| JAKE Jake sat down for a moment after stretching the last quarter mile of fence on this section. He was tired and his strong muscles ached from the strain. Jake was in his early sixties but as strong or stronger than most younger men he knew. He had calluses hard and thick on his rough but gentle hands. He pulled out a pack of loose tobacco and began the quick task of forming a cigarette. Quickly his agile fingers worked the thin paper roll then flashed the end until the heavy smoke rolled before him. His mind wandered as he stared across the open plains catching glimpse of a coyote far off head down searching. It was not pretty country unless you loved it like Jake did. It was dry and desolate and generally windy but it was all Jake had ever known. To him it was the palisades without the high rises. It had color though they were not as bright as pictures he�s see in the magazines of other far off places. Earth tones in browns, yellows, and mixtures of other drab shades but it was home. His old beat up truck sat behind him resting its tired worn out parts much like Jake was doing now waiting for sore muscles and aching bones to go back in place. He watched a horned toad scamper darting quickly then freeze searching the area for some small morsel. His flat belly barely off the ground and his squatty legs out stretched like an alligator. A descendent from hundreds of thousands of years ago still unchanged. A man can go through his entire life and miss everything around him if he chooses to be in a rush. A man close to mother earth and nature studies and observes knowing this is where life comes from and that mother earth provides it all. Nothing here is store bought and placed permanently but just a temporary part of man waiting like man to deteriorate eventually back into the ground from which it came in its original form in time. Jake wasn�t even sure if it was a drop or two of Indian blood in his veins or just his love of the land that inspired him. He�d heard tales of his grandpappy roaming the plains many years before and who knows if he chanced upon some Native American woman who took him in and Jake eventually became a part of that heritage. But he knew that those people understood who their provider was in much the same way as he did. Jake could see for twenty miles or more in any direction here. Hardly a rise to be seen. Flat motionless and almost empty. That is until you looked. It was actually filled with life. You just had to be patient and observe or be aware of any slight movement then you knew. In country like this so void of any protection other than your own color or instincts honed from years of practice it was a hard rugged life. He was not in his own element here but he survived by learning from those here. Antelope in the distance skirted the steady pace of the hunting coyote. He knew it was almost fruitless to use what little stored energy he had to chase and animal so much swifter than even he was with his speed. The antelope had longer legs and endurance he lacked then worn and spent he�d have to divert his attention to smaller less filling appetizers to get him through the day. But give him the chance at a crippled or newborn defenseless creature no matter what size and it was all over. He�d gorge till he could hardly walk leaving if any the few remains to the other scavengers of the prairie. Bleached bones of the old, unwary, or weak were plenty but scattered over a vast area of vacant land. Scrub brush plentiful in some places and sparse in others offered a resting place and some protection from the sometimes blistering heat of the open country. Winter brought the gale force winds along with a snow storm often turning into a blizzard took a toll on many. Some caught too far from shelter to survive and the blinding force with its sub zero temperatures left no hope. But these skilled hunters and the hunted had a biological know how about the plains weather and few were caught in its trap. If you watched the animals habits and actions close enough you knew something was stirring in the air not far off and could prepare most probably even saving your life. This was Gods land. He built it and controlled it and you�d better learn or you suffered. God gave you the superior knowledge to learn and discover. If you were lazy or too busy with your own selfish dreams you perished. You lose and your dreams vanish. Hard! Bitter you say? Yes. Life is not easy but you can make it easier. And longer if you pay attention. You�re thinking now. Who would want to live in a place like that? Well what I�ve said if you were paying attention applies to all places. The city, the country, the factories, even your home. Rush around paying no attention to your surrounding or other peoples lives like you are the only one that matters and you�ll find yourself in that lifeless blizzard of life. Jake shook his head. He knew people like that. It was a shame they never saw this country and perhaps never would. Jake felt a chill! What was this. He looked around. There was no coyote. No antelope. No horned toad. Nothing stirred but the chill on the wind. It was turning darker in the distance behind him. it was April. This can�t be right. But he saw it. The wall building on the horizon and moving closer. He knew it was one of those freak summer storms and a Blue Norther at that. He moved to the old truck with haste. He knew he�d better not waste time. He turned the key and all he heard was CLICK CLICK. NO NO HE SWORE. He hurriedly lifted the hood. Corrosion. The battery was corroded over not letting it charge. He had intended to clean that weeks ago but had more important things to do. He thought at the time more important. Oh well. He still had his old beat up battery charger in the back of the truck. He reached in and untangled the wires from the pieces of fence wire and the conglomeration of tools, oil and grease tubes some empty and all the ranch junk he carried daily. Walking over to the electric fence charger some fifty foot away he froze. The red light was out. He knew then. The coming storm had knocked out the power back down the line. Jake heard a whisper in his mind. The almighty said: did you forget Jake? Were you too busy? Was it now all that important? Jake dropped the charger, walked back and crawled into the back of the truck and waited. He crossed his arms and bowed his head. Soon he felt the damp flake melt on his cheek. Then another. The wind blew his hat off rolling it like a wheel across the flat ground. It rolled and rolled getting smaller and smaller till it was out of sight. Now the snow accumulated on his body as it grew colder. Jake smiled as he looked over the drifting snow blanketing the ground in a winter wonderland changing the browns and drab colors to pure white. God was painting his house now. Jake felt warmer now and drowsy. He was tired. This was a good time to rest. The wind whispered its death song. The tempo rose as the drums of thunder peeled over the crashing storm winds. Snow was falling horizontal and the temperature fell. And it fell. And it was quiet. There was noise and sounds screaming their warning but it was unheard now. * ** * * * *** * * ** * ** * * * * ** * * ** * * * Jake sat there quietly. His last breath frozen in crystals on his lips but he was still smiling. It wasn�t God who took his life. It was his own stupidity and he�d known it. He�d forgotten his own teachings. He�d been too busy. He hadn�t observed his surroundings. He hadn�t.* ** * * * *** * * ** * ** * * * * ** * * ** * * * ** * * * *** * * ** * ** * * * * ** * * ** * * *** * * * *** * * ** * ** * * * * ** * * ** * * * ** * * * *** * * ** * ** * * * * ** * * ** * * *** * * * *** * * ** * ** * * * * ** * * ** * * * The Masked Writer <-.-> <_ _> sigh � 01-14-2003 T Lovett |