AA
DESTINY’S WAY: A NOVEL OF THE BIG BEND
…“Things do change out here, don’t they?” Kate commented.
“Much has changed even over the past few years,” he agreed, “and much faster than most people might imagine. So much has been lost; I suppose it has to do with many of the people who decide to come here.”
Zacatecas was silent for a moment. “So many have been dreamers. There were many different sorts with different schemes, but most came to the Big Bend with a dream. This is a harsh, unforgiving land and so many of those dreams were shattered and then abandoned. Yet they sweated for them, cried over them and sometimes died for their fleeting visions of ideality. Beaten and defeated most moved on, leaving little or no trace of ever being here. In turn, that made room for other people with other dreams, and the cycle begins again.”…
I was on the back side of the Mule Ear Peaks, skirting along the eastern ridges of Smoky Creek that in turn lead to Smoky Spring. Greasewood, mesquite, prickly pear and assorted cacti crowded in from either side above. Along the banks was the ever-present catclaw, especially vicious this time of year due to being little more than thin, spindly branches that blend in so well with their surroundings.
But the time of the year belied the temperature reading on my battered Suunto, ninety-nine degrees on an early March mid-day. Sweat formed and trickled throughout my body, so much that when I licked my lips it was like kissing the top of a well-used salt shaker.
Rounding along the back side before heading into the lower desert, I stopped and surveyed the remains of a rock dwelling. So far from anyplace else, so isolated and now forgotten.
But at some time, in someone’s mind, there had been a dream here, too…
Ben H. English
Alpine, Texas
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