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With Hesitant Stride - a Blog Novel

"No, I'm not that kind of girl!" she moaned, writhing with desire, yet pushing away. "Yes," he urged, "It is time and past time for us to give in to our passion!" He clutched her tighter. Read on to see what happens.

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Monday, May 22, 2006

With Hesitant Stride - A Blog Novel - Excerpt 8

"Sounds fine. What are we having?" he asked our pilot.
"For your dining pleasure, we have prepared a selection of fruit, sliced cheese and meats as well as various rolls and condiments. All of these items are made or grown right here in the Napa region. The breads were baked fresh just this morning using Old World artisan recipes – I believe the bakery even uses a wood-fired brick oven," she said. "And, to complement the food, we have a selection of wines produced by the local vineyards, specifically Chenin Blanc, White Zinfandel and Reisling for white and in the red we have Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. Richard, if you could shift to your left a bit, I'll pull the picnic chest out."
Upon opening the chest, we discovered plates and silverware tucked into the lid, flat containers of cheese, meat and fruit on one side, while the warm, buttery, yeasty scent of fresh-baked bread arose from the insulated pouch in the other partition. After pulling up a second, smaller chest, clearly a cooler, she showed us how to flip down the seats mounted along the sides of the gondola. The larger chest, once we had removed the food, filled the function of a small table. Leesa remained standing.
"Aren't you going to join us?" I asked. "After all, there's plenty of food."
"Thank you, but no. I need to keep watch on our altitude and it's just not easy to reach the controls while sitting down. Besides, I already ate."
"Would you like some of this wine," Richard asked as he selected a Frog's Leap Chardonnay. "And I can't imagine you not having a roll with some of this cheese and sausage - I insist."
"Oh well, if you insist, then I'll be happy to take a bite of food. But no wine. Not while we're in the air. I have some bottled water stored in the wine cooler."
For a time, we sat, munched on grapes, oranges, apples, and crusty bread we filled with cheddar, summer sausage and monterey jack cheese. I was reminded of the time my family had taken a trip through southern Europe. We had elected to rent a car, which freed us from the time constraints inherent in joining a packaged tour. As we wended our way from Paris, down to Spain and then back up and over to Italy, our family lunched on fresh bread and cheese purchased at the open air markets in the villages we passed through. That trip, when I was only nine years old, had been the first time I had been allowed to drink alcohol. As we could never be sure if milk would be available and we had already gotten sick once from either food or water, my father decided to buy wine for us. At first my mother had been upset, but as she saw the French and Spanish families giving wine to their children, she relented.
"This brings back so many memories," I said. "Eating simple food and drinking wine made such an impression on me as a little girl. I think doing so, helped to fix in my mind the other experiences we had traveling through Europe."
"You traveled through Europe?" Richard asked. "What part? And how old were you?"
"I was nine. Dad had earned a big bonus at work that year and he'd made a promise to Mom, on their wedding day, that one day he'd take us on vacation to Europe. We meandered all over and through France, Spain, Monaco and Italy. I mostly remember the castles and the cheese. Dad chose to rent a Volkswagen and early on in the trip, after we found out how much more expensive it was to find 'American' food - and difficult - one of the first things he did was buy this enormous wheel of swiss cheese. I sat in back, of course, but half the seat was taken up by that wheel. I remember picking at it trying to make it shrink faster so I could have more room."
"What made you remember the castles?"
"The dry, dusty, cool smell. Whenever I go into an older basement, where dust has collected, I flash back to the tours through all those castles."
During this, our pilot had twice given bursts on the burner. Now she turned to us and said, "We're going over a river and I think you might enjoy the view."
Carefully re-packing the picnic chest, we got up and folded away our seats. Turning to look in the direction she pointed, my breath caught. Just in front of us, past the edge of the river, a small bank of fog had managed to survive the early morning sun. The sunlight had turned the water into a shimmer of gold and the fog bank had taken on the appearance of a fluffy, pale amber blanket of cotton batting. Rising up through, several willows grasped for the sunlight, casting diaphanous shadows reaching out to us. Beyond lay a field holding only the stubble of it's original crop, dusty cream with hints of a deeper yellow. Finally, I remembered to inhale and, taking my trusty camera in hand, I composed several images, both vertical, capturing the Sierras rising in the distance and horizontal, making a closer, more personal view.
As we drifted overhead, I turned to watch it draw past us. There, I gained a vision of the coastal range, with Mount Diablo clearly visible to the south, flaring orange and brown in the distance. I took my time capturing views both narrow and sweeping panorama. One such image snagged two fishermen casting their hopes and lines out into the now black river below.
"Truly a view worthwhile," Richard whispered in my ear. "And that you chose to keep me company makes it all the more treasure to me."
I gazed back at him. In his eyes I saw contentment and interest, confidence not overshadowed by rampant, self-serving desire. At that point, I knew I wanted more of him.
"Yes, likewise. I would have considered this worth it merely for the adventure itself." I leaned into him, whispering back, "Let's make plans for more."
"If you want any further images," Leesa's voice broke through, although not loud, "take them now. We're about to descend. This field is close to the road and it's not crowded by buildings and wires."
"I'm good," I replied. Snuggling deeper into his shoulder, I put away my camera.

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