Page 19 of To Fall or Not to Fall

“We’re going around in circles here. Are you upset that I didn’t call you, or are you okay that I didn’t call you?”

“I mean, it would’ve been nice if you called me.” Her eyes glitter. “I mean, I’m not trying to be that girl, but?—”

“I guess you are, huh?”

She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Hey, can I tell you a story?” I say to her.

“I guess. But I am here trying to supervise the bonfire. Give me fifteen minutes, okay?”

She nods, and I grab her hand, pulling her to the side.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, I would like us to have a bit more privacy. And maybe… we enjoy the night.”

“Okay, what does that mean?”

“I mean, we’re next to the water. I can hear the waves crashing against the rocks. The sky is dark. I can see Ursa Major and other constellations. The moon is glowing. The birds are still. The wind is cool and gentle against my face.”

I squeeze her hand. “I want to tell you a story.”

"A made-up story?”

“No, a real story—maybe you can tell me what you think when it’s done.”

“Okay.” She nods. “Go ahead.”

I smile at her. “When I was younger, I went camping with my dog.”

“Okay.” She nods again.

“We went to this forest, and I thought it was going to be really cool and fun. I was lying there in my tent, and I heard these branches breaking right outside.”

“Oh,” Ava says. “What was it?”

“Well, I didn’t know. So I unzipped the tent and looked out, and there was no one there.

So the next day, I spoke to the ranger and told her, ‘Hey, I heard some branches breaking outside my tent.’ And she was like, ‘It may have been a bear because you were the only one staying in the campsite right now.’

“And I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize they’d come to the tents.’ And she says, ‘Yeah, but don’t worry. Just stay in the tent.’ So I say, ‘Okay.’

“That night, I fell asleep again, and I heard branches breaking, but that time, I didn’t unzip it because I didn’t want to die by being bear food.”

Ava smiles. “Makes sense.”

“But then I heard a whistle in the wind.”

I whistle lowly. Ava’s eyes widen.

“And then I heard a voice. It was female. And she just says, ‘Love me, love me, love me.’ I thought I was going crazy, of course, and I fell asleep.”

Ava stares at me. “What happened?”

“So, the next day I saw the ranger again and I said, ‘Did anyone else check in last night?’ And she says, ‘No, why?’ I say, ‘I heard the branches breaking.’ She said, ‘It must’ve been the bear.’ And I said, ‘But I heard a female voice saying, Love me, love me .’

“The ranger’s eyes widened, and she just stared at me. She said, ‘It was the wind. It was likely the wind.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’

“I had one more night there. So I went into the tent and fell asleep, and I heard the branches breaking again. And I just thought to myself, Wow, this bear loves this spot . And then I hear, ‘Love me, love me,’ and I was like, Oh, it ’ s the wind again.

“And then I heard the whistling and then someone singing in a deep voice. ‘We’re off to the mines. We’re going to find gold. Tomorrow I might be a millionaire.’ And the voice was an old-timer, and I felt like I was going crazy.

“I thought to myself, Have I been drugged ? But I’d only eaten the food I’d brought with me. I rubbed my forehead and drank some water because I thought maybe I was dehydrated. Then I heard crying, and I fell asleep.”

“Oh my gosh. Is this real?” Ava asks.

I nod. “Anyway, I woke up the next day and packed up my tent before walking my dog, and I saw the ranger. And she said, ‘You leaving today?’ And I said, ‘Yeah. I don’t know what happened. I think maybe I got dehydrated. But last night, I heard the branches cracking, and I heard the love me, love me. And I heard the whistling. And then I heard a man singing about taking me to the gold mine.’

“And the ranger just stopped. Her face was whiter than I’d ever seen a face. And she said to me, ‘You met them.’ I just stared at her and I said, ‘I met who?’ And she said to me, ‘I don’t want to talk about it, but when you leave here, google this campsite.’

“So I say, ‘Okay.’ And I think to myself, Whatever . I got in the car and I pulled away.”

I see Ava shivering.

“You okay?” I ask her.

She nods slightly. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and rub.

“So did you google it?” she asks.

I nod slowly. “I googled the campsite and found out that it’s one of the most haunted campsites in the United States.

And it’s set in an area that used to be an old gold mine.

There was a man—I don’t remember his name now—but he was poor, and he wanted to marry the daughter of the richest man in town.

But her parents wouldn’t let her marry him unless he had money.

