Green Lake

The wind was gently ruffling his short hair, and Sean inhaled deeply, savoring the clean mountain air.

He was standing on a pier, watching the plane that had brought him here disappear into the cloudy sky. The lake was called Green Lake, and the town was named after it. Sean had picked this location because it was so remote, so different from any of the other places he had ever been, and he was certain that his family wasn’t going to go and come looking for him up north in Alaska.

He hadn’t run away per se. First of all, he was twenty-four and had been living on his own for years, but his family had always been around, controlling him, and he had felt for a long time that he couldn’t breathe anymore.

The need to leave, to do something on his own for once, had become so strong that a few weeks ago he had decided to just go for it. It had taken awhile to plan this. After all, he didn’t want his family to find him too soon, and it had been hard for him to keep up appearances while on the inside he had been jumping with joy and excitement.

There was nothing wrong with his family. His mother loved him, and he got on well with his brother and sister, but everyone always tended to tell him what to do and what to think. His life had been controlled since the moment of his birth, and up until recently, he hadn’t really minded it. He had welcomed the security of it all.

He had no idea what had changed or why, but there had come a moment in his life when he had no longer been able to deny that he had changed. He had also come to realize that his family wasn’t going to just let him walk away from them without making it very difficult.

They just wouldn’t be able to understand why suddenly the job in his family’s company wasn’t good enough for him, why suddenly dinner parties and meeting proper women weren’t his idea of fun anymore. He couldn’t explain it to his family because he didn’t understand himself where this need to change, to do something different, something exciting for once, had come from.

He wasn’t too adventurous a person, so “exciting” to him had translated to accepting a research assistant position to some wildlife researcher in Green Lake, Alaska.

Some might say that his idea of adventurous was pathetic, but he figured he had to do what was right for him, and taking some time away from his family without them knowing where he was did that for him.

He knew that they would eventually track him down, but he estimated that he had at least until the end of the summer to be on his own, and he intended to make the best of it. He was kind of looking forward to experience an Alaskan summer because of the longer days. He was just sad that he had missed out on the summer solstice which was on June 21 but he figured that it was impossible to get everything. He was here now and that was all that mattered.

“Watch out!” someone screamed at him, and before Sean could react, some crazy tall person nearly ran him over on his bike. Sean turned, staring after the young man as he laughed like a maniac, pedaled faster, and then, with the bike, jumped off the pier into the lake.

Sean was shaking his head, trying to figure out if he had dreamt the episode, when he heard spluttering and laughter from the lake.

“That’s Mark. He really is sweet despite his craziness.” Sean whirled around to come face to face with a dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes.

“I’m Jim.” The guy smiled at him, holding out his hand, and because Sean had been raised well, he shook it and introduced himself.

“Sean.”

The guy smiled at him, and his smile suddenly widened as his gaze flickered to something behind Sean.

Sean turned around and saw Mark walking towards them, dripping wet and shaking his wet hair like a dog. When he was done and standing up straight, Sean caught expressive hazel eyes staring at him through the wet, floppy brown hair falling into Mark’s face.

Sean closed his mouth because there was no telling what staring at crazy Mark would lead to, and never mind his own overly imaginative mind and its ideas.

“Sorry I nearly ran you over. Wasn’t expecting you to be standing there.” Mark smiled at him, dimples showing, but Sean could tell that Mark wasn’t sorry at all. Mark was practically vibrating with still unspent energy, and Sean almost shuddered thinking what else Mark would get up to just to calm down.

“Never mind.” Sean tried to smile to hide the fluttering of his own nerves, and then he picked up his bag and walked away.

He was still within earshot when he heard Mark mumble something to Jim. “He’s a bit stuck up, don’t you think?”

Sean could hear Jim’s laughter, and he frowned. He wasn’t stuck up. He liked playing it safe, and if it made him stuck up that jumping off a pier with a bike wasn’t on his list of fun things to do, then so be it.

Hopefully, this town was big enough that he wouldn’t have to run into crazy Mark again, but with a sigh, Sean had to admit the odds weren’t that great, because Green Lake, Alaska wasn’t very big at all.





Sean spent the rest of the day checking out the town—not that there was that much of it, but it was charming—and he end the evening by having a beer in the local bar.

The hotel he was staying in was very small and didn’t compare at all to the standard he was used to, but he liked it. It felt well cared for, and the elderly lady who had checked him in had also brought him cookies. So what was not to like?

The next morning, he made his way to the office of the local veterinarian. Apparently, Joey Morgan was the local vet and also the wildlife researcher. Even though Sean had no clue at all about animals, he welcomed the challenge.

His job was supposed to be cataloguing research data, and Joey had made it clear over the phone that no scientific background was needed, just a good eye and an excellent knowledge of computers.

