“I think the path is somewhere up here,” the black-haired woman said.
She and the young athletic man beside her were making their way along a cliff face somewhere in the mountains near Jemez Springs. The trail had been climbing steadily for what felt like forever.
“It is hot as fuck,” the man said. “I should’ve wear shorts.”
“Oh, stop your whining. We’ve gotta be at least halfway there.”
“Let’s stop and take a break.”
“Fine.”
They stopped.
The woman was dressed in white athletic clothes and sneakers. The man wore something similar, except he’d made the unfortunate decision to hike a mountain in shiny black-and-white track pants.
“So how long have you lived in New Mexico?” he asked between gasps for breath.
“Like fifteen years. I made the final move out here from Salem about five years ago, but I’d been going back and forth for a long time.”
“You mean Salem, Oregon?”
“No. Massachusetts.”
“Oh. I figured Oregon. Just because that’s where I grew up. Well, Eureka, actually.”
“I’ve never been to Oregon. I’ve always wanted to go. Seems really beautiful.”
“Oh, definitely. It’s super beautiful. Honestly, would never choose to live anywhere. But it’s really beautiful here. Thanks for showing me this place.”
His voice carried a certain exasperation. Maybe even deception.
“Just wait until we get to the springs. This is just the forest.”
They started walking again.
“So you’ve been using Tinder for a while?” the woman asked.
“I think this is maybe my third Tinder date.”
“How about you?”
“Actually, it’s my first time trying it.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Easy way to meet people, make some new friends. I travel a lot, so it’s nice to be able to connect with people.”
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“Oh yeah. You mentioned you were here for somebody’s wedding or something.”
“Yeah. My buddy Jared is getting married. He made, like, a shit ton of money off crypto. They’re getting married, then gonna buy a place in the Caribbean.”
“Well. That’s nice for them.”
Silence.
Ten more minutes of walking and sweating passed before they finally crested the steep hill they’d been climbing for nearly an hour.
“How do you spell your name?” the man asked. “Sorry. Your Tinder name was ‘Delightful,’ laugh out loud, but I only heard your real name over the phone that one chat we had.”
“It’s okay, Sergei. C-A-L-Y-P-S-O. Calypso. My hippie parents gave it to me.”
“What is this hippie?”
She looked at him.
“You’ve never heard of hippies?”
“No, I have not.”
“Some movement. Peace and love. Free love. Acid. Grateful Dead. Any of that ring any bells?”
“Oh yeah. Acid is awesome.”
Finally, they reached the spring.
Sergei looked around.
“This is awesome.”
“Yeah. There’s usually people here…”
Sergei turned toward Calypso with a huge grin.
Then immediately started taking off his clothes.
Calypso’s eye twitched.
She looked around.
Fuck this shit.
She averted her eyes while the now completely naked man made the long walk around the pool to the opposite side. He knelt beside the spring and tested the water with his hand.
“Uh, I’m just gonna go back here and change real quick.”
“Oh, I figure we are in nature. You can be in nature too, no? It’s not a problem. Really, I don’t look much.”
“No, that’s okay. I just need to pee real quick.”
Sergei hopped into the water.
“Ah, you can’t tell when you’re in the water already. It’s a hot spring, no?”
Calypso stopped responding.
She picked up her backpack and headed down the hill.
On the way past, she grabbed Sergei’s clothes, balled them under one arm, and kept walking.
“It’s just nature. You can be nature. We’re all nature,” she muttered.
She reached the switchback.
“Good luck with nature, fucker.”
Calypso threw his clothes over the side.
She took a different trail from the one they’d come in on and continued down the mountain.
Wonder if he’ll even find his way back.
Maybe he can Tinder his way out of here.
She stopped.
“Oh, shit.”
His phone.
Wallet.
Keys.
They were probably all in his pants.
Calypso slowly turned and looked back toward the cliff.
She walked to the edge and peered down, trying to spot the clothes.
Nothing.
Twenty minutes later, she was sneaking back toward the spring.
Sergei spotted her.
“Oh! Where were you? I thought maybe you left.”
Shit.
Couldn’t sneak past him.
“Oh, it was the weirdest thing. This dog came running through and grabbed your clothes. I had to chase after it, and, yeah, I couldn’t get your clothes back.”
Sergei stared at her.
“But I got your phone. And your keys. And I guess your wallet. That was pretty much all you had, right?”
“Wait. Are you serious? Do you mean I have no clothes?”
“Yeah. Geez. Yeah, that sucks.”
Calypso pulled a towel from her backpack.
“Here. I’m gonna leave you a towel, though. And actually, I’m sorry, but I have to cut this short. I just noticed I got a text message and I have to go because of something.”
“Wait. Are you really gonna leave?”
“Yeah. My cousin is really sick, and I’m probably gonna have to buy a plane ticket, like, right now and go back to Salem, because if I don’t perform the ritual, she’s probably gonna die.”
Sergei stared at her.
“What?”
“Look, I’ll leave you this towel. This’ll probably help you get back. And I’m really sorry to cut this short, but, yeah, my cousin’s in a bad spot.”
She backed away.
“So it was really, really nice getting to know you, but I gotta go.”
Calypso turned and left.
“Bye.”