted Andy, angrily.

"But you asked me a quest--"

"NO 'BUT'S!!" She cried. And grew a little more frustrated.

"Patricia, he isn't a two year old anymore, he can take care of himself! You really need to stop clinging so tight to--" Andy was YET AGAIN interrupted by Trish.

"You can't tell me how to parent my children! And you really need to stop acting like your his FATHER!" At the word 'Father', Trish knew she made a mistake. Trevor's real father had been a hiker like the rest of the family, and died on a hike up the mountains of New Zealand. Trevor was very sensitive about this and often would try and avoid anything that had to do with Dads, though he purposely treated Andy as if he were his own dad, and Andy treated Trevor as if he were his own son. Trevor stared into Trish's eyes. He shot his glance at Andy, who was for once not smiling.

"MOM! YOU NEVER LET ME DO ANYTHING!" Trevor shouted at his mother. "YOU NEVER LET ME BE INDEPENDENT LIKE ANDY!" At this, Trevor ran off, sobbing his heart out. Trish turned to Andy and screamed so loud that her face and neck grew red.

"YOU ARE THE WORST!" She shouted, crying in between statements. "I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU DO THIS! You take my son as if he were yours and plant STUPID ideas in his head!!" Trish stomped up to Andy and slapped him hard in the face. Andy looked down, quickly, at his feet, ashamed. Trish didn't care how much this hurt him. She lifted her foot up and kicked the dirt into Andy's face, and quite alot of it at that. That being done, Trish stomped away towards where she saw Trevor go.

"Qué le pasa, amigo?" Pepe said, as he walked to Andy. Andy never looked up at him. He kept staring down at his shoes. Though Trish kicked dirt in his face, he didn't even lift a hand to wipe it off. "Que pasa?" Pepe repeated, meaning, "What's wrong?" Andy didn't reply again. He just stared down at his feet. Trish had always been rude to him verbally, but not like this. She never raised her voice at him that way and never physically hurt him. He felt total shame and guilt rush over him. He felt that showing Trevor the independence he told him to have was the cause for the bad things happening. He kept blaming himself for everything that was going wrong when Trish finally returned. She wasn't happy.

"Trevor is gone." She stated, not looking at Andy or Pepe. She stomped down the hill and to the two people. "Trevor is gone. I couldn't find him and he never answered when I called his name! And you know what..." She exclaimed, pointing a scolding finger at Andy. "Its all your fault." She snarled bit as she tugged on his arm and made him stand. "And you are going to find him!" Andy still only looked down at his feet.

"Puedo ayudar." Pepe said. Trish looked angrily at Andy and demanded to know what he said.

"He----.....He said, 'I can help.'" Andy said, in a soft whisper. Trish shook her hand and laughed out of fury.

"No. No he can't!" Trish said, shoving Andy forward, forcefully. Andy nodded and slowly stumbled to the cliff, again away from camp.

"TREVOR!!!" Andy said, finally lifting his head up. His eyes were full of tears that wouldn't escape. His face was red and contorted. He began to shake as he cupped his dirty hands around his dirt covered face. Shouting Trevor's name, Andy made his way around the mountain. He tried to think like Trevor and, seeing a river, remembered telling Trevor to keep track of that river. He knew Trevor was smart and that he had a plan to stay by the river, and they will find him. And, as he planned, Andy spotted Trevor, hunched over poking a stick around in the river. Remembering his shocking appearance, Andy finally wiped the dirt away and smiled fakely. He hopped down to where Trevor was and sat next to him.

"Y'know, men don't pout." He stated, tapping Trev's shoulder.

"But babys do.." Trevor said, his hand on his chin.

"You aren't a baby.... You're a man." Andy said, smiling.

"You say so." Trevor poked a rock that stood out from all the others, distracting himself from the pain of sadness. "But mom only wants me to feel dumb. Like I can't do anything."

"Hey!" Andy pointed his finger at Trevor. "Don't ever speak bad about your parents. Its bad karma...Aaand, just bad in general. Y'know, she won't be your mom forever. That is why she babys you so much. She has the fear that you won't be there when she wakes up, or that she'll die before she hugs you again." Andy placed his gentle hand on Trevor's shoulder. "She loves you, Trev. She really does! And so do I. You just gotta understand that she worries. All moms do." He smiled and looked back at the river. "I can tell you, love your mom while you can. Because one second they're there...and the next second... they're gone." Andy paused awhile and looked down at his hands.

"Okay...I'll go back." Trevor said, standing up and beginning to walk a little.

"Race you..." Andy said, not making eye contact with Trevor. Trevor took off running and Andy, knowing that he'd beat him in a race anyway, let him run for awhile before getting up and running himself.

"En la noche de verano dulce. Durante llanuras y lugares de interés. Sobre montañas, muy amplio y lejos! Los excursionistas caminar. Los campistas acamparemos. Todo estará a salvo y estar tranquilo." Pepe rambled to Trish. Not understanding any Spanish, Trish shook her head and shouted.

"ME NO SPEAK ESPANOL!!" Finally, out in the distance, Andy and Trev were making their way back to camp. "TREVOR!" She cried, running to him and throwing her arms around his small body. "Don't EVER run away like that!"

"Sorry mom!" He replied, hugging her back. Andy smiled, nodded and moved around the two, avoiding another fight with Trish.

"AND YOU!" She said, turning her thoughts to Andy.

"Aaand, here we go.." Andy said, rolling his eyes and rotating around on one foot. Trish was not angry, but happy. She walked up to him and hugged him.

"Thank you." She said, smiling. Andy hugged her back, not knowing what he did to cause such peace. "For finding him. I thought he was gone forever." Trish finished, letting go of him. Andy smiled at this and nodded.

"You're welcome.." Were the only words he spoke.