And Now For Something Completely Different...

And with the below entry, Mossy's Backpackers draws to a conclusion... for now. I'll probably come back to it at some point for stories from the road or something, but I'll be leaving Max, Cate and co. alone for the time being.

Starting next week I'll be beginning a new story, one that will be a complete departure from the one centered around Mossy's little hostel. It's much darker but hopefully won't be completely devoid of humor... I'm looking forward to it. Tune in next Friday for the first entry and a new look to the page.

See you then.

Mossy's Backpackers #25

“More tea?” Cate asked brightly.

This is so not fair, Max thought to himself as he rubbed his throbbing temples.

You know, I’d hate to agree with you…

Ha!

So I won’t.

I hate you so much.

“Yes please, thanks luv,” Cindy said gratefully. “These omelets are fantastic Max, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better noon breakfast.”

“Same here mate. And trust me,” Greg added with a laugh, “we’ve had plenty.”

“Oh, they’re easy enough to make,” Max said. “I always make them the morning, or afternoon, after a long night. And last night was longer than usual… what time did you wake up anyway?”

“I was up just after eight,” Cate replied as she topped off everyone’s peppermint tea. “I’m surprised I didn’t wake you, I barely managed to get you lying down on the couch without dumping you on the floor.”

“Dead to the world, milady,” he answered with a smile, his headache finally starting to recede to the background.

“Aw, I knew I shoulda drawn that mustache on you,” she grinned wickedly. “Don’t know how Tim managed to talk me out of that.”

“I guess that explains why he said ‘you’re welcome’ as he left,” Max said, thinking back to their groggy goodbye several hours earlier.

“Ha ha… wait, didn’t he tell us that too?” Greg asked, giving Cate a suspicious look. In response she quickly pulled out her road map and began to study the day’s planned route. “You cheeky devil!”

“That would’ve made for a great breakfast,” Cindy laughed. “For us girls anyway.”

“You’re both terrible,” Max said with a shake of his head before looking around the empty common room. “Man, this is going to be like leaving home all over again.”

“I know, I’m having trouble with it too and I haven’t been here nearly as long as you,” Cate said. “I’ll probably sub-consciously leave twenty things behind so we have to keep coming back.”

“Aye, a lot of good memories here. A lot of good people came through that door,” Greg said. “And a few bad ones too.”

“Ha ha, remember that Russian girl who kept trying to sneak her boyfriend in?” Max howled. “It might have worked too if he ever showered. And didn’t snore like a grizzly bear.”

“Oh mate, how could I forget… we could hear him from our room!”

“And that drunk Irish guy,” Cindy added. “Didn’t he want to fight you because you asked him to turn the music down?”

“Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about him,” Max said. “How I didn’t refuse him on sight is still a mystery to me. He came in the door hung-over with two cases of beer as his luggage.”

The four of them sat back and smiled, lost in their own favorite memories of the hostel. Their mugs and plates stood empty watch on the table but no one moved to leave.

“Hey gang,” Mossy said as he appeared from the back of the hostel. “Me and the missus made you a little something for the road.”

“That’s very sweet Mossy, thank you,” Cate said as she stood to meet him. “Do I smell cinnamon?”

“Apple and cinnamon muffins, baked fresh this morning,” he replied proudly. “Least I could do for my favorite guests.”

“Favorite…? Where are they, I’d love to meet them,” Max said, looking around the room and under the table. “But to be serious for a moment: thanks for giving me a second home mate, I’ll never forget my time here.”

“It’ll be strange to not have my Vibe Quality Control around,” Mossy replied as he shifted from one foot to the other before awkwardly offering his hand. Max swatted it away and swooped in for a hug, his fingers barely managing to touch the middle of the big man’s back. “Alright, alright, that’s enough of that. You kids best get going before I decide to adopt the lot of ya.”

“My mum would be here in record time if you did,” Max said as he stepped back, his eyes moist. He blinked several times, looked around the room one final time and turned to Cate. “I guess we’re all set then?”

