The morning sun rose in the east, shining on the mesas and canyons. The sky was blue and there was not a cloud in sight. It was going to be a beautiful day. The traffic was heavy on the road and school buses were everywhere. It was another day in Tuba City, Arizona, located on the massive Navajo Indian Reservation.
As always, people were on the side of the road hitch hiking. Either to get to work or to find a way to get to their appointed places. Tuba City, being the central hub for Western Navajoland was busy as always with travelers and visitors and Navajos coming into town to shop for food and items. There were vendors on the roadside with Navajo food for sale and for Navajo jewelry.
On the outskirts of Tuba City was an old single wide mobile home. One window was boarded up, while a couple others were cracked. Next to the mobile home was a grey truck. On one of the windows of the mobile home was a picture of Jesus Christ. It was letting people know two young missionaries from The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints lived there.
Inside the living room was a huge map stapled to the wall. Next to the map was a shelf with books and DVD's. A young 19 year old man walked into the kitchen, wearing a white long sleeve button up dress shirt and black pants and white socks on. He grabbed a box of cereal and placed it on a small table. He walked over to the drawer and took out a spoon. He grabbed the milk from the refrigerator, setting the place for breakfast.
Colton Foster sat down and started eating. He checked the time on the wall clock. His companion Aaron Clark came from the restroom, his hair still wet, he sat at the table, wearing a white long sleeve button up dress shirt and black pants. He sat down, fixing his black tie. "So what are we doing today?" Colton asked. "Tracting, and we gotta talk to the Bishop about the Jones family, see if we can get the Elders Quorum to help fix their roof, we gotta call around to see if anyone is doing a baptism, that Manuelito kid wants to see how it's done. He's doing really well with the lessons I hope he says yes," Aaron explained. "Don't forget that Harrison guy, uh, Harrison Yazzie wants a lesson as well. He's definitely on our list, but he's at work and won't be off till 7. It takes him about an hour to get home because he works in Page. So I scheduled an appointment with him for 8 p.m. tonight. He actually told the last missionaries if he feels good about the lessons, he wants to be baptized. He's our last then we call it a night. We should be done by 9, use that hour to get home by ten," Aaron said. "An hour? Wow, where does he live?" Colton asked.
"That's the thing about Harrison Yazzie, he lives way the heck out there, he lives at the end of our ward boundary line. He lives about 15 miles off the main road, he lives in the back roads up in the mesas," Aaron said. "Wait, 15 miles? The back roads? At night? We're not going to get lost are we?" Colton asked. "Elder, he really wants these lessons and we are going to give it to him, that's our top priority, should we get lost, we have something called a cell phone," Aaron explained.
"We're gonna get lost, I know it. This place, this area is huge. Why can't this reservation be small?" Colton said. "I guess the Navajos love wide open spaces, I don't know, just do your job. Bringing people to Christ, keep that in your mind as we are tracting today and that reminds me;" Aaron said, giving Colton an earnest stare. "Please don't argue with the people. No back talking or anything like that," Aaron said. "What? Me? I don't argue with people!" protested Colton. "Remember the Seven Eleven incident?" Aaron asked. "What? Some guy throws a bag of ice at our windshield and I get in trouble?" Colton said. "Well he wouldn't have thrown the bag of ice if you would have just kept quiet. That was embarrassing for us and for the Church. Elder Foster, we are representing The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints and if you continue to run your mouth like you did at the Seven Eleven, then people will think of the Church like that," Aaron explained.
"I'm sorry! Look, that's my flaw, okay, I can't help it! When I get mad, things come out of my mouth. I'm sorry, I'm not perfect, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Geez, I apologized like a hundred times now," Colton said. "Well, people don't forget. Now there's this image of us that we're being rude and disrespectful. We gotta work on fixing that image, okay? So please, let the Holy Ghost guide you and not your anger, okay?" Aaron explained.
"Yes dad," Colton said, rolling his eyes. "What did I just say? Watch-" Aaron said nodding his head in disbelief. "Kidding! I'm kidding! Seriously, when we walk out that door, I'll be on my best behavior," Colton said raising his right hand as if in court. "Let's finish breakfast and get on with the rest of the day, we've got a long day ahead of us," Aaron said.
CHAPTER TWO
It was 11:30 a.m. the truck was parked at the McDonalds. The two missionaries opened the door and walked across the parking lot to the truck. "So where now?" Colton asked, sipping his drink. "Next, we are on our way to Bessie Pinto," Aaron said. "Bessie Pinto?" Colton replied, almost choking on his drink. "Sounds like a name for a cow," Colton said. "Careful, watch your karma," Aaron said, opening the door to the truck. Colton opened the door and sat in the truck, "Moo!" he said, laughing. The lid from the cup came apart and the drink spilled all over his black pants. "Oh shoot!" Colton said.
Aaron, saying nothing, looked at him calmly and nodded his head in disbelief. "Elder?" he said, giving him some napkins he grabbed from McDonalds. "You gonna help me or what?" Colton said, wiping his pants. "I'm not touching your pants, you gotta dry that yourself," Aaron said. Colton stepped out of the truck and began wiping the seat. "Darn, the seat's wet," Colton said. "You're not sitting next to me. I told you to watch your karma," Aaron said. Colton ran to the McDonalds and grabbed a bunch of the Thrifty Nickel newspaper. He placed it on the wet seat. "Just make sure your pants is dry by the time we get to Sister Pinto's house," Aaron said starting the truck.
Up on the hill, on the edge of Tuba City, the elders drove towards a circular dwelling made of logs and mud with a door facing east, it was a hogan, a primary home of the Navajo people. Next to the hogan was an old truck from the 70's. There was a old Navajo woman at the sheep corral, just yards away from the hogan. She saw the truck coming. There were a couple of kids climbing around the sheep corral fence. "Grandma! Grandma, someone's coming!" the kids shouted. The truck parked next to the hogan. The elders stepped out of the truck. "Hello Sister Pinto!" Elder Aaron Clark said, waving his hand. Elder Colton Foster followed behind him.
The two walked up to the old Navajo woman, they shook her hands. "Grandma! His pants his wet!" the kids shouted and giggled. Aaron tried to keep a straight face. Colton put his head down, trying to ignore the kids. "Shh! Quiet!" Sister Pinto said to the kids. "I was about to go down to the water well, get some water, my grandkids were gonna help me carry the water," Sister Pinto said. "We could help you," Aaron said. "Oh, thank you guys! Let's go get some buckets for the water," Sister Pinto said walking to her hogan. She opened the door and grabbed a bunch of empty gallon jugs from a counter. She handed them to her grandkids and to the missionaries.
"Grandma! We're gonna beat you!" the kids shouted in excitement, "Go ahead, but be careful!" Sister Pinto said. The kids took off down the hill, heading towards the water well, which can be seen from a distance. "We can take the truck, it's faster," Elder Colton Foster said. "No, I can walk, I need to take my walk anyway," Sister Pinto said. They started to walk slowly down the hill. "If you don't mind, Sister, that's why we have the truck, to help people with moving furniture or take trash to the garbage, haul water, things like that," Elder Colton Foster said.
"Yes, we could have used the truck, it would have been easier. But Navajo kids nowadays, things are too easy for them. Not like when I was growing up. For 60 years now, I have been walking to that water well every week. In the summer, on the hot days, in the snow, in the rain, in the wind. When things are easy for Navajo kids, they become lazy. A lot of Navajo kids are lazy nowadays. I want to teach my grandkids to work hard for things. That's why we walk to the water well, not using our vehicle," Sister Pinto explained.
"So you lived here for 60 years, wow! You never lived anywhere else?" Elder Aaron Clark asked. "No, this is my home. When I was a little girl, all there was was a trading post, a couple of houses and the chapter house. Now it's turned into a community and a government center. They elected Tuba City as the headquarters for the western side of Navajoland. I was there, you know, Navajo leaders came from all over and held a meeting about Tuba City being chosen as the headquarters. It was a huge deal for us, because it meant more businesses which meant more jobs and it worked. Now you see all these businesses here and this town prospered and we're thankful," Sister Pinto explained.
"All good things so far, huh?" Elder Colton Foster said. "Well, not really, there was a bad side to living here. The Navajos here in this area have been disputing over reservation boundaries with the Hopi Tribe. Their reservation is right next door to us," Sister Pinto explained pointing with her hand to the east side of the land. "There was something passed by law in 1966 called a Bennett Freeze, which meant all the communities in the disputed area could not have their homes repaired for fixed. They told us the Freeze would be lifted if everything is solved only by the federal courts or Congress. So a lot of houses are old and not suitable for living conditions, so this land dispute has really taken its toll on us. The Navajo Nation government in Window Rock did nothing to help us, or at least that's what we think. I mean we're the ones living here and for a long time we felt ignored by both our governments, the U.S. government and tribal government," Sister Pinto said.
"Wow, I never heard of that in our school," Elder Aaron Clark said. "Same here," Elder Colton Foster added. Sister Pinto looked up and saw the kids were already at the water well. "I am so glad we live close to the water well," Sister Pinto said, chuckling. "Would you mind when we get back to the house, if we could have a quick lesson," Elder Aaron Clark asked. "Okay, I think last week we talked about the Plan Of Salvation," Sister Pinto said.
After they got the water, they began to walk back to the hogan and began the church lessons. Sister Pinto promised she would be there Sunday for church along with her grandkids. The elders were excited that she and the children were interested in the teachings of the Gospel and even had a few questions. The two young men were leaving, stepping out of the door. "Oh, Sister Pinto, I almost forgot. I wanted to ask you do you know where Harrison Yazzie lives?" asked Elder Aaron Clark.
"Harrison Yazzie?" said Sister Pinto. "Yeah, um, I don't know if you know him or not, but he lives here in Tuba City but he works up in Page," said Elder Aaron Clark. "Oh, Harrison Yazzie, yeah. He lives way out there on Navajo Route 6134. Where he lives there are a lot of back roads, you could get lost. Um, I would suggest you take someone who is familiar with that area, I've been to his house a few times but I always have someone take me," Sister Pinto said. "Thanks, we heard he was very interested. We can't wait to meet him tonight," Elder Aaron Clark said. "Please be careful tonight on that road and please don't get lost," Sister Pinto said in a motherly voice. "We'll be alright, goodbye," Aaron said. The two walked to the truck and left the Pinto residence.
CHAPTER THREE
The time was 6:00 p.m. and the sun was setting behind the western mesas. The area was dominated by the red rocks and canyons and bluffs. The truck was parked at the Seven Eleven. The elders were sitting in the truck. Elder Aaron Clark had a map, it was the map of the Navajo Nation. He was looking for Navajo Route 6134. "Ok, so we pass Dinosaur Tracks, then hit US Highway 89, turn north go up a few miles then turn left to Navajo Route 6134, now we just gotta find his house in the midst of all these back roads," Elder Aaron Clark said, putting down the Navajo Nation map and looking at a few other local maps lying on the seat. "You said 15 miles right? So you mean from Tuba City to his house is 15 miles?" asked Elder Colton Foster. "No, no, no. Once we leave US Highway 89 and turn off to Navajo Route 6134, then, it's about 15 miles to his house," Elder Aaron Clark explained. "Ooh, we need someone to come with us then," Elder Colton Foster replied. "I'm waiting for a call from the bishop. He's gonna find someone to come with us. Um, if he can't find anyone, we go alone and if we get lost, we just call Harrison Yazzie," Elder Aaron Clark said.
