INDIAN CREEK RETREAT

By: GABRIEL YOUNG

5/23/2018
 THE JOURNEY BEGINS

The laughter echoed through camping area as the four of us drank on through the night. Five
solid hours of binge drinking had caused our group to becoming giddy with storytelling. One by one we
went around the circle telling one tale after another, for what seem like hours. The night was perfect; you
could hear the small waves licking the banks as a strong southern breeze was coming in off the reservoir.
As the wind whipped, it began to blow smoke and embers from the fire in every direction. It was hard tell
if my eyes were crying from the laughter or from the fumes of our fire. I excused myself from the group
and stumbled away from the fire to relieve myself, as the drinks began to run right through me.

As I walked into the darkness, I noticed my trusty partner was with me. He was short in stature
but large in heart. His name was Scooter, a mixed breed and mutt of sorts, both rat terrier and cattle dog,
he made quite the companion. His oversized ears seemed awkward on his narrow face and his protruding
chest with lanky limbs made him seem more like a grey hound then a terrier. He would never leave my
side especially in an environment like this, dark and strange, nestled alongside the reservoir it made for
the perfect camp site. As I finished my business, Scooter and I made our way back to glowing fire.

“Well, I think it’s about time for me to turn in for the night”, Donnie’s wife exclaimed, trying to
put together a sentence through the fading laughter. “Same here, you boys have fun,” my wife added.
“Nah, c’mon you girls stay up with us, we are camping for Christ’s sake!” I argued, knowing that my
disagreement would fall on deaf ears. All Donnie could do was chuckle a bit to himself, he knew arguing
with these women would be a dead end for sure. And indeed it was, within minutes the girls had
shimmied off into their tents leaving the two of us and my trusty sidekick alone by the fire.

Now I had been friends with Donnie for some time, meeting him my freshman year of college, it
had been an ever evolving relationship for over thirteen years. We had some great times together, and
helped each other out through some pretty rough periods. I reached over to Donnie, patting him on the
back and said, “Ahhh screw em! Guess we’ll just have a guy’s night... Speaking of guy’s nights, do you
remember that time you got so drunk that you destroyed my barbeque pit!” “I do,” reply Donnie “but you
always leave out the part where I woke up then next morning and bought you and even better one… Hell,
I even put it together for you!” This was Donnie in a nut shell; he may do some really idiotic things, but
always puts the pieces back together the next day, most of the time, better than they were before.

Donnie and I conversed in the moonlight and as the waning fire began to die out. Fresh logs were
gathered for their ashy demise right as the clock rolled to just past midnight. Much like a werewolf
becomes transformed at the sight of the full moon, so to do I when the clock strikes twelve on a Friday
night. There something about the freedom of the impending weekend mixed with several hours of
copious drinking that tends to turn me into a risk taking adventurer. This night, even more so, with the
damp wind blowing, the fire raging, I suggested a “midnight run”.

As soon as I said those words aloud, Scooter immediately was called to attention. Like a young
cadet at boot camp, Scooter sat straight and rigid, his tail began to wag and his gaze fell upon me. There
was a wanting in his eyes and I could tell without even hearing him speak that he was up for the
challenge. “What’s a midnight run?” Donnie asked. “Why don’t you ask Scooter, he knows what I’m
talking about!” I said sarcastically. Scooter could barely hold in his excitement, he began to pace back
and forth around the fire, his gaze never leaving my face. “Basically, we go walk through the woods in

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the dark… right down that trail until we get tired,” I told Donnie. “If you don’t want to join me, Scooter
and I can go alone.” Donnie laughed and said “And let your drunk ass wander through the woods by
yourself, I think not, we wouldn’t see you or Scooter for the rest of weekend.” Sadly, he was probably
right.

Donnie slowly rose to his feet, arched his back and stretched his arms out above his head. “Well,
if we are going to do this… let’s do this!” he said, reaching for the head light he had stashed away in his
folding chair. I began to feel around in the dark for my flashlight, after a few seconds my hand finally
made contact with the cold metal. As I grabbed hold, I quickly stood up and put it in my back pocket.
“Lets do this!” I said as Donnie, Scooter, and I marched on into the night.

STRANGE NEW FRIENDS

The trail was a simple one, one way in, one way out. It would be hard to get lost with such a
simple objective. I knew there would be other campers out there, but my main goal was to get us down
the trail and back without making contact with anyone. As the group marched passed our cars, I turned to
look back at the fire, you could barely see it glowing as night began to creep up all around us. Donnie
and I fired up our flashlights, and like a bullet shot out a gun Scooter began running down the trail. He
lived for moments like this, truly he was a trail dog. He ran from side to side, to and fro, up and down the
trail only venturing about thirty feet in front of us. As he ran further now, I could barely see his small
white body in my line of sight. “SCOOTER!” I called with a deep cadence “COME HERE!” Like a
well-trained bird dog, he flew back towards Donnie and I and stood by me feet. “SIT!” I commanded,
and Scooter happily obliged. He enjoyed the training, he enjoyed receiving orders, and he enjoyed
pleasing his master. Indeed, he was a good dog, and an even better friend. I waved my hand in the air
and yelled “LETS GO!” and off he ran, side to side, to and fro, making his laps around the trail.

