She yawned and stretched in the confines of the sleeping bag. The sounds of a waking forest invaded her desire to return to the sweet mindlessness of sleep yet pushed her toward the joyfulness of the day. The coolness of the crisp air patted gently against her warm pink cheeks, the songs of the birds flitting by, the the underbrush whispering to the breeze brought her to the wakefulness she had been fighting. She stretched her long lithe body inside the sleeping bag. Her strong, lean legs pushed at the bottom seam, her arms slipped over her head reaching to the edge of the tent, she was awake. She crawled as quietly as one can from a sleeping bag in shared space with two others, hoping not to waken or disturb her companions. She opened the flap. Feeling eyes scanning her, she turned and for some reason felt relief and happiness to see Ann and Marie both awake, watching her.

She crawled from the tent calling happily behind her, "come on sleepy heads, rise and shine. It’s our first day up here and it will end all too soon, up and at’em girls."

She stopped just out side the tent, stretching again and warming her nakedness in the rays of the rising sun. Her eyes closed, she drew it into her body selfishly, basking for a moment in the sun’s glory. A smile crossed her lips as the thought skipped through her mind that perhaps she was a sun worshiper in her last life.

Awakened now to the day she began picking up stray sticks for kindling. Humming a tune she could not name she knelt by the fire pit they had built last night and arranged the kindling, laying each one carefully before she realized her mind was drifting to the strange dream that had filled her sleep. She shook it off knowing it was just a dream. She really wanted to tell Ann and Marie about it, hoping that when she did she would recall all the details, but it would have to wait, right now they needed a fire. In minutes the fire was blazing, she giggled to herself and wondered if she had been a boy scout in a past life too and put a pot of water on the grate to heat for tea. She rummaged through her pack, grabbed her tooth brush and other essentials. She realized it was the "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies" playing in her head and she danced off to the creek calling out one more time, "hey you two, the day will be nearly half over before you see it ."

Beside the creek she brushed her teeth, stretched her muscles with a little exercise and danced to the Nutcracker as it played in her head. She would see the ballet again in little more then 2 months and her body was in warm up, feeling the movements come to life that were stored deep in her muscle memory. She heard the rustle of the huckleberry bushes before she saw Ann and Marie coming down the path toward her.

Ann called out a cheerful, "Good morning dancing Queen." Giggling she hurried to the creek, cupping her hands she took a long drink of the fresh, cold mountain water.

"Worshiping the Sun Gods in dance already this morning?" Marie said lightheartedly, adding, "Or was that the Jay bird dance ?"

Chris danced over to her best friend, grabbed her hands and danced in circles with her. "Just feel like dancing, don’t you."

"Can’t say that I do," Marie said laughing and trying to keep up with the dance while juggling the tooth brushes and toothpaste clasped tightly in her hand. "Where do you get all this energy so early in the morning."

"Not sure," Chris replied, "I think my dream gave it to me."

It was as if the world stopped, Marie froze in mid step dropping the hand full of brushes and paste to the ground. Ann sat still as a stick beside the creek, a small gasp escaping her lips as the three of them looked intently from one to another, each waiting for the other to speak.

Ann broke the silence, "I think we need to talk, let’s get done here and go up to the fire."