Spiral Bound Journal

A Different Kind of Heat

"Did you want the shower first?" Morgan asked Dana as they ambled up the drive way.

Dana shook her head. "I'll let you go first. You'll rinse off quicker than I will."

"Let me guess. Your scalp is soaked."

"I wouldn't be surprised if my hair itself developed sweat glands."

Morgan belly laughed as they reached the front door of Dana's dad's house. Once inside, they wandered off in different directions. Morgan stopped in the guest bedroom (once Dana's room) to grab a change of clothes before hitting the shower.

True to Dana's word, Morgan was in and out of the shower in minutes. He did take a bit of extra time to rinse his hair and beard. Once he was reasonably dry and dressed, he wandered into the living room. From there, he could see Dana and her dad —no, Barry— in the kitchen. Dana sat at the table in the middle of the room while her dad stood near the stove.

"Everything okay?" Morgan asked as he dashed into the kitchen.

Dana looked up and nodded. "Needed to rehydrate and get some more salt."

"Running stitches?"

"Yeah, still. Florida is just getting too hot for me year round."

"I bet," Barry chimed in. "You looked drenched after your run."

"Oh, I sweat something ferocious whenever I run," Dana replied. "I sweat like it's my job even when I take runs in the winter."

This prompts Morgan to shake his head. "I still can't believe that you run in the winter. That is insane."

"It's not like I do it that often."

"Well, the fact that you do it at all is crazy enough."

Dana chuckles. "Whatever you say."

"Right. The shower should be ready, by the way."

"Does the timer need to be reset on the water heater?"

"I can double check," Barry said before stepping into the garage.

Morgan glanced at the door before looking back at Dana. That's when he saw the two thirds empty Gatorade bottle and chip bag on the table.

"Sure you don't need an injection?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she told him. "I figure I'll hang out here for a couple moments before I take my shower. This sweat's gonna finish evaporating soon, and I'll feel like I'm being turned into salt meat."

"Oh, no one needs to be that crusty."

"Absolutely not."

After a few minutes, Dana got up from the kitchen table to take her shower. Barry had migrated to the living room and ate a sandwich while watching TV. With nothing else to do while waiting for Dana to shower and dress, Morgan ended up plopping on the smaller of the two living room couches. For a little bit, he switched between checking his notifications and glimpsing at the cruise video on the big screen TV.

"Do you and Dana have any plans?" Barry asked him.

"I think we're headed to West Palm Beach," Morgan replied. "She said she wanted to show me stuff from when she visited her grandparents as a kid."

"It's been a long time since I was in those parts. The traffic in almost the entire county is ridiculous."

"I can imagine. It looks like Palm Beach County is pretty big."

"It is."

Morgan set his phone on the nearby table. "Dana also mentioned maybe going to Miami while we're down here. I admit I'd like to visit a couple spots there if we go."

"Anything in particular?"

"Maybe the Freedom Tower. I know my dad's wanted to visit that for years but hasn't made it out there. I think he's been a bit spooked since my mom's most recent health scare."

"Oh? What happened?"

"They found another lump in her breast. Luckily, it wasn't cancer, but still freaked my dad out. I get it. THe first time around was bad enough."

"I take it your mom's had cancer before."

"Yeah," Morgan confirmed. "Dana told me what happened to her mom. It sounds way worse than what my mom went through, and my mom went through two rounds of chemo."

:That's nothing to sneeze at. Dana's mom and I had to skip a planned trip to Tunisia to celebrate her 60th birthday because of the effects of her treatments."

"wow," Morgan gasped.

"I managed to get over there in 2020 to sprinkle some of her ashes. Thank goodness we scheduled the trip in January that year."

"No joke. You were lucky to be able to do anything in 2020."

"I really was."

At that moment, Morgan heard the sliding of the pocket door for the hall bathroom. The click of the light switch, though, got him to turn his head. Then he spotted Dana in a light green tee and denim shorts.

"Hey, there," he greeted her. "I bet you feel a lot better."

"Indeed," she replied. "We'll see how many eons it takes for my hair to finish drying, but at least right now it's only soaking my shirt a little bit."

"heh."

"There's a reason I called you MopHead as a kid," Barry remarked, causing Morgan to chuckle.

"And it still fits," Dana admitted. "I thought my hair would thin out and be less absorbent in my 40s, but...no."

"Your laziness might have paid off. I remember you dyed your hair sometimes, but I don't think you did it all that frequently."

"And I used to wash it every day when I lived down here."

"I'm gonna guess you needed to, though," Morgan jumped in.

"That's true. Florida living is a sweaty experience."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Barry said. "It's why I've been going for this buzz cut for the last decade or so."

"So," Morgan asked as he looked at Dana, "are we still going to West Palm Beach?"

Dana nodded. "Unless you had something else in mind."

"Hmmm...well, I was talking to your dad about going to Miami, but I'm not sure how long that will take."

"Most travel methods will take at least four hours round trip. I'm not sure we'll have time for it today. Maybe we can talk about it over lunch somewhere in West Palm Beach?"

"That sounds good. Are you about ready?"

"I gotta grab my camera gear, but I'm ready to go whenever."

"That works."

With that, Morgan stood up from the sofa to grab his wallet and phone. Another day of new travels awaited.