“Man you have that dog trained up pretty well,” Donnie said as we shuffled along the trail. Truly
this was what a “midnight run” was all about. I repeated this process over and over again as we walked
for a good ten minutes down the trail, letting Scooter run his laps and calling him back to my side when
he would venture to far. It was at around this time I heard music playing somewhere in the woods, it was
faint as first, but as we walked on the music grew louder and louder. Then I began to see the lights of
another campsite directly to our left, without knowing the situation I had already realized that there was
some kind of party going on.

In just that split second, I looked around for Scooter, but all I caught was his white tail dashing
off following the music. Crap, I thought, So much for not making contact with anyone. Donnie and I
followed quickly behind and eventually the campsite emerged, it was very well put together. They
seemed to be much more professional then we were with our primitive set up. The first thing that caught
my eye was colored lights, they were everywhere, strung from their cars to their tents, even into canopies
which overarched the entries to their dwellings. It provided a sort of mystical ambiance, like you were
somehow caught in the middle of a very noisy, inviting, Christmas tree. As I looked down, I could see
that outdoor rugs were set up at the foot of each tent and covered the area of the canopy. Cajun music
was playing out of a small Bluetooth speaker in the corner, while a colorful fire danced at the edge of the
water. Two large lounge chairs were under the canopy separated by a small but sturdy table complete
with an ash tray and a small plant. The guys had moved in to say the least and it appeared that Scooter
had already made friends with the two gentlemen at the campsite, licking their hands as they petted him.

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 “So sorry for the intrusion”, I called out “we were simply taking my dog for a run through the
trails.” “No, problem” one of the gentlemen called back, “you seem like you have a really nice dog here,
super friendly”. I replied, “Yea, he’s not to bad, I suppose… I’m Gabe by the way.” The man smiled and
reached out his hand, “I’m Joe and this is my buddy Derrick, this is our usual spot here at Indian Creek.”
Joe was a slender man, just over six feet in height, pale in color. He had dark glasses and a small, not
fully furnished go tee around his chin, and from my deduction appeared to be on the nerdier side. A kind
of man that could have a good time with a few beers, a bowl of marijuana, and a good game of Dungeons
and Dragons. Derrick on the other hand was a shorter squattier fellow, wearing a dark baseball cap. He
had darker skin and looked much more of Cajun decent then his friend Joe. Obviously, this must be his
choice in music.

We conversed a bit as Scooter made laps around the campsite, surveying the scene and getting the
lay of the land. It was clear even after a few minutes that there was something off about these fellows, I
couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but they seemed to be acting strange. Finally, Derrick outright said it
“Look, enough small talk, are you guys down?” as he pointed toward another small table in the back by
the tent I could see four small white lines carved out. Ah ha! No wonder these boys were acting so
strangely, drugs are involved.

I laughed a bit and looked at Donnie, “Well, I never turn down true charity when I see it, I can’t
speak for Donnie here, but don’t mind if I do!” As I reached for the curled up dollar bill in his hand, I felt
the excitement inside me growing. Cocaine… ey… I haven’t done this in a while. It had been some time
since I had done some blow, not since my time in New York, when this was a weekly occurrence. I
remember the feeling of it though. It happens within minutes, the drunkenness wears off, your senses
sharpen, and a sudden wave of energy pulsates though your body. Muscles tighten and stiffen, you feel
like a super hero.

Like a rabid animal, I slammed the curled up currency to the table and took one, powerful, draw
though my right nostril. I ran the edge of the dollar bill along the surface of the table looking through my
eye to make sure the powder was disappearing from the table. In one swift inhale, the line was gone. I
removed the bill from my nose, and with my left hand covered my left nostril, one… two… three… more
strong inhales, just to make sure it all got where I needs to be. “Damn,” Derrick laughed “this obviously
isn’t your first time.” I guess there was no hiding it, even to the more advanced of drug connoisseurs. I
passed the bill to Donnie, and he just looked at me with shrugging eyes and lumbered to the table. I knew
what he was thinking… “Fuck you Gabe! You always get us into this type of shit! But screw it, When in
Rome!” Donnie went ahead and accomplished his goal with one deep inhale. Then Derrick, then finally
Joe, poor Scooter looking onward from besides the fire.