"I know this probably has not entered anyone's mind, but.. Why don't we just meet Harrison Yazzie at the turn off then follow him to his house?" Elder Colton Foster asked. "I tried calling him 5 times today, I can't get a hold of him at his job and I don't wanna call again, it seemed like they were getting mad I kept calling. Actually, you're right. I'm kind of surprised no one came up with the idea of meeting him at the turn off then following him to his house," Aaron said. "What about the directions from the last missionaries, I mean they've been out to his place already?" Colton asked. "You know how elders play jokes and pranks on each other," Aaron said, "Yeah?" Colton replied. "The directions they left us was the directions to our house," said Aaron. "Aww man, what idiots! Don't they know because of their prank we could really get lost or hurt," voiced Colton. "Nope, I don't think they thought of that. But our advantage is they met him and he was very interested in our church. He said if he feels good about the lessons he wants to be baptized and be closer to Heavenly Father. Then transfers happened six days ago and we picked up their golden ticket," Aaron said. "Yeah, I bet they're mad right now," said Colton, chuckling. "But listen, Harrison said if he feels good about the lessons and what we're teaching him. So please let me do the talking on this one because you know how you like to chat about different things other than the Gospel. Elder, when you do that you stray from the subject and I've noticed you'll be talking about fifteen, twenty minutes about snowboarding, or favorite vacation places when we're supposed to be talking about the lessons. I would like it if you would just... Be quiet. Unless he asks you a question directly. Please don't mess this one up," Aaron said.
"I stray off the subject? I'm getting to know the people Aaron," Colton responded. "I understand that Colton, but we're on a limited time with these people. I would really appreciate it if you let me do the talking tonight, okay?" asked Aaron. "Yes, my senior companion. I'll be the guy that's just... There. I'll be the fly on the wall, hey I'll even do you a favor because you're my favorite in this mission so far - I won't even exist at the meeting tonight!" Colton responded, looking forward and not at his companion, crossing his arms, feeling hurt. "Elder, don't. Please don't start," Aaron pleaded. There was a long silence in the truck. "I'm sorry," Aaron said, looking at his companion. Colton continued to look forward, quiet. Since they were parked in front of the Seven Eleven, Aaron looked at the advertisements on the window. "If you smile for me, I'll buy you an ice cream?" Aaron said. Colton, fighting hard not to laugh, but breaks into a smile then laughs. "Just make sure it's an orange flavored ice cream," Colton said. "Be right back," Aaron said getting out of the truck.
He walked into the store and walked to the ice cream freezer, grabbed an orange flavored ice cream. The cell phone rang, he dug in his shirt pocket and answered the phone. "Hello? Hey bishop. No, we're here at the Seven Eleven. Ok great! My companion and I are gonna love that! We were worried we were gonna get lost out there. We have a meeting with Harrison Yazzie at 8 tonight. I know, it's kinda late to be way out there, but he works in Page and he gets off at 7, it takes him about an hour to get home. So that puts it around 8. We'll give him the lesson and be done around 9 then use that hour to get home and be back by ten," Elder Aaron Clark explained, then he rolled his eyes. "Yes, I understand 8 is kind of late to be way out there, but that was the only time he was free, then he's busy with plans for the rest of the week. Ok, so next lesson, try to make it around 6 or 7? Okay, I'll work that out with him tonight. Thanks bishop, see ya, bye," Aaron said hanging up the phone.
He walked up to the counter. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could help me. We're looking for someone's residence," Aaron said to the male cashier. "Do they know you're coming?" the cashier joked, looking at his female coworker next to him. She giggled along with him. "You know how you guys just show up out of the blue," the cashier said, giggling still with his coworker. Aaron stood there letting them laugh it off. The male cashier cleared his throat. "Who you looking for?" the male cashier asked. "I'm looking for the Yazzie residence," Aaron asked. The two slowly looked at each other, then, slowly looked back at the missionary. "Which Yazzie residence?" the woman asked. "Uh, sorry, I'm looking for Harrison Yazzie? He lives out on Navajo Route 6134. That's all we know," the elder said. "Oh wow! You gonna try and find him way out there? You need to take someone with you, someone local, otherwise you'll get lost," the woman explained. "Every now and then tourists get lost out there, some even for a day or two. But the longest was four days, but they were prepared, they had water and food with them," the male cashier said.
"So you know where he lives?" Aaron replied. "Okay, listen very carefully," the man said grabbing a sheet of blank white paper from under the counter. He grabbed a pen. "You have a map?" he asked. Aaron nodded. "Okay, it's not the road that you wanna pay attention to. You know the line on the map representing the road? What you wanna pay attention to is the topographical description. Here goes: Turn off of US Hwy 89 and turn onto Navajo Route 6134. Now, drive about 5 miles. Now, I'm not sure about the miles, but it's about 5 miles," the man said, drawing on the blank sheet of paper. "Then turn right on another dirt road. It's gonna be the first dirt road on your right. It’s gonna be the one next to a burned tree. A lightning struck that tree back in 1981, but anyways, it's the dirt road on your right, next to a burned tree. Turn off on that dirt road and stay on it. Do not turn off any other roads. Once you turn on this road, there will be other roads crisscrossing on that road every mile or so. But don't turn off on any of them. Stay on that road. Go about 7 miles, you should be coming up on a hill. When you are on top of that hill, stop. On top of that hill there is another dirt road on your left. Turn on that road. It's very important that you turn left on this road on top of the hill. If you're not on a hill and there's no other turn off, it's not gonna be that one. So again, when you reach the top of the hill, there is another road that turns left. Turn on that road and go down. You should be driving another five miles or so and you'll hit a wash. This road crosses through the wash, so go across the wash. If you're not crossing this wash after the hill, then you're already lost. Once you leave the wash, keep driving. At the end of this road is a y section. The road splits in two. Turn left. Remember, after the wash, you'll come to a y section. Turn left then go down that road for another mile. You'll see a hogan. That is where Harrison Yazzie lives," the man described. The map he drew was in such detail. He handed it to the elder. Aaron looked at the hand drawn map. "Okay then.. Thank you so much sir. This will help us out a lot, really, thank you," Aaron said.
After purchasing the ice cream, he walked to the truck. He opened the door and sat in. "Here you are," he said, handing his companion the ice cream. "Thanks," Colton replied. "Ok listen. The bishop called, Brother Lewis is gonna meet us at 7 at our place. He's gonna jump in with us and show us where Harrison lives. He knows the back roads. Plus, I got a map to Harrison's house, the guy in there knows where he lives," Aaron said. He handed the map to Colton. Colton gave a confused look, "Oh my God, what is this? Picasso's painting used less ink," Colton joked. "Elder, it's a detailed map," Aaron said. "Whew, what a relief, Heavenly Father is sure watching over us," Colton said, opening the wrapper. "We don't have anything until 7. We're pretty much finished for the day, just one more visit, which is Harrison Yazzie, then, we'll call it a night. Let's go home and wait for Brother Lewis," Aaron said, starting the engine. The truck drove away from the store.
At their trailer, Elder Aaron Clark sat on the couch in the living room, he was going through the pages of the Preach My Gospel book. He then set it aside and picked up the hand drawn map. He began studying the map. His companion Elder Colton Foster was sitting at the kitchen table. He had the cell phone, "Hey, I'm looking at the contact list. Brother Largo had his phone number changed. I'll change it to his new number," Elder Colton Foster said as the cell phone keypad beeped. "Okay, I sure hope Harrison Yazzie takes the lessons well," said Aaron. "I have a good feeling about tonight, don't worry, everything will turn out good," Colton responded. "That's the kind of attitude I want from you when we're out there, I need you on your A game," Aaron replied. There was a long silence in the living room. "Was I really out of line at the Seven Eleven?" Colton asked. "Elder, you almost got into a fight, a physical fight with someone, if Brother and Sister Begay weren't there, you would have been home by now. Um, I was very disappointed in you and - I was very embarrassed for you. I mean a lot of people were there at the parking lot," Aaron said. Again, there was a long silence. "I'm sorry. The guy stepped up to me, I mean he was like 2 inches away from my face. I know I should have turned the other cheek and walked away. But I couldn't. Aaron, I couldn't do that. I am so sorry about everything. I also know you got in trouble for that incident as well. You are my senior companion, and I know you took some heat for it from the bishop, the ward mission leader and mission president. That's all I can say: I'm sorry," Colton said in a sincere tone.
"It's alright, I forgive you. I was worried about you for a while, but things have been good for us this past week so let's just focus on the lesson for tonight," Aaron said. "Brother Lewis should be here any moment, its seven o'clock," Colton said. Aaron looked outside the window, the night had come and it was a warm, cloudless night. The stars seemed close to earth. "Yeah, he should be here, but I don't see anyone coming," Aaron mentioned. Just then, the cell phone rang. "Hey, it's Brother Lewis," announced Colton, he answered the phone. "Hello?" said Colton. Aaron stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen table where Colton was, listening to the conversation. "Hi Brother Lewis. You're not gonna be able to come? Okay then, thanks anyways for your help," Colton said, hanging up the phone. "He's having problems with his car, he can't make it tonight," Colton said. "Okay, um let's see. Well, we'll just go ourselves. I'm sure we'll be okay," Aaron said in a confident tone. "Are you sure? What if we go pick up Brother Lewis at his house," Colton replied. "It's already too late for that, Brother Lewis lives on the other side of town, it's gonna take about 20 minutes just to pick him up, by then we'll be really late for Harrison and he's the guy we've been waiting for all day. We'll just go ourselves," Aaron said in a determined voice. Aaron turned around and walked towards the coffee table. Colton stood up and put the cell phone in his suit coat.
"Okay, we don't know where Harrison Yazzie lives, he lives about 15 miles out in the back roads and we're going at night, but we can do this, we have a detailed map," Aaron said. "You sure?" Colton asked. "Elder, this is Satan's plan of not wanting us to be there but Heavenly Father will take care of us," Aaron said putting on his suit coat and grabbing the truck keys from the coffee table. "Okay, look presentable and sharp," Aaron said looking at his companion. "Elder, you got some ice cream stains on your coat there," Elder Aaron Clark said, not approving. "Oh, sorry, I'll go change, be back in 2 seconds," Elder Colton Foster said running to the bedroom, taking off the dirty coat and throwing it on the bed and reaching into the closet and grabbing a new suit coat, he put it on and ran back to the living room. "Okay," Elder Colton Foster said. "Alright, we're outta here," Elder Aaron Clark said, opening the door. Both walked out and closed the door behind them.
CHAPTER FOUR
The truck left Tuba City and began driving towards US Hwy 89. They passed Dinosaur Tracks and came to the intersection. They turned north on Hwy 89. "Okay, now look for Navajo Route 6134," Aaron said, slowing down. They passed a couple of dirt roads, "Geez, there's a few turn offs but none of them say Navajo Route 6134," Colton said. "There, there it is!" he said in excitement.
They slowly turned left onto a dirt road. There was a sign: Navajo Route 6134. "Alright, off to a good start," Aaron said. They slowly drove on the dirt road. "Wow, this place is creepy," Colton said. The time on the dashboard was 7:16 p.m. "It's not bad, the moon is out. Look, a full moon," Aaron said. "Great. A full moon, don't you know the full moon brings out the crazies," Colton said. "Elder, just pay attention to the road, I don't wanna get caught up in a conversation and we end up passing roads that we need to be on. Please, just pay attention to the road and map," Aaron pleaded. "Okay, look for a burned tree, we should of brought a flashlight or something, I can't see, it's just pitch black out here," Colton said. "Ok, about 5 miles is what the guy said. So let me drive slowly for another mile or so," Aaron said. "Ok, seriously I can't see anything, turn on your high beams," Colton said, looking out the truck window. "Elder, they are on. You think I'm gonna drive on a road like this with the dimmest light possible," Aaron said. "Okay, slow down. Stop. I'm not sure, but I think that's a tree right there on the right," Colton announced. In the dark, there was an image of a tree in the distance. "I'm not sure if that's burned or not," Colton said. Aaron stopped the truck and slowly turned right. There was another dirt road, next to the tree was a road. "Yes! See I told you! We're doing good," Aaron said. "Aaron, I'm not sure if that tree was burned or not," Colton replied in a concerned tone. "Colton, how many burned trees by a dirt road can there be? Do you wanna turn around and make sure that tree is burned?" Aaron asked. "You know what? Yes, I really don't wanna be lost out here. I looked at the map, it specifically says a burned tree, I wanna see if that tree is burned, because if it's not, then we're already lost," Colton said. "No, we're not lost. Have faith Elder, would I get us lost? Would I get you lost?" Aaron asked.
