"Do you want chicken curry with rice, or beef stew with sweat potatoes?" he asked.
"Um, can I have the curry?"
He handed her the packet along with a spoon. Picking up the other packet, he showed her how to gently massage the packet to make sure the water was spread evenly throughout the mixture. He also had several energy dense food bars, and he ate one while he waited for the food to finish soaking up the water.
Then, as they opened the packets, the smell of curry and stew wafted out.
She ate a spoon full, then said, "Mmm, this is good! It's almost as good as what you can get at a restaurant."
"Yep. I like this brand. Pretty much all their freeze-dried meals are good."
They ate in silence, just enjoying the sun, cool breeze, and birdsong. In the background, they could also hear the faint burble of the brook that was the runoff from the lake.
They'd finished eating, and he was packing the empty, resealed food packets back into his backpack when Analise spoke.
