Chapter 9

• Rayne’s eyes popped open as soon as it was light. She heaved out a sigh of relief to see the rain had stopped and it was bright outside the car. For several moments, she struggled with the zipper in the sleeping bag before having enough freedom to sit up. Her body ached. Everywhere. She could definitely confirm that Cabriolet’s were not comfortable for sleeping. As she started to move about, she realized there were certain priorities to deal with, now.
• Finally, the zipper co-operated and Rayne was able to get out of the car in record time. Was she afraid after her wildlife encounter last night? Yes, but the first thing she desperately needed to do was find somewhere to go to the bathroom.
• After attempting a few brief, very brief stretches when she fell out of the door extracting her feet from the sleeping bag, she decided her bladder was more important than working out a few kinks. Surveying the area, she looked for anything that might resemble a bathroom. It had been a campground, so surely there would be one somewhere, right? Popping open the trunk, she dug around in the bags until she found a necessary item. Toilet paper would have not been on her list if the boy hadn’t tossed it in with the pile of purchases. Thank goodness for the blue-haired boy.
• Hugging a bottle of water and a roll of toilet paper, Rayne started to move away from where she drove in. It had been raining, but she was almost certain there weren’t any buildings hidden in the thick trees she’d passed the night before.
• Three small buildings later, chanting inside her head, please be a bathroom, she looked through the filth covered windows to find out they were small cabins like the one by the car. She was just convincing herself of the possibility of having to hide behind a tree and try, which she really wasn’t sure how, when she spotted a larger building with a faded sign barely hanging above the door. It said showers, which meant there should be a bathroom in there too.
• If her brain hadn’t been so focused at that moment, the protesting door and the loud squeak it made as she pushed with her whole body to open it, may have frightened her. Rayne was at her wit’s end though, so she really didn’t have time to be leery, any choice in the matter would be moot only for a few moments longer. The door stayed open enough that a little bit of light filtered into the dirty space.
• Old plastic shower curtains hung lifelessly in four shower stalls, she hesitantly peeked in and hoped it was just the dim light and they weren’t as dirty as they appeared. Not important right now, she’d go exploring later with the flashlight. Not being a woodsy kind of person she had no idea how long the campground had been abandoned, but the building didn’t appear to be decaying as much as neglected, not that she was any sort of expert. As she passed the shower stalls, trying not to notice that is was darker the further into the building she went, relief filled her when five stalls with doors sat just beyond the showers.
• Biting her lip, concentrating on not thinking of how much she really needed to pee, she opened one of the stalls. There was a toilet, which spurred a new chant in her head of please work, please work. Why are we prone to chant silently at moments like this? She really didn’t know, but with no flashlight she was a little concerned with the state of it, unable to make out the condition. She glanced at the small window above and then back down at the toilet. Forget how much she needed to use it, she had to see it first. Stretching up on her toes, acknowledging that was a bad movement to make at that moment, Rayne grabbed the handle of the window and threw her weight back, praying it would open. Two more yanks and it popped open, giving way to leaves and dirt that drifted to the floor. It didn’t provide as much light as she wanted, but she could see the toilet more clearly now.
• She held her breath as she lifted the seat. Nothing appeared to be living in there. Do I attempt to flush? Rayne cringed as she pushed the lever down and a loud echoing noise churned through the wall. The water went down. No water refilled it, but that was okay with her right now. She was only a few seconds away from prancing, so she opened the water and splashed it over the seat, setting the bottle down quickly, she used a handful of tissue to wipe it off. Normally she would never have just dropped the handful of damp tissue on the floor, but this wasn’t a normal time. Waiting was no longer an option.
• As she opened the door again, she felt like she might make it. Well, at least until the next time she had to use the bathroom. Rayne took a few moments and looked around the room, taking more time for details now. There was a door at the end, and feeling a little braver she went over and pulled it open slowly. It was like a large closet with a water tank in it. Sticking her head in, and into cobwebs, she looked around. There were taps, was the solution to running water that simple? She didn’t have anything to lose in trying. Stepping all the way in she gripped the top tap and tried to turn it. It wouldn’t budge. Maybe she needed a wrench or something, not that she knew how to use one, but they always used one on TV. Rayne gave up and stepped back out again. All of this could wait, right now she just wanted coffee.
• She had to backtrack twice to find her way back to the car, obviously, she hadn’t paid enough attention on her earlier quest. She did notice how quiet it was, something she hadn’t remembered experiencing for a long time. A small squirrel skittered across the path in front of her, and Rayne stopped to watch it run on fast little legs, its tail moving almost as fast as its body when it ran up a tree. Smiling at the tiny creature, it came to her that this may turn out to be a wonderful retreat while she figured out what to do to fix her life.
• Rayne stood still, just listening to all the sounds around her. A bird, at least she was almost certain it was a bird made an echoing call that seemed to travel all around her. A steady tap against wood she identified as a woodpecker sounded off behind her. With the breeze blowing, the leaves on the trees could almost be a waterfall. The place was alive with various chirps, tweets and fluttering, just a few of the sounds. In truth, there were so many differences that it could take her an hour or more to sort out each one, and she planned to, just as soon as she had coffee.