Through The Rift (as told by Scotty) by John Stormm (buy e reader .txt) 📕

camp site and move up the ridge to gather fistfuls of the juicy purple berries and drink a bit more cool water from our bottles.

      Moving back into the forest, Stormy follows a tributary stream to a rise in the land where it drops about eight feet along a shale ledge into a sandy bottomed pool. The rest of the day, I felt like one of the lost boys chasing a grown up Peter Pan through the woods and swinging on the rope of his grappling hook over a waterfall and playing like a kid. I almost wanted to cry and pout when it was time to go home but the sun was getting low in the sky and I damned sure didn’t want to see what might prowl these woods at night. Stormy agreed and since he had the sword, I figured he knew best. Besides I still had a plane to catch and be at work tomorrow.

      I had one frightening moment on the trail back to Kidron, when Stormy sort of faded away on the trail in front of me. He was about 8 to 10 feet in front of me and then he wasn’t. There is only the one trail and the woods are thick here so I run for a bit in the direction we were heading and run right into him. He was there, and then he wasn’t and then he WAS. It was like running into a bloody tree. Damn that hurt but it was so good to see him, I decided not to be too riled with him for losing me like that. He pointed to his watch which was now counting seconds and I noted mine was working too, but it was only a little after 4:00pm and I could swear we were watching the sunset over the western part of the lake only moments before. We had plenty of daylight left but if anything it was beginning to feel hotter.

     “What’s all this mean?” I asked, tapping the crystal on my Rolex.

     “It means we’re back in our own plane again,” he replied. “We’ll want to get across Kidron and cool you off before the bugs here find you again.”

     It would be good to feel the air conditioning in the car again and I still had some people to visit before I caught a flight out of here. Sure enough, the deer flies and mosquitoes had to have another little taste of me before we made it to my rented Lexus.

     Back at the apartment, Stormm took my pebbles to the kitchen sink and put a diamond bit in his Dremel tool and carved runes into each of them under the running water.

      “Isn’t that dangerous?” I ask, pointing out that he was using an electric tool in a stainless steel sink with running water.

      “It tickles a bit,” he said as he continued carving, “but I’ll be done with these before my hands start to get sore from it all. No big deal.”

      It seems he said the same thing about handling the sticks in the cooking fire. Since his hands were only in the flames a little while, it was no big deal. I’d have thought him crazy as a loon, but there wasn’t so much as a blister on his fingers. So what could I say? As long as I’ve known him, he has never seemed to operate by the same set of rules as the rest of us. He has his limits, but never where you expect them to be. He finished my runes in short order and we celebrated our day by relaxing in the cool airiness of his living room over our traditional libation of tea and blackberry brandy. Before I left, I unloaded a couple inexpensive birthday gifts upon my good friend before he could object. They were items I knew he had use for as the items they replaced were in poor repair. He gave me a friendly bear hug and no complaints. Sometimes it can be a real chore getting around his guard to just do a little something for this man. I get the impression that it makes him really nervous when people start to get too close. He once told me it was a matter of only days after Jesus of Nazareth made his triumphal entry into the Beautiful Gate in Jerusalem and received a hero’s welcome that the same crowd called for his crucifixion. John is no ’Jesus’ to be sure, but he’ll be quick to point out that they burn witches. Don’t they?

      I spent the whole trip back contemplating how incredibly HUGE the universe must be. It was bloody BIG when I thought there might only be one of them. It would be too much to wrap my mind around this except it’s the only way to understand what I saw today unless Stormy hypnotized me. I wouldn’t rule THAT out as one of his many talents. I’ve seen him project his force of presence to change the minds of people up to no good in mid-stride. But the fresh carved rune stones in my pocket are no figment of my imagination and I still remember how good the fresh fish dinner tasted. I should have been hot and miserable or suffered heatstroke in those woods but I was with Stormy and he was at home in a world that made perfect sense to him. I think I know my friend better and the mystery of the disappearance of the ancient ones was no longer a mystery. Even though I didn’t see any of the ancient race there… well then, maybe I DID see one.

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Text: John Stormm
Images: John Stormm
Publication Date: 02-08-2009

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Dedication:
To my favorite old druid, Merlinus.