As predicted, my drunkenness wore off, my senses sharpened, and sudden burst of energy
propelled the group’s conversation to new levels. We were speaking fast and with purpose, we began to
learn things about our new friends, like how Derrick was a song writer of some of the best local Cajun
music around, and how Joe and his wife come out to this same spot many times in one year to partake in
partying with family and friends. As I learned more about these gentlemen, the more I realized they were
not so much different then Donnie and I, both of us camping with their wives and looking for a adventure
after they significant others had gone to sleep. As the music and conversation continue, it seemed to me
that Joe was still acting off. He appeared to be in another world, and soon I would know exactly why.

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 BLAST OFF

I rose up from my seat under the canopy to investigate the camp fire and Scooter rose with me.
When I first walked up I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me but the fire seemed to be burning,
blue, green, and yellow in color. As I neared the colorful flame, I realized this was indeed true. The fire
danced in the damp air and provided an array of colors, Joe had followed me out to take a look as well.
He explained that they bring different oxidized metal powders to throw onto the fire to make it burn
different hues. Very cool, but what was this for? It was at that point, I was beginning to put two and two
together to give four… before I could finish my thoughts, Joe spoke up and said “Yea, I’ve been tripping
on acid all night. I love tripping out in the woods, but Derrick doesn’t like the feeling he gets when he’s
on it. It’s been lonely this evening traveling alone… You wouldn’t want to join me for a journey would
you?”

Now it made sense, the weird, spacey stares, the comments out of left field, and the colored
flames. Man the flames must give a great effect to the trip. Now I had done a lot more cocaine then I
had done acid and the few times that I had done it, all I can say is “enlightening.” But to truly blast off on
a trip, you have to be committed to the cause, once you get on this roller coaster there was no getting off.
I would be giving up control over what I was seeing, hearing, even believing at points. “Have you ever
done acid before?” questioned Joe. “Sure, I have and if you’re looking for someone to travel with, I’m
your man… hook me up brother!” I said with confidence. Sure it was going to be a wild ride, but once
again on Friday evenings after midnight, I can never turn down a good adventure. As I looked at Joe, it
was like seeing a young boy coming downstairs to find an array of toys on Christmas morning. Poor guy
had been alone in his mind, hallucinating for so long, by himself, I could only imagine how bad he
wanted someone to share in his vision. Joe ran off to his tent to grab the narcotic as I looked down at
Scooter, you could almost see his eyes rolling back in his head. He looked at me with a look of distaste,
his ears were back, and snout pointed towards the ground. I could read his mind “Veronika will not be
very pleased!”

Sure, my wife may be mad, but you can never pass up an opportunity to trip, especially for free!
I walked back to where Derrick and Donnie were talking. I interrupted there conversation “Donnie, you
up for a good acid trip? Joe said he has a few more doses, just wondering if your down to blast off this
evening?” He looked at me with a smirk, “No man, I think I’m going to pass on that one.” I knew what
he was thinking as well, “Gabe, you’re an idiot.” I said, “Look Donnie, just make sure I make it home
safe, who knows where my mind is going to be at in an hour or so.” He reached out his hand and gave
me a firm handshake, and with a deep, low tone, he said, “I got you man!” I knew in my heart he did,
which made me even more excited to truly let go and let the acid expand my inner thoughts and feelings
into livable breathable objectives.

I walked underneath the canopy once again with Scooter by my side. As I arrived, Joe was
holding a Ziploc bag with two foil squares. He gently took out the foil squares and unfolded one, there
within the midst of the crinkled aluminum sat a small white paper square. “Here you go!” Joe said, I
reached for the square and put it firmly under my tongue. Here goes nothing! Joe reached for his as well,
and swallowed it immediately. I let mine site for several minutes before eventually swallowing the small
bit of paper. Let’s see how far this rabbit hole goes…

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 I took my seat beside Joe on the lounge chairs, as I kicked the chair back I almost flipped right
out. “Damn, antigravity chairs!” I cursed. Joe laughed “I’ve never heard them called that before, but
your right they do feel that way.” Pretty soon, the conversation was off and rolling again, sports, music,
women, sports again, women again, typical male conversation. By this time, Scooter was all but
exhausted and since I had established a seat of residence, he took seat at my left side. He gently put his
head to the cool dirt and drifted off for a nap. The rest of us… quite the opposite.

Derrick had been missing for some time now, and I realized why as the dollar bill got shoved into
my face. “Go ahead! You got one more in you!” Damn right I did, two lines lines ain’t nothing for an
old pro like myself. I stood and headed over to the table where four more lines were drawn. Indeed this
would be a long night. I put my head to the table and once again in one swift snort the line was gone.
One… two… three… long inhales just to make sure everything made it in safely. As I handed the bill to
Donnie, we simply shared smiles. No words needed to be said, we had struck it lucky tonight.

