Over the course of two weeks, Joshua juggled his commitments at the gym with taking Ally to different locations all around the city. She had no idea there was an extensive botanical walk around the peninsula the city was on with heritage houses tucked amongst the gardens. She and Joshua jogged its length. Ally was dismayed that she was only just able to complete it.

“It’s not like this on the machine…” She wheezed at the end. Thankfully Joshua looked like he was breathing hard too so she didn’t feel quite so bad.

“Real life is harder than artificial,” Joshua chuckled then pointed, “but it’s much more beautiful. Look.”

Dolphins were playing in the water across the sparkles of sunlight, dancing freely without any fear of who might be watching.

They took a long train ride to the northern mountains and hiked up to where the snow was still present, the altitude keeping it cold and fresh. They drank hot chocolate in the sunlight and Ally heard the crunch of snow, real snow, beneath her feet.

“You should see this place when fresh snow falls,” Joshua said as they took a ski lift style ride around the mountain’s sheer cliffs, a valley untouched by man stretching out before them, “you could almost believe there’s no one else in the entire world…like it was brand new, well, apart from you and I.”

“A bit like Adam and Eve, then.”

“A bit…but without the nakedness.” Joshua winked. “Too cold.”

He took her back to the forest mountains again but this time they headed down into a valley, snaking through on a hired car to a log cabin facility where there were kayaks and life jackets hanging from hooks.

“Knightly!”

“Bridget, how are things?”

“Oh you know, another day, another group of feral teenagers thinking they’re in a damn video game.” The woman had short ash blonde hair and a no nonsense look about her. “I don’t see a bus…no kids?”

“Just the two of us,” Joshua slung his backpack over his shoulder, “I want to take Ally on the nighttime tour.”

“You know that’s off limits since we proved too many visitors are destroying those caves?” Bridget said sternly but with a twinkle in her eye. “Still…it pays to have a second opinion…just be careful or it’s my ass that gets whipped.”

“I will.”

“Well, let’s get you two suited up.” Bridget walked into the cabin. Ally hesitated.

“Something wrong?”

“I can’t swim.” She admitted.

“We’ll be in a kayak and wearing life jackets.” Joshua put his hand on her arm. “Trust me, this is something you don’t want to miss.”

She changed into a two piece wetsuit and was promised the top had enough flotation in its weave to keep her upright.

“Joshua won’t let you drown,” Bridget promised, handing her a helmet, “he’s taken hundreds of kids on dozens of trips and they all made it back to their parents in one piece.”

The river was near the cabin and the kayaks were set up ready to go on a large rack. Bridget unlocked one and Joshua pulled it onto the pebbles of the natural landing. He held it against his hip as Ally climbed in, clutching both paddles. Joshua slid into the seat behind Ally, taking one of the paddles from her, letting the current of the inlet move them downstream.

“I’ll have Archie meet you at the Promised Land!” Bridget called and waved before going inside.

“The Promised Land?”

“All will be revealed,” Joshua assured her, “now, because you have excellent rhythm, you’re at the front so you can set the pace and I’ll steer.”

“I really don’t know how to do this…” Ally wobbled in the kayak. “This feels so unsafe…”

“The faster we go, the smoother it’ll feel. Now, hold the paddle like I am…turn your right hand a little more…that’s better. And dip the paddle into the water and stroke…then the other side…stroke…stroke…stroke…”

With his guidance and the natural flow of the river taking them at a steady pace, they were soon moving through the water quite well.

“I’m going to make a bit of a turn here and we’ll have to put some effort into the paddling for just a few minutes…”

They did so, taking a small off shoot of the river that wound its way a much darker part of the forest. There were overhanging trees and vines that made Ally feel like they weren’t supposed to be there.

“Is this right?” Ally asked over her shoulder.

“Yeah.” Joshua nodded, guiding the kayak carefully. “Where we’re going has been closed off to the bulk of the public so they let the sides of the river grow wild. There’s the entrance.”

