Authors: Everett Peacock
Walking
back to the water's edge she stood hands on hips and looked out at
the dozens of boats offshore, the occasional helicopter tour and
Wally. They all seemed to be watching her, and the approaching
inevitability behind her. With the possible exception of Wally, she
knew they were all, news people, gawkers, tourists, expecting her to
eventually bail. How could an old lady stop lava? With her
thoughts? With her prayers to some long forgotten hippie god of
love?
Would
she be another Harry R. Truman of Mount Saint Helens fame, dying a
silly death in the face of certain destruction? She wiggled her toes
deeper into the soft sand, flexing them in frustration and not a
small amount of embarrassment.
She
turned away from the sea and her fan club, a celebrity in doubt. The
creeping hill of black was imposing and the occasional bursts of
orange from still molten rock blinked on and off like a living
monster winking at her.
“
Soon,”
she imagined it to say. “Soon I will eat all of everything,
and you too if you test me.”
If
only she had someone here, to talk her through her doubts. All
anyone wanted to do was talk her onto a boat. Her only true
supporter, Wally, from a long line Big Island people, understood that
the volcano did this kind of thing. It was nothing to stop, but
something to deal with, to live with and move on. Hawaiians had been
doing that for centuries.
Her
story, though, was quite different. Her mom and dad had arrived
bright eyed and full of adventure from a place where snow and ice
trapped you for six months every year. Where gloomy weather took a
massive toll in suicides and mental health and where every teenager
that could, got up and left.
Hawaii
was a true paradise in that respect, warm, inviting and beautiful. A
paradise not just for your skin and toes but for your mind and soul.
People like her mom and dad, and herself, thrived here. They bonded
to the new land like their own ancestors had done in North American
when they had left Europe. This was home, this was quite beyond
special. Leaving, and therefore failing, was inconceivable. Short
of certain death she had to stay, even if it terrified her.
Star
looked to the sky above her, to the swaying majesty of her protective
coconut palms against the blue and wished. She wished for a miracle
of the universe to save her one last time. The volcano could have
this land, later, when she was long gone herself.
A
sound of rolling and tumbling rocks from the southern edge of her
perimeter caught her attention. The a'a pile had moved up to her ahu
stack there, and as she watched in awe, it knocked it over, overran
it and several steaming stones rolled over the sand and into the
ocean.
~~~
The
old lady found her way back to the elevator to ride back up to her
hospital bed. In the lobby where she waited she watched the military
policemen talk on their phones before looking over to her and the
opening elevator.
They
got whatever information they needed, and walked quickly over to ride
with her to the third floor.
Four
of them came into the small elevator, one of them nodding his head in
acknowledgment of her, but none of the them talking.
“
Where
you boys headed to?” All of them had to be well over six feet
tall, making them tower over her.
“
Good
morning, ma'am.”
The
old lady waited for an answer but that was all she got. As the
elevator arrived at 3 they rushed out the door, forgetting all about
her. They rushed into her room, opened the bathroom door and as she
finally made her way into her room, they were looking under both
beds.
“
Where
is Janet Turner?” The leader demanded.
“
Good
morning sir,” the old lady responded with some indignity. She
remained in her doorway while they continued to look in smaller and
smaller places until there was no further place any human could have
hidden in.
“
Your
roommate, ma'am, where is she?”
The
old lady watched their eyes and saw deep wells of hate and anger.
These men were hunters. She had a place for them too, just as she
had for Janet.
Raising
her thin arm, pointing out the window with her boney hand, one long
weathered finger shaking slightly with the effort she simply stood
still.
The
four military policemen turned toward the window, one of them running
over to look through the open glass and to the ground.
“
Did
she jump?” The leader was barking. “Is she climbing
down?” He turned abruptly back to the old lady, demanding an
answer from her. She only offered her pointed finger.
“
Let's
go!” The four of them ran past the old lady and down the
stairwell.
The
old lady smiled and lowered her arm. She looked beyond the open
window and to the rising plume of the Kapoho cinder cone plume,
climbing high into the brilliant blue sky.
~~~
Janet
made her way up the climb toward Kapoho and past the unmanned
barricades across the road. The moped was perfect, since she could
manhandle it around the concrete blocks. She was close to the turn
where the road to Kapoho met the main belt highway, but decided to
check her fuel anyhow.
She
had been riding for almost an hour and surprisingly the fuel seemed
near the top. Hopping back on she motored up the few remaining
miles, looking back often for her pursuers. At this speed though,
she figured, if she ever saw them it would be too late.