It was around this time that I looked at my watch to see what time it was… 1:10 AM. OK, it had
probably been fifteen to twenty minutes since I took that acid, by my internal calculation this crap should
be kicking in, in about thirty minutes or so. By 2:00 AM I would be well on my way. It is important to
note the time when you’re tripping, an hour can feel like a minute, and a minute an hour sometimes.
Time can become distorted. As I took my seat once again, Donnie stepped to the middle of the circle and
said “Sorry to say this guys, but I need to take a shit… you boys got anything that can help me with that?”
The group laughed, and Joe stood up and pointed to a five gallon bucket with a small makeshift toilet seat
attached to the top. “Take this bag,” he said, “Just makes sure you tie it off when you’re done.” I can’t
believe that nasty bastard is going to shit right in their campsite! The conversation continued and as
Donnie came back to the circle we shared a sly gaze. How funny, come to my campsite, do my drugs, shit
by our tents, what’s next?

It was all fun and laughs but as I looked down at my watch, I could see the time was nearing 1:30
AM, as I kicked back my chair I began to gaze into the fire. It looked so beautiful with the different
flashes of yellow, green, and blue emerging from the center of the flame. As my gaze went skyward, I
saw it. Slowly the trees began to give a golden sheen. Like great Atlantis emerging from the depths of
the sea an amazing landscape was being produced. I looked over at Joe and said, “I don’t think I’m in
Kansas anymore!”

THE CITY OF GOLD

The city was enormous, as I looked around the changing landscape; the city went as far as my
eyes could see. I was no longer in the dank, swampy reservoir; I was in some kind of futuristic palace.
Donnie and Derrick had all but disappeared, except for the faint murmur of Cajun music that seemed to
exist so far in the past. The city was beautiful, huge sky rises of gold sequined with diamonds and jewels
of all types. It was a place of hustle and bustle as they were cars flying through the streets. No literally,
flying… each with its own level, the cars made their way through the maze of gold skyscrapers.

As my vision came more into focus, I could see that we were sitting atop some vast hill
overlooking this city; it reminded me of Olympus looking out upon a great space-age kingdom. The fire
had since been transformed into a bubbling fountain of many colors, and as I turned to look at Joe I saw I
was no longer in my t shirt and khaki shorts, but a white robe laced with golden trim. As my eyes

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narrowed, I saw Joe was wearing the same attire; he let out a godly laugh as fireworks exploded around
his head. The only phrase I could mutter was “How did you just do that with the lights?” He laughed
again and said, “You’re in my trip now… how do you enjoy the view?” I smiled and replied, “It’s
beautiful it really is, but where are we?” Joe simply said, “This is where I come to relax when I come
camping, I feel like a king perched up on this throne, overlooking my vast empire!”

It was at that point, which I realized I was literally in his trip, what he said was indeed correct.
As my eyes gazed across the kingdom once more, I couldn’t help but get a mild shiver crawling up my
spine. Now I had tripped before, but never had I ever tripped the same thing as someone else. This was
getting weirder by the minute.

As my mind began to panic, the golden city began to flutter a bit, popping in and out of existence.
As I lay back in my chair, I took a huge deep breath, and as I relaxed so too did the vision of this place.
“Be careful,” Joe said. “You don’t want to break the cocoon and shift out of this place” “Cocoon?
What’s that?” I replied. Joe then went on to explain:

“An acid trip works like a series of small universes that play off the macrocosm (your
real reality) each taking on the reality at one particular moment. Just like a caterpillar has
made his nest in the cocoon, by disrupting the small universe you may break through into
the next and shift your trip to a completely new universe… new sights, new surroundings.
You cannot avoid a cocoon breaking, but you can prolong it by staying relaxed and
focused.”

I was astonished! I had never heard it put quite that way before and in my alternative reality,
Joe’s words made an increasing amount of sense. “Just lay back and enjoy the scenery, it’s all about the
ride my friend,” Joe said. As I kicked back in the chair, I noticed Scooter was sitting upright looking at
the city as well. He was a regal beast indeed by this point; he looked more like an Egyptian dog god with
his slender body and large ears. He was no longer the tranquil, fun loving Scooter that I knew he was
something much more than that. I dared not call him; as I studied his posture a warm yellow glow began
to come around him, almost hugging him. For once I thought I was seeing him, for who he truly was, an
old soul, my protector, a speedy, crafty individual with his own life force.

I slowly reached out to pet my noble animal, and just as Scooter’s head turned towards me, his
aura vanished; it went dark. I looked up for the city and just like a flash of a camera it was gone. I lie
there in the damp recesses of the reservoir; Donnie and Derrick were sitting by the fire and Joe sat with a
smirk on this face. I looked up at him and just said “Cocoon!” Joe laughed, almost proud, “Now you’re
getting the hang of it!”

