S
CREAMING, SHE GRABBED WILDLY at red dirt as the earth collapsed beneath her and the brilliant daylight of the desert sky abruptly faded to blackness. Slowly, she blinked and tried to focus on a mixture of rock and shrubs. Her eyes were dry, and the blazing sun above made her wince as pain came at her from different directions. A fierce ache in her left foot rivaled the pain along her hip and right ribs. Both were overshadowed by the pounding in her head. Two feet away, a pink cell phone lay in the dirt, black and missing a chunk, its face shattered. Totally useless. Gingerly, she pushed up on her right elbow. The world immediately swam out of focus and the darkness returned. Consciousness returned, and with it, first came the sense of smell. The sweet, smoky aroma of burning mesquite came to her and then a crackling sound she identified as flames licking wood. Motionless, she finally opened her eyes and looked about. A few feet away a small fire burned, surrounded by a few larger stones on the far side that reflected heat in her direction. There was light in the sky, but she
could tell the sun must be on the horizon and a cool breeze whispered through the arroyo. The warmth from the fire was reassuring but she wondered how it came to be. For a moment or two she thought she was hallucinating, but pain still flowed in waves from familiar places. An urge to move pulled at her, but she felt a strong presence that kept her still. On the other side of the fire, partially obscured by shadow, a man sat cross-legged as if frozen in the moment. His dark eyes flickered in the firelight as he watched her. Long, black shoulder-length hair framed a handsome yet rugged face. Shirtless, his torso was muscular. His skin was taut and four parallel scars stretched across his left shoulder, like wounds from the claws of a bear or mountain lion. The man wore strange trousers and what looked like moccasins. Perhaps she was hallucinating. Then he spoke. “You are awake,” he stated, his voice strong, yet gentle and strangely comforting. “That is good. It was not your time to pass. I think you have many, many seasons before you. Why are you here?” She thought about her answer before speaking. “I . . . I was taking pictures with my phone,” she stammered