“A cave?” Ally’s spine chilled. “Joshua…”

“There’s a tight squeeze here and it gets dark but only for a minute. Lay your paddle lengthways with the kayak. I’ve got this.”

Ally held on, her knuckles white, as they entered the cave that threaded its way through the mountain. It was very dark and Ally could hear the scrape of stone on the sides, her eyes struggling to adjust.

She glanced over her shoulder, unable to see the entrance anymore. It was pitch black.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I need a light…I need…something…”

“Coming right up…it’s just through here. Hold on, there’s a slight drop and…we’re through, duck your head, elbows in…breathe, Ally. I’ve got you.”

Ally focused on her breathing, fear overwhelming her like she hadn’t felt in ages. An unguarded shriek was about ready to leap from her mouth when the kayak slid into a much wider cave and her mouth fell open, her fear forgotten.

The cave was littered with stalactites and stalagmites, some going into the water and others clinging to tiny islands of rock. And in the ceiling, along the walls…were lights. Tiny blue/green lights everywhere.

“What are they?” Ally whispered.

“Glow worms.” Joshua said softly. “These caves are filled with them.”

Her skin flushed with a thrill of wonder. “How did I not know somewhere like this existed? And so close…”

“It was a huge tourist attraction but people weren’t respectful, using flashes on their phones which stopped them glowing and feeding…they smoked on the trips…all the things they were told not to do.” Joshua shook his head. “The tourist part of the caves was closed but people like Bridget keep an eye on it, tracking the glow worm population.”

“And lets a few trusted souls through?” Ally twisted and looked at him. “How many people have you brought here?”

Joshua’s eyes were softly glowing. “Only you.”

Ally swallowed and turned forwards. The kayak moved through the cave with its natural columns into a tunnel where she could have reached out and stroked the walls where the glow worms clung.

The tunnel took them to another cave where there were no stalactites or stalagmites, just a wide, flat stretch of water. The effect was like nothing Ally had ever seen. The glow of the worms was reflected in the water and the kayak, now that Joshua had put his paddle up, was drifting effortlessly through the inky black expanse. Ally looked at the water, her fingers touching the reflections, seeing tiny ripples flow out from her fingers.

“We’re kayaking through the stars…” Ally trembled. “I’ve never known…” Then she stopped and put her hand to her face. Tears…there were tears trickling down her cheeks.

Ally touched them, brushing them across her lips.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried.

“There’s a tight tunnel coming up,” Joshua’s voice murmured, “and often there’s a small waterfall at the mouth of it so you might get a little wet.”

They left the cave of stars, threading their way through what felt like the eye of a needle, breaking through a veil of water that hid Ally’s tears and took them to a stream.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Ally sniffed, “I am.”

“The Promised Land isn’t far.”

“That’s what Moses kept telling the Israelites.”

Joshua laughed and directed the kayak through the water until they reached a series of little waterfalls. He veered off to the side, the kayak running aground. They peeled themselves out of the tiny seats and dragged the kayak onto the riverbank. There were trees providing plenty of shade with their thick heads of green leaves and stretches of grass peeking through. The riverbed was made of peddles, not sand or mud but countless little pebbles in amber, brown and yellow tones so that the water which flowed over the top looked like it was tea flavoured.

Joshua unpacked their lunch and Ally poured the drinks from a flask.

“This is a beautiful spot,” she shook her head, “to think that this is so close to the city…”

“We’re pretty lucky to have so many beautiful natural wonders within a day’s travel to and from.” Joshua held out four rolls. “There’s chicken or turkey or beef…oh or ham.”

“I’d like chicken, please.” Ally took the roll and bit into it, tasting the creamy aioli dressing and licking it from her lips as she leaned back and gazed at the sun dancing through the leaves.

She felt content…at peace.

Not numb at all.

It was new yet familiar.

Ally glanced at Joshua who had laid on his back, arms tucked behind his head, eyes closed.

