Can You See Something Right Now?

Hannah took off her headphones and looked straight at me.

“This is going to be the greatest holiday ever!” she squealed.

I had to agree. Jasper was the most epic place I could imagine and I was going there with my family, but, more importantly, my best friend in the world, Hannah. She was usually busy with her equestrian training but this summer her training schedule changed and she was able to join us. I couldn’t believe our luck.

Hannah pointed into the distance ahead of us. “The mountains!”

“Yes,” my dad warned, “But it will still be at least another hour before we’re there.”

“How is that possible?” Hannah asked him. “We can already see them.”

“Well, Hannah, the mountains are so tall that we can see them from a long ways away. We are maybe still a hundred kilometers from Jasper.”

Hannah had never seen the mountains in her life. My family had taken me there every summer since third grade so I knew what it was like.

Hannah was the most beautiful girl at our school. Her dark curls enveloped her face and caterpillar eyebrows made her magically expressive when she smiled or laughed. I loved her. Most Sundays at church she would wear a pair of shiny nylons that made her legs look so beautiful. I paid more attention to Hannah’s legs than I ever paid to the boring pastor. And she was so good at everything she tried. She was fantastic at the equestrian competitions. Since I was her bestie, I got to watch a lot of the events. It was always surprising to me that her parents weren’t there. They had bought Farley for her and it was her responsibility to feed and take care of him. But they usually didn’t have time to see her compete. I loved Farley too. I wished that my parents would get me a horse but my dad said we didn’t have money like the Greenbergs did. That was okay, because I could always visit Hannah’s family’s stables.

“It surprises me that your family hasn’t taken you to Jasper, Hannah,” my mom looked at us from the front seat. “Don’t they like the mountains?”

“They’re not big into ‘nature,’” Hannah said sullenly. It was too bad because they had a beautiful eighty acre parcel next to our small farm and Hannah and I would walk around in the meadows and forests but her parents never seemed interested in spending with us.

The minutes dragged on as we continued towards the mountains. Hannah had an iPhone so we played a few games on it to pass the time.

Hannah looked at me a bit wearily. “Are you starting to feel funny?”

“You might have altitude sickness,” my mom volunteered. “We are climbing in elevation so that might be what it is.”

“How do I get rid of it?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t think you can, but it will pass in a few hours, hopefully. I think there’s less oxygen as we go higher or something. It can make your tummy feel funny or even cause hallucinations. But it won’t hurt you. Do you want a sandwich or a butterscotch chip cookie? Some water?”

My mom gave us each a cookie. Bit by bit, the mountains became clearer in the horizon. Hannah was starting to get excited. For me, this was just another family summer trip. But way better now that Hannah was here.

We watched part of “The Magic Flute” on Hannah’s iPhone. I was in love with Jack Wolfe, the young actor who plays the lead in the movie.

“My dad knows him, y’know?” Hannah said offhandedly.

“No way!” I squealed. “How?”

“My dad manages money for Jack’s family.”

I was aghast and couldn’t speak, just glucked and glurped until I finally forced out the words.

“Can he introduce me?” I pleaded.

"Sure, I can ask him. Why? Do you want to date him?" Hannah eyes were smiling. Then she started to laugh.

“Oh, you didn’t…” I hit her on the shoulder. “Your dad doesn’t know Jack Wolfe, does he?”

In answer, Hannah just doubled over laughing in her seat. I gave her another smack.

Once Hannah had calmed down, I asked again “Well, does he?”

“No, he doesn’t. But he knows Jeremy Irons,” she said through giggles.

“I don’t give a shit about Jeremy Irons, whoever that is,” I sniffed.

“Language, girls,” my mom shot back.

“We’re in the foothills now, Hannah,” my dad offered.

“I’m getting you back, I promise,” I wagged my finger at her.

Hannah just grinned her beautiful grin.

The ground was rising up all around us like gigantic ocean waves, threatening to swallow up our little car. The forest was changing too. Closer to home, we had mostly poplar and birch trees. Here, it was almost completely evergreens - pine, spruce and Douglas fir. Evergreen forests had a different feel for me. I felt protected by them, like they were my guardians against anything bad.