The pay wasn’t much, but then again, Sean wasn’t doing it for the money, something that had apparently appealed to Joey. Sean hadn’t clarified why money wasn’t important to him. He didn’t want anyone here finding out how well off he actually was. He wanted people to get to know him and not be impressed by his money or family name.

The office was just like Sean had expected it—small and organized, everything in order.

“Are you Sean?” came a gruff voice from behind Sean, who turned around to come face to face with an older, handsome man.

“Yes, if you’re Joey?” Sean smiled, and the other man returned it, holding out his hand.

Sean took it, and a firm shake later, he found himself in a chair sipping coffee while Joey quickly told him what he would be doing.

“We tagged some local animals to get a better idea of their migration patterns, because we’ve seen some decline in the local deer, and we aren’t too sure what the cause is.”

Joey looked really upset about that, but Sean just kept on sipping his coffee. It wasn’t that he didn’t like animals. He loved dogs and was especially fond of his two horses. But he really wasn’t the type to take in and care for wounded animals. Joey, on the other hand, apparently took the declining deer population to heart.

“Normally, we have an uplink where we can just download the data that’s been collected on a quarterly basis, but the storm last week broke it, and I really can’t wait for it to get repaired. That’s why you’re going to have to head up there and collect the data manually.”

Sean was still sipping his coffee, listening to Joey but not really listening, so he had to blink twice before he realized the implications of what he had been told.

“You want me to hike up a mountain to collect your data?” Sean couldn’t help it when his voiced hitched a little bit, because he wasn’t really the type to go hiking or camping.

His idea of spending some time up the mountain involved a mountain resort and twenty-four-hour room service.

“Yes, I do,” Joey answered, looking him straight in the eyes. “It’s simple, really, Sean. Without the data, there is no job. So if you want your job, you’re going to have to go and get the data.”

Sean just nodded. He wasn’t too sure that he could trust his own voice at the moment.

“Come on, let me show you,” Joey waved Sean to follow him, and with a sigh, Sean did just that.

He crossed the room until he stood next to the man staring at a local map. There were pins stuck to certain locations, and even without having been told, Sean knew that the pins represented the locations he was to visit.

“These pins represent the data points I was talking about,” Joey confirmed, and Sean nodded, waiting for Joey to continue. “Normally we would just download the data from here, but there is a lot of interference in the mountains. So everything has to go through a relay station, which is here.”

He pointed to something on the map that was marked by a blue pin. All the other pins were red.

“The storm damaged that station, so the link is no longer working.”

“Wouldn’t a satellite uplink be much easier?” Sean asked, and Joey rolled his eyes.

“Who do you think we are? NASA?” The man then snorted and went back to his desk, obviously not thinking that any further response was required. “Don’t worry, son. I’m not going to send you up there on your own. I got the best guide to go with you, so this is going to be just fine.”

Sean was about to exhale with relief. At least he would have someone competent to help him, because if he had had to try it on his own, it would have been a total disaster.

“Ah, here he is. Our best guide.” Joey was smiling widely at someone now.

Once Sean turned around, he wished he hadn’t.

Of course the best guide around was none other than Mark.





Joey had left them alone the moment he announced that Mark was the guide, slapping the younger man on the back on his way out.

Mark eyed Sean up and down, and Sean could barely suppress the blush creeping into his face.

“Do you have anything suitable for hiking?” Mark asked, and Sean shook his head.

“Never really planned to go hiking,” Sean explained when he could see Mark frowning; apparently not wanting to hike was some sort of an offense.

“It’s all right. Can you stand up for a second?” Mark was tilting his head, and Sean was momentarily distracted by how adorable that looked.

“Why?” he asked after a few seconds.

“Can’t you just do something without arguing about it?” Mark shot back, and it was now Sean’s turn to flash a grin.

“Apparently not,” he answered, but he did get up, turning around to give Mark the full view.

When he was done, Mark seemed to nod to himself before he spoke, bouncing on his heels like some over-energetic puppy, which Sean found oddly cute. “You can borrow some clothes from my brother. You’re just about the same size.”

“I can buy my own stuff,” Sean replied. He wasn’t about to take used clothes from a person he hadn’t even met.

Mark just frowned at the answer. “Why would you spend money on something that you aren’t going to be using once you leave here? Besides, Steve’s shoes are used, broken in if you like, so unless you really want to buy new boots and get blisters… that should be fun, watching you trying to walk, because I’m not going to carry you.”

Mark was smiling again, and Sean knew he had lost. What argument could he really put forward now? That he liked blisters? And besides, watching Mark fidget, full of energy that he couldn’t quite use right now, was slightly distracting too.

“Fine, I’ll try your brother’s clothes, and if they fit, I’ll take them.”

“Come on, then. My truck’s outside.”

Mark didn’t wait for an answer. He was already rushing outside, leaving Sean to follow him.

Mark was like a whirlwind. He never seemed to stop, so full of energy that it was tiring Sean just watching him. What would a hike with this bundle of energy be like?