“So he was going to the gold mine every single day, hoping to find gold.”

“Oh no. That’s sad.” Ava looks up at me with wide brown eyes. My heart jumps.

“Well, the girl, she waited and waited and waited. She said she wouldn’t marry or love anyone else unless she could be with him. And then one day, he came upon gold.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s amazing.” Ava starts smiling.

I shake my head. “But when he came upon the gold, he didn’t marry her. He married someone else.”

Ava’s jaw drops.

“And that lady—she couldn’t take it. So, she jumped from her parents’ house.

And as she jumped, she said, ‘Love me, love me,’ as she cried.

Supposedly, that campsite was where the house used to be located.

And her ghost haunts the campsite. She cries every single night, thinking of him.

And when he heard that she died, he felt so guilty that he jumped, as well. ”

Ava stares at me with wide eyes. “That’s not real, is it?” Tears run down her face. “That’s so sad,” she says, rubbing her eyes quickly and then her nose. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cry, but oh, I just?—”

“It’s okay.” I shrug. “I don’t know how true the story is, but I do know that I did hear the whistle. And I heard the song. And I heard the cries.”

I shrug again. “Sometimes in life, there are things that we don’t understand, that we can’t control, but they exist.”

She nods slowly. I continue rubbing her shoulder and kiss the side of her face. She looks startled, but she doesn’t pull away.

I lean down and whisper in her ear, “Never let anything like that happen to you.”

She stares at me with a wry smile. “So you’re telling me if you found gold, you would marry me?”

“I’m telling you, I wouldn’t need gold to marry you.”

I grab her hand, my fingers trailing up her wrist. I can feel her heart racing.

She frowns slightly and looks into my eyes, touching the side of my face. “I don’t understand you, Theo,” she says softly.

And as I look at her, I realize I don’t understand myself either.

I’ve never shared that story with anyone before in my life.

Partially because I didn’t think anyone would ever believe me.

Partially because I still don’t know if I quite believe that it happened either.

But I know what I experienced. I know what I heard.

And I know it will always stick with me.

It does make me wonder why Ava was the one I chose to share it with—something so personal, so deep, so otherworldly.

“Do you think I’m crazy?” I ask her.

“No. Why would I?”

“Because I just told you a ghost story.”

“But it really happened to you, right? Or are you just pulling my leg?”

“No, it really happened.”

She smiles at me. “I think we can’t understand everything that happens in life.

I don’t understand why I feel for you the way that I do, why I still like you, why I’m sitting here with you after you sucked on my boobs last week and didn’t even call me.

But you told me—” She grins. “Maybe I lied. Maybe I am that girl. Maybe I didn’t want you to know.

But—” She licks her lips. “Maybe sometimes in life we just go with the flow. Maybe we’re just here, and we see what happens. ”

I nod slowly. I lean back and grab her so that she’s on top of me.

She leans down and kisses me on the lips. She gyrates her hips, and I feel her warmth against my body. My heart races. I want to reach up and slip my fingers into her panties. I want to see if she’s as wet as I am hard. But I don’t.

Partially because I know that if I touch her, I won’t be able to stop. I know that if I touch her, I’ll want her even more. And there are other people here. This isn’t special. And what I want most of all—for her, for us—is for what happens next to be special.

She kisses me again, and I groan as I move her to the side.

“What are you doing?” she says, winking at me as she runs her fingers down the front of my jeans and squeezes. “Ooh, someone’s excited to see me.” She laughs lightly.

I groan as she runs her fingers up and down my hardness through my jeans. She unzips, and I feel her fingers reaching in until they’re touching the skin of my cock. I close my eyes as her thumb circles my girth and moves it up and down.

“Ava,” I say as my eyes fly open.

She looks at me, a wicked smile on her face. “Yes, Theo?”

“I don’t think this is the right time.” I groan loudly. “As much as I would love it to be, I just… I don’t think this is it.”

“Maybe not,” she says. “But maybe it will be soon.”

She slips her fingers out of my pants and zips me up gently. She leans back over, gives me a kiss on the cheek, and then jumps up.

“I have work to do, though. Feel free to give me a call this week—or not.” She grins. “And Theo?”

“Yes,” I grunt.

“Thank you for sharing your story. It was really powerful. And I know you don’t think you’re a writer, but maybe you should write it down. I think that’s something other people would love to hear. It was really powerful.”