"Ok, I trust you," Colton replied. He turned on the inside lights and looked at the map. "So what we're looking for now is a hill, which is about 7 miles down this road," Colton said. Aaron drove slowly. "Look at the lights, they're getting farther away," Aaron said, looking in the rear view mirror. Colton looked back. There were a few lights getting dimmer as they drove deeper in the hills of western Navajoland. As they got further away, the lights from Hwy 89 were completely gone. They were now alone in the back roads of the vast reservation. Aaron continued to drive slowly down the dirt road. Soon, about 10 minutes later passed by. "Geez, all the lights are gone. We are way out here now, no turning back," Colton said. "We should be hitting a hill soon," Aaron said, trying to look ahead in the dark. "What do you mean soon? We should have been on a hill by now, it's more than 7 miles now," Colton said. "No, it should be up here, coming up soon," Aaron replied. "Elder, look at the speedometer, we drove more than 7 miles now," Colton said. "Calm down, Elder Foster, we're not lost. The guy said about 7 miles, okay about 7 miles, he wasn't sure how far. It should be a little bit further down," Aaron said.
"Fine, keep driving then," Colton said. Aaron glanced ahead, "There look! See? A hill, we're going up the hill," Aaron said in a confident tone. They drove up a hill. Once on top of the hill, Aaron stopped the truck. There was no turn off. There was no turn off on top of the hill. "There's no turn off Elder," Colton said in a worried tone. "Will you stop! Stop panicking okay?" Aaron said. "Hey, I don't want to spend the night out here," Colton replied. There was silence in the truck for about a minute. "Okay, maybe there's another hill down this road, should we keep going" Aaron asked. Colton sighed heavily. "Sure, if you say so," he said to his companion. Aaron continued driving slowly, they were going down the hill. They drove slowly another 3 miles on the dirt road. "Hey look, there's another hill," Aaron said. The truck began climbing the hill. Again, once on top of the second hill, he stopped the truck. To the left was a turn off. "Oh, thank You Lord. See? The Lord is guiding us to Harrison Yazzie's house," Aaron said.
The truck turned left and began going down the hill. They drove slowly about 2 more miles. They came to a T-section. Aaron stopped the truck. "Okay, now what?" Colton asked. "Let me see the map," Aaron said, Colton handed him the map. "When we turned left on the hill, we should have come to a wash. Then cross it and come to a y section and turn left to his house," Aaron said. "Well, where's the wash?" Colton asked. "Let's turn around, maybe we turned on the wrong hill," Aaron said. "Wrong hill? Maybe we turned off at the wrong road way back there, we should have checked to see if that tree was burned," Colton said in a angry voice. "Chill out! Let's turn around and go back to the hill," Aaron said, he turned the truck around.
Aaron drove slowly about a mile going back, they came to a y section. "What the heck?" Aaron said, stopping the truck. "Um, I think there was a y section when we were coming in and we didn't see it," said Colton. "So did we come in from the right or left?" Aaron asked. There was a long silence. "Um, I- I don't know. Just- just turn on the road that leads to the hill," Colton said. "It's dark Elder. I can't see the hill, can you?" Aaron argued. "Try the left road, if we don't come to a hill, we'll turn around and come back here and take this other road," Colton said. "Let's do that," Aaron said, turning the truck left. He drove down the dirt road. They drove further down. "Um, I don't think it's this one, this road is more bumpier," Aaron said. He stopped the truck. "Hey, look, look, there's a wash up ahead," Colton said. "Are you sure?" Aaron asked, trying to look ahead. Colton opened his door and stepped out, "Yeah, it's a wash," Colton said getting in and closing the door.
"Okay, if we cross the wash and drive ahead, there should be a y section and turn left," Aaron said, looking at the map. He drove forward towards the wash. He slowly crossed the wash. It was passable. They drove out of the wash and drove further down the dirt road. A road crisscrossed on the road they were on, but they paid no attention to it. They drove a few more miles. The road got rough and bumpier. Aaron slowed the truck down even more. "Wow, this is bumpy," Aaron said. Colton looked ahead, "Um, Aaron, I don't think this is a road," he said. "Of course it's a road, we're on a reservation road, we're on the back roads," replied Aaron. He drove a few more miles down. He stopped the truck. It was a dead end. The road led to a wall of a towering huge red stone mesa. He parked the truck and got out. He looked around the dark Navajo landscape. There was nothing but the outline of the mesas. No lights in the distance, nothing. Aaron walked back to the truck and got in and closed the door. "Okay, umm," he said, putting his hands to his face and wiping his face with his hands. "Umm, I think we're lost. Elder, give me the cell phone," Aaron said. Colton dug in his suit coat pockets. There was nothing. He checked again. "I don't have it," Colton replied in a quiet voice.
"You had it last, you had it at the trailer, remember you were changing Brother Largo's phone number?" Aaron said. "I put it in my coat and you told me I had ice cream on my coat and I changed it. I changed my jacket, it's in my other jacket back at the trailer," Colton said. "Don't, don't play me like this. Now is not a good time for a prank, give me the cell phone," Aaron said, getting angry. "I don't have it, it's in my other coat, it's lying on the bed," Colton said. "Goddamn!" Aaron shouted, hitting the steering wheel. Colton put his head down, not saying anything. Aaron opened the truck door again and began screaming, kicking the dirt on the ground. "Goddamn! Stupid! This is so stupid!" he shouted. He stood there, looking towards the dark landscape. After a few seconds, calming himself down, he walked back to the truck and sat in and closed the door. He looked at the time on the dashboard. It was 8:05. "Well, we're late now," he chuckled to himself. "We've been driving for about an hour. It shouldn't have taken that long. One hour driving these damn back roads, I don't know how far we've gotten or where we're at," Aaron said, as if talking to himself, not looking at his companion.
"Um, let's turn around," Colton said in a feeble voice, not wanting to argue. "Sure, whatever you say. Maybe you were right. You know what? You are right! I should have checked to see if that damn tree was burned!" he said almost shouting. "Just cool it will you? You were the one who told me to keep calm, so I suggest you do the same," Colton replied. Aaron put the gear in reverse and turned the truck around. He started driving slowly down the road.
CHAPTER FIVE
Aaron drove slowly, "Damn, I got us lost," Aaron said. "Don't worry about it. Let's just call it a night okay? We'll use this time trying to find our way back home. We gotta be home by ten. Listen, I'll call Harrison Yazzie and apologize to him, we'll reschedule, it’s nothing to worry about. Right now, let's just get home," Colton said. Aaron drove down the road. They came to the road that crisscrossed. Aaron turned left. "Hey, what are you doing? We didn't take that road?" Colton said. "Look, all I know is we came from the east right? So any roads leading east, I'm just gonna take it so hopefully we should hit Hwy 89," Aaron said. "Are you crazy, it doesn't work like that, we're lost, we don't need to be any more lost than we are right now," replied Colton. "Elder, lost is lost, so shut up and let me drive," Aaron said. "What did you say? Don't you talk to me like that, you're lucky I didn't step out of the truck and beat you back there," Colton said. "Son of a-" Aaron said, stopping the truck. "You wanna settle this right now?" Aaron replied in an angry tone, getting out of the truck. "Come on, get out," Aaron shouted. Colton opened the door, he walked right up to Aaron. "Do it man! Come on, hit me! Hit me!" Colton shouted. Aaron tightened his fist and was ready to hit his companion. But he didn't, he was fighting to hold himself back. Colton realized what he was doing, he stepped back.
The two stared at each other, both calming themselves down. Aaron unfolded his fists and dropped them. "Get in the truck, we gotta be home by ten," Aaron said. Both got in the truck. Aaron started driving again. He drove about a few miles down the road. "I wanna go back to the Seven Eleven and have it out with that cashier, tell him his map was worthless," Aaron said. "What is it with us elders fighting at the Seven Eleven in Tuba City?" Colton asked. Aaron laughed a little. He was thinking about the ice bag incident. "I didn't think that guy was gonna throw the bag of ice at us," he said. "Yeah, he threw that bag and there was ice all over the windshield," Colton said laughing. "Remember, you just turned on the wipers," Colton continued laughing. "I was like, dang! He threw the ice at us!" Aaron laughed aloud. Both laughed.
As they were laughing, Colton noticed something up ahead. "Hey look!" he said, "someone's walking." Aaron slowed down the truck. Up ahead they saw someone walking on the side of the road. "Should we ask him for directions?" Colton asked. "Hell no!" Aaron said. "He might help us," Colton said. As they got closer, they noticed the person was wearing a long furry shawl that covered his entire body, a leather pouch around his waist. "What is he wearing? Is that a blanket?" Colton asked. "No, looks like a shawl," Aaron said. The person had the shawl over his head like a hood. "I'm gonna ask him," Colton said rolling down his window. "No, don't! He might rob us or something," Aaron said in a cautious voice. "Excuse me sir," Colton shouted out the window. The person reacted by running in front of the truck. The headlights shined on the figure. The head part was in the shape of an animal. It ran off into the darkness. Aaron slammed his brakes and screamed. "Oh my God! Did you see that?!" he screamed. "What? Yeah, he ran in front of the truck, you almost hit him!" Colton said. "No! No! His head! It was an animal! It was an animal! It wasn't human!" Aaron screamed. Colton rolled up the window. "Let's get the hell out of here!" Aaron screamed as he put his foot on the pedal. The truck began driving fast down the road. "Aaron slow down!" Colton said. The road was filled with huge deep potholes. The elders were bouncing up and down as the truck hit the potholes. "Slow down! You're gonna ruin something! Aaron! Slow down!" Colton shouted. "Did you see that? What the hell was that?!" exclaimed Aaron, turning his head around, looking back. "Keep your eye on the road! Stop!" Colton shouted as he grabbed the steering wheel. "Aaron stop! God dammit! Stop! I'll drive!" Colton said. Aaron slammed on the brakes. The truck slid all over the road as it stopped.
"Calm down. Aaron, calm down, just breathe. Relax," Colton said. "Okay, I'm okay. I'm fine," Aaron replied. "Okay, I'll drive, get out, let's change seats," Colton said. "Are you crazy, I'm not getting out, I'm not opening the door," Aaron said. "Okay, put the truck in park and let's switch seats, we don't have to open the door," replied Colton. Aaron put the truck in park and they switched seats inside the truck. "Damn, what the hell was that? I have never seen anything like that in my life! Never!" Aaron said. "Are you sure you saw what you saw? I mean it happened so fast, I didn't see it. Maybe- maybe in the midst of all that rush, you thought you saw something," Colton said. "Dude, it had the body of a human, a naked human body, but the head was in the shape of an animal," explained Aaron. "Aaron, he was covered in a shawl, maybe it was the shawl," Colton said. "You know what, just drive. Drive far away from here, just go, please just go," Aaron said.
Colton put the truck in drive and he drove slowly down the dirt road. He drove for quite a while. "Aaron, I've been driving almost 30 minutes on this road, we're nowhere near US Hwy 89," Colton said. "Just keep driving, we'll end up on the highway soon," Aaron replied. "It's almost 10 p.m. We left Tuba City at seven and we're still driving. We've been driving for almost 3 hours now," Colton said in a worried tone. Aaron didn't say anything, he was frustrated and disappointed with himself.