She nodded at him, a quick little jerking motion, before giving Mossy a hug of her own. He patted her back as gently as he could and then was enveloped on both sides by Greg and Cindy. He looked to Max with tears forming in his eyes and gave him a goodbye nod as he freed himself from the knot of arms around him.

“You drive safe, now,” he said gruffly. “And don’t forget to send me a few emails to let me know what you get up to.” They all assured him that they would and then gathered up keys and maps and headed outside.

“Keep in touch,” Max told the Brits for the tenth time that day. Cindy gave him and Cate big hugs, Greg shrugged before doing the same, then they got in their little red sedan. With a long final honk of the horn they pulled onto the road and headed north.

“I guess it’s our turn now,” he told Cate quietly.

“We’ll be by here again,” she assured him. “With some great stories to tell… so let’s get started on them!”

Max nodded and climbed into their white rental hatchback, wedging the tin of muffins into the pile of bags on the back seat. He started the engine then sat looking at the front of the hostel for several moments.

“See ya soon, Mossy’s Backpackers,” Cate said. “It’s been a blast.”

Without a doubt, that it has.

“Later Mossy’s,” Max said as he put the car into drive and stepped on the gas. “It’s been the best.”

Mossy's Backpackers #24

“How do you spell recommend?” Tim asked as he stretched his long arms above his head while balancing Cate’s journal on his lap.

“I think there’s a ‘q’ in there somewhere,” Max replied, barely managing to stifle a yawn.

“Oh shut up,” Cindy giggled. “Oh bloody hell, I’m getting the giggles again. What time is it?”

“Three-thirty in the am,” Diego said from his spot on the floor beside the couch. “Maybe we should do this after we get some sleep – I know my notes would be a lot more coherent that way.”

“What fun would that be?” Max asked as he stared at the blank page in Greg’s journal before him. Or was it Cindy’s? “Wait, who’s book do I have now?”

“Mine,” Tobias said sleepily. “I hope you haven’t written a love note to Caitlin in there.”

“I have, actually,” Max said with a half-crazed laugh. “But it’s okay, I’ll just cross out her name and put yours in and it should work the same.” At this Cindy started laughing uncontrollably and Greg had to latch onto her to prevent her from falling off the couch.

“I think I’m starting to sober up,” Cate slurred into Max’s shoulder. She had started out slowly with a small glass of wine at dinner but when Mossy had shown up with a keg on his shoulder things degenerated quickly. Max had kept pace with her for a while but gave up once he realized he was twice as drunk as she was after only five drinks.

She drank your butt under the table.

Well, two things to consider. One: tomorrow morning is going to be much more pleasant for me. And two: she probably won’t remember anything past dinner tonight.

Then it’s a good thing Jay and Tim have most of the night on video between them.

“What time are you lunatics planning on leaving tomorrow?” Jay asked, looking very relieved he could spend the day in bed.

“I’m aiming to wake up at noon,” Greg said. “We’re pretty much all packed up already so I reckon a quick shower and some breakfast and we’ll be out the door by one.”

“Noon seems a lot closer than it ought to be,” Cindy said while failing to keep a straight face. Greg sighed at her before tussling her hair fondly.

“I’ve got a bus to catch in the morning so I guess I’ll be first off,” Tim said with an uncomfortable glance at the time. “Nine am is definitely closer than it has any business being.”

“Nine?” Max groaned. “Why not catch a later bus?”

“Why you busing? Why no hitchin’?” Cate mumbled.

“Sorry, what was that?” Tim asked, looking to Max for help.

“How far do you have to go tomorrow?” he asked, taking a stab at the reason for the Texan’s mode of transportation.

“Oh, I’m heading for Stone Creek, it’s almost 8 hours by bus and only one bus can get me there in one day,” Tim said. “So it’s either nine tomorrow or nine the day after. And if I stay an extra day it’ll be a week later before I know it.”