“How’s wonderland over there Alice!” Donnie called out to me, laughing. “You boys been on
some crazy adventure, we can barely understand what you’re talking about.” Joe and I just looked at each
other and hysterically laughed. Surely there was no time to explain where we had been or what it felt
like. I simply replied to Donnie, “10-4, good buddy, eagle one has landed safely back on planet earth.”
Donnie just rolled his eyes and continued his chat with Derrick. For a while, everything was back to
normal, I stood up and walked over towards Donnie and Derrick, Joe did as well. As I rose, so did
Scooter following always in my shadow. We conversed for a while around the fire, before I got the

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sudden urge to sit back down in the lounge chair. Joe followed closely behind, as I kicked back into the
chair, a strange feeling came over me, as I now knew what to call it, I was shifting!

EARTH’S EXIT

I looked down at my right arm and I could tell that I was in some sort of suit. Grey in color, and
some sort of weird mesh fabric. Unlike anything I had seen before. My arms were locked in my large
metal clamps, and as the vision came to fruition, I realized that I was sitting in a pod. I looked towards
Joe sitting next to me and already his face was changing, he was also locked in place wearing the same
uniform. I could see his much better; we had patches on our shoulders with gold wings overarching a
white triangle. No words were said, but I could almost hear Joe’s thoughts “Stay calm, we are meant to
do this.” As my eyes locked onto Joe’s, his face began to change, his ears became narrow and pointy
almost elvish in character. His eyes broadened, and skin became iridescent with blueish green scales
forming. I was scared to say the least, but I felt a sense of duty to the cause. We were doing this for
someone else, that someone; I had no clue who it was.

As my vision widened, I realized there were hundreds of us, all in pods. I had deduced that we
were on some sort of space shuttle, a UFO type structure to be exact. I only knew this because the pods
were forming a large circular pattern, almost like we were position on the inside of the outside shell of a
disc. Suddenly, the lights kicked on in the center of the disc, and I felt an unnerving sensation of gravity
pushing me back against my pod. The space shuttle was taking off!!! No, no, no! Where are we going!
Terrified, I began to breathe fast and erratically, I looked over at Joe and he had a calming smile on his
face, without words being spoke I heard in my mind “Relax, your waking up.”

For a moment, I thought that I had somehow broken through the earthly plane and this was our
actual reality. Much like the matrix, we are all just aliens on a space shuttle traveling through to start a
life on a new planet. As my new reality set in, one of the aliens came up and unlocked my arm clamps.
He grabbed my hand, and began to speak “Shake it off man!” I shook my head frantically back and forth,
back and forth, with my eyes closed. When I opened my eyes, there was Donnie right in front of my face,
grasping my hand. He laughed and said “Eagle one, come in eagle one!”

“Cocoon!” I yelled, and Joe heartily laughed. “Wew! Damn! I really thought we were leaving the
planet there for a minute.” I looked over at Joe and said, “Damn dude, this is some good stuff.” I went
over to Donnie and thanked him for pulling me out of my vortex. I had lost myself for a minute there, I
forgot that I was even on acid and really believed I was on a space shuttle. I called out “Scooter!
Scooter!” he just jumped in my lap and started licking my face. I laughed like a little school girl, I was so
happy to see him, to know he was alright, to know that I was alright. I stood up and shook my arms and
legs, trying to shake the insanity out of my body one way or another.. Ahh, just shake that shit off!

I looked down at my watch, 2:30 AM just about two hours since first taking the acid. I knew
damn well, I had another four hours to go and to be honest I just wanted to safety of my own campsite.
Scooter jumped up and down, hitting me in the chest with his paws. I said “You ready to go boy?” He
took off running towards the exit of the campsite as if to signal to me time to go home. “OK boy, we will
go home in a little while.” I said. I knew the next shift would be along within the next ten to fifteen
minutes and wanted to try and make it to our campsite before another wave hit.

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 Joe looked up from his lounge chair, he was almost sad to see us getting ready to leave but
Donnie agreed, it was time to get back to our wives. We had left them at the campsite alone, and its best
we go check on them. We said our goodbyes, and we thanked the gentlemen for their charity. As I
reached for my flashlight, Joe spoke up:

“Just remember Gabe, the most important part about an acid trip is to remember that your
on acid. If you just know it’s the drugs making you hallucinate then you can control your
trips and really have a good time with them. Just relax! You’re going to have an amazing
night!”

As I walked away from Joe and Derrick, there was a bit of sadness inside my heart. They were
good-hearted people; those guys weren’t that bad. Funny how society may consider them to be menaces,
getting people high and all. I saw through that, both were givers and one was a traveler like myself.
Ready for the adventure, if it so bemuses itself. As Donnie and I walked to the main path and took a
sharp right, we flashed on our lights and it was about that time that I heard the planes flying overhead, the
bullets whizzing by my ears. I had shifted, and this didn’t look good.

