Labor day weekend. Summer was coming to an end all too quickly, as it always does. We were all up at the family cabin. Brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, parents, grandparents, uncles...and aunts. One aunt in particular, Beth, was a curiosity. You see, Auntie Beth was a religious type. She always dressed in a style that didn't draw attention. Always behaved and usually quiet. Auntie Beth did enjoy her beers, but with the long holiday weekend, she certainly wasn't alone. Strange thing about Beth, I had heard stories about her dating a lot of guys through the years. After all, Beth got divorced a long time ago from her abusive ex-husband. The really surprising part was that Beth was rumored to be a sex maniac.
Lunch was winding down. The picnic table next to the cabin was littered with the usual supply of hot dog buns, chips, dip, paper plates, ketchup, mustard, potato salad, and plenty of soda and beer on ice in the big blue cooler on the ground at the end of the table. The kids were all running, yelling, and splashing around in the lake. The adults were enjoying a beer or two, sitting on lawn chairs and watching the kids playing. I was sitting next to Auntie Beth and talking about something close to nothing. We talked, glancing at each other once in a while, and mostly just watched the kids splashing around in the lake. Auntie Beth was saying something about missing having someone she could be close to.
Auntie continued, "I have to admit, you have grown up to be quite the good looking nephew."
I laughed a bit and told Auntie, "You're not bad yourself."
"Nephew, I feel like taking a walk. Would you like to come with? I don't think anyone will miss us."
"Yea, okay," I said.
Auntie Beth grabbed her day backpack and stuffed her small bible into the front pocket. She always seemed to have that bible with her, although I never actually saw her reading it.
"Nephew, how about fishing out a six-pack of brew from the bottom of that cooler. We might get thirsty along the way."
We started off, my Aunt in the lead, and headed away from the shore, past the cabin, the Winnebago that someone brought up for overflow beds, and the small, in fact tiny, 2 person camping trailer that Auntie Beth towed up.
The back of the property was heavily wooded and the only real clearing was the narrow dirt road that wound through the woods about a half mile to the county road. In the woods were a few walking paths that had been trampled into place over the years. Most of them by the kids exploring the woods and dreaming about building a treehouse. The treehouse never got built, but there was talk about the idea every year. Anyway, Auntie knew of a seldom used path that seemed to go on forever. As we walked she reached back behind her and took my hand. The path was narrow and almost seemed to not exist in places.
Auntie then said, "I think it is right about here."
"What is here?" I asked.
"Oh, you'll see...follow me."
We turned off the path and made our way through the bushes for about a hundred feet. Suddenly, we were in a small clearing just about big enough for a tent. I could hear a creek flowing nearby. But other than that it was all quiet. We were less than a half mile from the cabin and all of our relatives, but it seemed like we were a world away.
The clearing had soft, shaded sunlight seeping through the maple and oak trees. The fall leaves were starting to turn. The maples' were already a beautiful mixture of red and yellow. The leaves that had fallen made a soft bed on the ground.
"Auntie, this is beautiful. I can't believe I never discovered this place when I was a kid exploring."
Auntie said, "I don't think many people know about this place. It's very quiet here. Your mom and I use to come here a lot when we were kids."
Auntie added, "Let's break out that six-pack and have a cold one, or two."
We both sat down on the fallen leaves, each downing a beer kind of fast, and then went for another.
"Auntie, what did you and mom do up here?"
"Play, explore, pretend...the usual kid's stuff. One time we talked your grandma into letting us take the small tent with us for an overnight."
"That sounds like fun." I said.
"Oh it was...more than you know." She said with a sly smile.
"What are you getting at? Tell me more."
"I don't know if I should." Auntie went on, "Let's just say that your mom and I got a bit naughty together."
Surprised, I said, "That just does not seem like you at all. You seem so proper and appropriately behaved. And you always seem to have that bible with you, too."
"I need the bible with me because of, well...let me have another beer and maybe I will tell you more," said Auntie.
I opened the last 2 beers and handed one to Auntie Beth. We sat quietly and drank. She seemed uneasy.
"Auntie Beth, you were going to tell me about the bible?"
"Nephew, I have it with me cause it provides me with comfort." After a long pause she continued, "Sometimes I have these thoughts that I know I shouldn't have. Sometimes I do things that I think I shouldn't...but they seem so good and right at the time. That overnight with your mom, that one when we brought the tent with to this very clearing..." her voice trailing off.