“Fair enough,” Max said as he returned his gaze to the journal in front of him. “We’d give you a ride but we’re headed straight south. This is Greg’s book, right?”

“It’s Tobias’,” Greg, Jay and Tim said together, sending Cindy into another laughing fit.

“You should probably get her to bed,” Diego observed.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Cindy told him as she took several deep, steadying breaths. “I just need to put a note in Max’s journal and I’ll have done everyone’s.”

“I can’t wait to read that one,” Max laughed. “If I’m able to read it at all.”

“Don’t make me come over there,” she said menacingly before totally destroying the effect by breaking out in hiccups. Greg shook his head in a long suffering way then got up to get her some water.

“I can’t keep my eyes open,” Tobias said with his chin buried in his chest. “But I don’t want to be the first to go to bed. This is too much fun and tomorrow will be too sad.”

“We had a helluva good run here,” Max said. “And I think it’s safe to say that we’ve celebrated it in fine fashion but it has to end at some point.”

“Fine,” Greg said as he returned with two glasses of water, handing one to Cate and the other to Cindy. “You go to bed first.”

“Not a chance,” Max replied without hesitation. “Although technically Kisho and Haya went to sleep first, they just didn’t go to bed.”

“I’m not sure passing out in the lounge counts as going to sleep,” Jay laughed. “But I guess we’re stalemated and there’s only one thing to do: pull an all nighter.”

“Oh bloody hell, screw that! I’m going to bed,” Cindy announced. “Good night to you all, I’ll see you all tomorrow before we take off. Including you Tim, you wake us up if we’re still in bed when your bus comes.”

“If? We’ll be sleeping mate, but definitely give us a nudge, alright?” Greg said as he stood up then hauled Cindy off the couch.

“Get a good rest you two,” Max said with a sad smile. “We’ll join you for your noon breakfast.” The Brits, after several more good nights, left the room arm in arm to go collapse into their bed and in so doing gave everyone else the excuse to do the same.

“You almost done Max?” Tobias called as he dragged himself to his feet.

“Yeah mate, give me two secs to finish it up,” he replied as he added one final line to his goodbye note. He then printed his email address and handed it back to Tobias.

“Thanks,” Tobias said as he read it then laughed loudly as he reached the end. “Perfect, man. Totally perfect. Good night.”

“Night night,” Cate said much more clearly than she had said anything in hours. Turning to Max she asked, “What was so funny?”

“Oh, I just wrote ‘We’ll always have the Christmas tree’,” Max said with an impish grin.

“What in the world does that mean?”

“Ah, I think I’ll save that story for the road,” Max laughed. “Right now we both need some sleep.”

“Okie dokie,” she said and promptly fell asleep on his shoulder. Max looked around for help but everyone had already disappeared to their rooms.

Don’t look at me, I’m all tucked in. See ya in the morning!

Too tired to come up with an alternative plan, Max rested his head on Cate’s, whispered a final ‘good night’ to the hostel and soon joined her in slumber.

Mossy's Backpackers #23

Max hit play on the CD player at the same time as he pressed record on the tape deck. He began nodding his head to the beat as the first notes of Talib Kweli’s ‘Get By’ started to fill the common room.

“Is that rap?” Cate called from the kitchen.

“No,” Max yelled over the music, “it’s good rap.”

Good response, as long as she believes good rap exists.

“I didn’t know there was such a thing.”

Uh oh.

“Give it a chance! It’s great driving music,” Max countered. “Don’t worry, this tape will only have rap that has minimal swearing, mostly positive themes and none of that garbage about disrespectin’ ho’s.”

… You have such a way with the ladies.

“That’s very reassuring,” Cate replied with a laugh.

Yeah, well, this one seems to like me.

I know, I don’t understand it either.

Max poked his head around the corner and found Cate nodding her head to the music as she scrubbed the counters. They had the hostel to themselves for the day since everyone else was out working in various orchards and vineyards around the area.

“Not bad, huh?” he asked with a smile.