Colton looked up at the sky, he saw the Big Dipper. "I'm noticing something Aaron," Colton said. "What?" Aaron asked. "You said we came from the east, I'm looking at the Big Dipper, we're going west," Colton said. "No we're not, we're heading east," Aaron said. "Look at the Big Dipper in the sky. The Dipper's in the north right?" Colton said. "If we were going east, the Big Dipper would be on my side, but it's on your side. We're going west," Colton said. Aaron took notice of the Big Dipper, it was on his side. They were going west all along. "Why didn't you say anything? You should have said something?" Aaron said in a loud tone. "I couldn't you were so determined, you told me to shut up, remember?" Colton replied. "A minute ago you were an elder for The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, now all of a sudden you're Magellan?" Aaron said.
"Shut up! I told you! I told you! I said it doesn't work like that, you don't just take any road! I told you we don't need to be more lost than we already were. And you were like 'lost is lost' and now look where we are!" Colton shouted towards his companion. "Okay Columbus, so I'll leave it up to you. What next?" said Aaron. "Well, we're going the wrong way, so I say stop and turn around, again, and go back," explained Colton. "Wait, you wanna go back to where that- that thing was?" Aaron said. "Whatever it was, it's probably gone," Colton replied.
All of a sudden, the truck began shaking violently. The truck was going over huge rocks, almost the size of basketballs. The dirt road turned into razor sharp rocks. Almost as if the dirt road ended and they continued onto a rocky area. "Whoa! Stop!" Aaron shouted. Colton looked ahead, although it was dark, he could see there was an edge. Before the edge was an open space. They were heading towards a steep sheer cliff. Colton slammed the brakes. The truck stopped. Dirt surrounded the truck. Colton shifted the gear to park. He let the truck idle. The dust from around the truck cleared. Both sat still, almost frozen. "What happened?" Aaron asked. Colton opened the door and walked towards the front truck. The front truck was 2 feet away from a sheer cliff. There was a drop, hundreds of feet down. The moon barely showed the area. It was a huge canyon. "Damn, we almost drove off a canyon," Colton shouted to his companion.
CHAPTER SIX
Aaron opened the door and he stepped out. He walked behind the truck and walked towards his companion. He looked at the edge. He saw the gigantic canyon in front of them. "Damn, thank God you stopped! We almost died," Aaron said putting his hands on top of his head, looking up at the night sky. "Thank You Jesus," he said quietly. "You think we can turn the truck around?" Colton asked. "I don't know, let's check," Aaron said he walked towards the front driver side. He knelt down. He didn't like what he saw. "Um, Colton, the tire is flat, we have a flat tire," he said. "Ok, so we change the tire," Colton replied. "Go check the other tires," Aaron said. Colton checked the back driver's side. "This one's okay," he said. He walked around to the other side. "This tire's okay," Colton continued. He walked to the front passenger side tire. He didn't say anything. "Well?" Aaron asked. "The front tire is flat," Colton replied. "We have two flat tires and we only have one spare," Aaron said, standing up.
"Aaron, what do we do?" Colton asked. Aaron said nothing, he looked around the area, hundreds of razor sharp rocks everywhere. "Aaron? What are we gonna do?" Colton asked again. "Well, we're not gonna be home by ten, that's for sure," Aaron said in a disappointing tone. "Well, can we just change one of the flat tires and just limp on three tires?" said Colton. "Even if that works Colton, we're still lost. You wanna limp on these back roads all night?" Aaron said. "Let's just get back in the truck. Turn off the headlights, we don't wanna kill the battery," Aaron said, opening the truck door and sitting in the driver’s side. Colton opened the door and sat on the passenger side. Aaron shut off the headlights. He shut the truck off.
"Wow, it's dark and creepy," Colton said. There was silence in the truck. "Our only hope is not answering the phone at ten o'clock," Aaron announced. "What? What do you mean? If we don't answer the phone at ten o'clock we're gonna be in a lot of trouble," Colton said. "No, Colton listen, if we're not answering the phone, the zone leaders are gonna know something is up, they're gonna know something is wrong," Aaron said. "Right, then they'll send someone to come look for us," Colton added. "We wait, we just wait. That's all we do. We don't go anywhere, we stay put," Aaron said.
Later, the two were tired. They were tired, but for both of them, they couldn't sleep. "I'm tired but I can't sleep," Colton said. "Try. Just close your eyes, who knows, when you open them it'll be morning with people from the church walking up to us," Aaron said. "Everything is just small and compact. I wanna lie down," Colton said. "Oh God, you sound like my little brother, I hate this, I hate that. I don't like that, I don't want that, I hate you," Aaron said. "Why does he hate you?" Colton asked. "I didn't say that. Did I say that?" Aaron replied. "You just did. I heard it. Why does he hate you?" Colton asked again.
There was a long pause. Aaron then took a deep breath. "Because I'm here," he said. "I'm here on a mission and he thinks I left him. We were so close growing up, we played basketball together, did everything together, then when I became a freshman in high school, I was in seminary and I became interested in going on a mission. For some reason, he didn't want me to leave. Then throughout those four years in high school, all I ever talked about was leaving on a mission. And things fell apart between me and him. He thought I didn't care about him anymore, because I was studying the scriptures all the time. Instead of playing basketball like we used to, I used that time for scripture study. He didn't understand any of it. I could never understand any of it, or why he didn't want me to leave. On the day I was leaving, I tried to explain to him one last time what I was doing. I was gonna do the Lord's work and I don't know why, he just did not want me to go, and then it turned into this huge argument at the airport. I told him I didn't want to hear any more of it and the last thing he said was I hate you and he walked away. Those were the last words he said to me before I left," Aaron said. "Those words replay in my mind all the time. I wish I could make those three words disappear: I- hate- you," Aaron added.
"What did your parents think about why your little brother didn't want you to leave?" Colton asked. "Well, my mom said it was just a phase he was going through and he'll get over it, but- He didn't, as time was approaching for me to leave, it just got worse," Aaron said. "What did your father think?" Colton asked. "He's- he's not here with us anymore. He died in a car accident when I was in 8th grade and my brother was in 5th grade. He's three years younger than me. Of all of us, he was the one who took it hard, I think the reason why is because my dad died 4 days before his birthday. My brother's birthday is in September," Aaron explained.
"Wow, I'm sorry. I really am. How long have you been out here?" Colton asked. "Eighteen months now," Aaron replied. "Oh, almost finished huh? I've been out only four months now," Colton said. There was a pause. "You said eighteen months right? Well, we're in March now. Did you realize it was September when you left? Eighteen months ago it was September," Colton said. "I did, I left on my mission in September," said Aaron in surprise. "Did you leave before or after your brother's birthday?" Colton asked. Aaron put his hands to his face, now knowing his little brothers situation. "I left 6 days before his birthday," Aaron said. "Bingo! There's your answer," Colton said.
"Oh God, how could I have not known," Aaron said in disbelief. "Your father died before his birthday, and you left before his birthday," Colton said. "Ooh, I didn't know, I didn't know. I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Aaron said, almost crying. He sat there fighting his tears. Colton didn't say anything. "I'm sorry for everything," Aaron said in a breaking voice. "I get so focused on something, I forget everything else. Once I set my mind on something, I go for it, not realizing the other things around me. I was so focused on my mission date, I didn't realize it was in September. I didn't realize it was days before my brothers birthday. He was so sad when dad passed away, and I must have just brought all that hurt back up again when I told him I was leaving in September," he said finally crying. "Hey, stop! Don't do this to yourself," Colton said. "He must of have felt like losing another family member all over again. I brought up all that hurt in him again and I didn't realize it because I was so focused on leaving. And, and now we're here! We're lost because I was so focused on trying to get someone baptized. All I focused on was getting Harrison baptized, I didn't realized what I was doing, and now I got us lost and stuck and-" Aaron said, no longer talking, his talking was replace by crying. "Aaron, stop! Don't blame yourself for what we're in right now. It could have happened to anyone! We don't know the area. We're not from here. We came at night. Those are the reasons why we're lost, not because you wanted someone to get baptized. It's not your fault! It's my fault we're here, I should have remembered the cell phone," Colton said, patting his companions back.
"I just- I just now noticed I hurt a lot of people, and I didn't know it. I'm sorry," Aaron cried. "It's not your fault, okay? I'm the one who hurt a lot of people, I can't control my anger. I just explode, like I did at the Seven Eleven. I don't know why. I just- can't- control my anger," Colton said. "I say things to people and I don't realize they're hurtful words and I know I shouldn't say it but it just comes out," Colton said. "I have something I wanna say. I wanna tell you something. The reason I came out here is because I wanted to prove to everyone they were wrong about me. That's all this is for me. It's not to bring people the truth, or the Gospel. I came out here only to prove people wrong. All I heard back home is Colton is this mean guy, he's rude and this heartless human being, and I was sick of it! I was so sick of it that I just filled out my papers for the mission to prove everyone wrong. I wasn't some heartless human being. That's all I'm here for, is to prove everyone wrong, I'm only here because of me. I'm here because of my pride," Colton said breaking into tears and crying. "When you told me about Harrison Yazzie being interested in the lessons and being baptized, the real truth was I didn't care. I didn't care about any of that and I'm sorry! Maybe if I did care, we wouldn't be here, I think this is God's way of punishing me for what I did," Colton cried.
"Colton stop! It's not your fault. It's just like you said, we don't know the area, we're not from here and we came at night. Those are the reasons why we're here now, not because God is punishing you," Aaron said, wiping his own tears. "Some missionaries we are," Colton said in a breaking voice. "Let's, let's stop crying for a minute. God, we sound like the Sisters giving their testimonies on Sunday," said Aaron, breaking into a little laugh. "I know right," Colton replied laughing, wiping his tears from his eyes. "What time is it?" Colton asked. Aaron turned the key and the time was 11:15 p.m. He shut off the truck. "It's 11:15. Well, we didn't answer the phone when the zone leaders called so hopefully someone is looking for us," Aaron said. "We let about five different people know where we were going. They should know Harrison Yazzie lives in the back roads and we were not familiar with the area. They should know were lost, right?" Colton said. "Absolutely, they should be looking for us now, so we just wait, that's all we can do," Aaron said.
"Aaron, I just thought of something. What if they're not looking for us? What if they're gonna wait till morning? What if they do know were lost, but they're gonna wait till morning to come look for us," Colton said. "Well, either way, we just wait. We're not going anywhere, we stay put," Aaron replied. "We don't have any water. No bottled water or nothing, or anything to eat, we are not prepared at all," Colton said, looking around the truck seat. "It could take forever for them to come," he added.
"Colton, you worry too much. You make things worse than they are. It's not like we're in the middle of the African desert. Seriously, this area is not huge. It's not like they're searching millions of square miles. Someone's bound to find us. They'll find us," Aaron said in a reassured voice. "I still think we should have some sort of water or food with us," Colton said.
There was silence again in the truck. "Aaron, what do you think that was we saw back there?" Colton asked. Aaron sighed. "I don't know what it was, maybe it was a guy who was drunk, I don't know," replied Aaron. "You know when they told me part of my mission would be on Navajoland. I went to the library and checked out a book about Navajos. I was reading all this stuff about the Navajo people. Aaron, they believe in something called skinwalkers-" Colton said, being cut off by Aaron. "Stop! We didn't see any skinwalkers, what we saw was probably a drunk guy walking in the middle of the night. Please, stop talking about that kind of stuff. Besides, evil people or spirits go to the Spirit Prison, there's no such thing as ghosts or skinwalkers," Aaron replied. "See that's the point, we believe in Spirit Prison, but this is Navajoland. I'm sure they don't believe in a Spirit Prison but they believe in things like skinwalkers. After all, this is their land, their world, their beliefs," Colton said.
"Colton, are you missionary? Then you need to keep your mind set on the Gospel, not another belief-" Aaron said, being cut off by Colton. "That's what I've been trying to tell you, I'm not here to bring people to the Gospel, I don't care. If I did care about being on a mission, I would not have started a scene with that jerk at the Seven Eleven," Colton said. "If you don't care, then you need to go home! When all of this is finished just go home," Aaron replied in an authoritative voice. "Fine! When we get back to Tuba City, I'm gonna pack my stuff and go," Colton replied. Aaron looked out the driver side window, not looking at his companion. "Every now and then a few will slip into the mission field," Aaron said quietly, nodding his head in disappointment towards his companion.
