Page 84 of Indescribable

“All right, I’ll go first and you’ll see there’s nothing to be scared of.”

She nods and steps to the side and back and I get into position, using both hands on the ax like we were told since we’re newbies.

I launch the ax at the target board and it sticks. Not in the center, but in the ring at least, which I figure isn’t too shabby for my first try.

“Okay, that didn’t look nearly as hard as I thought it would be.”

She lines herself up and flings the ax across the room toward the target, nailing it dead center on her first try. My mouth gapes open and she squeals.

“Holy shit.”

“Did you see that? I got it!”

I lower my phone from snapping a picture of her right after she twirled around with a huge smile on her face. “You did.”

“Do you think it was just beginner’s luck?”

“I guess we’ll have to see, huh?”

She nods excitedly and we continue to take turns, getting more and more competitive with each throw. Her second throw isn’t nearly as accurate as her first and she sticks out her lower lip in the cutest way that I have to go give her a kiss. But her next several are closer to center, as are mine.

We take several pictures of each other and selfies together. My favorite was when I was taking a picture of myself with her in the background getting ready to throw the ax. I took several action shots then she bounced over to me and kissed me on the cheek. I might be printing and framing that one later.

By the time we’re done, we’re both laughing and sweating a little and I’m hoping that our next stop is to get something to eat because I’m starving.

We buy a couple of bottles of water on our way out and she insists on buying each of us a t-shirt to commemorate the night. I try to pay for them myself but the scowl she shoots my way has me taking a step back and letting her treat me to an ax-throwing overpriced t-shirt.

Back in the pickup, she doesn’t even buckle up before reaching into the back seat for the box and placing it on her lap.

“Your turn,” she tells me, handing me the chatterbox. “Spell… hippopotamus.”

I choke on a laugh. “Are you serious?”

“Damn skippy,” she affirms, laughing at my expression.

“Shit. How do you spell it… crap. I feel like I’m at a spelling bee or something.”

I spell it out in my head a few times before doing it out loud.

“H-I-P-P-O-P-O-T-A-M-U-S. Is that right?”

She looks on her phone and nods. “Yup. That was kind of impressive.”

“Lucky guess, that’s all. But now that I know the gloves came off, be warned for your next animal.”

“Challenge accepted.”

We go through the chatterbox game until I lift the flap and blow out a sigh of relief, seeing that we’re going to eat.

“What’s it say?”

“Dessert.”

“Really?” she asks, just as excited as she’s been the entire evening.

I show her the paper and she claps then gives me a funny look. “Wait, what else is in the box, though?”

“Well, it only says dessert, right?”