Ned said. “I’m okay. We’re both okay,” I said. “It was just a joke.” “I know it was just a joke. I knew it last night, and I knew it this morning, and I knew it all day when you kept apologizing,” I said. “It’s okay, Ned. You can stop now. Honestly, it’s really okay.” “It was better than okay,” Kia added. “That was simply the best. When did you and your dad work all that out … you know, you coming out with the chainsaw?” “Yesterday when we were hiking. We talked about it when you two were walking behind us.” I wasn’t thrilled with the whole thing — actually I had been really, really close to wetting myself — but looking back it had been pretty good. The best story I’d ever heard. And last night, even when I knew it was just a joke, I still had difficulty going to sleep. When I woke up I was happy to see that our tent still had a top. The walk back to their house was obviously the same distance the walk away from it had been. But somehow now it didn’t seem as bad.
