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PeaceLove
Feliz Super Mardi Gras a todo mundo!
Crossroads Two Death (short story written, edited, within 50 min time limit)
Kneeling at the crossroads, Taachiinii clasped the turquoise stone. He knew it was his grandmother’s. He feared for her life.
Taachiinii picked up his pace as he returned to track the company of people and soldiers. His heart raced, pounding loudly in his ears with each step striking the earth like a mallet beating a drum. His emotions slashed up and down. He worried about his family. He hated what the soldiers did. He seethed with anger and boiled with rage scheming with intensity for what lay ahead of him. He wondered if he could do it.
Rising over the hill ahead of him he could see a cloud of dust drifting to the East. The caravan is close. He steadies his steps and glances from left to right scanning the landscape. Where could he go to get a hidden vantage point?
He spied an outcropping with a few trees at the top of the mesa. He could get a good look without being seen. He crept up the slope balancing both his feet and his heart for what he would view.
Maasaani (grandma) is trying her best to stay warm and stay up with the chain gang of Indians parading between the mesas for a place outside their homelands. This was not the first time Maasaanii ventured outside the four sacred mountains. She escaped with her parents once before when the Mexican and White settlers attacked her clan. “War is horrible,” she posed. But retaliation was more cruel. She recalls the ghastily corpses that she step around when the clan reacted with vengeance on the first attack. She could hardly keep the memory from stanching up her mind. The grotesque poses of the cadavers. She can still smell the odor of death. She would have lingered over the dead but she hit her toes on rocks under the snow. Her feet were cold. Her toes are numb. But she can’t stop. She doesn’t want to be left behind like the others who may not make it through the night. That’s when she noticed the stone was missing. Where did it fall? She checked her clothing. She padded her hair. It was gone.
Taachiinii held his breath as he carefully moved up to the trees. He took shallow breaths as he stole into the group of cedar trees. He moved slowly to remain undetected. He was afraid that the soldiers would see his breath. So he tried to move in slow motion to take a scan of the troops and his clan. He clutched the turquoise stone with all his might hoping to conjure magical powers to be invisible while he stole a glance.
Masaani knew there was something happening. Which way are they going. The soldiers were pointing in different directions. “That’s good.” “I can catch my breath.” She hoped it would take more than a few minutes. Then she saw her chance.
She squinted to see in the shadows a crevice where a person could hide. You’d have to push way back in. But you could hide. She glanced around. The soldiers were still undecided. She wondered if she should take the risk.
Taachiinii squinted to try to telescope a better look at the group milling around. He could make out those of his clan. There were many others. Yet he couldn’t see his Masaani. He took a slow breath in. He wondered if he should take the risk and go in and try to get her.
Both stood at the crossroads of war.
