Happyish: A Novel by Jeanette Escudero

Author:Jeanette Escudero [Escudero, Jeanette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2022-09-19T16:00:00+00:00

The next morning, everyone is up early, or rather, earlier than the other days. I’m not sure whether it’s that everyone just wants to get back and sleep in an actual bed, whether it’s that we’re used to waking up at sunup, or the incessant crickets, chirping up an annoying storm. It was cute the first night, but now I want to find all those crickets and shut them up. All night, I tossed and turned thinking of what waited for me at home.

A tumor and unemployment.

And insurance. I do need to make sure I have medical insurance the moment I have Wi-Fi. That worry has moved up on the list of things to be concerned about.

As exciting as that seems, I don’t think I’m ready for all that fun just yet. Which made me think: Why not keep going? There are so many places I want to go, and I have money and time to go. What is holding me back? I woke up a little excited to plan my next adventure, and for the first time in weeks, I didn’t wake up with that nagging worry that has been sitting in the pit of my stomach. I feel so wonderful and full of life. I need to experience things. If I have to have surgery, isn’t it worth seeing and experiencing as much as I can? I don’t know what the future holds, and I don’t want any regrets.

And if it turns out that the surgery goes south, well, I can say I’ve lived and done things I’ve wanted to do. So where to next?

I’m still the first one up this morning and, therefore, I’m on coffee duty. It’s the routine around here. First one up makes the coffee. I have a small line of campers waiting for me to pour as soon as it’s done brewing.

“Ready for our last day, everyone?” David hollers.

Everyone mumbles grumpily under their breath. It’s too early. But I do notice that even if they’re not voicing their excitement, they’re all moving quicker than usual.

It’s funny how everyone started with excitement, and it quickly bottomed out into exhausted grunts, yet now it’s day-one attitude all over again. Everyone’s excited to go home to their loved ones and their lives. Being in the wild is fun for only a few days; then it becomes lonely, I suppose.

Today is a pretty strenuous five-mile hike up the south rim through Bright Angel Trail. One of the guys begins a cadence march, and we all fall in line for about half an hour until we’re too winded to speak.

It feels as if we’re walking faster today, even if it’s a hard hike. We’ll be back to the base in no time.

Once we’re there, we’re supposed to hop on a school bus that will take us back to Flagstaff, where the greatest adventure of my life comes to an end.

The couple is still holding hands. I thought that by now the cutesy, lovey-dovey-ness would have ended. This is

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