06.03.03 - 6:39 pm

to continue the journey......

we kept off the path to avoid the noise of crunching gravel. we reached the shadow of large barn area and decided to wait. Soon enough flashes of light, loud voices and whistles could be heard coming from below. we decided to make contact.

suddenly, in the thicket of brambles, trees and brush that separated us from the rest of the clan, movement could be heard. a rustling of the bushes. russell suspected it was our allies. i suspected otherwise. as the voices got closer, so did the noise of the brambles. as our army approached the noise of the brush silenced and my fear of animalistic death subsided.

united with our forces, illuminated by flashlights, we decided to edge onward.

to the barn.

essentially empty, except for a fire pit, some alcoholic beverage bottles and a loft too far to reach by mortal means, we dispersed higher into the mountain.

darkness thickened as towering foliage created a canopy of solid black. without a moon to penetrate the trees, our flashlights separated us from certain death.

unprepared for such harsh terrain, our forces legs weakened. breath quickened. heart beats struggling to keep up. steeper and rockier the thin trails became, and ever so more dark. roots hindered and slowed our efforts and caused many a foot to snag, resulting in curses of frustration.

eventually, the sky began to open up. a faint mist of light dawned up ahead. we approached the peak. the clearing. the top of our mountain.

the land opened up and spread out before us. the land of corvallis dwarfed at our feet. in the somber silence of the mountain, we rejoiced at the feat at hand and to celebrate, and draw attention to our success, we launched missiles.

a rain of death showered the mountainside with reds whites and reds. the whole of corvallis trembled in our wake.

at first, they were fired from the end of our BB rifle. the propellant however, became too much for the riflemen, and they were forced to resort to hand held launches. throwing them at the precise moment of ignition, they soared upward into the night, and scattered light within the stars.

however, one particular explosion had different motives. thrown up in the air to hastily, it suddenly veered off course and shot downward, mere inches from my position. sitting at a bench, cody in my arms, the missile landed and exploded. in the seconds before, i jumped between the blast and my dog, shielding the shrapnel and flame from him with my chest and upper torso. my dog safely secured, justin and the brain applied bandages and tourniquets. if it hadnt been for brains expertise and survival tactics of guerrilla warfare, i would have lost the entire left portion of my body.

actually, it just landed in the grass five feet from me and my dog, and my dog pussied out and ran away. and for the next 45 minutes refused to come back to base camp. a search party was issued, but after 10 minutes, he still couldnt be found. it took going down the entire mountain, splitting up into two parties and diligent searching to finally find him: more than halfway down the entire mountain, shivering, scared and alone. and thankfully, not consumed by a large native predatory animal such as puma, black bear or coyote.

our objective met, no man left behind, and almost to the car, we returned home.

and watched a movie about an 18 year old talking a 12 year old into having sex with him. classic.