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Ashes

A soft but chilling breeze was picking up out of the west, and the fire was in need of stoking as Valerie pulled the sheepskin coat a little tighter around her neck, edging a bit closer to the heat. Frank tossed a fair sized piece of oak into the middle of the coals, causing a brief eruption of sparks, which spiraled slowly up into the thermals until they disappeared, victims of the humidity and starved for fuel. She and Frank had spent the last several nights out under the stars, miles from civilization and the nearest other campers.

She stared once more into the space below the logs, indulging her imagination and picturing images that were formed by the position of the glowing embers. It was her turn to tell a story tonight, and something that she saw in those coals stirred a distant memory of long past nights beside other fires. A shiver traveled unbidden down her spine at the sound of a lone coyote, wailing out its lonely song on a nearby ridge.

Frank had finally finished his manly chores, and took his place beside her, draping the small blanket around her thin shoulders and allowing her to lean back against his sturdy frame. Tonight would be special, she would see to that, but before she gave him the surprise she had been saving she had to get him in the mood a bit with one of her creepy tales.

"Well?"

His voice carried a hint of the playful taunting that she had come to enjoy. It spoke to her of his readiness to be absorbed into the story, after which no doubt he had designs of snuggling with her in front of the dying fire.

"Alright, alright, but don't come whining to me when you can't sleep."

"I don't think I'll be doing much sleeping tonight anyway," he said with a lecherous chuckle.

They had met nearly a year ago but had only begun to be intimate in the last few weeks. This camping trip had been her idea though, but one to which he had readily agreed. She was different than all of the other women he had ever been with; confident in her abilities and unusually humble about her exceptional beauty. Best of all, he felt like he could be himself around her, and he could tell that she felt the same way.

She began speaking then while staring fixedly ahead at the flames, which seemed somehow to react to her words, flickering brightly when she spoke, and then ebbing slightly as she paused. Occasionally there would be an explosive pop as a bubble of resin exploded in an unseen cavity of the wood.

"These hills may seem peaceful and serene now,

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