I’ve angered Dominic many a time in the past, sharing a tent during overlanding and proceeding to fall asleep within all of two minutes. You see, Dominic has an odd fear of the unnatural, which I assume includes witches, goblins, ghosts, long dead people, and so forth. Spending a night alone in the forest would kill him, Dominic has said, more than once. He’s in a tent with Eimis on this trip, presumably because I’ve let him down in the past with my reckless abandon. Unfortunately my streak of good sleep ends this trip and I roll around on my squeaky inflatable mattress, unable to find comfort, plugging holes that allow cold outside air to seep in. I hear a satisfied snicker from the other tent and mocking commentary as I drift between wakefulness and sleep.
Our ill secured tents flap as the wind picks up. I can hear the familiar splattering of rain drops. The ranger must be happy, “the park needs it”. I try not to think about breaking down camp in this weather. Groggy from lack of sleep I peek at my watch and realize it’s 6am, still dark out, heavy rain washing out all other sounds. I hear muffled moans from the other tent – Dominic has survived another night in the forest as his deteriorating body releases pent up gasses and creaks.
It's too early and too wet to get up. Dominic and Eimis discuss what movie to watch while we wait for sunrise, soon realize the only choice is Aladdin – it’s downloaded locally on Dominic’s phone. They watch, I listen. Robin Williams is incredible as the genie; I don’t have to watch the animation to see the characters in my mind. Ah yes, good times when Disney was in the business of entertainment and not political ideology. Sun comes up and the rain stops as we travel back memory lane.