I have been sandpapering most of the morning, and I have painted the shelves. It's about time for us to install them in the tool shed.
When you bought land in the middle of nowhere, I was the first one you called. We spent an evening smoking and fantasizing about everything one could do there. The fire pit. Putting up a camp. Clearing a path. Making a clearing by the pond where one could sunbathe in the summers. Hanging a hammock between the trees. You knew from the workshops how much I like using my hands-painting, gluing, anything - so the only thing I had to do was show up.
Of course, the tool shed was already there when we arrived this morning.
"What an impatient guy you are!" I'm thinking, trying to wipe my face with a dusty hand, because sweat and dust go so well together.
My overall is a mess. So are my face, elbows and hands. I'll have to jump into that damn pond later to wash everything off, I guess. I expect you to be in the tool shed, welding metal sheets for the cabin. I go in. The radio is on full blast, but you're not there. You probably went to the woods to collect some firewood. City boy, learning to operate a chainsaw from videos, I smirk to myself. The paint on my chin and forehead is reflected in the shiny metal sheets. I grimace at my reflection. Wonderful colour. It even looks great on face and arms!
I am still admiring the paint on my face when I notice a movement behind me. You are at the door. I turn around. You are looking at me and laughing silently, with a black greasy trail on your forehead and neck. I can feel something is different. I turn back from you and see us both in the metal surface.
I sense you are turning into a forest creature; or is the metal distorting reality?
In two steps, you are behind me, asking a silent question. I nod yes. We are still looking at each other in the metal surface. You take my bandanna off and tousle my hair. The cloud of dust makes us both laugh out loud, but then we both turn serious and silent; the only sound to be heard is the creaking of the forest.