Daily Free-Write September 18, 2020

"Hello weary travelers, can I interest you in a dip in our world famous rejuvenating hot springs?"

Alex and his buddy Chad wiped their brows. Carrying their heavy hiking bags all day left them a sweaty mess, and a dip in the hot springs *did* seem tempting.

"Come now," said the man, whose traditional clothes made him seem almost plucked from another time. "Why not rest those weary bones? It's not expensive, and I can guarantee you'll feel years younger. I'm 88 years old, if you can believe it!"

Alex and Chad were stunned, staring at the man whose hair had only just begun to show a hint of gray.

"No way," said Chad. "You've gotta be bullshitting me." 

"Think I'm a liar, do you? Why don't you try it and see?" the man said, with a grin clearly meant as a challenge.

"Hey, chill out, man," Alex said, putting his hand on Chad's shoulder. He looked back at the old man. "Sure, we'll try it out. How much is it?"

"Excellent. Right this way. You won't regret it!" 

They were led back along the side of the hotel, over a wooden walkway lined with cherry trees on one side, through a beautiful garden, and to a low squat building. 

"Those rooms overlooking the garden are the guest rooms. We are quite popular, and are usually booked up, but with travel the way it is these days, we have more vacancies than usual. These are the men's changing rooms, on the other side are the women's. Please leave your clothes inside, and take a towel and a pair of slippers. Have a rinse, and then follow the walkway to the springs!"

"Thanks, old man," said Alex, with a bow. 

"If this doesn't make me feel younger, I want my money back! Oof!"

Alex elbowed chad in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him"

"Sorry about that. My friend here isn't familiar with your ways. Please take no offense."

"I'll let the water speak for itself," the old man chuckled, and he walked back toward the front of the hotel, presumably to rope in the next passers-by.

It was only after he was gone that Alex realized he had never paid the man. 

"Don't worry about it," said Chad. "They probably just take payment after or something. I don't know how they do it here. At worst, we'll just have a free dip in the springs! Now let's get changed. I'm ready for that dip!" 

The hot springs were indeed impressive. The old inn had clearly endeavored to preserve their natural form, as they were lined with natural rocks and boulders. The steam rose off the water giving everything a hazy dreamlike quality. 

Alex blushed as Chad removed his towel. He was instantly hard, and didn't know how he was going to hide his embarrassing reaction at seeing his friend in the nude.

"Cannonball? I'm gonna cannonball it," said Chad.

"No, no! Hold on!" said Alex, grabbing Chad before he could do that.

"You don't know how hot it is! Or how deep. You have to go in slowly."

"Ugh, fine. We'll try it your way. But tomorrow we're going cliff diving, and you're gonna do a cannonball too." 

Alex did his best not to stare at his friend's junk. He may have been a lunk headed oaf, but he was hung like a bull. He knew he shouldn't be thinking this way about his friend. 

"Hey, bro! Are you coming in or what?"

Chad was already lowering himself into the water. 

"S-sure!" great. How was he going to get out of this one? Alex turned away from Chad and stepped backwards into the springs, slowly getting down into the water.

Chad slapped his ass, causing him to yell in surprise, before quickly covering his mouth, and looking around.

"You shy, or something? Don't be such a girl. It's just us!" 

Chad laughed as his friend slipped the rest of the way into the water, covering his chest and blushing. 

"Hey bro, stop covering up your boobies! You're here to relax, remember?"

"I'm not a girl," huffed Alex. 

"Okay, whatever you say...girl!" 

Chad busted up again, but even Alex couldn't stay mad for long. Not with the hot water doing wonders on their sore muscles. 

"Oh man, I'm so relaxed. That old man may have been full of shit, but this is just what I needed," said Chad. 

"Yeah," said Alex, laying back against a boulder with his eyes closed. 

"How long have we been in here anyway?" asked Chad.

"I don't know, dude," said Alex. 

A voice called out from the mist. It was the old man.

"It's been over an hour, young men. You'll want to get out soon. The effects of the hot springs can cause problems if you stay in too long!"

"Thanks, old man." called Alex, who started to get out of the water. 

"Hey, man, what's the big rush?" asked Chad. "Let's rest a while longer. He's not gonna come drag us out."

"No, chad. We've gotta get going!" 

"Aww, man."

When they were out of the water, Alex stole another glance at Chad's package. He was surprised to see that it seemed a bit smaller than it had been. 

"Dude!" said Chad, causing Alex's eyes to snap up to his friend's face. 

"That old man was right! I mean, I wasn't old to start with, but I do feel younger!" 

And Chad looked quite a bit younger too. He could almost be mistaken for a teen! But maybe that was just the haze. 

"Yeah, now that you mention it." said Alex, rubbing his chin, which was now strangely absent of stubble. "Nah, that's silly. That old man just got in our heads."

They got dressed and found the man standing in front of the inn. 

"Well, boys, what did I tell you? You look look like a million bucks! How do you feel?"

"I feel great!" said Chad. 

"Yeah, thanks old man, said Alex. "I see why this place is famous. It almost seems like it really does rejuvinate you. My clothes even feel a little baggy on me, which is weird because I just bought them before this trip..." 

"Yes, yes, now you see why it's so famous. Uh, that'll be $10 each. Of course, if you decide to stay in one of our lovely rooms, that cost would be deducted from your bill..."

Chad and Alex looked at each other. That old man sure was pushy. Alex tried to think of a polite way to say no. 

He handed the cash over, and said, "Uh, I'll think about it, old man. Here you go."

Unfortunately, once they got back to the bus station, they discovered that their system was down and they were only accepting cash. 

They tried to go to an ATM, but there were none and the local bank was closed for the day. To make things worse, there was no other reliable transportation out of town, short of a very expensive taxi ride back to the big city. 

"I thought this country was supposed to be high tech!" Chad complained. 

"Well, you wanted to see the countryside. Here we are!" said Alex. "Maybe we can go back to that Inn and ask about their room rates. It's gotta be less than a taxi."

"I knew you'd be back!" said the old man, rubbing his hands together. "I had a feeling!" 

He gave them a room at a reasonable rate, and pointed them to the market that the inn also ran, in case there were any necessities that they needed. 

They noticed there was a surprisingly large selection of diapers in all sizes, but Alex had read that this country had a very large and active elderly population so he chalked it up to that. That night, after a satisfying dinner prepared by the hotel and brought to their rooms, they rolled out their mats on the floor and settled in. "What the fuck man?!" said Alex, waking Chad up in the middle of the night.

"Hey, keep it down. I was having a nice dream!" said Alex, who had in fact been dreaming of his friend slipping under the covers with him.

"Alex. I-I think I wet the bed man. I don't understand how this could have happened. I haven't done this in years!" 

"Hey, shh. Calm down. These walls are literally made of paper. People will hear you." 

"I need a shower. I can't believe this happened!" 

"Maybe you should pick up a package of pull ups from the store?" Alex suggested, holding his palms up.

"This isn't funny, dude," whispered Chad. I'm going to take a shower in that changing room and then take a dip in the hot springs. I need it."

"Hey, I don't think we're supposed to do that after dark, man. Anyway, the old man said only one hour at a time and only once a month. He was very clear about that."

"Look, man. You do what you want. I'm going."

Chad threw off his blankets revealing a huge wet spot on the mat. That wasn't going to be cheap. Alex didn't want to get in trouble but he also didn't want to leave Chad to his own devices. Who knew what kind of trouble he'd get into next? 

"Alright, alright, I'm coming. But just for the record I think this is a bad idea!" said Alex, throwing on some pajamas.

"Yeah, man. Whatever." 

Chad stepped out into the garden, and Alex nervously followed.