Love Renewed at Lake Powhatan

By Darren Koobs

Setting up a tent in the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area in North Carolina felt like just another chore for Elle. A couple years ago, she would have relished doing this with her husband Scott, but things had become chilly between them as his workload continued to increase to the point where they rarely spent time together. She looked over at him struggling with the support poles and felt nothing. Sighing to herself, she turned her attention back to unfolding the canvas that was going to be put under the tent.

The short drive here from their home in Asheville, North Carolina felt like a prophecy of coming events to Elle. They had hardly spoken. In an effort to counter her boredom she'd rolled down her car window just to hear the incoming wind and breathe in the scents of the spring season. It hadn't helped, not even the smell of passing wildflowers.

The goofy jingle of her husband's cell phone jerked her back to the present. Scott dutifully answered it as he always did; stopping whatever he was doing to attend to business. Now she felt angry and her cold feelings dropped another degree as she watched his back turn while talking on that foul thing. She reveled in the anger as it was almost the only emotion she felt lately. It felt good to feel something.

"That was another client, Elle. I told him I wasn't available." He said with a forced smile.

She nodded her response and spread the canvas on the ground. A worried look crossed Scott's face. He could tell things were wrong and felt at a loss how to make things right. He and Elle had planned this weekend camping trip a month before to spend more time together. Camping during springtime was an obvious choice for him. But the ride here had been too quiet for him, too. Her iciness was colder than the recent winter had been and he feared there was no hope.

Raising the tent together went quickly. They were still a good team despite the emotional distance. Soon the site was finished and the tempting aroma of cooking hamburgers teased in the air. Scott stood over the grill closely watching the patties as they cooked. Elle busied herself organizing their things in the tent. Later, sitting by a fire as they ate, they finally started talking to each other. Conversation was shallow, but it felt good to both of them. They talked about various things that small talk generally covers and Elle even laughed a couple times, which made Scott feel warm inside. As the sun went down, creatures of the night started their own conversations; singing, chirping, calling out into the darkness.

Scott poked at the fire's coals and red sparks popped out as Elle looked on. Pisgah National Forest was a favorite place for both of them and it appeared coming here was helping things to change for the young couple. They peered through the smoke at each other.

"Thanks for coming, Elle." Scott said bluntly, "This is really nice."

Elle cocked her head to one side and answered, "You're welcome." She leaned forward in her folding chair and rested her elbows on her legs. She looked into the fire again. "I just hope you don't think a single weekend is all you need to patch things up. Our problems are much bigger than a single getaway."

"I just thought maybe..." Scott started to say, but was interrupted by the cell phone. He pulled it from its belt clip, stood up and walked away from the fire. Elle's lips pursed tightly and her eyes narrowed.

"Thought maybe...what?" She growled when Scott returned a few moments later. "That you could work in the woods? That maybe I'd be magically soothed by trees and songbirds so you could continue spending more time with your clients? Or maybe that some pretentious show of caring would be all you need so I'd feel important to you?" Her voice rose just a little bit more with each sentence until she was almost yelling.

"No!" Scott said defensively, "I thought maybe Lake Powhatan would be a good neutral place for us to talk things over. We both love this place!"

Elle shot an accusing finger toward Scott. "It's not neutral with your cell phone ringing all the time!" She snapped. "Why did you even bring it?" She asked rhetorically and stomped into the tent. She even managed to make zipping the door flaps closed sound angry.

Scott stood by the fire, stunned, staring at the phone in his hand. He looked up at the tent where his wife had secluded herself and instinctively knew it was best not to go in after her. He slowly walked over to his chair and slumped down, shaking his head. The Lake Powhatan Recreation Area filled with the mating songs of crickets and tree frogs. The nighttime symphony was punctuated with the soft singing of whippoorwills and the calls of nighthawks. He let the sounds swallow him. Spring had washed over Pisgah National Forest, but had not succeeded in thawing his wife's heart. He glanced again at the tent, which almost looked like a castle of winter ice to him. Inwardly he sighed.

Elle lay on the sleeping bag, fully clothed. She hadn't even bothered to change into her pajamas. She felt like crying, but the frozen tears wouldn't come. Crying would have felt really good right now, but she was denied the comfort of even that needed release. She, too, heard the night sounds and felt jealous of the spring season. What right did the animals have to be so free when she was trapped?

The night waned on like this for several hours, Scott sitting quietly by the fire and Elle curled up on the sleeping bag in the tent. To them both, the wildlife of Pisgah National Forest seemed to gang up on them, oppressing the couple with its happiness. Eventually, in the dark hour just before sunrise, Scott went in the tent and lay down beside his wife. A few moments later he reached out his hand and put it on her shoulder looking for some reassurance. Elle stiffened in her sleep. He didn't move his hand away, but stayed still and tried to sleep.

Elle opened her eyes to the sounds of a crow raucously cawing. The sun was just coming up but was still hidden by the trees. Listening to the bird, she noticed that Scott was not in the tent and sat up, wondering where he could be. In the place he would have been was the cell phone, laying there like a discarded trophy.

"That's strange." She said. He always had that blasted thing with him, like an extra appendage. She stepped outside and quickly saw that he wasn't anywhere at the campsite, either. She became a little worried and started down a pathway hoping he'd just wandered around. She followed the path as it meandered slightly downhill. Wildflowers peeked at her from the sparse undergrowth and nodded as she passed. The little pink ones caught her eye and she stopped briefly to look at them. They were delicate and made her smile momentarily before she resumed her search. For some reason she couldn't place, that small flower had warmed her. She felt just a bit lighter, less somber, as her steps brought her closer to Lake Powhatan.

A quiet sound halted her walk. It was carried by a soft breeze and at first she didn't recognize it. She took a few more steps and now could see Lake Powhatan; dark, still water with misty fog rising from it. Sitting on the edge of the bank was a hunched down, shadowed figure. That's where the sound came from, she realized. It was Scott sobbing. In the few years they'd been married she'd never seen him cry before. Carefully she approached him. When she got closer, she also heard him mumbling in between the sobs.

"She's perfect..." He brokenly said, his crying making it difficult for him to speak, "...and I've lost her!"

It was then she felt it. Touched by what she saw, the winter freeze that gripped her heart thawed rapidly and her frozen heart broke. And the tears came, quietly flowing like a mountain stream swollen by melted snow. She sprinted the final distance and fell on him with a tight embrace, crying and saying his name over and over. Together they wept, letting the pent up emotions flow out and flood them completely.

After a few minutes, they became quiet and sat there holding each other like they never had before. They watched the sun burn off the fog rising from Lake Powhatan until the reflection of trees shone green on the water. A lone redwing blackbird began to sing, its cheerful notes echoing in the air. As if on queue, songbirds all around added their music until it seemed to the lone couple as though it were a chorus of celebration. Spring had broken into their hears, and this was a sacred time for them.

Scott turned his tear-stained face to Elle and looked at her. He whispered, "From now on, I'll only work at the office, and I'll do my very best to work only during business hours."

"That's all I wanted." She said, smiling back at him with teary eyes. "I need you, Scott."

"I need you, too, Elle." He responded. "And we can make plans to do things every day, and have weekends together and..."

She quietly interrupted him with a gentle shush. "We can talk about that later." She said, and giggled in that girlish way he loved. "Right now, we have some fun to do."

They got up and slowly walked the path, hand in hand. Spring was alive all around them, and flowed through them with its warming influence. Along the way, Scott picked a small, pink wildflower and offered it to Elle.

"This is for you." He said.

She took the flower and stared at it, fresh tears coming unheeded. Her smile was broad and genuine.

"Thank you Scott." She whispered.