Friendship in the Mountains
I love hiking. My town is nestled in the mountains, so walking in the woods feels like an inseparable part of me. I remember one Sunday when we had planned an early hike with Coby and Tomy.
When I stepped out of my house, the spring sun was peeking from behind the hills. Tomy was waiting on the street under the linden tree, smiling brightly. “Come on, you know if you keep me waiting I’ll punish you later!” he joked, hugging me with his right arm. Just like that, we continued walking up the street to pick up Coby.
We saw him from far away, standing in front of his house and watching the sunrise. His thin white clothes made his silhouette glow in the distance. We greeted him and headed toward the mountain.
We walked for a while, sharing stories from the week, and after about an hour we reached a small mountain river. The water was icy cold, but that didn’t stop us from taking off our shoes and walking barefoot in it. I was beside Coby while Tomy walked behind us. Suddenly, I felt water splashing on my back. “Ouch!” I shouted, turning to see Tomy already splashing Coby too. Laughing, I kicked water back at Tomy, and soon the three of us were splashing each other with the freezing water.
We laughed until we were soaked, and even though the weather was nice, the shade of the trees made us shiver. Hugging each other for warmth, we continued deeper into the woods. Tomy led us to a place he called his secret spot.
The ground was covered with thick layers of beech leaves, soft like clouds under our feet. The trees grew so close together that not a single ray of sunlight could reach us. It felt hidden, quiet, and magical.
“This is my secret place!” Tomy said. He took out one small battle from his pocket and said let’s have a drink to warm up. Then he started to undress himself. “I am going to take my clothes off so they can dry in the wind” he was hanging his clothes on one of the trees. Tomy was naked and obviously very excited, while Coby was watching him bighting his lips. Tomy noticed us staring and said: “It’s from the wind”. I was all excited, but it didn’t stop me, and I started to strip as well. I put my clothes on another tree, and I went to Coby, I could have seen his excitement from far away. “Come on take of your clothes!” I started undressing him and Toby join. We kissed with Tomy and the tree of us lay down on the bed of leaves. The leaves and many things were going inside of us. Suddenly it was extremely hot, maybe there was no sun but there was play and deep satisfaction somewhere in the woods.
There, in that secret clearing, we shared more than just warmth. We shared closeness, trust, and the kind of bond that only grows when you let yourself be fully seen. The laughter faded into silence, replaced by a deeper connection — one that made the forest feel alive around us.
“This is friendship,” Coby said, watching in both of us. And in that moment, I realized he was right — the cold river, the secret woods, the warmth of bodies pressed together — all of it was part of the bond we shared, a memory that would stay with me forever.