Dad stopped the car for gas outside the park, because he said the prices closer to Jasper would be crazy. As we got back on the road again, a muskrat crossed the highway in front of us. I was so happy that the traffic stopped in both directions and let him walk across. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He was on “Jasper time” my dad called it. Everything slowed down in the park. Important things didn’t seem as important.

I asked Hannah how her stomach felt. “A little queasy,” she replied. I pulled her hand into my lap and held it tightly. “Mom said it will pass.”

“Let us know if you need us to stop the car,” my mom told Hannah. She gave a look at my dad that I don’t think we were supposed to see.

“I think I’m okay,” she said. “My eyes are playing tricks on me, though.”

My mom looked worried. I know she was concerned because Hannah’s family was hesitant to let her come with us. I think my parents felt bad for Hannah because I overheard them talking in the kitchen that Hannah’s parents might be getting divorced. I didn’t one-hundred-per-cent know what that meant, but it made my parents really sad when they were talking about it.

Maybe that was why they agreed to bring Hannah along this year. Hannah’s parents weren’t too crazy about letting her come with us. My mom had to promise over and over that we would take excellent care of Hannah and not let her get into any mischief. If I knew Hannah, mischief was definitely on the agenda, but she usually didn’t take it too far. She was a prankster but never did anything that hurt people.

Now we were ‘in the mountains,’ finally. The giant rock faces created shadows on the road even though the sun was bright and it was the middle of the day. We watched for more animals and saw about a hundred Pronghorns and one little fox running along the ditch, but that was it. A trip to Jasper wasn’t complete until you at least saw a moose, elk, a bear and a Rocky Mountain sheep. This was my hope for Hannah. Truthfully, it was pretty likely. Jasper was overrun with critters. I had always wondered what it would be like to live in this paradise.

Hannah was starting to act a bit dizzy and my mom told her maybe she should try to sleep for a while. She tried but the motion of the car kept her from dozing off.

The sign said “Jasper 40 km” so we were definitely close. I continued holding Hannah’s hand.

When we reached the town, Dad slowed the car down to a crawl because we always liked to admire the beauty of the place. Jasper was a small town with a few restaurants, motels and gift shops, all built of the same dark wood. But the town was not the star of the show. It was surrounded by the most beautiful mountains, especially Pyramid, my favorite, with its iconic double-peak. This was the stuff of screensavers and oil paintings. When the clouds were moving, it sort of looked like the mountains were coming down on us.

Hannah’s craned her neck in her seat to get a view of everything that was ‘up there.’ I loved seeing her so excited. Dad pulled into the motel where we had reservations. Jasper was busy with tourists this week but always had a quiet elegance about it.

It was a big job to get all our supplies into the log cabin where we would stay for the next week. I just felt different when I was here in the mountains. I think Hannah was feeling something too, because she seemed a little disoriented as we unpacked. Hopefully she would feel better soon.

Once our stuff was all set up we opened the door to head to the A&W for some food. Hannah and I were the first out the door as my parents checked to make sure the lights were turned off.

Our cabin opened straight to the quiet paved Jasper side-street. On the far side of the street was a family of elk, gracefully and calmly walking towards the main part of the town. A buck with a spring rack, a large mama and two youngsters trailing behind. The elk were so large and so magnificent and so close to us.

Hannah’s eyes popped out of her head like water balloons. She abruptly stopped walking and stared at the beautiful beasts, putting her hands to her cheeks. The elk family paid no mind to us, just kept walking. Then Hannah looked back at me with her owlish eyes.

“Molly, do…” she trailed off. “Can you see something right now?”

“No, Hannah. Why, I hope you’re not hallucinating? What are you seeing?” I asked her innocently.

She looked back at me with her mouth open and examined my face carefully. I started smiling and then laughing hard. Hannah smothered a giggle herself and then joined me in laughter, but only after she smacked me hard on my shoulder.