"Every now and then a narrow-minded person will be born into this world," Colton replied after his companion's comment. "I'm not narrow-minded, you don't know me," Aaron said. "Oh, you're not narrow-minded? Let me see, how long have you been out here on the reservation?" Colton asked. "Altogether? About 10 months now," Aaron replied, he looked at his companion, waiting to hear what Colton is going to say next. "Oh, 10 months now! So tell me then, since you've been on the reservation for 10 months now, tell me then what are their beliefs? What do they believe in?" Colton asked. "I don't know what they believe in!" Aaron said, raising his voice. "Then that's narrow-minded! You spend 10 months in a different world and you still don't know anything about them? You can't at least hear just one story from a Navajo elder about how they view the world? That Navajo guy we saw four days ago wanted to share with us his view of the world and what did you do? You just cut him off and changed the subject. Did you see the look on his face when you cut him off? You talked about 15 minutes about our beliefs and when it was his turn, you completely cut him off! You didn't want to hear it! Is that narrow-minded or not? At least I went to the library and opened up my mind and opened up that book and read about a group of people who view the whole world differently!" Colton said.
Aaron didn't say anything. He was not going to argue anymore especially on a touchy subject as various beliefs in the world. Aaron knew he just had to swallow his words to keep everything in order. Besides he was senior companion, he had to keep everything under control. Both kept quiet, not looking at each other. It was as if there was this invisible wall between them. Aaron was right, by keeping quiet, their emotions died down.
"Colton, I'm sorry. You know what, you are right. I don't know everything and I'm not perfect. But I try to do what the Lord commanded: Go... and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But like I said, I get so focused on something. I don't realize the other things around me. Everything I had been taught growing up was obeying the commandments and following the teachings of Christ. There's nothing wrong with that, but now I know, there's also nothing wrong with listening on how other people view the world. I should have remembered our church's first president, Joseph Smith's teaching: We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may (Articles of Faith 1:11), the Navajo people really do have the right to believe in whatever they believe in. But that shouldn't prevent us, as missionaries, from sharing our Gospel with them. I should not have cut that Navajo guy off from hearing his beliefs and views of the world, I'm sorry I did that," Aaron said in a compassionate tone.
There was silence again. "Hmm, Articles of Faith 1:11, huh? I'm sorry to, because what I need to do is Mosiah Chapter 4 Verse 30: Watch your thoughts, words and deeds," Colton said. "Well, I tell you, besides being lost, we sure learned something tonight, didn't we?" replied Aaron. Colton laughed softly. "I just realized, this is the first time you and me really talked. I mean we've been together for six days now and this is the first real conversation we've had," Colton said. The two young men became quiet, thinking about their wrongs and faults and their love for the Gospel.
"Oh God, I'm sorry but I need to stretch my leg," Colton said opening the truck door and stepping out. He looked up at the night sky and seeing the stars and the moon. "You know, I'm surprised it's actually hot. I thought at night it would be cold, but it's not," Colton said. "Yeah, you're right. It is hot," Aaron said. Colton took a step forward and saw the huge vast canyon in front of them. "You know, I can barely see but it actually looks like the Grand Canyon," Colton said. "I mean I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but I've seen pictures of it," he added.
Aaron thought for a moment. "Are you serious? It looks like the Grand Canyon?" Aaron asked. "Yeah, it sure does. Why?" Colton asked. Aaron sat up and grabbed the local maps they had. He opened the Navajo Nation map that they had with them. "What? What's going on?" Colton asked, walking back to the frame of the door. Aaron opened the map in the middle of the seat. "Okay, look we were on Navajo Route 6134. Look at the western side of the reservation, Grand Canyon actually borders the west side of the Navajo Reservation," Aaron explained. He pointed at the Grand Canyon and the reservation on the map and drew a circle with his finger. The extreme end of the Grand Canyon meets up with western Navajoland. The Colorado River is the borderline. "Are you telling me we actually drove to the end of the Navajo Reservation?" Colton asked. "If that really is the Grand Canyon, then we're so in the wrong area," Aaron said. "They're gonna be looking for us on the back roads, not near the reservation borderline. How could we drive this far out? How could this happen?" Colton said in shock.
"Colton, you're right. We were only supposed to go 15 miles off from Highway 89. But we didn't drive 15 miles away, we drove twice that. We're almost 30 miles away from Highway 89. If help is coming, they're gonna be looking for us in the wrong area," Aaron explained. "So what do we do? I don't know what to do?" Colton replied. Aaron thought for a minute. "Okay, remember how I said we stay put?" Aaron asked. Colton nodded. "Tomorrow morning, at first sunlight we- We start walking. We start walking until we see a car, a house, a rescue party or something," Aaron said. "Okay. You know when all of this is over, Harrison Yazzie owes us BIG time, I'm not kidding. He owes us a butchered sheep with fried bread and a pot of boiling stew and the whole fixing! I'm not letting him off the hook that easy!" Colton said walking away from the truck.
"Where are you going?" Aaron asked. "I gotta go take a leak," Colton shouted back. "Don't go too far," Aaron said. Colton walked a short distance from the truck. "Wow, what a night. I can't believe it," Aaron said quietly to himself. He picked up the maps and was looking over them one more time when is companion shouted. "Elder, there's lights! I see lights!" Colton shouted.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"What? Are you sure?"Aaron said, getting out of the truck. He walked towards his companion. Aaron looked down towards the ground, he was standing on a wet spot, "Did I just step on your pee?" Aaron said, stepping aside. Far in the distance was a set of lights. They blinked off and on in an uneven pattern. "Is that a truck?" Colton asked. Aaron grated the soles of the shoe into the dry dirt, he then looked up and saw the lights. "Dude, those look like eyes," Aaron said. "Aaron, eyes don't shine like that," Colton said, looking ahead and seeing the lights. Then it died out. "What was that?" Aaron asked. "I think it's a truck, it's a truck!" Colton said in excitement. "I don't know, it looked like eyes," Aaron said. "What eyes glow at night?" Colton asked. "Elder, some animals, their eyes glow at night. Like a coyote, or wolf. It could be a coyote, we're out in the desert, so there’s a lot of them," Aaron said. "I'm telling you that’s a truck, it's not an animal," Colton said. Suddenly, the pair of lights shined again. This time it was closer. "See it?" Colton said. "Whatever it is, it's coming toward us," Aaron said. "Um, I don't think it's a truck," Colton said. "I told you, dude, that's an animal, we better get back to the truck, we don't wanna be attacked by a pack of wolves or coyotes," Aaron said. "Wait, Shh! Hear that?" Colton said. "What is that?" Aaron asked. Both became silent, hearing something. "Dude, that sounds like footsteps," Colton said. The lights died out. They heard the sound of someone walking. "That's an animal, I think a coyote is coming towards us," Aaron said. "It doesn't sound like an animal. It sounds like footsteps, like two feet walking," Colton said in a lowered voice. Suddenly there was a sound like a rock was thrown against another rock. "What was that?" Aaron said. "Dude, someone threw something! I think someone threw a rock!" Colton said. There was a faint noise being heard. "Dude that sounds like footsteps," Aaron said. "That's what I said, it's a person, there's someone coming," Colton said.
"Hello? Someone out there?!" shouted Aaron. Colton grabbed Aaron's arm, "Dude, stay with me, don't go anywhere. Just- Just stay right next to me," Colton said. They heard footsteps again, this time it was very close to them. Colton took a step back, "Aaron, let's go back to the truck now," Colton said. Both turned around and walked towards the truck. Suddenly the sound of a rock hitting another rock was heard. "Aaron, someone's throwing a rock at us," Colton said. "Just get to the truck, go!" Aaron said in a panicky voice. Both reached the truck doors and got in and slammed the door and both locked the door.
"Turn off the lights! Turn off the inside light!" Aaron said. Colton turned off the inside light. It was dark. There was silence. "I can't see anything," Colton said. Suddenly a pebble hit the back window. Both jumped. "Hey, stop that!" Aaron shouted. "Who's out there?" Colton shouted through the window. "Wait! Shut up! Quiet!" Aaron said. "Oh God, I'm scared! I admit I'm scared!" Colton said. "Quiet!" Aaron said, hushing his companion. They both became quiet. A loud sound came from the back of the truck that sounded like metal grinding, the truck shook a little.
"Ah! Oh God, what the hell was that!" Colton shouted. He reached for the inside lights and turned it on. "Okay! Okay! Calm down!" Aaron said. "Shut up!" Aaron shouted. There was silence again. Colton calmed himself down. "What was that noise?" he asked. Aaron looked at the back window. "It was the tailgate," Aaron said. "No way!" Colton said in disbelief. "The tailgate is down. Someone pulled down the tailgate," Aaron said. "Oh God, I wanna go home, I don't wanna be here! I don't wanna be here!" Colton said closing his eyes, saying those words almost as if praying, he kept repeating those words. "Colton calm down. Please, calm down," Aaron said. "Colton! I need you to stay with me, don't fall apart on me now, calm down, we're okay!" Aaron said. "Okay? Dude, someone's out there screwing with us! Someone's throwing rocks at us! What if they wanna hurt us?! Or kill us?! No one knows where we are and we're lost! Someone or something is out there! What the hell is out there! Where are we?! I wanna go home! I don't wanna be here! I don't wanna be here! I don't wanna be-" Colton said raising his voice louder and louder. Aaron threw his hands towards Colton's face and slapped him.
Colton stopped. "Stop! Please stop!" Aaron said. "Colton I'm scared too but we gotta stay calm. It'll do us no good if we're panicking," Aaron said. Colton began sobbing quietly. Aaron let him cry it out for a few minutes. "I'm sorry," Aaron said in a regretful voice. "I didn't mean to hit you, I had to calm you down somehow," Aaron said. He scooted over to his companion and held him. "Stop crying, okay? We'll get out of here, it's just gonna take some time. I didn't mean to hit you, I'm sorry," Aaron said, calming Colton down. "Is that thing still out there?" Colton asked crying. "I don't know. I don't hear anything, just calm your breathing. Relax now. Everything's alright now. We're safe in the truck. The doors are locked," Aaron explained to him. "I know you don't wanna hear this right now, but- Try to go to sleep," Aaron said. "No!" Colton said shaking his head, still crying. "Colton stop! That's enough! Go to sleep and I'll keep watch. Okay? I'll stay up and watch out for things. Just close your eyes and go to sleep," Aaron said in a fatherly voice.
"No," Colton said in a shaking voice, his teeth were chattering. Almost as if he was in a slight shock. Aaron kept his arms around him and patted his shoulders, calming him down. "Shh, go to sleep now," Aaron whispered. Colton closed his eyes. Aaron could see even though Colton's eyes were closed, he was fighting to stay awake. Aaron looked around the windows. Whatever was happening outside seemed to stop.
Later, Colton fell asleep. His head leaned against the door window. Aaron sat on the driver's side, his head too was leaning against the door window, but he was awake. He looked over at Colton who was heavily asleep. Aaron reached over to the inside light switch and turned it off. Even though he promised to stay awake, Aaron closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Both were in a deep sleep. Suddenly there was a tap at the driver side window. Aaron woke from his sleep. He looked at the window. There was nothing. He looked around, hoping to see some people who were coming to look for them. There was nothing. He looked again at the driver side window. There was nothing. He reached over to the inside light switch and turned it on. He looked out the window, there was nothing. He looked over at Colton who was still asleep. He leaned back getting ready to relax when he looked back at the driver side window. There was someone standing there, peeking through the window. The figure was wearing a long furry shawl. His head was covered by the shawl like a hood. He couldn't see a face, only blackness where a face should be. Aaron screamed as he jumped over to Colton's side of the truck. Colton woke up, seeing his partner climbing on top of him. "What? Aaron, what?" Colton shouted. "There, out there!" Aaron screamed, pointing at the driver side window. Colton looked and didn't see anything.