THE WAR IN THE FOREST

Bullets flew and flares burst, we were in the middle of all-out battle. I looked down at my legs
and once again my wardrobe had changed, now I was wearing military green with shiny black boots. I
looked to my left to see Donnie wearing the same with a large spotlight mounted to his helmet. “It’s right
this way,” he said with a sort of confidence that inspired me to look forward. I saw Scooter he was out on
my right flank about twenty feet ahead. I shined my flashlight at him, and he immediately darted left.
Obviously he was on the trail of something.

As I pieced the scene together, I knew where we were at, the highlands of Germany, in the middle
of World War II. The forest was infested with soldiers, and Donnie and I were leading a team of
American rangers through the thick of the woods. As I looked to my left again, my view widening, I saw
the rest of our team, all outfitted in green military uniforms, all wearing shiny black boots. Holy shit, we
really are at war! Shit Scooter! I looked around for him, but all I heard was the screaming and yelling of
men getting spoiled upon the battlefield. For a moment, I took cover behind a bush, the bullets; they
would not stop flying around my head.

Donnie pulled me out of it, “Gabe, get your ass up, call your dog man!” The bullets faded, the
lights in the sky darkened. I stood up, rigid backed… “SCOOTER!” I called. “SCOOTER! COME
HERE!” Nothing. I couldn’t even hear movements in the distance. The Germans must have got him! I
called again, “SCOOTER!” I was beginning to panic now. My trusty partner, he had been with me the
whole time, I couldn’t lose him like this. I ran forward and gave one more final call… “SCOOTER!!”
Then I heard him, to my right, the brush shook, and up upon the ridge he came. He flew over the last tree
and caught sight of my flashlight. He was in full sprint to me. I took a knee and received him with open
arms, his mouth licked my face. “Oh my God, I thought I lost you,” I said, my eyes welling up with tears.
As I rubbed his back, I could here Donnie “We are almost there man just a little further.”

As I diverted my gaze towards Donnie, I could see he was only about ten feet ahead. Scooter and
I followed closely after, “Where are we?” I asked Donnie. “Dude, we are back.” he said. And sure

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enough as I looked forward I could see the tender glow of the campsite, both tents in tack. Scooter made
laps around the campsite, still enraged from the romping though the forest he just went on. I shook off
my vision and began to cocoon once again. Then I saw clearly, yes we were back at our campsite. Damn
I thought I could make it back without another wave, apparently I was wrong. Donnie looked over and
said, “Look man, I’m hitting the sack, I’ll be up early, just make sure to have breakfast ready for me!”
His eyes twinkling in the moonlight. I said “Thanks, for getting me home OK brother, I owe you one! Of
coarse I’ll have breakfast ready, eggs, sausage, and bacon, the usual right?” “Exactly,” Donnie
responded, “Don’t wander off again! I won’t be there to save your ass this time.”

As I watched Donnie stumble into the tent to meet his wife, I thought I should probably do the
same, just to make sure she was alright. I knew I was still going to be tripping for a while, but I had to let
her know I was home. As Scooter and I stumbled to the tent, I could here Veronika purring “You home?”
“Yes,” I replied, “I think Scooter and I are going to sit out a bit longer, I don’t want to disturb you, I’m
still pretty messed up and don’t feel like going to sleep quite yet.” “OK, just come give me a kiss first.” I
could feel the warmth of my wife’s lips upon mine as I bent over to kiss her on the air mattress. Man this
feels amazing. It was as human as I had felt for a long time. I had gazed at Olympus, been shuttled into
outer space, fought a world war, hell it had felt like years had gone by in the matter of a few hours, yes,
finally this felt right. This was my life. My wife, my dog, my life! For a second, I remembered what it
was like to be Gabe.

I wanted to stay in that moment forever, but I knew the tent was no place for me. I would only
aggravate Veronika trying to sleep with my trippy nature at this point. I quarantined myself to around the
fire, for now at least until the acid wore off enough so I could catch some sleep. “Leave Scooter,” She
said, as I walked out of the tent. “OK,” I said, reluctantly. We had been through so much; I really
wanted him to be with for the rest of my trip. And quite honestly, I didn’t want to be alone.

I shuffled on outside, but to my surprise I wasn’t alone. A deep, measured voice greeted me
“Come we have much to tell you!”

THE ENLIGHTENED ONES

At first, I couldn’t make out who was speaking but as I took a few steps forward my vision got
clearer. It was middle age man, medium in stature; he was sitting in one of our chairs by what was left of
the dying fire. His head was bald, and upon his face he wore a long, well-groomed go tee. “Come, sit,”
the man said. As I approached the circle, the entire place gave off a warm blue glow, resembling a halo.
As I entered the calm, blue light, I could see there were others seated around the fire as well. As I sat
down and took place within the circle, I couldn’t help but think this was some type of elder’s council.
Each one had done something to become enlightened during his or her life, and I was lucky enough to be
among them.

