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Show 33 and bum and ascend, spiraling, into the air. After those pages turned to black and silvery ashes, Alan brought out a letter. He said this was the Dear John letter he had received from Sasha while on his mission. I asked him to read it, but he just kept looking at it, holding it like wet clothing that he was trying to warm over the fire. Then he let go, said it was better to just listen to it bum. After he burned the letter, Alan just stared into the fire for a while. We mentioned a few times that it was good to have him back, but the comment didn't seem to make it past his eyes. That was the first I had heard of Sasha leaving him, and I wondered if that was why Alan came back from Brazil early. But I didn't want to ask him. Maybe everyone felt the same way because we all seemed to linger around the fire longer than usual, waiting for Alan to speak. As the fire started to flicker, we split up and moved to our favorite spots. Travis and Alan were not interested in moving and stayed to watch the remnants of the fire. Chris and Brad liked to explore small caves on the side of the mountain, and Steve walked up and down the river, trying to get as close to the water as the weather allowed. My favorite spot was at the top of the waterfall. Brad insisted that there were bears and cougars in these mountains and we should not wander off too far, especially if we were drunk, but nobody seemed to believe him, though when visibility was low it did sometimes feel like dark-colored animals were staring you right in the eyes. The trail led straight to the top of the waterfall, anyway. There was a tree up there and I liked to secure my hands on a sturdy branch and |
