’m trailing behind you, watching you come to life out here in the middle of nowhere. we are surrounded by lush green and the crisp white of the new snow that dusts our hats and mittens. you are breathing hard, infusing the surrounding molecules with carbon dioxide, pushing them out of the way, reminding them that we are here, 

we are here,

we are here.

my toes are freezing and i’m barely awake. the sun is creeping towards the sky, casting long silky shadows on the trail in front of us. it is silent except for the crunch of our feet on the ground and the patient rhythm of our breath.  you look over your shoulder to make sure i’m close behind and smile as i put my feet in the places where you’ve already stepped, echoing your every move. 

you pulled me gently out of sleep this morning, whispering “i have something to show you,” and trailing your fingers down my cheek, across my collar bones and over my stomach. 

“it’s the middle of the night,” i said, still half-dreaming.

sleepiness clouds my vision but i press on, never more than half a stride behind you as we climb higher and higher. the world reveals herself to us one frame, one tiny sound, one moment at a time. here we are in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of this thing we have built together.

we climb on and our hearts pound and i know this isn’t a race, that there is no destination in mind. we are pressing this morning into the pages of the two of us, integrating it into our collective body, stamping our souls with every passing minute. 

my body mirrors yours as we move along the trail towards the sunrise. my legs stretch to replicate your graceful footsteps, completely content to go wherever they take me,

and i would follow you to the end of the earth.

i would follow you anywhere.