"Aaron, there's nothing! Get off me! Get off!" Colton said, pushing Aaron away. Aaron sat next to him, leaving the driver side seat open. "There was someone standing by the door! Someone's out there!" Aaron shouted. "Shh, quiet!" Colton said, hearing something. Both stared at the driver side window. There was silence. Suddenly there was a tap at the window again. "See! See! Someone's out there!" Aaron said excitedly. "Oh sh-, I can't see. I can't see anyone," Colton said. There was a tap at the window, this time louder, almost as if knocking. "Oh my God, oh my God!" Aaron said in a panicky voice. Suddenly someone was trying to open the locked door. They heard the door handle lifting up and down. "Oh God! Someone's gonna open it! It’s gonna open!" Aaron said, leaning towards Colton. "It's locked! The doors locked!" Colton said. The handle jerked up and down violently. "It’s gonna open! It's gonna open! Get ready to run, if that door opens-" Aaron said. "Aaron, I'm not opening this door. I'm not running out in the dark!" Colton protested. Suddenly the noise stopped.
Then there was a loud bang on the top of the truck, the thing outside had crawled up on the roof of the truck. Both elders screamed as they knelt lower to the seat. There was banging on the roof of the truck, it was walking back and forth, stomping it's feet as it walked. Then the banging stopped. "What the hell?" Colton said, out of breath. The elders kept still and low to the seat. When they didn't hear anything anymore, they slowly sat up. Both looked around, peeking through the truck windows. "Is it gone?" Colton asked. "I don't know, I don't hear anything," Aaron replied. Suddenly the head of this being slammed against the front windshield, it was lying on top of the truck and peeking through the windshield. Its head was covered by the shawl like a cowl. The elders jumped back and screamed as they saw the head. There was no face, only darkness where the face should be. Then it lifted up its head and there was a banging sound on top of the truck again. They saw something fall off on the driver’s side window. They heard footsteps walking away from the truck.
"Did you hear that?" whispered Aaron. "I heard footsteps. Someone's walking away," Colton said. It was quiet again. Then the silence was broken by a howl. It was the sound of an animal howling. It was the sound of a coyote. Both looked at each other. "I'm going out there," Aaron said. "What? Are you crazy? What are you going to do?" Colton asked. "Colton, we can't just sit in here scared. Whatever that thing is it’s feeding off of our fear. We gotta do something. I'm going out there," Aaron said. "Please don't go out there, don't do anything that'll get yourself hurt. The last thing we need is one of us hurt," Colton said. "Maybe if I see it and don't run away, but run towards it, I'll scare it away," Aaron said. Colton processed what Aaron said in his mind as if trying to solve a math problem. "You wanna run towards it? You wanna scare it away?" Colton said. "Don't argue with me, Colton. I'm getting sick and tired of this," Aaron said, moving slowly towards the driver’s seat. "Don't get hurt, I don't need you getting hurt," Colton said. "Hey you're the one who gets mad easily! I'm surprised to see you haven't gotten mad at that thing for screwing around with you," Aaron replied. "Hey I get mad at someone I know I can handle. Not something I don't know what it is. I don't what the hell that thing is," Colton said. Aaron put his hands on the door handle. "Don't say I'll be right back, cause I seen too many horror movies to know you don't say I'll be right back in a situation like this cause you won't!" Colton said. "Shut up!" Aaron said, he opened the door.
The hot night air rushed in. Aaron stepped out of the truck. He walked slowly towards the back of the truck. He could see the outline of mesas against the full moon. But there was nothing, it was quiet. "Where the hell are you?!" Aaron shouted. "I'm not scared of you!" he shouted again. "Come on! Show yourself!" he continued. "What do you want from us?!"
Colton opened the door and stepped out. He walked towards the back of the truck. The tailgate was down from earlier. He stood next to Aaron. "What do you want from us?! Money?!" Aaron shouted. "We're missionaries and we don't have any money!" Colton shouted. Aaron rolled his eyes and looked at his companion. "That reminds me, how much do I have?" Colton said digging in his pocket, taking out coins and some dollar bills. Aaron stared at Colton. "Really? You gonna count your money right now?" Aaron asked as Colton started counting his money, barely seeing in the dark. "Darn! All I have is eight dollars and twenty cents. When all this is over, we need to go to the ATM because-" Colton said looking at his companion but then stopping himself, dropping the money back in his pocket. Aaron stared at him for about a second longer then turned towards the landscape. "Come on where are you?! Come on! Say something! Say something that'll scare us! You can't beat us down! Come on, say something!" Aaron shouted. There was silence. "You're not gonna beat us down!" he shouted into the night.
"I hate you!" shouted a little boys' voice. Colton gasped as he looked at his companion. Aaron's faced changed to anger. A look Colton has never seen before. "What did you say to me?" Aaron shouted in anger, walking a couple of feet away from the truck. "I hate you!" shouted the little boys' voice again. "Aaron, maybe this was a bad idea. Come on, let’s get back in the truck," Colton said. "No, this fucker wants to start something! You wanna start something?! Come here to my face!" Aaron shouted in anger.
"Aaron, don't you see it's not trying to scare you, it's trying to anger you, it's feeding off of your anger," Colton said. "Come here to my face you coward! What're you hiding for?!" Aaron shouted towards the mesas. "Aaron you shouldn't talk to it. Everyone knows you don't talk to a evil spirit or have a conversation with it, let's get back to the truck, just ignore it," Colton said walking up to his companion and grabbing his arm. Colton began gently pushing Aaron back towards the truck. "Aaron, get in the truck," Colton said in a concerned tone. "Don't listen to it, please, just get in the truck," he added.
Aaron turned around and began walking back towards the truck. Colton followed him and he opened the door for his companion. Aaron sat on the driver seat but didn't close the door. "That thing just used my little brother's voice! Now that pisses me off," Aaron said, pushing Colton aside and stepping out of the truck again and walking towards the mesas. "Who do you think you are?! You leave my brother out of this! This is between me and you! Do you hear me?!" shouted Aaron in anger. "I hate you!" shouted the boys' voice again. "Goddamn!" Aaron shouted, he began running into the darkness.
CHAPTER EIGHT
"Aaron!" shouted Colton as he ran after him. Aaron began running towards the mesas in the distance. "Goddamn you! Leave my brother alone! Where are you?!" he screamed as he kept running. "Aaron, don't! Don't listen to it! Aaron! It's trying to separate us!" Colton said, he couldn't keep up with his companion. Aaron ran a couple more feet. He stopped and took off his suit coat and threw it to the ground. "Come on! Where are you?! I'm right here!" he screamed. He threw up his arms in the air as if challenging the adversary.
Colton stopped, catching his breath. "Oh damn, Aaron where are you?!" he shouted. He lost his companion in the darkness. "Aaron?!" Colton exclaimed, looking around. He heard Aaron screaming again, "Where are you?!" Colton ran towards the shouting voice. He then tripped. He fell hard on the ground. "Oww!" he said, lying on the ground. He lost is breath when he landed. Colton laid still on the ground, catching his breath. He sat up and looked at his right knee. His pants ripped in the knee area. His knee was scraped bad. "Ouch! Damn!" Colton said. He could feel the pain in his right knee. He could feel blood running down his leg. He tried to stand up, but he knelt back down to the ground. "Aaron!" he shouted. Colton looked ahead and saw something on the ground. It was Aaron's suit coat that he threw down. Colton stood up again, this time ignoring his pain. He then ran towards the coat, stopped and looked around.
"Where are you?" Aaron said in an angry voice. He heard Colton's voice in the distance, but he didn't pay attention to it. Aaron saw something ahead. It was like a white mist, in the shape of a human. Then it quickly disappeared. He ran to where he saw the mist. When he came to the spot, for some reason, his anger was replaced by deep regret. He began crying. Aaron fell to his knees, crying. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, then, he said it again, this time shouting into the night, "I'm sorry!"
Aaron began sobbing. "I'm sorry Robby! I didn't mean to leave you. Robby I'm sorry!" he said. "I'm sorry!" he kept repeating to himself quietly, putting his head down in shame. Aaron heard footsteps coming closer. But he didn't care. His emotions of feeling sorry over took him, he had no fighting strength left in him. The footsteps stopped. Aaron slowly looked up and saw a figure standing before him. It was the same figure they've been seeing all night. It was wearing a furry shawl over its body. A leather pouch was tied around his waist. The entity didn't say anything, just looked down at the crying young man, his eyes glowed on and off like the eyes of a coyote. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to leave Robby, I’m sorry!" Aaron said, barely speaking. The two locked eyes. The entity slowly knelt down beside him and took his shawl and covered Aaron as if he was cold.
Colton finally caught up to his companion. He looked around and saw Aaron. Aaron was alone sitting in a fetal position, crying. Colton looked around. There was nothing, just the landscape of the desert. He limped towards his companion. "Aaron?" Colton said. "Aaron, what happened? Are you okay?" he asked. Aaron said nothing, he just kept crying. "Are you hurt?" Colton asked. Colton grabbed Aarons arm and gently pulled him up. Aaron stood up and he almost fell over. Colton caught him. "Hey, hey! Aaron, I need you to stay with me. Don't fall apart on me now," Colton said, holding his partner. "Aaron, I can't do this myself. I need you to stay focused. I don't know what to do if you're gonna lose it. I don't know what to do without you. You're my senior companion and I've been following you all this time, okay? I'm a follower," Colton said, almost crying. "I can't lead. I can't lead us out of here, I'm not good in a situation like this, I need you with me so don't fall apart, just keep it together, okay?" Colton said. Aaron nodded, he tried to calm down.
"Let's go back to the truck," Colton said. They slowly walked back to the truck. Colton sat Aaron in the driver seat and closed the door. Colton ran around the truck and sat in the passenger seat and closed the door. The inside light was on and Colton finally got a good look at his companion's face. Aaron's face was flushed, his eyes red from crying. There were dark circles around his eyes, as if he had been crying all night. Aaron looked through the windshield, seeing the vast canyon in front of him, giving a blank stare. He was quiet. Colton took a tissue from the glove compartment and was wiping the blood off his knee. It was a bad scrape, one that would get infected if he didn't wash it soon and get it cleaned. There was a small amount of blood around the torn area of his pants. He wiped the blood and held the tissue on the wound, applying pressure.
"Um, Aaron? Why don't you close your eyes and get some sleep okay? I already had my sleep. I guess it's my turn to stay up and keep watch," Colton said. There was silence. "Aaron? Aaron please say something?" Colton said. "I'm sorry," Aaron whispered. "Okay. I'm sure your brother forgives you and I forgive you. It's not your fault, we've had a long night, but we still got quite a ways to go. So let's just finish the rest of the night just sleeping, okay?" Colton said.
"I'm gonna turn off the lights okay?" Colton said as he dropped the bloodied tissue on the mat and reached for the light switch and turned off the lights. As he turned off the light, Aaron's eyes glowed like an animal and the tinge in his eyes quickly faded away. Aaron slowly turned his head toward Colton. He stared at him for a long time, not blinking, nothing. He gave a blank stare with no expression on his face. Colton, not noticing, looked out the passenger side window. "Aaron, I don't know why, but I feel like singing. Maybe that'll make us feel better. Well... I won't sing, but I'll hum a song, okay?" Colton said. He started humming a song he was familiar with. He was humming a hymn song he was used to singing in church. After a few bars, he stopped. He sniffed. "Aaron, it's probably just me. I don't know if you noticed, but it smells like there's an animal," Colton said. "I think either me or you stepped on dog poop or something cause it smells like there's a dog in here," Colton said. He looked at Aaron. Colton finally noticed Aaron was staring at him. "What?" Colton asked, feeling uneasy.