As the man began to speak, a certain calmness came over the group, we tuned our ears towards
his teachings and listened with great reverence:

“You must first understand, before you can know, and you must then know before you
can understand greater teachings. Like this, the ladder of knowledge and understanding

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 is built. Much like a painter must climb to the rooftop one step at a time, so to must you
use these two gifts to ascend the enlightened plane.”

He then went on to say:

“While knowledge and understanding are the building blocks of enlightenment, they are
merely weapons that must be forged through experience. A man may wield a claymore,
or a dagger, but without the training to use either, they are worthless. The claymore will
be too heavy to swing, and the dagger too small to pierce. It is wisdom that teaches each
of us how to wield our weapons, and it is only through this greatest gift that the others
will come full circle, and benefit others along their path.”

As I listened to him preach these words, chills ran down my spine. Not because, I had just
learned a new truth, but because I had already known that truth, somewhere deep within the recesses of
myself. As the members of the circle began to converse about the details of this teaching, I could hear a
rustling off in the distance. As my eyes widened, I could see that my tent was shaking. Scooter, he must
be freaking out because he wants to be outside with me.

I excused myself from the circle and returned to my tent to gather my companion. As I unzipped
the tent, I heard Veronika say, “Take him outside, he’s going absolutely insane in here.” Before I could
get the tent unzipped fully, Scooter burst through the slip and began running around the camp fire. “I got
him,” I said, and quietly zipped up the tent.

As I returned to the circle, the enlightened ones were still there, their eyes seemed to follow me as
I moved though the circle. I called Scooter over, and he sat beside my feet. As I ran my hands through
his white and black fur, I could feel his body trembling. He must still be worked up from that run through
the woods earlier. I gently stroked the sides of his neck calmly saying, “Relax… relax…” As my energy
calmed so did his, and gentle yellow glow surrounded him as it did before by the city of gold. His
breathing calmed, and he began to lay by my feet. The man with the go tee then spoke up once more:

“You see Gabe; we are all made of energy. An action almost always elicits a reaction,
and so on, and so forth. By you calming your energy, so to, did Scooter calm his. By
melding our energy levels together, we can better understand those beings around us,
whether that be animals or humans alike.”

Before I had a chance to respond, I could see the faces of the enlightened ones and the man at the
center beginning to fade away. Like dust being washed away by a strong wind, they vanished piece by
piece, the blue halo faded, and Scooters aura vanished. As quickly as it had come, it had gone. Damn, I
was just getting some good information out of him! I sat there with Scooter in the night; he lay by my feet,
finally asleep.

The crickets chirped, and I could still hear the faint sound of waves crashing against the shores of
the reservoir. I took a deep breath, thinking this roller coaster ride had to be over by now. I just sat and
stared for a few minutes, and decided to light up a cigarette, I had almost forgotten about them… I hadn’t
had one all night. This will definitely calm me down. My heart was still racing from the events I had been
through, and as I lit up my cigarette, I looked down at the fire. It was changing; the glowing embers were
turning into something more liquid. Crap! It was lava!

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 THE END OF DAYS

Lava had begun bubble up from the ground, right where the dying embers used to be. Before I
could analyze further, a sharp wind hit me right under the ears and sent shivers through my body. My
back was to the water, and I felt a darkness creeping up behind me. My eyes seem to focus directly on the
emerging lava. Wow, this is getting creepy. Then I heard them, snakes, thousands of them. I could hear
there hissing, and the shoreline made an eerie sound as their belly’s slithered across the silty dirt. I
turned, expecting to see an entire herd of them… Nothing! The sound stopped, the feeling of dread faded.
I turned my head back to the magma ridden ground, and I heard them again, hissing and slithering. I
could feel them approaching, like when you can feel someone staring at you from behind. I turned once
again, nothing! As I turned again towards the lava, I felt them beginning to pull at me, like a thousand
tiny hands grabbing at my arms and legs. It felt as though they were pulling me towards the water. I
finally stood up and shook my entire frame. Get off me! I walked towards the water to get a closer look.
What the hell is going on!

“Feeling a bit out of sorts,” an unnerving, shrill voice spoke up “why don’t you come have a s-
seat.” I was almost afraid to look, but as I did I saw him, an attractive gentleman, about six feet in height.
He was sitting cross legged in the chair across from me wearing a black robe trimmed in a deep blood red.
He had long golden hair, and fair light skin. “S-surely you know who I am,” said the man. Surely I
didn’t, but I knew that he was pure evil; his coming had almost made me jump out of my skin. “Come
see my friend, I have a proposition for you.”

