“I spy something…white,” Zach said.
“Is it salt?” I asked, gesturing to our surroundings. Or lack of surroundings. Could a giant, vast, empty space full of basically nothing be considered a surrounding?
“It is!” He laughed. “Contrary to your mother’s beliefs, looks like being married to me hasn’t dulled your intelligence.”
I rolled my eyes. “There are about three colors in this entire area. Even your brother would’ve been able to figure that out.”
“Well,” Zach said, “we could change the rules. Let’s look for…shapes. I spy a tri—”
“Mountains,” I interrupted.
“—angle,” he finished. “Okay, that won’t work.” The coarse salt crunched as he moved his left foot back and forth in a half-circle, which meant he was thinking hard. Distracted, he took off his backpack and started rummaging for a minute before bringing out a small green bottle.
“Here,” Zach handed it to me. “Energy gummies. Full of Vitamin B, plus some iron. We have a lot of miles to cover.”
I poured out four, taking two before holding out the other pair to him.
“Mmm, blue raspberry,” I said as I chewed. Zach was about to take his own, but when I mentioned the flavor he lowered his hand. Then, he once again dug into his backpack, this time coming up with another bottle that looked very similar to the one I was still holding. His eyes met mine.
“Ooookay, Janelle? Don’t freak out. But I accidentally gave you the gummies.”
I blinked. “The mushrooms-laced ones? That we were going to take tonight? When we didn’t have to worry about other people?” I paused. “Or cops?”
Zach bit his lip.
“To put a positive spin on this,” he said, “I bet you’ll be able to spy a lot of things?”
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Okay. This was amazing.
“I spy something amazing!” I said aloud, then let out a peal of laughter.
“Honey, that’s an awful clue,” Zach said. “But you are pointing straight down, so I’ll say the honeycomb patterns.”
“Yes!” I crouched down to get a closer look. “How cool is this!” I traced the bumpy lines, then brought my finger to my mouth. “Mmmm. Babe, try it. It’s salty!”
“Yes,” Zach agreed with me as he bent to my level, “that’s what I would assume, as it’s salt.”
I giggled at his tone. He was so smart. I was so lucky. Flush with happiness, I leaned forward and kissed his lips, sharing the salt.
A shuffling noise caused me to spin around.
“Ah!” An unidentified shape came into view, a few paces away. “I spy a blob!”
Zach quickly pressed my hand down, which was apparently pointing again. I really needed to have a talk with my arms. They were giving everything away.
“Sorry,” Zach said, but I didn’t know why he was apologizing.
“Rude,” the blob grumbled.
“It talked!” What else could blobs do? I let out more laughter.
The blob muttered “stoners” as it undulated away from us.
Zach enveloped me in his arms.
“I think we may need to play a different game for a while,” he murmured, then gave me a quick kiss on my temple. “Up for a game of Pictionary?”
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Pictionary. Pictionary. That’s the game. Not—
“I spy a whale!” I’d given up on controlling my appendages, and watched as they enthusiastically pointed down at the shape Zach had drawn in the salt.
Despite using the wrong words (although already I couldn’t remember why they were wrong), Zach grinned and added a small tally under my name.
I was winning! Possibly. There were tallies in the honeycomb closest to me, and some in the one next to him, but they kept spinning around, twisting as they rearranged themselves. I closed one eye, trying to make them stay still so I could count.
“Your turn,” Zach prodded me. When I tried to look at him, my eye continued upwards, focusing on the distant, shimmering mountains. They looked very climbable.
“I’m going to go climb the mountains,” I declared, trying to scramble up and head towards those wonderful feats of nature.
Unfortunately, though my brain wanted to march resolutely on, my legs had other plans. Plans that didn’t include marching, resolutely or not.
“Whoa,” I muttered. There was something grainy against my cheek. “Where did this ground come from?”
Zach appeared next to me, lifting my head into his lap. “Maybe we just sit for a while?” he suggested.
My head nodded. “Maybe that is smart.”
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The colors in the sky were fading as I came back down from my unintended trip. But even without the psilocybin exaggerating those colors into a fascinating spectrum of light, the view was still spectacular. I could stare at it for hours.
“You okay? Zach asked.
There were some lingering effects in my brain, but I felt in control. “I’m okay,” I said.
“Good. Have some water. And some non-laced gummies, to restore your body.”
I ate and drank, then we both slowly laid flat on the ground, feeling a million miles from civilization. Or other tourists. Or talking blobs.
In the silence, we watched the sun tuck itself in, the brilliant light fading as it fell behind the peaks.
Zach intertwined his fingers with mine.
“I spy something that makes me happy.”
“Me.” I turned my head to look at him, giving his hand a squeeze. “And you.”
“Us,” he said.
Tiny specks of stars appeared above us, winking as they woke up for their own adventures, thousands of light years away. Despite the way they seemed to vibrate and swirl around—maybe I still had a bit of the ‘shrooms in my brain—I had no desire to fly with them. My adventure was right here, next to me.
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Melissa Jornd is a Midwest gal with mountain dreams. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Crepuscular Magazine, Witcraft, 101 Words, and Microfiction Monday Magazine. She was the 2023 Gold Scribes Prize winner and has placed in contests from NYCMidnight, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Writer’s Weekly.
In her corporate life you’ll find her debating whether your e-mail does find her well; otherwise, she spends her time starting—but rarely finishing—art and home projects, exploring nature, and forcing her two cats, Charlie and Minnie, to cuddle.
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