Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort by Chad Stewart (books suggested by bill gates txt) 📕

The week and a half after the end of school was pretty uneventful. He hung out with Sarah a few times and their other friend on the street, Evan. They had some pretty decent times together, but what all of them were really interested in was the trip his family was taking to Dust Valley Desert Oasis Resort.

“Look here!” Sarah exclaimed, as she pointed to the computer screen.

Dillon, their friend Evan, and her were all hunched over the table staring intently at the screen. They had decided that it would be cool to do some research on Dust Valley Desert Oasis Resort since it wasn’t a really well known attraction yet. Unfortunately, it was too expensive for the family budget to have ever allowed them to go; that is, until Dad won the trip.

“It looks like this is an awesome place for trail riding, swimming, and they have a ton of other cool activities,” said Sarah, trying to keep her voice down as she certainly didn’t want to call down the wrath of the librarian upon them.

“Ya, that is cool,” replied Dillon. “I also found, on the site that I was looking at earlier, that the resort is in the middle of the desert, but where it is, is nestled by a lush lake with palm trees, lots of green grass, and all sorts of vegetation. No one knows how this is possible, but there are many theories behind the mystery.”

Sarah glanced at her friend with interest, silently prodding him to go on. Evan perked up as well as soon as Dillon mentioned “mysteries.”

“Well,” Dillon started after clearing his throat. “Some believe that there was a magic spell put on the place by some sort of creature that helped a lost Indian tribe: the Tokala tribe. They say that the tribe was forced into the desert by a band of US soldiers back in the 1800’s. The survivors narrowly escaped being killed and found this valley. They were all but about to die of thirst when suddenly they saw a being show up whose robes were so white that they appeared to glow. Whatever it was shook the earth and water began to come up from below. Soon after, vegetation began to grow and the place revitalized. Apparently many geologists have searched around for an entrance to an underground spring, but no one has found it except maybe one.”

Dillon paused in his story telling for effect until Sarah finally burst out, “Who!”

He smiled before beginning his tale again. “I say maybe because there, apparently, was a famed and wealthy archeologist named John Taylor Sebastian who, in 2016 thoroughly explored the grounds. When he was about to give up it was reported that he disappeared, but no one saw him leave the area.”

Sarah gasped. Evan’s mouth hung open.

“That’s way more interesting than the site I found,” she replied.

“Ya, the news report I found said that his car and all the belongings were discovered at the place he was renting,” he continued. “There was a cryptic note stating that he had found something significant, but there were no details as to where he was going. His field pack with his equipment was also missing. Presumably, he took it with him to wherever he was going.”

“What did the note say exactly?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t know, as there was no information about it from the sources I checked because no one knows where the note went. Some even doubt if it actually really existed.”

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, trying to digest the creepy story.

Finally Evan asked, “So if John Taylor Sebastian actually found the entrance to the source of whatever is causing the Oasis to thrive, then that means he most likely died on his quest?”

All Dillon could do was nod slightly at Evan’s logic.

“Cool!” Evan exclaimed in amazement. Sarah punched him in the arm and scowled.

Dillon laughed. “I think the whole tale about the tribe fleeing for their lives, and the mysterious supernatural event that saved them was probably just made up. I checked other sources which suspect that the Oasis is only about five years old or so. At least that’s when the resort opened. The story was probably fabricated in order to bring more visitors. It’s pretty good marketing if you ask me.

“Then what about John Taylor Sebastian?” Evan asked. “Is that true?”

Dillon looked at them both, suddenly serious again. “Actually, that part is true. And the part about the other scientists trying to find the source of what gives the Oasis life is true too. There has been no record of this place existing until about five years ago as I said. This naturally piqued the curiosity of the scientific community who have had limited excursions, but nothing significant, as I said, has been found.”

“What do you mean by limited?” Evan asked as he was really getting drawn into the story now.

“Well the place is actually private property,” Dillon replied. “It’s owned by the Tokala Indian tribe—the same tribe from the story—who has allowed access to the premises to certain researchers, but they have not given complete permission to do what they want. The band also claims not to know how the Oasis began, which is why they let scientists come and investigate. They are probably interested in finding out why the Oasis is thriving so well.”

“That makes sense,” Sarah interjected. “They do have a business to run after all. And, even though they are probably curious, too much snooping around might disrupt things for them.”

She looked at Dillon right in the eyes. “You have to promise me that you won’t do anything stupid like going to look for this entrance,” Sarah stated sternly.

Dillon laughed again. “If most people—scientists—spend months or a couple of years trying to find this secret source, then how do you think I’ll find it in two weeks?”

“I don’t know,” Sarah responded as she sat back trying to digest the story. “But you tend to find things that others don’t. It’s actually kind of creepy.”

Dillon smiled, trying to reassure her without actually saying anything because, truth be told, he does end up stumbling upon things that others don’t. It’s really not his fault he thought to himself.

Despite what the origin of the Oasis was, the one fact remained: no one has ever found out when and where it came from. No one except maybe this John guy, and he’s been missing for a while now.