As I sat down across from him, I looked down at the magma bellowing from the ground, “Do you
see your kingdom?” he said slyly. As he said this, an entire city emerged, around the lava; it appeared to
be a medieval civilization drawing their power from lava within. As time elapsed, the kingdom began to
come of age, I could see the medieval town was now a twentieth century community. Cars rode around
and small planes flew through the air. As time elapsed further, it turned into a futuristic town, space
shuttles riddled the air and large floating building caressed the skyline.

I looked up at the man and his eyes were glowing red. So fiery! “This can all be yours,” he
muttered, “Since the beginning of civilization to the end of this world, you will be ruler over all, and the
peasants, the dear peasants, they will be under your control and authority.” It was at that point I realized
who I was talking to, the fallen angel himself, Lucifer! Realizing his game, I promptly responded “Why
do I want something that is going to die, this kingdom will die, and when it does… so will you!” I
continued on, “Things you promise are nothing more but false truths, and you, with your lies and deceit,
are a false prophet. I know the truth, and my favor lies with Him and His favor with me!”

As I said these words, he vanished from my sight, falling like a pile of dust within the chair. I
heard a loud and shrill scream behind me and earth began to shake violently. As I turned, I looked up
towards the moon and it was surrounded by a blood red halo. It pulsated and got brighter, then darker,
brighter, then darker, like the beating of a heart. As I looked around the lake, I could see the trees were
beginning to have a red outline as well, all pulsating together.

As I walked towards, the reservoir, sharp and purposeful wind blew, hitting me in the face. It was
then that I felt it, as I had felt the snakes before. Something was coming. I couldn’t see anything, but I
felt it on approach, it was a fire. Not like a fire that licks in the wind, but a massive object made of fire,

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like a huge mass of hard magma. It slowly approaches, and as it got closer I could feel my skin beginning
to warm up. By the time it reached the shore, I could feel my skin beginning to burn; I could almost feel
my arm hairs started to singe away. I stood there chest out, with a blind sense of confidence, I was not
afraid. As I felt my skin begin to burn, I heard a loud and booming voice “WHO AM I!” With a
commanding tone I shouted, “You are the Truth, You are the Light, You Are Who Am, You are God!”

In an instant, it all went away. My skin felt cool, the pulsating red backdrop had all but gone
away and gave way to a beautiful sun kissed night skyline. I looked down at my watch, 5:30 AM. Holy
crap, I had been up all night! I looked down and the fire once again had turn to glowing embers, birds
were beginning the chirp as dawn was fast approaching. I looked down at Scooter, still sleeping by my
chair. He seemed so peaceful; hopefully peace would come to me soon as well.

REALITY SETS IN

As the sun began to grace the sky, I kicked back in the chair by the smoldering remnants of the
fire. I took out my cigarettes, slowly drew one from the pack, and proceeded to set it aflame. I took in a
long deep drag, and as I did my head seemed to spin. Man I wonder what Joe and Derrick are doing
right now. I took in another long inhale. Man this feels good. With each drag I took, I seemed to go into
a type of flashback:

Ah! The city of gold, so beautiful, so peaceful. Joe you really had the right idea. How
intense, leaving earth in that space shuttle, I almost lost myself. Damn Germans! They
almost got Scooter, but man I was so happy to see him. Buddha, so wise with his words,
you taught me so much. Lucifer, so quick with your tongue but false with your speech.
And God! So powerful with his movements, and how direct he with his word. He only
wanted to be sure that I knew Him.

As I looked across the reservoir, I could almost feel like decades had passed. I had been gone for
so long, even though it had just been for a night. As I thought this, I could hear rustling in Donnie’s tent.
With a swift zip, he was out… “Gabe! How are you my man.” I said not a word, instead I held out my
pack of Marlboros. With a sly grin, he reached for the sticks, “Rough night, huh?” his voice was true in
tone. “You don’t even know the half of it,” I said, with the taste of tobacco on my lips, “Come have a
cigarette with me.” As we sat, he looked over at me, “Dude! Talk about trashed those guys, huh, totally
blow their party up at their campsite, do their drugs, shit in their camp, then just fucking leave. Like a
bunch of pirates!” I couldn’t help but start hysterically laughing. “Your so right brother! We totally were
like pirates!”

As we sat there smoking and laughing, not a word was said. He could tell that I was strung out.
We sat in silence, just exchanging the occasional sly glance. As I looked to the reservoir, a sudden
drizzle of rain began to fall. It felt cool upon my skin, and I invited it. Such a calming feeling, after such
turmoil; it seemed right to me. I stood up and raised my arms to the sky, inviting the rain to wash me
clean from my experiences. Donnie just looked on, not saying a word. As I sat back down in my chair,
he grasped my right shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you I’d be up early, where the hell is breakfast?”

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