sometime in 1995 . . .
a dangerous trek
I was standing outside a doorway of a large complex of some kind. the building was high in some
mountains, and I was overlooking a vast expanse of mountainous land. there were other people with me,
and we were all waiting to start off on a hike. I understood that there were 3 "phases" to the activity. phase 1 was simply a normal hike along paths through the mountains. phase 2 was more challenging. I was about to try phase 3.
our group was supposed to work together to get through it. our group consisted of an old man who was a very experienced outdoorsman, a professional runner with very high endurance, and an attractive girl named "Paula Abdul" (after the singer, I suppose).
we were on a concrete platform with several stone pillars on it. we were starting off, so I stepped off the platform.
immediately, the solid-looking ground collapsed into a sea of loose sand and dirt. huge chunks of earth pushed up and sank back down. I began to sink into the ground, as did the other group members, and we discovered that we could swim through the dirt. it was very difficult, though, and one of us began to sink. the runner surface dove underground,
and from undreneath pushed the feet of the person in trouble up with his hands, saving them from "drowning."
later, we were camping for the night in a grassy area beside a dirt road. we had a jeep and a camper with a trailer with us now. we kept the jeep running with its lights on, and circling our camp on some kind of cruise control setting.
we were eating or something in front of the camper when a blue sports car drove up. several guys who looked to be around 19 or 20 got out with guns. they seemed to be trying to sneak up on us around the sides of the camper. the old man with us said he'd take care of them, grabbed a rifle,
and walked around the camper toward them. his rifle had a bayonet, which he used without hesitation to stab two of the intruders. he shot the third in the chest.
they had been very surprised at his straight forward approach, and hadn't even had time to react. they died quickly. the old man walked back around to us, and we saw that he had been injured somehow.
the next morning, we discovered that the old man had gotten worse overnight and could no longer walk, so we tied him to the back of the trailer with a splint on his leg.
as we were gathering up our things and packing to leave, we saw a black woman in fitness clothing "power walking" along the dirt path. Her toddler son was walking backwards a few feet ahead of her, saying, "wouldn't you like a Whopper, or a Big Mac?"
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