"Nothing, just tired," Aaron replied, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Goodnight," Colton said. "Goodnight," replied Aaron. Colton, still feeling uneasy, crossed his arms and leaned back. He watched the night through the truck windows. Colton wondered how much longer, he wanted to see what time it was, but he didn't want to bother Aaron for the time. So instead, he wondered. He made himself feel better by telling himself it was around 5 in the morning, the sun almost rising. But it wasn't. He thought about his mission. So far, he did enjoy himself, meeting new people. His mission wasn't that bad. He realized he was proving people wrong by going on a mission. People he was meeting saw him as a representative of Christ. Not some rude, mean person. With all these thoughts in his mind, Colton fell asleep.
Some time passed by, Colton was asleep, after he promised to stay up and watch. Aaron slowly lifted his head. There was a small glow in his eyes. He turned towards his sleeping companion. Aaron slowly leaned towards Colton. He stared at him for a long time, as if he was staring at him for the first time. Aaron was acting like 'who is this person next to me?' He slowly scooted over to the middle of the seat, sitting next to Colton. He continued to stare at him. He took his left hand and slowly reached the wound on Colton's knee. He touched it softly. He then looked at his finger, there was a little blood on the tip of his finger. He put his fingers close to his nose and smelt it. He then put his fingers close to his mouth and licked off the blood.
The glow in his eyes became brighter, then dimmed slowly. Aaron drew his head close to Colton's body. He started sniffing Colton like a dog. He sniffed his cheek, he neck. He then reached his left hand towards Colton. This time, slowly fitting his hands around Colton's neck. Colton felt Aaron's cold hands and woke up. "Aaron what are doing?" he asked, looking at him. Colton saw Aaron's eyes glow like an animal stalking its prey at night. Colton was getting ready to scream but Aaron grabbed his neck and began squeezing it. Colton tried to scream but couldn't, his vocal cords was being squeezed. He started hitting Aaron, but Aaron lunged forward, almost lying on top of him, putting his weight on top of Colton, choking him now with both hands. "Aaron! Stop!" gagged Colton. Colton's feet started hitting against the dashboard and windshield. "Aaron!" Colton screamed.
Colton began gagging and coughing, trying to breathe for air. He made a tight fist and began punching Aaron in the face. Realizing that wasn't working, he reached for Aaron's eyes and scratched them. Aaron screamed in pain. He let go of Colton's throat and put his hands to his eyes. Colton opened the passenger side door and pushed himself out.
CHAPTER NINE
Colton landed on his back. There was a loud thud. He looked up towards the moon and stars. He was seeing double vision on the full moon. He quickly regained his vision and stood up. He slammed the door shut and began running. "Help!" he screamed. Aaron opened the door and ran after him. Colton ran through the desert and almost tripping a couple times due to the uneven earth. Colton turned around and saw two glowing eyes running towards him, it was Aaron. He continued running but he couldn't run as fast due to his swollen right knee. "Someone help!" Colton shouted. Aaron caught up with him and tackled him to the ground, they were beside a small cliff, at the bottom was a dry riverbed.
"Get off me!" shouted Colton. Aaron put his hand on Colton's mouth and put his other hand on his nose, closing his airway, suffocating him. Colton began hitting Aaron in the face, he then tried pushing him off. But for some reason, Aaron was just too powerful. Colton made muffled screams through Aaron's hands. He couldn't breathe, his nose was blocked and his mouth was blocked. He began making gagging sounds. Aaron's eyes began glowing like an animal. Colton tried to breathe and scream at the same time, he then grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it into Aaron's eyes. Aaron let go of his mouth and nose. Colton pushed him off.
Aaron screamed as he was blinded by the sand. The stinging sensation overcame him. Colton turned around and saw a huge basketball size rock. He crawled towards it. Aaron screamed as a white mist suddenly surrounded his body and moved away from him as if something was inside him and ran out from his body. The white mist turned into a coyote and it ran away from Aaron's body and into the darkness. Aaron stood up and it was as if he regained consciousness, he was himself again. He heard Colton making grunting noises behind him, he turned around. Colton whacked Aaron on the side of the head with the huge rock. Blood sprinkled over the dirt. Colton dropped the bloodied rock. Aaron began to lose his balance, but he was still standing. Through the blood over his eyes and face, he saw Colton run towards him.
"No!" Aaron screamed as Colton pushed him towards the cliff and Aaron fell off the ledge. He fell towards the riverbed and landed on his stomach. His head hit the soft riverbed. He did not move. Aaron fell to the equivalent of a 2nd story house. Colton stood at the edge of the cliff and dropped to his knees. Finally, he was catching his breath. He slowly looked over the ledge. He saw Aaron at the bottom, lying motionless. There was a bunch of church cards that fell out of his shirt pocket, all around Aaron, it was all over the river bed. "Aaron?" Colton said softly. He put his hands to his face and began crying. "No, no, no, no," he said repeatedly. He let his hands fall to his side and looked up to the night sky. He screamed towards the heavens as if trying to get Heavenly Father's attention. He was finished, his body was finished, he fell over and laid on the ground. He began hitting the ground with his fists. He cried for a few minutes. He looked towards the stars in the nights. Colton calmed himself down. He was overcome with a little strength, coming from somewhere inside him. He sat up and stood up.
Colton looked around the area. He looked up to the sky again and saw the Big Dipper in the north. He used that for the direction of east. They did come from the east when they first entered the back roads. East was where he needed to go. He began walking. He couldn't wait till morning, he needed to leave now. He started walking towards east. He was limping slowly. His knee was hurting bad by now, every pressure he put on hurt him so much. But he fought it, with every step. Colton began humming a tune, then he sung a hymn from church. He sung to himself. He walked about a mile. There was still no light, nothing. The only light was the full moon and the stars above. He continued singing. He heard some rustling. He stopped and looked around, nothing.
He walked towards the wall of a small mesa that protruded from the earth about 20 feet tall. Again, he heard some rustling sounds. He looked around. Colton stood there for a minute then slowly began walking again. He stayed alongside the wall of the small mesa. At the top of the mesa was the entity that has been with them all this time. The figure kept in walking pace with Colton. It was looking down at the missionary, walking along the edge. Colton began to feel uneasy. He knew he was being followed, but he couldn't see his adversary. "Stay away from me, stay away from me," he said in a quiet voice, not shouting but in a small still voice.
"You killed me!" shouted a voice. Colton stopped. He looked around and looked up at the mesa. There was nothing on top of the small mesa. "No, I didn't do anything," he said quietly. "You killed me!" shouted a voice. "Aaron?" Colton asked quietly. "Aaron. Is that you?!" Colton shouted. "You killed me!" said the voice. Colton began running, he ran from the small mesa, running into open land. "I didn't do anything! Leave me alone!" Colton shouted. "You killed me!" said the voice again. "Leave me alone!" Colton shouted, putting his hands to his ears and he began singing a hymn out loud. Trying to drown out the words coming from the darkness.
"Why? Why'd you kill me?" the voice shouted. "Shut up!" screamed Colton. He stopped and gasped aloud. He saw two bright lights ahead of him. They looked like eyes, coming towards him. He turned around and began running from the lights. He saw a river bank and ran down to the bottom. He leaned against the wall of the earth. He closed his eyes and put his hands to his ears. "Leave me alone, leave me alone," Colton repeated to himself over and over again. As he hid at the bottom, a strong set of lights passed over him, coming from the edge of the river bank. "Elders!" shouted a voice. "Leave me alone!" Colton repeated, his eyes still closed and his hands to his ears. "Elders!" the voice shouted again. Colton didn't want to see or hear anything anymore. He just wanted everything to go away. "Go away!" he cried to himself.
As he hid at the bottom of the river bank, a truck slowly turned around at the edge of the bank. There were a couple of people in the back truck bed with flashlights. "Elders!" they shouted. There was silence. They couldn't see anything. "Elder Foster, Elder Clark!" shouted a man from the back of the truck. The truck slowly started moving away from the bank. The driver honked the horn. Colton opened his eyes and dropped his hands from his ears. "Elder Foster, Elder Clark!" the voice shouted. Colton stood up and crawled out of the river bank. By now, all he saw was two red lights moving away from him. Colton waved his arms in the air. "Hey! Over here!" he shouted. But they were already far away. "Wait!" Colton screamed as he began running towards the moving lights. But the truck was already far ahead.
"Wait!" screamed Colton. He saw a hill. Colton ran towards the hill and ran to the top. He was pushing his limits, he was tired, physically and mentally and spiritually. But he drew his last strength to run up the hill. Colton reached the top of the hill. He saw the vast valley and landscape before him. He saw four separate trucks all over the valley and he heard people shouting, "Elders!" One of the trucks was an emergency vehicle. He saw the emergency lights on. They were driving all over the back roads. They were the search and rescue team Colton was waiting for.
CHAPTER TEN
Just behind the entire valley, he could see it was almost dawn. The sun was getting ready to rise. It was about 5:30 in the morning, but it was still dark. Colton ran down the hill, he continued to move east towards the vehicles. At the bottom, he stopped to catch his breath. He was tired. As he began to run, he came across a dirt road, up ahead he saw the truck on the road, getting farther away. He started to run towards the truck. He knew he couldn't reach it, but maybe he could reach the other vehicles in the area. Suddenly, he heard a coyote howling. He stopped and turned around. He saw the entity standing on top of the hill where he was. Colton saw the eyes glowing bright. The entity began running towards Colton. The missionary turned around and began running. He turned around again and saw a coyote. The animal was growling and running towards him. Colton ran as fast as he could. He turned around again, this time he saw the coyote running on all four legs but stood up to two legs. The body of the coyote turned into a shawl. Colton had witnessed a shape shift from animal to human.
Colton stopped. The figure was close to him. Colton was getting ready to fight this entity. He was tired of running, just when he was about to hit the entity with his fist. The human shaped being transformed back into a coyote and the animal jumped and locked its teeth on Colton's arm. "Aah! Get off!" Colton shouted. He began trying to push the animal off of him. The coyote let go of Colton's arms and locked its jaws on Colton's leg. Colton fell to the ground. He started hitting the animal. The animal wouldn't let go, it growled and barked at Colton. The animal quickly transformed into a human and jumped on top of Colton, sitting on top of him.
Colton reached for the shawl that covered its face. He pulled the entire shawl off the entity. The creature stood up, getting off of Colton. There before him stood a skeletal feature of a human body, but the head was in the skeletal feature of a coyote. Its facial tissue was rotten and decayed. Colton screamed in fear, this scream was louder than he had ever screamed before. The entity dug into his leather pouch that was tied around his waist and took out a bone. It had a sharp end like a knife. The entity held the bone like a knife, getting ready to stab the young missionary. Colton began crawling backwards, using his arms and feet. The entity walked towards him and lifted up the bone knife above Colton, getting ready to drive it into the young man. Colton shut his eyes and continued screaming.
Suddenly from behind the entity, Aaron wrapped his arms around the creature and dragged him back. "Get away from him!" Aaron shouted. He was covered in blood and white sand all over his body, his head area was mostly covered in blood where Colton hit him with the rock. He held the entity firmly, dragging him away from Colton. The evil spirit screamed out loud. Suddenly, it burst into flames. Aaron continued to hold the burning entity, not letting go. The spirit fought to be released, but Aaron held tight. The evil spirit screamed in pain as the flames consumed its entire body. Aaron let go and fell to the ground. The entity was covered in flames, screaming and howling like a coyote. It then dropped to the ground and whimpered like an injured dog. Then the whimpering stopped. The fire was still there, burning on the ground. Aaron stared at the flames for a minute. He then stood up and limped over to Colton. Colton was in a fetal position, lying on the ground, he was crying. Aaron sat by him and helped him sit up next to him. "It's okay. I'm here, I'm here," Aaron said, holding his companion. Both watched the fire, still burning.