“I suppose I might let you play this in the car,” Cate allowed. “As long as you make a mix tape from my Gorillaz and Blur discs.”

“Not a problem, that should make a sweet tape,” Max said. “You know, I’m almost glad the rental car doesn’t have a CD player. I used to love making mix tapes when I was in high school.”

“Yeah, nothing but the best of the best makes the cut,” Cate said as the song drew to a close and Max hit both stop buttons. A few moments later the next song for the tape began playing. “Who is this? It sounds familiar.”

“Jurassic 5,” he yelled. “Also known as J5, you might have heard that track they did with Dave Matthews.”

“Oh that’s it… the video for that is brilliant,” she shouted just as Mossy came in the front door. “Hey boss man!”

“Hey Caitlin,” Mossy said fondly, then paused mid-stride. “Is this rap?”

“No, no,” Cate said with a small laugh. “It’s good rap.”

“And here I was thinking you had decent taste in music,” he replied with a shake of his head. “Max is corrupting you already.”

“Hey big man, what’s shakin’?” Max asked as he emerged from the lounge area.

“Well well, if it isn’t the leader of the mass exodus from my hostel himself,” Mossy rumbled.

“Oh relax, you’ll be full up again before dinner tomorrow,” Max shot back. “Plus you’ll have eight people traveling all over the country telling everyone they meet that this is the best hostel on the planet.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, mister. How am I going to replace you two? Jay and Diego will cover things for the next week but then they’re gone too!”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Cate broke in. “I got an email from my cousin Tammy this morning. Her and her husband Jack will be here in a couple weeks and they’d be happy to take over if you haven’t found anyone long term by then.”

“Well… hmmph.” Mossy looked like he was trying to find another complaint but was coming up empty handed.

“Don’t worry Mossy, we’d never leave you hanging,” Max said. Suddenly realizing the song was finishing, he rushed back to the stereo to stop the recording again. He returned to the conversation without starting the next track, knowing it was a lost cause until Mossy left.

“So tonight is the big send-off then,” Mossy said a bit sadly.

“Yeah it is,” Cate said. “Although I’m not sure Tobias and Tim are going to stick to their word about leaving with us tomorrow. Those two are even more reluctant to leave than Max!”

“It’ll be too hard to stay here with the rest of the crew gone,” Max said. “That’s why everyone has to leave together. I’ve stayed behind too many times already.”

“And there are loads of beautiful places to see before you go home, I’d hate to see you guys get stuck here and miss out on them,” Mossy said before quickly adding, “not that it hasn’t been a tremendous pleasure having you hooligans here.”

“Yeah right!” Max laughed. “The only party bigger than tonights will be the one you throw tomorrow night.”

“Nah, I won’t celebrate until all of you fly home,” Mossy snorted. “Until then I won’t believe I’m truly rid of you lot. I’ll be expecting you back every day otherwise.”

“Oh we’ll definitely drop by before we head back,” Cate assured him. “Max and I are doing a loop of the south before going north to catch our flight.”

“Your flight, singular?” Mossy asked in surprise. “That’s a heck of a long flight together.”

“I reckon if we survive that nothing can stop us,” Max quipped then gave Cate a sly wink.

“If we manage to get through being on the road together for two months then I can’t see a twelve hour flight being a problem. Besides,” she said as she turned to Mossy with a wicked grin, “I sleep like the dead on long flights.”

“You two are something else,” Mossy said bemusedly. “Alright, I’ll be back after dinner – I assume things will be in full swing by then.”

“You know it big man,” Max said as he headed for the lounge again. “Maybe I’ll teach you how to break dance tonight.”

“The only thing breaking would be my back,” Mossy grunted. “I’ll have to bring my best of Johnny Cash CD.”

“The Man in Black! Definitely bring that.”

“You’re hard to upset, aren’t you?” Mossy asked.

“It’s one of my better qualities.”

“That and your cute butt,” Cate pointed out.

“That’s it!” Mossy groaned. “I’m out of here.”

