“Take the gun.”

“It’s not a gun, it’s a rifle. Wadaya think I’m gonna go hunting without it?”

“No. I mean like, you take it. My hands are kinda full.”

“Full of?” Jason turns around to see Emma, struggling to line her back up with the push handle on the screen door, her arms straining under the weight of what appears to be a rather heavy cardboard box.

“What are you doing?”

“Just putting some stuff in the car.”

“Wait a minute! Emma! What is all that?”

Emma clicks the door open, exits, and lets the screen door slams behind her.

“Oh my god. Here we go.” Jason says aloud, as his eyes roll and he shakes his head, signifying ‘that would be a no’ before he starts after her at a trot.

“No Em. We’ve been through this already. You are not going. I am going deer hunting with the guys. It’s a guy thing. That means no…”

“I know the hunting part is a guy thing, okay? I got that. I’m just going to..” Emma sets down the cardboard box, and begins by withdrawing a laptop. “Work on my novel.” Follow that with a neon pink plastic makeup bag, “Give myself a mani-pedi. Do a hot oil treatment on my hair. Oh and look, I brought a first aid kit! I bet none of you thought to bring a first aid kit!”

“Em, honey. We are going hunting. That means we are staying in a hunting cabin. It’s a three mile hike in from the dirt road. There is no electricity and no running water. The toilet is an outhouse…”

“Jas! We have been camping how many times? Did you think I would be put off by an outhouse? And I have five battery packs for my laptop! I wont need electricity! You guys are going to be gone hunting all day, you told me yourself you have to set up the blind deer, or whatever it is, before sunrise. Why can’t I just go do my own thing in the cabin while you’re gone?”

Jason cannot help but smile at the ‘blind deer’ part. His face softens. He loves her. He reaches out and pulls her to him. Nuzzling in, he buries his face in the sweet smelling nape of her neck and whispers, “All right. You win. You can go.”

“Aw, Jas. I knew it. I knew you’d let me. Just think, it’ll be so much fun to..”

“But there is one thing..” he cuts her off gently. Pulling back just far enough to look his best girl in her beautiful, chocolate brown eyes.

“Sure. Anything. I just wanna be with you..”

“Well, there’s already me, Bobby, and James, and we’re takin’ Bobby’s wench truck, so you’re gonna have to ride in the bed with the gear.”

A momentary look of supreme disappointment swept Emma’s face. Just as quickly a smile returned. “I got it!” I’ll get my daddy’s dually! It has a double cab! That way..”

“No, that won’t work. Jason shakes his head slowly side to side. “We’re not taking the wench ‘cause it’s the only truck we have between us. We’re taking the wench because we plan on using it to dress out he deer.”

“Dress up the deer?”

“No, dress out. That means, we attach the hind legs of the deer to the wench with a chain, then use the wench to lift the deer off the ground. Then we slit it’s throat, you know to drain all the blood out of it so when we gut it…”

“Aurgh!”Emma nearly gags as she pushes herself cringing, away from Jason, shakes him off and bellows “Ewwwww!” all the way across the yard toward the front door.

“Honey?” Jason calls out sweetly, just as Emma reaches for the handle on screen door.

“What?” she answers curtly, her feelings still hurt.

“Can I take this?” Jason asks as he digs around in the cardboard box.

“You were right you know. None of us would’a thought to bring a first aid kit.”

Written for MLMM’s First Line Friday prompt: ‘Take the gun.‘