Dawn broke and the sun rose, the landscape was red and orange from the morning sun. Down this dirt road, the two young men walked slowly. Colton had his arm around Aaron, leaning on him, using him as a crutch. His knee was swollen badly, it needed medical attention. Both were bloodied and covered in sand and their white shirts and black pants were ripped and torn. Aaron's shirt was burned due to the fire from the entity. They were hurt and in pain - but they were alive.
They heard the sound of a truck engine breaking the morning silence. Aaron looked up and saw a truck coming towards them. He locked eyes with the Navajo driver. The driver honked the horn and stuck his hand out and waved his hand. There was a female Navajo sitting in the passenger seat. She put a cell phone to her ear. There was a man in the back truck bed. He jumped out the truck as the truck slowed down. The Navajo man ran towards the two missionaries.
Aaron finally let his guard down and gently set Colton on the dirt road. He then knelt down and laid down in the middle of the road. His body, his strength was finished, he couldn't stand up anymore. He stared up at the blue cloudless sky. He was in so much pain that he heard muffled sounds. It was the people coming towards them. Colton sat on the road, he looked at his companion. He then looked around and saw an ambulance coming from up a hill. There were other vehicles all over the vast landscape, coming towards them. The Navajo woman wrapped a blanket around him. "We've been looking for you guys all night," the driver said. "You guys are gonna be okay," he said.
For Colton and Aaron, hearing those words meant the world to them. It meant even more that it came from another person, not from either one of them. They knew they were going to be okay. Aaron put his hands to his face and began crying. Tears ran down Colton's face. They were hurt and in pain - but they were alive...
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Aaron opened his eyes. The room was white. He looked and saw Colton lying on another bed next to him. He saw an IV (Intravenous therapy) and various other machines around him and Colton. There was a long gauze bandaged around his head. Colton's right knee was bandaged as well. Aaron saw a bunch of Get Well balloons and a bunch of cards sitting on a table next to the window. "You up?" Colton asked. "Yeah, for a second there I thought I was in the Kingdom, everything was white," Aaron replied.
"Actually you're at the hospital here in Tuba City," said a different voice. It was a Navajo man wearing a tribal police uniform, next to him was another Navajo man, much older. He was adorned with Navajo jewelry. The third and last person in the room was an older white male. The missionaries recognized him as the mission president.
"Since last night, until six this morning, you two have been giving me a heart attack!" chuckled the mission president, he then looked at the two, almost about to cry. "I really am glad and thankful to Heavenly Father you two are alive and okay. Everyone prayed for you two last night, the ward and other wards prayed all night for you two," the man said. "Harrison Yazzie called the church around 8 last night. He said you two never showed and we knew you two went alone because Brother Lewis was having car problems. The bishop called me around 8:15 and told me what happened. We immediately knew you two were lost in the back roads. The search started at 8:30 and we've been looking for you since. All night, people from the ward and even non members, like half of Tuba City volunteered to look for you two on the back roads. This is probably too late to say this, but you really should have not gone out there by yourselves. Not that you're in any trouble or anything, I am just thankful you guys are okay. I called your parents and told them what happened, they are aware of the situation. I told them I would have the boys give you a phone call when they're up and about," the mission president explained.
"Umm, what happened last night? Besides being lost and the truck having a flat tire, what else happened?" the officer asked. "President, we're sorry about the truck," Colton said. "No, forget the truck. All I wanted was you two back, I'm satisfied with everything," the mission president replied. "So.. Where were we?" Aaron asked. "Well, as you know by now, that area is vast and there a million back roads. You started off at Navajo Route 6134. Somehow you turned north on another dirt road which was Navajo Route 6133 then turned on another road heading west on Navajo Route 6130. Which takes you to the edge of the border of western Navajoland, you were way in the Desert Facade area and the Cape Solitude area. Now, there's a reason why they call that area Solitude. There is nothing out there. I saw the truck. You guys almost drove off the road and into the Colorado River. All together you drove almost 40 miles on the back roads," the officer explained. "With that in mind, the reason why the search took long is because we were looking for you in the wrong area. We did not know you were by the border and that you had driven that far out. What else happened?"
"There was someone, or something. I don't know what it was. Whatever that thing was it followed us all night. It tried to hurt us, it... It tried to kill us," Aaron said. The officer looked at the elderly Navajo man. "This is Kee Gorman, he's a traditional Navajo medicine man, he'll explain what happened," the officer said.
"Let me first say, I'm glad you two are okay," the elderly man said. "I don't know if you are familiar with Navajo stories and beliefs but what happened was both of you were attacked by a yee naaldlooshii, a skinwalker. A ghost that wanders the land at night. Scaring people, sometimes even worse. It shape shifts into different animals such as coyote, wolf, owl, fox or crow, often it's a coyote. That area where you two were lost is known for seeing stuff like that. Locals stay away from that area at night. They don't go driving that area at night," Kee Gorman said.
"I think this thing was angry. It can read and feel what people are feeling, when you came in contact with it. It was sensing that you have something different. A different view of seeing things, a different belief, it recognized that you didn't believe in it. And it angered him. It was letting him see you, by doing that, it was making you believe it was real. It can also read minds, so I think it was digging into your minds and it took your weaknesses and used it against you, to break you down. It can imitate the voice of a relative to lure you out into the darkness, it gains it's power from fear and anger," the medicine man explained.
"Navajos believe if you stare into the eyes of a skinwalker they can possess you," he said, he then turned to Aaron. "I think you became possessed by the skinwalker. I can tell because you have rashes on your neck and your arms. It's just a side effect of possession. The skinwalker will make you do harmful things to other people, either hurting them or trying to kill them, so that's what happened," Kee Gorman said.
"Wait, I don't understand something. When I grabbed it and held onto it, it started to burn. Why did it burst into flames?" Aaron asked. "Navajos believe there is only one way of killing a skinwalker is by white ash. Or to dip bullets into white ash and try to shoot it. Was it you that fell off the cliff and landed down on the river bed? The search team found a bunch of church cards at the bottom of the dry river bed," the medicine man asked. "Yeah, but I don't remember being possessed or anything like that. All I remember was when I woke up and I was lying at the bottom of a dry riverbed," Aaron said. "Well at the bottom of the riverbed is white ash. You landed on white ash. So when you grabbed the skinwalker, you were already covered in white ash and it burned the skinwalker. White ash is like Holy water to a demon. You know how you sprinkle Holy water on a demon, then, they say it burns. Well that's the same concept. The white ash burned the skinwalker," the medicine man said.
"This is interesting because an evil spirit was defeated. A skinwalker is not a living thing, but it has not yet crossed over to the spirit world. So it remains in between that line of the living and the dead. When it shape shifts into an animal, a physical being, it crosses into the world of the living. When it needs to run lightning fast or do supernatural things, it crosses out of the world of the living. A skinwalker messes with that line between the living and the dead. It causes disharmony and balance is not in order. What I think happened was, when it crossed into the world of the living. It was a physical being, just at that moment, you ran towards it and grabbed it and it came into contact with the white ash. So the white ash reacted to the skinwalker because it was in the world of the living and it burned the skinwalker," the medicine man explained.
"So.. Is it dead?" Aaron asked. The Navajo police officer and the medicine man looked at each other. "It is dead. I am 86 years old and I have never heard of someone killing a skinwalker, ever. This is a first, I think. This story spread across the reservation so fast that the Tuba City chapter house has been getting phone calls as far away from Crownpoint. Even the neighboring tribes are calling, the Utes and Pueblos," Kee Gorman explained. "There is a pile of ashes where it died and a shawl that it was wearing. There are other medicine men right now doing a cleansing ceremony as we speak. They are getting rid of the ash and the shawl properly and blessing the area," the medicine man said.
"Wow, you know, we're gonna be famous. Well, I tell you one thing; for sure this is definitely going on my welcome home speech," Colton said, grinning. "Colton, I don't think the church is gonna let you talk about skinwalkers," Aaron said. "Speaking of church, I know right now is not a good time to bring this up and I don't wanna rush you guys, but- How do you guys feel about continuing with your mission?" asked the mission president.
"President, as soon as I get out of here I wanna continue, I'm not letting this stop me," Aaron said. Colton didn't say anything, he looked at his companion. There was a slight pause and Colton took a deep breath, "I wanna go home," he said quietly. "I see, maybe you can let your parents know of your decision when you give them a call?" the president said. "Maybe I should make myself clear. I wanna go home, back to that run down trailer we call home with my best friend and best senior companion I ever had and finish my mission," Colton said looking at his partner. Aaron gave a huge smile then laughed. Both laughed.
The Navajo police officer and the medicine man walked out of the room. A nurse holding a plastic bag filled with clothes and a Book Of Mormon walked up to the officer. "This is their personal stuff," she said. "I'll give it to them," the officer said taking the items. "Wow, they killed a skinwalker. How in the world did that happened?" the officer said, looking through the door frame and staring at the two young men. The medicine man took the Book Of Mormon, "It's like I said, they were bringing something with them. I think that something was Heavenly Father," he said. Both stared at the missionaries with smile on their faces.
CHAPTER TWELVE
It was another beautiful day, there were about 20 vehicles parked everywhere at a certain spot. About a hundred people were there. About fifteen of them were in a certain area, cooking food. They had a huge fire going, meat on the grill. There were about 3 gas grills, with pots of stew boiling away. There was a fire going and about four Navajo women were standing by the back of a truck with the tail gate down. There were huge bowls, bags of flour and boxes of lard. They were making fried bread. A man was turning over ribs on a grill that was above the fire. It was a cookout. A man sitting in a truck was reading the Navajo Times. The headline read: SKINWALKER KILLED. He flipped through the newspaper.
A truck pulled up, and three people stepped out. The mission president stepped out of the driver seat. Aaron and Colton stepped out of the passenger side. "What's going on?" Colton asked. "It's a feast. The community is having a feast in your honor," the mission president said. The missionaries looked over and saw Sister Bessie Pinto with her grandkids. She walked up to them and hugged them. "Oh, I'm so glad you came," she said.
"How is your knee?" she asked Colton. "My knee is healing, there's going to be a scar though," he replied. "Oh, I'm sorry," Sister Pinto said. "Don't worry this'll help me get a girlfriend when I'm finished with my mission. You know how the ladies love scars," Colton said. Aaron laughed at his companion's response.
"Mmm, that smells good!" Colton said looking at the food. "You see that guy turning the ribs over?" Sister Pinto said. Both looked and saw the man. "Yeah?" Aaron replied. "That's Harrison Yazzie, he butchered about six sheeps early this morning. He's in charge of cooking for this feast," she said. "How in the world did he-" Colton said. "Oh, a little birdy told him," Aaron said, looking at Sister Pinto. She giggled.
Both looked and they saw an elder man standing next to another fire. It was set about 20 feet away from the edge of a huge canyon. The canyon before them was a combination of bleached white rocks and red mudstone and coal streaks. They were at Coal Mine Canyon, a hidden beauty of Navajoland. They were having the feast next to the beautiful canyon.
The missionaries recognized the elderly man. It was Kee Gorman, the medicine man. Sister Pinto walked with them to the elderly man. Colton slightly limped, his right knee was healing. "I'm so glad you've come. The community and the church put all this together," Kee Gorman said.
"If you don't mind I would like to bless you in our way. Bless both of you with protection and good things to come," he said, holding a feathered fan. "Sure," Aaron said, looking at his companion. "Wow, I've always wanted to see one of these," Colton said. There was a silence among the 100 people who were there. The medicine man began speaking in Navajo, taking the feathered fan and gently waving it in front of the elders.
He continued to pray in his language. There were no clouds in the sky, just the blue sky. The warm noon air surrounded the landscape. There were smiles on people's faces, but most of all on Aaron Clark and Colton Foster.
THE END
Written by: John Lowe
© John Lowe Story
