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The walk was as lovely as any I had been on. Late summer in the mountains had always been my favorite time of year. Olfactory endings firing like miniature muskets with the scent of juniper, spruce and a plethora of wild flowers, paintbrush, columbine, the works. The afternoon air was heavy with humidity as the occasional billow of clouds gave way to darker, unpredictable banks, heavy with the promise of a furious rain storm or worse yet, curtains of dime size hail.
I climbed, crawled, skipped, scrabbled and clawed my way across the rough terrain, at least six miles from my camp. Nature always leaves a residue of fear in your heart and mind regardless of how seasoned you are. It's the one thing that could save your life, heightened senses, the farther you go, the more animal like you become as long as you remain in control.
On this day, it was the hail. Starting as the usual dime size, but quickly growing to golf balls in girth with the occasional baseball thrown in for good measure. This was a situation that was as dangerous as any encounter, with any bear. I ran for cover in a stand of firs not finding the shelter I had hoped for from the larger hail. I darted toward a precipice, the actual rock outcropping that was called the Mogollon Rim, high cliffs that delineated the very edge of the Colorado Plateau. Here there were boulders, I thought I might find an overhang or tangle of fallen trees to hide under to escape the damnable rabble falling from the sky at a frenetic pace now. Welts were rising on the bare skin of my arms as I tried to cover my head to the best of my ability.
As my eyes scanned my surroundings for salvation, they happened upon a small cave in the side of the rim. I raced for the opening, slipping in the mud and more rolling than diving into the mouth of the cave. I usually left such places alone. In Arizona, caves were sure fire ways to have a face to face with a rattle snake or five, shacked up for coolness or for warmth depending on the weather and the time of year. But, this was an exception, battling a snake seemed like a better fate than being knock unconscious by a giant ice ball wile the subsequent hail stampeded you like the hooves of migrating caribou into the sodden ground.
The cave was quite large, almost standing room near the mouth. It went about ten feet back and then doglegged to the right. I pulled a lighter from my pocket for light and saw that I appeared to be the only living thing in the cave. It was dry and not as creepy as I would have thought it to be had I not saw for myself. I sat down near the back and proceeded to wait out the storm. I could hear as the hail turned to a torrential downpour. As my breathing slowed, my thoughts turned to.....
Hey, Hey, Hey my beautiful Toads!!!!! Herotomost here, seems like forever since I have done a prompt. Probably good since I almost forget to do it every single time it is my turn.
Anywho...on with the prompt. I know you are saying to yourself, holy crap, I had to read all of that just to get to the prompt....I am so outty! Hold on for just a second, geeezzzz, there is no reason to get all shitty and resentful. I'll get right to it. For today's prompt, I want you to imagine you are in the scenario that I painted above. Say you were in there for an hour or two, you get settled in, there is no sound and almost complete darkness. What would you think about in a situation like this. Long lost loves,? Did I leave the camp stove on? Did Lard Ass really get into the pie eating competition for free? Maybe its philosophical in nature, or maybe so practical it would make me feel like taking you out to a drag show just to liven up your life a little, doesn't matter. Take those thoughts and put them into a little ditty. Poem, story, prescription, recipe whatever. As always form is of no consequence in my prompts.
There you have it. Long winded as always. As always if, you hate the prompt, feel free to write whatever you want as long as you write or skip it if the prompt offends your delicate sensibilites.
Thanks to you all, I love you and hope you all are having a great start to your summer!