Was she really the only one he’d ever brought here?

What about all the other places?

Even his bedroom?

Ally’s cheeks flushed as she recalled the first night, drunk and suicidal, she had kissed him. It was a desperate attempt to feel something…anything…

“I kissed you once…” Joshua opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her, Ally’s words a surprise to him and to her.

He rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his hand. “I didn’t think you’d remember. You were soaked with vodka.”

“I remember you didn’t kiss me back.”

He swallowed. “You were vulnerable and I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”

Ally gazed at his pale blue eyes. “You said you didn’t want to be something I regretted. Why would I regret you?”

Joshua sighed and sat up. “Say we had slept together that night and the next day…we just continued to sleep together and a relationship was forged…would we ever really know why the other person was in it? Or would it be just something that happened and we let life push us around like the river steers a kayak?”

“You get to where you’re going.”

“More often than not you end up capsized or in the riverbank.” He corrected.

Ally turned and faced him. “Joshua, have you been in a relationship since your fiancé broke it off?”

He shook his head. “No. For a while…quite a while, I concentrated on working myself out, what I wanted, who I was…without being defined by being in a relationship with her.”

“It’s been five years…”

“Something like that…burns,” Joshua tapped his chest, “like acid. It ruined my confidence.”

“You never seem like you lack it…”

“Confidence that another relationship won’t end in the same way.” He crossed his legs and studied her. “It took me so long to pick myself back up that I didn’t want to find myself on the floor again.”

Ally nodded and looked aside. “I can understand that…”

“What about you? Any notable love interests?”

“No, nothing serious…certainly nothing to compare to what you went through.”

Joshua’s eyes grazed over her. “But someone did hurt you, didn’t they?” Ally blinked and looked at him. “Even if they didn’t mean to…”

Ally sighed and blew out of her mouth. “I…had a…major crush…on David Kingsbury.”

“Uh…Commando CEO?”

“Yep,” Ally shook her head, “he loved my work, praised the story…it was just his way but I felt so special…like a damn adolescent…” She cleared her throat. “Hannah kept trying to warn me not to invest my heart in someone who wasn’t interested but I thought there was something…”

Her words faded out, her heart aching.

“He was the one who fired you?” Joshua frowned. “Sorry, he ended your contract?”

“No, he wasn’t there,” Ally licked her lips, “Fred Farrows and the ever superior Andre Simons have been in charge while David Kingsbury is on a world tour…he’s on honeymoon with his wife.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah,” Ally picked up a pebble and tossed it into the stream, “even after his engagement was announced, he was still really nice to me and I started to see what Hannah had been trying to get me to realise…”

“Doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”

“Nope.” Ally smiled. “It is what it is, right? You can’t make someone be attracted to you.”

“You can only hope that, when you’re both in the right place at the right time feeling the same thing…that you’re not too distracted to notice.”

“It’s any wonder anyone falls in love at all.” Ally admitted. “Although, from what one of the mothers was saying the other night at tae kwon do, most of the mums would be happy to have your boots under their bed any night of the week.”

Joshua stood up. “I don’t wear shoes when I teach tae kwon do or tai chi.”

Ally laughed and helped pack up the picnic. “That would make it difficult.”

“Besides, I’m not a one night stand kind of person.”

“Even after being burned so badly?”

“Well, admittedly after it happened, I went through needing to end it all so I’d stop feeling hurt…then thinking if I found someone else immediately and just slept with them, I’d feel better…but when I realised what I wanted in life I still came back to the hope of one person forever.” Joshua zipped the backpack tightly shut. “I guess I’m old fashioned.”

“In this day and age…yeah,” Ally nodded then paused, “but that’s not a bad thing. We’re so modern and ‘with it’ that we’ve stopped having expectations for something more than a fleeting…pfft.”

“No pffts for you, then?”

“No.” Ally pointed. “I think our ride is here.”