The mountain.

Boots laced and tied; ignition is turned to where the motor comes to life. Headlights on, his first stop is across the street from the Cadbury apartments. A cup of coffee close by, pressed between lips is a lit cigarette. Checking his watch, he’s got a handful of minutes left to himself. He thinks about Jane, the good parts anyway. Having a sip of coffee and another drag, Benny lets go of Jane as he sees Vincent walking up to him. Window rolled down, Benny pokes his head out and says, “Morning.” Stopping just short of his longtime friend, Vincent peers at his worn boots and lingering over the cost of new ones, he looks up at Benny and says, “For some reason, Lori said today was not a good day for us to play in the woods.”

“Why did she say that?”

“It has something to do with how the stars are aligned.”  Benny looks up to the billions of twinkling lights and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, says, “Does she want you home? If she does, I get it.” Benny reeks with sadness and keeping in mind that it has been two days since his world changed, Vincent says to him, “Most likely she’s busy doing stuff and probably likes it that I am out of her hair. Hold on.”

 For a brief moment, Benny keeps his eyes on Vincent walking around the front of the rig until he turns away and after having a drag off his smoke, looks up to the stars one more time. If there is something out of place, he can’t tell which makes him curious as to why Lori would say such a thing. Having another puff, reaches over for his insulated coffee mug that Jane bought for him. So far it is keeping the coffee fairly warm which is nothing like his old one. Thinking about that day when she presented him with the unexpected gift, the gloomy cloud hovering close by ruins it all by reminding him that surprises like that will never happen again. Consumed by the sad reality of never seeing her again, next to him, Vincent is staring at the apartment complex he calls home. Having an idea that Lori is dragging out all the totes from the hall closet, inside, and wrapped in deerskin will be wool rugs. A call to her sister and mom will be made and unsure of what to think about what was said to him, he says to Benny, “If we’re going, let’s go.”

Pulling himself up from the shallows of his mind, Benny gives Vincent a meek smile. “Had a thought is all.” With that said, Benny shifts the rig into gear and pulls away from the curb. Fully aware of what is going on in the life and times of Benny Maxwell, when he first got wind of the tragic event, he went straight to Benny’s place. Already half drunk, Benny talked for hours about her, all of her dreams and the places she wanted to go to. Up all night, they watched in silence as the sun broke over the ridge. He had to go then, and remembering how he felt about leaving Benny alone, it was the late night call about wanting to follow through with what was marked on the calendar that had Lori telling him that now is a really bad time. He told her if she loves him like she says she does, then she will understand that this is something he needs to do. There was no argument, no fits of rage, only a gentle kiss upon his lips.