Take me with you!

“Admit it Mossy,” Max called. “You’re gonna miss us.”

“Ha!” Mossy yelled as he went out the door. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Mossy's Backpackers #22

Author's note: to those that don't know, every word of the story of Haap is true. Sadly.

“Have you guys picked one yet?”

Max looked up from the mess of rental car agency pamphlets strewn across the table just long enough to scowl at Greg before returning to his work.

“Ah, I think we’ve got it down to these two,” Cate replied, pointing at the two leaflets open in front of her. “If we can decode their insurance policies we might finally be able to make a decision.”

“I knew I should’ve gone to law school like mum and dad wanted,” Max muttered.

Be sure to mention that next time you call home.

“Maybe we should get to Kinghaven and just buy a cheap used car,” Cate suggested.

“No way, no how, no thank you,” Max said without looking up.

“Why not? It wouldn’t be that much more expensive than renting and we’d get most of the money back by selling it before we head home,” she said, looking to Greg for support. “I met this Italian guy who actually sold his car for almost twice the amount he paid for it!”

“Obviously,” Greg replied with a mischievous grin, “he has yet to tell you the tragic story of Haap.”

“Hap? Who is that?”

“Haap is short for Hope And A Prayer,” Max said with a pained expression. “It was the name I gave the car I bought the day I got here.”

“No way… the day your flight arrived from Vancouver?”

“Yup – jet lagged and sleep deprived I went used car shopping and found Haap.”

God was that ever a brilliant decision.

Rot in hell.

“I’m guessing getting around on a hope and a prayer didn’t work out so hot?”

“Oh not at all!” Greg laughed as he pulled up a seat, eager to hear the tale one more time. “It ended up being very hot indeed. But let’s start at the beginning, shall we?”

“I’m going to need a…” Max began before he was cut off by Cindy placing an opened beer in front of him. “Yes, one of those.”

“I love this story,” Cindy told Cate. “Usually you hear stuff like this second, third or fourth hand, but we actually know the dumb git directly!”

“Thank you for the encouragement,” Max said dryly before taking a lengthy taste of his beer. “Everyone all settled in then?”

“Yup, I even just went to the loo so no bathroom break required over here!” Greg said happily.

“Alright. So. I bought Haap from this dodgy bloke at a backpacker’s car market. It was the cheapest small car there and it did okay on the test drive. Other than me almost hitting another car at an intersection.”

I will never get tired of this story.

“I don’t really know much about cars, all I was looking for was something cheap that would last for my trip here and maybe two days past that. So I pay up, decline the mechanic check-up because it was an extra hundred bucks I couldn’t afford…”

Brilliant move! Ha ha ha ha ha…

“… And get it back to the hostel. The next day I hit the road for a town about 100 miles away… it ended up taking me five hours to get there.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t get hopelessly lost?” Cate said with a wince.

“Nope, the engine overheated about 20 miles out of town, leaving me stranded on the side of the highway for two hours,” Max said as Greg began to whistle ‘Some like it hot.’ Ignoring this completely, he continued. “But I met some incredible people that day – this old English couple, who were going in the opposite direction, came back to see if I needed help and then went to get a mechanic to check the car out.”

“We English are a fine lot,” Greg said smugly.

“Not as fine as the mechanic though,” Max laughed. “He drove out to see me, towed me back to his garage, fixed things up and sent me on my way. Free of charge.”

“Oh that’s so sweet!” Cate said.

“He was probably half-English,” Greg grumbled.

“So. Not a very promising start to things,” Max continued.

Understatement of the year.

“In the coming weeks I discovered that Haap’s optimal highway speed was a rather modest 60 km/h. That led to me spending a whole lot of time driving on the shoulder to let other drivers pass. Then one day reverse stopped working…”

“No!” Cate cried out, her hand covering her mouth.

“Uh huh – from then on backing up required me tossing it in neutral and getting out to push. I also had to get five or six jump starts before I caved and bought a new battery. Most of those were at the side of the road after I pulled over to let the engine cool off.”

