Skinny Me by Charlene Carr

Author:Charlene Carr [Carr, Charlene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: s Fiction, Women&apos
Publisher: Charlene Carr
Published: 2014-09-01T05:00:00+00:00

The trail widens and the path evens out. The four of us walk in a little cluster, chatting easily now that we don’t have to worry about catching our breath. I breathe deep the air whenever a breeze comes our way and feel my body relaxing for the first time in weeks. I hadn’t even realized I was tense, but from how at ease my body starts to feel as I soak in the beauty of the mountain views, the wildflowers along the path, and the sound of the happily singing birds, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this good. I forget about viewing this hike as exercise, wondering how many calories I can burn, and just view it as what it is—a hike with friends. I stop even thinking about a way to spend some quality time with Matt and am happy just enjoying everyone’s company. Surprisingly, it’s Rajeev who has the majority of my attention—all of our attention really. He’s telling us stories of the explorations he used to take as a child in rural India. They involve little old men and nosy grandmothers, snakes, and even a tiger once—though he admits that the tiger story actually happened to his father, not him, “It just comes across better as a first person telling,” he says with a chuckle. At one point he has me laughing so hard my side hurts. The hours pass quickly and before long Matt tells us that our camp site is just around the next bend.

“So,” says Rajeev, sidling up behind me on the now thinned out path, “are you ready for that dip?”

“I don’t know,” I say, “I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”

“Seems to be your regular excuse,” he says, and there’s teasing in his voice. “That’s alright. Just jump in as is—the sun should dry you.”

I’m quiet for the next few steps, considering—It is blistering hot. Maybe my clothes would mask things enough. Is it a roll of fat, is it fabric, who could tell?—and feel some of my ease dissipating.

“Hey,” he calls out, before I can respond, “this one here forgot her bathing suit again. What do you say, Matt? Should we all just dive in?”

Matt laughs loudly and calls back to Rajeev, “Grand idea!”

As Autumn and Matt spring ahead, Rajeev stays beside me. “So, what do you say? You jumping in?”

“Maybe,” I mumble, as I watch Matt and Autumn, running like gazelles, start struggling with their shirts. Matt reaches the water’s edge just a few paces before Autumn and sheds his shorts, socks, and shoes before doing a cannonball and splashing Autumn, who hops on one foot, trying to get her boot off.

“Jerk!” she yells. She frees her foot, tosses her clothing to a nearby rock, and dives in beside him. Her bright fuchsia bra and panties accent her toned body as she surfaces, the water trickling down her tanned skin. I expect Rajeev to be ogling her but instead he’s looking at me, smiling at me.

“So,” he says, “you ready?”

I want to say no.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.