Adirondacks

Water gurgling along, the wind whispering through tall hemlock pines, swaying the giants back and forth as they creak and dance in the moonlit night. A low hanging fog huddles over the swift moving water entangling her frame like smoky fingers. She sits upon the granite rocks within the narrow mountain stream with her dark brown hair secured by a green bandana, it was one of her favorite accessories because it had belonged to her Papa. He had used it to wipe the sweat of his brow while working the land of his cow farm in upstate Vermont. Her eyes sparkled as the moon shone off her smooth tan face. She tilted her head upward and he could see her smile at him.

Then a bright flash of light…

The sun flaring into his eyesight. He looked back up, using his hands to shade his eyes, there was no one on the granite rocks.

He had come here 2 years ago with Kalen and they had camped out on this mountain stream, hiked the summit of several High Peaks and enjoyed the enchantment of the Adirondack wilderness. Life was joyous then, no concern about the next day, just enjoying each moment.

The stream bed was all dried up now, choked with dried leaves and strewn with the shattered skeletons of the giant hemlocks. The sun beat down on the granite stones now with no shade from its glaring stare. The man hadn’t seen water in over 5 days and he had drunk the last of his supply two evenings prior. The desire for thirst was heavy upon him but the sense of loss was even greater.

Kalen had been there for a moment; he could have walked across the water and reached out and touched her. Maybe hallucinations were setting in now. The man stumbled up the rocky trail until he found refuge behind a massive limestone speckled boulder. He found a comfortable spot on a bed shaped polished rock and lay upon its cool surface. He’d wait until the afternoon heat waned and then continue the search for water.

Fire hurtling across the night sky, smoke trailing its rapid trajectory, followed by an atomic explosion, knocking one back tens of yards with a sonic boom so large that all you heard was deafening silence. There was no time to react. There was no time to say goodbye. Time was gone…

Startled awake with his coughing, the ravine was filled with thick grey smoke. He could feel the heat blazing from behind, quickly moving up the stream bed feeding off the littered path of dead trees. The man began scrambling over the rocks hoping to out run the blaze but he wasn’t sure he’d be so fortunate this time.

To Be Continued…