“I can’t believe you kept driving that junker,” Cindy said.

“I figured I’d drive it till it fell apart. Besides, driving that slowly gave me time to admire all the scenery a whole lot better than those poor sods going a hundred,” Max shrugged. “The beginning of the end came at the end of a long day when I stopped for gas. I started Haap up and smoke started billowing from under the hood. Turned out I had blown the head gasket…”

“Oh, that happened to my brother two years ago,” Cate said. “You didn’t keep going did you?”

“Lasted another two weeks,” Max said with a hint of pride in his voice. “Every road trip began with two huge jugs of water in the trunk. I had to pull over every fifteen minutes or so to cool off the engine and refill the radiator. Except on rainy days… Haap did much better then.”

“You’re insane,” Cate noted.

Bang on, girl. Bang on.

“Probably,” Max allowed with a smile. “I ended up abandoning it at a hostel after the local mechanic wouldn’t even take it for spare parts. Which was total crap, the seatbelts still worked perfectly!”

“Yeah and that was about it!” Greg said happily.

“I can see why renting appeals to you,” Cate told him as she rubbed his shoulders.

“Yeah, but I don’t regret it at all. I met so many friendly people, locals and tourists, that I never would have otherwise. It was a really good experience and I learned a lot from it.”

“And it gave you one ‘ell of a story mate,” Greg said as he raised his beer. “Here’s to Haap: may he find the joy in car heaven that he never found with Max behind his wheel.”

“To Haap,” Max said, clinking his bottle against Greg’s. “My first car… and probably my last!”

Mossy's Backpackers #21

“Max? Wake up mate.”

Make the bad man go away.

“Come on, we need to get going,” Greg said, grabbing Max’s shoulder and shaking roughly.

Oh God, don’t do that…

“Unless you want me to ruin that shirt,” he finished aloud.

“What?”

“No shaking,” he mumbled. “Contents are volatile and under extreme pressure.”

“Gotcha,” Greg said as he took two big steps back. “Regardless, we need to get moving. The sun’s only been up for a couple hours and it’s already hot. If we wait much longer we’ll get fried on the road back to Mossy’s.”

“Mossy!” Tobias said excitedly, almost falling off his log. “We should call him, get him to pick us up!”

“Lovely idea, except for two things,” Cindy replied from her seat beside him. “One – he’s probably in as bad a shape as we are, or worse. And two… nobody brought a cell phone.”

“Bloody hell,” Max groaned and rolled onto his right side, coming face to face with the blackened end of a large log. “Who let me sleep so close to the fire?”

“You were quite insistent,” Cate said from behind him. He flopped onto his back again and looked to his left to see her sitting cross-legged beside him. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he grunted back, somehow managing to inject some affection into it. His effort was rewarded with a laugh and a tussle of his hair.

“Alright, seriously – get off yer arse,” Greg said. “We’re all dehydrated already and it’s only going to get worse.”

“Fine, fine… I’m up, I’m up Captain Sunshine,” Max grumbled, shaking sand out of his clothes. Cate stood up and attempted to clean off the blanket they had been sharing. Once most of the sand was set free she folded it up and stuffed it into her daypack.

“We all set?” Diego asked as he placed the last empty into a grocery bag. “Oh, don’t forget the guitar Max.”

Max slowly turned around to find the hostel’s acoustic guitar resting against a pile of driftwood.

Oh yeah…

“Right. I forgot I was that drunk,” he said quietly.

“You do a pretty good Jack Johnson,” Cate said as she passed it over. Without a word Max put his head and right arm though the strap and slung the guitar across his back.

“What, you’re not going to serenade us on the walk back?” Greg asked.

“I’m almost sober now,” Max replied flatly.

“So that’s a no then?”

“Technically, I believe that was a ‘hell no’,” he said as he led the way off the beach and onto the road. Before long the eight of them were strolling along side by side, effectively taking up both sides of the road. Cate was immediately to his right, with Jay and Tim beside her. To his left were Greg, Cindy, Diego and Tobias.

