Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
“Oh, wow… that’s nice.” A sense of peace came over her. She ran her hand along her chest, feeling her heart beating. Though she wasn’t Buddhist, she greatly respected the religion, and something about this place made her forget about her troubles.
She took photos of some flopping prayer flags in the night breeze, while others were stationary, as if begging to be read. The stupa was mesmerizingly beautiful, with little windows all along the upper portion. She made a mental note to look up the meaning of those, too. As she moved about, she noticed a limited number of people walking about, a few lost in meditation. One shot her a look of disapproval as if she had no right being there, taking photos and such. Am I being disrespectful? She wasn’t certain, but she took a few more anyway, unable to resist.
When she was done, she placed her camera aside and took time to admire the structural beauty of the place. Everything inside her calmed. Cooled the heat of her temper. It was as if she was supposed to be there at that moment. She slowly walked around, deciding to read one of the prayer flags. It was written as if to address her directly…
It’s coming. You will survive.
Once you do, love is waiting for you.
It will not be easy, but it will be exact, like a bow and arrow straight to the heart. From pain, comes healing and growth.
She swallowed and let go of the flag, her calmness now disrupted. It’s like a fortune cookie, right? You can’t put any stock into that. It was just those words, as if something horrible was on the horizon… She snapped a quick picture of it, then shrugged it off, as she heard the noise the bat made before it came into view, and finished perusing the area.
Moments later she was back in the car and driving along, listening to, ‘It G Ma,’ by Keith Ape. Something more current to drown out the thoughts racing in her mind. She drove and drove, enjoying the scenery, until she came upon an area so beautiful, she had to put her car in park, hop out, and take pictures of the amazing mountains and creeks that sparkled under the night sky.
This is just beautiful.
She was in a rather remote area as the houses and shops had long disappeared. Opening up her bag, she slipped her binoculars out and looked around trying to see if there was anything else interesting to explore and capture on film before she headed back to the hotel. In the far distance, she took note of a sizable structure, much like a granary. There was only one light inside, and it was flickering on and off, as if it were generated by a machine or weak flashlight. She wondered what it was—a place like that out in the middle of nowhere. Is it abandoned? It doesn’t really look abandoned, though. Why are all the lights out? There’d been a storm the evening before, and the news stated quite a few places had lost power, and it still wasn’t restored in some areas. She noticed a large gate with surrounding fencing clearly served to keep intruders away.
Why?
Is this some top-secret place? Like Area 51? A government office that is fodder for conspiracy theories. I wouldn’t be surprised! I bet nobody even comes out here. I’m too busy running from my troubles or my ass wouldn’t be out here, either. Actually, it’s Teresa’s fault that I’m here, but whatever.
She began to giggle to herself, thinking about aliens and such, as she got back in her car and pulled closer to the structure. She stopped again, stepped out and took pictures. Something about it drew her interest. It just seemed so oddly placed. It looked fairly modern, too. Of course, she hadn’t driven too far away from the quirky town of Crestone. This was basically just more of the same strangeness…
She took more photos, then noticed the silhouette of a man, holding something long and skinny.
That’s a rifle… that is definitely a rifle. She crouched down behind some barrels, and kept watching. Another man came out, then another. They were talking, but she couldn’t make out what was being said. One of them burst out in loud laughter, tossed his head back, and yelled, “Illegal fishing in Alaska!”
She had no idea what that meant, or why it was important to say, but from the other guy’s reaction, they seemed rather into it.
What if this is some police covert operation where they are spying on Alaska with drones or something… but why from Denver? That doesn’t make sense! Something is definitely going on…
Then again, what if this is somethin’ cool? What if this is something important or secret that I’ve come across? It would be just what I need to help secure my job. What irony, right? Send me out here to grovel, and I come back with a damn trophy!