Here's my entry into the
Valentine's Day Story Contest 2024
.
"Valentines, Day, 2024," Jared said to his girlfriend, Nicole, "a Wednesday. Of all days of the week, Wednesday is the worst for a holiday to fall on."
"Valentine's Day isn't really a holiday," Nicole corrected him, taking a bite of the vegan burger she was eating for dinner.
"So, I don't have to get you anything?" he asked, taking a bite of the sandwich he was eating.
"It's not about getting me anything. I don't need gifts; I just want to have a quiet day with you."
"Well Wednesday still sucks. It's too far into the week to stretch a long weekend into, and if we start a long weekend on Wednesday, by the time Monday rolls around again, it just seems strange, because the reason for the long weekend will be five days behind us by Sunday."
"Jared, dear," Nicole interrupted, "you're not making any sense. I mean did you just listen to yourself?"
"What?" he responded, "I make perfect sense, Wednesdays and holidays aren't meant to go together."
"Why don't we just take the whole week off, take a drive, a getaway. Just the two of us. I can promise I can make it worth your while."
Jared just looked at pretty Nicole. She was twenty-three, four months from her next birthday. He gazed at her brown hair that fell past her shoulders, her blue eyes and pouty lips. Nicole sat across the small table from him in their apartment. Her bulky navy-blue sweatshirt with their college logo across the front concealed the rest of her upper body. Nicole had pushed up the sleeves so she could eat without getting food on them. She took another bite.
Both were recent college graduates. Jared and Nicole met in an economics class and partnered on a class presentation. They had worked several long nights and multiple weekends, but their efforts were rewarded with an "A" and the byproduct of their presentation was a budding romance.
Nicole found Jared handsome in a nerdy sort of way. He was not the athletic jock so many young women are attracted towards. He was lean, and fit, he loved to ride his bicycle around town, but he mostly simply blended into the crowd. At face value, there just wasn't that much that screamed "hey check me out" to passersby. A mop of brown hair that was probably just a little too long, and stylish eyeglasses sat on top of his almost six-foot frame.
Nicole was almost a head shorter than Jared with long brown hair. Nicole had been on the college diving team and had a fit body from years of diving competitions. Nicole's slender body was built for diving. Strong legs that could propel her into the air, as she performed her acrobatic twists and turns, supported a frame that weighed just over 120 pounds. She was attracted to Jared primarily because he was not a jock athlete. She had been on swimming and diving teams since before high school and knew the boys from the boys' teams. All seemed to have an arrogance about them and felt like they were God's gift to the girls' team. One or two of Nicoles female teammates had been molested by members of the boys' teams, and one girl even became pregnant. Nicole did not want that kind of life. Jared was always kind and considerate, a dweeb, but a lovable dweeb.
"Yeah, you're right. I can take the time off work. What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking of the mountains. This time of year, nobody hikes along that trail we like, and there's that overlook with the valley below. You know, we said we'd come back to explore it."
"OK, I'd guess the campground won't be busy, I mean they keep it open for winter campers, but with Valentine's Day on a Wednesday, I doubt it will be busy."
"Wednesdays aren't so bad after all?" she asked. She knew he'd have no comeback for that question.
"No, I guess you're right. Given the proper context, a holiday on a Wednesday doesn't have to be a bad thing."
"I'm sure all the calendar makers in the world just gave a sigh of relief. Jared Monson will let them keep Valentine's Day on a Wednesday with no further complaining," she smiled.
God, he thought to himself, she's so damn sexy when she's like this. "If I weren't so hungry," he said aloud to her, "I'd put you on this table and take you right here."
"Hold on, tiger," she replied, "there's plenty of time for that, later."
After dinner they finished their plans. Jared would work both the Saturday and Sunday shifts at the retail store, then they'd head out Monday morning for a week of camping, sex, hiking, sex, sitting by the fire, and enjoy some outdoor sex. She then lifted the sweatshirt over her head to reveal to him her braless B-cup breasts with large pink areolae surrounding erect pink nipples. He was kissing those breasts and pawing at her pants less than ten seconds later.
Monday eventually arrived and they packed their cooler and camping gear into Jared's car. He had filled the tank the night before and by 7:00AM, they were on the road heading for the mountains. Three hours and two stops later, they parked at their campsite.
They were pleased that besides themselves, only two other cars were in the campground, quite a distance from where Jared and Nicole parked. It was cool, but not cold. Nicole wore shorts that emphasized her strong legs and that same sweatshirt, once again sans bra, but had sweatpants and a jacket for after sundown. Jared dressed similarly, ready for any type of weather. The forecast promised unseasonably mild weather for the week, so the young couple looked forward for the week to unfold. That morning, the nude couple woke to start their day. They ate breakfast, dressed, then started towards the trail.
Roughly ninety minutes later, they stood at their favorite overlook, where the mountain gave way to an extensive valley. They had been here once before but had never paid attention to the valley below. That earlier visit, they wanted to hike along the trail. They acknowledged they'd return some day and consider the valley view for a future adventure. Today was that future day.
Looking down at the valley below from the overlook was one of the most spectacular views either Jared or Nicole had ever seen. Two rivers flowed through the lush vegetation providing more than enough water for all the plants and crops that grew within the valley's wide boundaries. Fields of crops, from this distance they couldn't identify specifics, vineyards, and even an orchard all lay before them. Strangely, there were not any visible roads or towns, but for sure signs of human habitation were merely obscured by the dense green canopy of large trees. Off to the right on a less densely covered hill a solitary tree stood apart from the others, like a sentinel keeping watch.
"It's beautiful," Nicole said as she stood beside her boyfriend.
"Yeah," Jared responded, "just look at the greenery, the fields, and those rivers, it looks like a paradise."
"Where are the people?" Nicole asked, straining her neck to see signs of human activity.
"Probably concealed below all those trees," Jared answered, though he, too, was a bit surprised that nothing was visible.
"Well, I'm getting hungry again, and I need to find a bathroom, let's go down and see what we can find."
Nicole's suggestion made sense to Jared, as he was also hungry.
Their campsite was about two miles west of their present location, and they had been on the trail since daybreak. So far their only meal had been some granola and energy bars, but now they both felt the pangs of hunger. A small path led down from the overlook towards the valley. The path clearly was not part of the park, it hadn't been maintained nor had it been traveled much, but it was wide enough to indicate that it obviously led somewhere.
Down towards the valley the young couple hiked. Nicole led the way, stepping cautiously amongst the stones buried along the path. Jared admired her shapely backside as she deftly maneuvered the trail. The path went mostly straight down but occasionally veered right or left to avoid either a tree or a large boulder. Then the path leveled off somewhat before descending at an even steeper grade than the upper portion had been. Jared felt his feet slip once or twice and he could hear Nicole breathing harder, but in time they reached the valley floor.
Both looked at each other, perspiration forming along their hairlines. They smiled at their accomplishment then looked back up as a reminder of what they'd need to climb to return to their campsite. There was a small stream they could not have noticed from their earlier vantage point. It flowed a meandering route and appeared almost like a boundary between the steep slope of the hillside and the fertile valley before them.
Scanning across the stream, Jared took in the sight before him. The stream would be easy to cross, basically one large step was all it would take. "Well, we've come this far, shall we take a look?" he asked as Nicole came to his side.
"I don't know, do you think it might be private property?" Nicole asked, as she too scanned across the stream.
"I see no fence, but you're right, we don't need some pissed off farmer shoot at us for trespassing," Jared said, still looking for signs of human life. "But I see no reason not to just take a little peak. Notice how that tree line is so clearly defined."