“You know,” Tim began, “I may be a long way from friends and family but I can’t remember ever having a more enjoyable New Year’s Eve.”

“Same here,” Max said with a smile.

“Me too, I’m going to miss you guys,” Tobias said sadly.

“I think I’ve had one better,” Diego said, “but I don’t really remember it. All I know for sure is that I was 18, single and on a beach in Cancun.”

“Now that’s a recipe for a damn good night,” Tim said with more than a hint of admiration in his voice.

“Well I’ll email you some of my pictures to make sure you remember this one,” Cate said as she patted her daypack.

Oh no, photographic evidence…

“Can I, um, have a look at those?” Max asked.

Good thinking! Now to drop it in a way that looks accidental…

Oh shut up.

“Yeah, of course,” she replied as she pulled the digital camera out and passed it over. “Just use the left and right arrows to scroll through them.”

The first few depicted the party at the hostel, including a particularly sexy shot of Greg eating one of the tacos Diego had cooked up.

“Nice mate,” Max said, tilting the camera so that Greg could see it.

“Oh lovely, ye got me good side,” Greg said.

“What?” Cindy said as she looked over his shoulder. “Oh, that’s not a shot of yer bum at all.”

Max laughed loudly and returned to scrolling through the pictures. Next up were a series of shots taken during their drunken promenade to the beach. The highlights were unquestionably the set of Tobias falling into, landing in and being hauled out of the roadside ditch. Twice.

“I don’t know how you’re able to walk right now,” Max told him.

“I don’t feel a thing but I suspect that’ll change by dinner,” Tobias said. “Speaking of which, if you need me between one and five I’ll be in the shower. Draining all the hot water out of this district.”

The last pictures documented their arrival and subsequent partying at the beach. Plenty of smiling faces around the fire, a few shots of Tobias and Tim passed out in the sand and…

That’s a keeper.

“I like this one,” Max said quietly as he showed Cate the photo of him playing guitar while she rested her head on his shoulder, eyes closed and smiling.

“Me too,” she said, looking slightly puzzled. “Who took that?”

“That would be me,” Cindy answered. “It was too perfect, how could I not?”

“Thank you,” Max told her sincerely. “Man, I can’t believe we’ll all be going our own way in a few days. It’s gonna be so weird without you guys around.”

“Emailing just won’t be the same,” Tim said. “So I guess there’s only one thing to do: yearly reunions.”

“That’s easy enough for you lot!” Greg cried. “You west coast hooligans will be in the same bloody time zone back home. Me, Cindy and Tobias will be the forgotten Euros in no time!”

“Like we could ever forget you!” Cate laughed as she reached over to retrieve her camera from Max.

“Hold on, we need one more shot on here,” he said. He then jogged forward about twenty feet before stopping and placing the camera on the road, facing the group. “How long is the timer on this?”

“I dunno, like five seconds?” Cate called back.

Max swore under his breath. It was going to be close. He set up the shot, laying stomach down on the road line to make sure everyone fit in the view finder. Satisfied he had the shot he wanted, he rose to a crouch and set up the timer.

“You’ll never make it!” Greg yelled cheerfully.

“Just watch me, fat man,” Max yelled back. “As soon as I reach you start walking forward, okay?” Without waiting for a response he pressed the button to start the timer and broke into a sprint.

Oh my God I’m going to be sick…

He skidded to a halt as he reached the group, spun on his heel and as one they took a step forward just as the camera produced a loud ‘click’.

“Oh, that could be a good one,” Jay murmured. They reached the camera as a group and Max reached down to collect it. He brought the picture up on the digital display and showed it to everyone. They all agreed that only one word could describe it.

“Perfect.”

The story returns this Friday, March 14th

I've been busy with other things but I'm hoping to get it back to a weekly update. At least until the conclusion of Mossy's Backpackers.