Thinking
of Star, the wave of static pulled back a little, clearing her mind
for a moment. Despite her desperate desire to stay away from the
ocean she felt compelled to help Star somehow. Perhaps she could run
supplies to her and then retreat uphill away from any more tsunami
waves? Maybe just a hug from a friend would help? It sure would
help her, Janet thought.
The
turn off was only another mile ahead. The plume from the cinder cone
was dramatic, rising sharply into the clear sky as a column, then
spreading out in a fan a few miles above. Janet wondered how Star
could possibly survive anything that thing could throw at her. Her
heart was breaking slowly, melting under the stress of overwhelming
odds. No person, no sorcerer, no earth-mama or hippie love child, no
one could stop a volcano!
Star
was a soul though, unlike any Janet had ever encountered. She was a
light that penetrated her own dark static, one that showed a promise
where she had never seen one. Star had a grasp on happiness that
Janet had never known could exist. She was bravely standing her
ground.
Janet
pulled over for a moment, to alleviate her legs aching still from the
battering of the tsunami. Star had saved her there too. If not for
her coaching she would have died that very night.
The
ocean stretched beyond the green jungles as it always had. Star only
wanted a little more time on a little stretch of land. The universe,
the world, this island had enough to give, all three had enough to
share.
“
Whatever
you need Star,” Janet said out loud to that same trinity.
“Whatever it takes.”
She
looked back toward the barricades, some seven or eight miles below
and behind her. Two sets of flashing blue lights were paused at the
concrete barriers while a yellow construction machine of some sort
moved them aside.
Immediately
she climbed back on the moped, her thighs aching in pain and headed
for the Kapoho turnoff. The static was thickening.
~~~
Despite
Janet's adventures Poho and I remained distant, and I felt that
situation would only increase with time. A bigger picture was
showing itself to me, of which Janet was becoming a smaller and
smaller portion.
Poho
and I moved as one in our new space. Everywhere we went, everything
we did was together. Whatever one might call this grand place;
heaven, nirvana, paradise or the cosmos, it was a dynamic place with
many comings and goings.
Ms.
Debbie, the one who had first greeted me had already left, on to her
next adventure and Poho and I were to replace her, as official
greeter. It was an amazing request but one which we were not afraid
to take on.
It's
funny, looking back, how fear keeps people from enjoying what they
have been given. If anything, you learn this first after crossing
over. It's probably impossible to eliminate it completely as a
human, but the contrast is shocking when you no longer have humanity
as an anchor.
Our
hearts went out to those whom we knew before, those living with fear
and dread. We tried, Poho and I, to send them signals in dreams,
music, and sometimes embedded in the happiness of people they might
meet. Signals that they might do better, without fear.
It
was, of course, challenging. It seemed a lot like talking with hand
signals, in a different language, difficult to get through.
Impossible, if not for one thing – humans were just like us,
they just didn't know it yet.
~~~
The
stop sign at the corner of the belt highway and the road down to
Kapoho was bent over halfway to the ground, apparently run over by
someone in a hurry. Janet paused a moment as she made the turn to
look back down the road, toward the barricades and the police she
presumed were chasing her.
There
was nothing to see beyond the last curve, Ohia trees were hiding her
view of the distant road. They must be getting close, she thought,
especially if they were speeding. Flashing blue lights had that
habit.
She
dropped down the descending road toward Kapoho and saw the cinder
cone, still active and in the distance the cobalt sea, dancing as it
was in the bright light of noon. A smile moved up from whatever
depths she had been storing them in, pushing some static aside and
giving her a welcome pause. Star would be only a few minutes
further.
The
moped seemed to welcome the break from a constant uphill struggle and
almost purred as it idled in the gentle pull of gravity down toward
Kapoho and Star's beach.
Something
seemed wrong, though. Something didn't match the last time she had
come down this wonderful road to the sea. This time, this last time,
Janet saw that the road abruptly ended ahead. Covered in lava close
to the cinder cone, it became clear that there was no passage from
there on. There was no path to Star, or the beach or sanctuary. Her
heart sank as the static rose up.
There
was also no escape. Looking back uphill she saw the two police cars,
light still flashing, just making the turn down hill. Quickly, she
pulled her moped off the road and buried herself and the moped
several yards into the jungle. If they hadn't already seen her, they
never would find her in there.
The
first car slowed quickly as it approached the cooled black lava
covering the road. Some three feet high the a'a had easily assumed
control of the entire landscape.
The
second car screeched to a stop, both officers jumped out, including
the leader from the hospital raid.
“
Shit,
I would have bet she would have been down here.”
“
No
way she can cross this sir,” a younger officer said with some
unknown expertise. “No way.”