The+Germans



I woke up early this morning to see the Arizona sunrise. I got out of bed, made myself breakfast, and then put on my hiking boots and walked out side. I turned around to look at the rancher house I lived in. It was tiny, two bedroom, one and a half bath--nothing out of the ordinary. But it was home, and it would always be a place where I could go, however today I was going to monument valley. The valley was perhaps the most beautiful place in the world. The layers and spires of rock jutting out of the flat desert like a oak tree placed in the prarie by some otherworldly force. I got in my green jeep and started to drive towards the valley. As I passed over a hill in the road I saw those grand sculptures. The nooks and cranies of the spires reminded me of cut paper, or bone shards. I pulled my Jeep over and step out onto the burning gravel, shielding my face with my sunglasses and grabbing some water. I began to walk up the steepening path toward my favorite lookout point. I would just go there to sit and think with my feet dangling over the edge of the cliff of the canyon, hundreds of feet below. It was peaceful - and I felt that this was my home. I thought about the serenity as my feet ached hiking upward. I had gone 2.8 miles, read the sign. I looked at it confusedly - I had never seen this sign before. I had gone the wrong way. I turned around, and panic started to overcome me as I realized that I forgotten which direction I had come from. Then the clouds burst, sending forth a torrent of rain, like an angry explosion from the gods. Thunder crackled and as raindrops hit my toes, I realized that I was all alone. Being alone had never bothered me before, but things had been different lately.

Ever since my dog Champ died it has just been me in my house and it has just been me on these hikes. That dog was everything to me. I had gotten it right after I graduated college and gotten my job at the NPS. Champ loved to walk and he would always come with me. But now these walks were tougher on me, it felt like without Champ I didn't have a reason to walk, but what can I do to stop the wheel of time turning and turning.

I was soaked, I needed to find shelter and I needed to find it fast if I didn't want to get struck by lightning. Luckily I found a cave in the side of the mountain and it looked sturdy and safe to me. It was dry inside but I could tell that I was not the first person who had ever been in there. I saw a few cigarette butts in the corner and a plastic water bottle by the entrance. What had this world come to? I was disgusted by the sight of the litter and I did my part by cleaning it up. I only wish that others would do the same. The rain continued to fall and the thunder and lightning continued to crack and boom. As loud as it was outside I felt quiet in my cave.

As I sat there, I saw a figure in the distance. Not a human figure - the creature was too small for that. With a contorted countenance of confusion upon my face, I stood up slowly and walked to the figure. It was a dog, and he looked just like Champ. I patted his wet fur softly and led the dog into the cave with me so we could both be under cover. Off in the distance, I heard cries: "Mickey! Mickey! Where are you?" I hollered back to the person, "Hello?" A few moments later, a pretty young woman came running into the cave. "Mickey? Oh, thank God I found you!" she cried opon seeing her dog. "And sir", she replied to me, "Thank you for sitting here with him and keeping him dry." We stood up and walked down the hill together, and I hoped that I wouldn't be lonely for much longer.