Hunting for Firewood With No Lighter (Part 5)

Ned Guards the Whiskey

Making our way back to the campsite we found Ned sitting alone as we had left him, on a tree stump that he had obviously rolled over. There was a cup of whiskey in his hand and as we parked the car he made some crack about how he had spilt half of the whiskey. Keith was distraught for a second because he knew he wanted half of what he paid for and he also wanted to get shattered for the night. Nevertheless, Ned was only joking but half the bottle was already consumed or otherwise sponged by the falsities of the muddy ground in which no viable pertinence holds to his suchlike story.

Now I’m not too positive on what happened between our heading back to the camp and our heading back off but for some reason just Keith and I headed back to town. I’m pretty sure we had to head in and get something for Ned who was too pissed to head off with us but I also think that Keith had to try and divert his phone to Binh’s mobile in which he had to get to a service area to do so.

Clouded in some mystery Keith and I headed back out to town and done what I had noted prior, his diverting his phone to Binh’s number. Oh yeah, Ned sent us out back into town to look for dry wood because the most wood we had collected had no hope of burning. Ned had a little bit of a fire going but he didn’t want to use the small pieces of dry wood he had brought just yet. Although we were insistent Ned’s choleric temper shined through so we decided upon heading into town to get away from boredom and have something to do.

No Wood and No Lighter

Another item we had to acquire was a lighter as Shawn broke it while trying to spark it up. The part where you actually pull your finger across to cause the friction and spark broke apart in a comedic way over the fire. Funnier was how Ned threw it into the fire and staggered back towards the fire in hopes to knock the postponed lighter from blowing up. Taking a couple of steps closer the lighter as with ‘Murphy’s Law’ blew up when he was steps away from it causing him to duck behind his shielding hands.

It was getting dark as we headed into town and we were well aware that we had to come back with something for the dying embers of the fire. We didn’t want to come back empty handed and we didn’t want to freeze our balls off for the night so we made an attempt at regaining some sort of composure to our night of diminishing passion. Cruising down the compact main street of the town we were disappointed to find that there were now only two things open, the pub and some pizza place.

Driving past the petrol station which was closed we drove in to see if they had any wood outside but we had no such luck. Making our way past the pizza place Keith had me walk in to ask if they knew of a place where we could find wood. As the rain was drizzling down I jogged up the steps and casually walked in asking for their assistance. Despite the lady being a local she couldn’t really help me out as she told me something I already knew, everything was closed and the place was a hole.

Nevertheless, she did inform us of a petrol station twenty minutes drive down the road in Nowra if we wanted to try our luck with buying wood and Keith did start driving aimlessly down the main road but we turned back soon after. Making a last ditch effort I headed into the pub to ask if they knew of any place with firewood or if they had some there but they couldn’t help out either. The girl behind the counter was fairly attractive though with her black top that didn’t do a great job in concealing what large breasts she had for a small frame.

Directions to Nowhere

Friendly as she was I didn’t want to force myself into conversation that I would probably later kick myself over so I was just my normal stupid avoiding self. Keeping to myself and not escalating conversation with my own two cents, I chatted to a guy who pointed me into the direction of some place that he said had wood for the campers and jumping back into Keith’s car we headed towards his direction.

Heading back towards the turnoff from the town towards Kangaroo Valley the guy informed us that it was the first turn left after the one way bridge. As we followed along and got closer to that turnoff Keith uttered to my agreeing tone “This looks like the turnoff to “Kangaroo Valley” and as we came closer we noticed the sign indicated the direction the guy was informing us about. He was probably talking about that bunch of soggy wood inside the camp that we passed when on our way to set camp, that was no good to us.

Having no success in finding wood or even a lighter Keith made one more attempt at calling Binh, driving a couple of minutes out of town to get reception. Binh’s phone was switched to his answering machine so Keith had to ring Tyler in which he found that Binh still hadn’t picked him up at 7:00 p.m. This irritated both Keith and I as we were literally stuck out in the middle of nowhere, having no fun and not being able to enjoy ourselves. Keith wanted to drink but I was clearly out of sorts with my bush side, I preferred the lights of the City and rightly so.

Mocked for My Clothes

Speaking in context to my preferring nightclubs as opposed to camping out at the bush, I received some criticism and envious mocking, mostly from Keith and Shawn. The fact that I spent $400 on clothes this weekend was brought up by Keith and despite Keith and Shawn wanting to spend their benefits on club clothes they decided to have a go at my avid spending. “I can find better things to spend my money on than clothes” Ned commented but I received no solace when Keith uttered “What, you mean alcohol”.

I could have just as easily made a derisive comment such as Keith’s but I don’t judge people or put people down in such a manner. Keith is just envious of my buying club clothes, Shawn is a conformity to his mocking and Ned just speaks his unwitting truth. My money is my business and what I do with it doesn’t involve anyone else. I can’t understand how Keith could put me down for outstanding clothes for nightclubs but to say that he is resentful of my fortunate body-type that fits into these clothes.

It’s just like women who are a size 14 who resent the younger and more feminine size 8, envy is a common denominator. When I was younger and probably only until I started going out with Lyssa, I received handouts all my life and my clothes were bought by my parents. Therefore, I was always a couple of years out of style with my oversized jumpers or ripped jeans. Even in my school days my parents were so hard up that I would hardly see myself out of school clothes after school, simply because I didn’t have much.

My life has been a struggle to retain an identity and now that I’m finally creating who I want to be with this newfound independence I’m receiving pot shots by people who don’t know any better. Who cares if I buy $400 worth of clothes. As long as I’m paying my dues and being sensible with my money (Which I am) then there should be no disparaged worth. This just goes to increase my belief that the people I hang out with aren’t my real friends but acquaintances.

A real friend wouldn’t mock me for what I wore even if I dressed like a chicken. Rather, a real friend would be helpful and assisting, kind of like Jett. This increases my perception that I should hang out with people suchlike to my style of dressing and mettle, people like Binh and Tyler. I have turned retro and more club intense I must agree but if Keith and the rest of the whingers can’t accept it then obviously they’re going to adjust with mocking jeers.

Binh Is Six Hours Late

Just before heading back to the disappointment of the others Keith decided to give Binh one last call. Knowing that we had no firewood left at all we asked Binh to bring along such items as wood, petrol and a lighter. Asking the question of how long they would be we were shocked when Binh told us he would be there around 9:00 p.m., a clear six or more hours after we arrived.

Before concluding our conversation I had Keith plan to meet with Binh at the pub for two reasons. First, I didn’t think they would find our camp site despite Leroy knowing his way around and secondly, it would have been much more of an eventful night if we spent a little while at the pub before moving back to our campsite. Concord to this adaptation of our night was resolved as we headed back to our campsite to notify Ned and Shawn.

Once back I noticed that now Ned and Shawn were both drunk, Shawn on the more drastic end of the stick it seemed. This shows who has been drinking longer and who inevitably can hold their liquor. You could see the strain of being drunk on Shawn’s face and in his actions where Ned was just his normal self, only a little tipsier.

Parking the car near the tents which had been set up a while ago we decided to throw out the torches and fix up the air mattress that came from Ace’s belongings. Having to use the car lighter so that we could use the air pump we blew up the mattress in no time and then set it out so we could sleep on it. Ace’s tent was huge but the four of us planned for only the four of us to sleep in it with the exception of Tyler at our feet so we could kick him, Ned’s suggestion.