She climbed higher and higher, her limbs naturally finding holds in the tree's bark. She slipped once and clung to the trunk of the tree, her heart pounding. She regained her balance though and continued climbing, her hair wisping across her face. Finally, when she was about 40 feet up, she looked across at the other two oaks. Their branches were still thick and strong, but they seemed to be reaching out to each other in a natural huddle. Poppy nodded to herself, and pulled the rope over the branch above, and tossed the line down to Francis. "Could you tie that around one of the logs, please?" she called down.
He grabbed the line, and tied it around the log with a secure knot. He tugged on it to make sure it wouldn't slip through before shouting back up. "Alright! It's tied!"
Poppy took the other side of the rope and began to pull. The log groaned, and then lifted off the ground. It hung a couple feet in the air as Poppy called down to him. "Would you mind pulling from down there as well? The rope is behind you."
Poppy pulled the log up and laid it in the middle between the branches. She untied it quickly, and then stood for a moment, gazing at it and thinking. "Just a couple more times, Francis," she called down. "We just want to get a good foundation set up." She leaned over and looked down at him. The sun hit the back of her head, and it darkened her face, making her appear as a silhouette with golden red, slightly frizzy hair. "Watch your head," she called, and she tossed the loop back down to him.
He grabbed the rope, and tied it around another log before returning to the previous line to begin pulling it up.
They continued in this fashion for the next half hour or so. Finally, it was time to test the floors. Poppy stepped cautiously onto the foundation they had set up. She jumped on it. Jumped again. The logs were so tightly crammed within the trees that they didn't budge, and she grinned down at Francis. "That... looks about right. If you wouldn't mind, could you tie my pack to the rope before you come up here? I can pull it up, but I need to grab my tent."
He tied the rope to the backpack, before he began to climb the tree. He was not as quick and prepared as Poppy, but fortunately he didn't suck at it.
(lol. fortunately) Poppy pulled it up quickly, and she was searching through it when Francis came up. Her bare arms were scratched up from guiding the logs into place, but when she looked up at him, she was grinning. "Pretty cool, right?" she said, gesturing to the ground floor.
She glowered at him, but she couldn't really keep the smile off her face. "We'll secure the tent onto it," she said, pulling out the tent cube. "But thanks for that image."
"You're welcome. I've been told I'm pretty good at finding the bad side of things, so I was just proving my ability," he chuckled, looking over the edge and onto the ground.
"You scared of heights?" she asked as she entered the passcode into the tent pod. She placed in on the center of the logs, and it stood for a moment, and then unfolded.
"Heights? No, not that. I don't really know what I'm scared of because I haven't given it much thought."
She pulled him back to give the tent some room. "You don't think about what scares you?" she asked, unzipping the tent door when it had finally unfolded. She stepped inside and took out her sleeping bag. Unzipping it to a giant rectangle, she placed it on the floor to cushion the ground, and she sat down cross-legged and began to work with the rope.
"No. I don't see a point in it if it is only going to strike fear." He sat down as well, twiddling his thumbs in thought.
She pulled the rope through a loop and tightened it onto itself. She glanced up at him, her expression one of curiosity. "Well, I think the benefit come from when you finally do encounter what scares you and you aren't thrown off guard," she said. "I mean, I'm really scared of deep water, so if I ever found myself in that situation, at least I would know to expect paralyzing fear." She paused, and a puzzled expression came over her face. "If that makes sense."
"That kind of makes sense. I just don't see why I would be afraid of such dumb things, like other people. Spiders, snakes, getting lost, taxes. It's just all too... mundane." He brushed his fingers through his hair with a sigh.
She smiled wryly at her work, and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, I get it. You're one of those guys who's afraid of death and love and life, right? Big picture stuff."
"You think that's it? Could be. Death? Yes. Love? Maybe? Life. Not anymore. I guess those make sense."
