NP STORY 2

 We admired the banks of the Colorado River. Something entirely new for us, raised by the ocean. We were alone on the boat with our guide. He told us a great deal about everything. About the flora and fauna of the area, his life, how he finally landed the job as a guide. We asked him tons of questions.

After about two hours, so many clouds had gathered in the sky that they completely obscured the sun. After another few minutes, which seemed to pass faster than usual, it started raining. And not lightly. IT DROPPED. It wasn't drizzling at first, nothing like that. In fact, it was only now that the true power of the river began to reveal itself. A storm on the river is 1,000 times worse than a storm at sea. With rocky banks on both sides, it's much harder to avoid shipwreck... Our guide (Bob) was completely calm, as if the entire storm were part of the itinerary. But we didn't like it at all. We were wearing summer clothes because it had been incredibly hot earlier. Now we were freezing; the temperature had dropped by at least 10°C.

We reached shore, but we weren't at the dock we'd left from. Here, the forest practically spilled into the water. Bob told us to keep going until we reached a clearing. There, we were supposed to find a large house. Meanwhile, he was trying to pull the boat ashore. We drifted deeper and deeper into the thicket. Rain alternated with hail. Tiny, prickly pellets of ice lashed our faces and exposed arms. The ubiquitous branches and twigs lashed us even through our clothes. There was no path. I led the way, but after a few minutes, I seemed to lose my bearings and wasn't sure if we were still going in the right direction. Maggie took the lead. We could barely see anything. It was after 7 p.m., and the forest was already completely dark. We stopped and started calling for Bob. As loudly as we could, as desperately as we could. The rain, the rustle of the trees, the roar of the river... and our feeble voices. We had no chance. We turned back. We decided to reach the shore, find a boat, and from there try again straight ahead. We hoped Bob would leave us some signs, and if we were gone too long, he'd initiate some kind of rescue operation. All that remained was to pick out the sound of the river from all the commotion and figure out which direction it was coming from. Because turning back, simply like that, was no longer possible. We'd changed directions several times before. Perhaps even unconsciously, and now we had no idea where to go. We still called for help at times. It was completely pointless, but… what else were we supposed to do?! Even Maggie, with her excellent hearing, couldn't "find" the river. We didn't know if we were walking in circles.

We wandered through the forest, completely exhausted, but determined to find the shore, the cabin, Bob… anyone at all! Neither of us had a watch, so we had no idea how long we'd been walking. Every now and then, we'd stop to catch our breath. Always only for a moment. Something, some premonition, I think, wouldn't let us stop for more than a minute. We'd heard a lot about the wild animals that inhabit these forests. About animals that have no qualms about attacking people. So we were constantly on the move. During one break, while sitting under a tree that offered some protection from the hail, we heard screams. At first, we didn't know what was making these strange sounds. We couldn't even tell if it was a human voice or an animal's… As it got closer, we knew: it was Bob! We started screaming, calling out to each other. We found each other! He said he'd been looking for us for five hours, that he didn't understand how we could have gotten lost, that he was terribly worried about us. He put his arm around each of us and slowly led us in the opposite direction, the one we'd been going.

I don't know why, but that's when strange thoughts started swirling through my head. I've always been a little haunted, I know. I also know that horror movies scared me more than I should have. At that moment, I remembered every scary movie I'd ever seen. I tripped over…nothing. That's how I explained it to the guide and the NP. Honestly, my legs gave out. Not so much from exhaustion, but from fear. I simply knew Bob wasn't okay. He couldn't be. Too many things were unexplained, everything was too impossible. I cried, I wouldn't let him get close to me. Mag didn't know, she didn't understand what I was doing. I wasn't entirely sure myself. I couldn't run, I couldn't leave Mag, I had no strength. He was looking at me strangely. When I think about it now, it seems to me…I don't know. It was like a movie. The main characters seem to have a premonition, but they just keep getting stuck in the mess. Later, there's a borderline situation where anything could happen. Except in the movie, we know they'll survive 90% of the time. Here, we had no certainty. I didn't know if I was making a complete fool of myself, a complete hysteric, or if my fear was justified.

The rain continued, the darkness remained practically impenetrable. We were surrounded by thickets, wild plants that, moving with the rhythm of the raindrops, heightened the horror of the situation, looking as if they were alive… God… I shouted to Maggie that we had to run, that I didn't know why, but I was scared. Bob was saying something, but I don't remember what, maybe I didn't even hear him? I felt that with every second of inaction, our situation was getting worse. And Maggie stood there, terrified, unsure what to do. I wanted to go to her, but he blocked my path. He had a knife in his hand. So bright…shiny. I remember that piercing glare. The moonlight somehow pierced the thick layer of leaden clouds and the tangle of branches, and the beam struck the blade itself, sliding along the metal. Oh… I was so excited. But then I gasped. I didn't understand what was happening. Why did he need that blade?! We hadn't done anything!!! Maggie saw the knife, understood everything. She acted immediately; her grueling karate training hadn't been wasted. She tripped Bob in one swift move. I made another (not so swift, it seems...) and punched him in the face. Maggie reached for the knife, but our opponent was quick and stabbed her hand, sending her tumbling backward. Then I stabbed her again, this time in the stomach. Bob swung the knife in all directions. The mercilessly sharp blade struck me several times. It was then that I understood what it was like when heroes fight in movies and somehow don't let their wounds bother them: fear, the will to live, are stronger than physical pain. Maggie had already gotten up and attacked him. When he tried to get up, he fell again, and I punched him again. The guy was so dazed he couldn't recover. And that was our chance. We started running. Like never before in my life, this very escape would decide whether this life would last a little longer, or longer… Bob seemed to be running after us. I have no idea, I was afraid to turn around. From then on, our journey through the forest began. We couldn't afford a moment's rest. Every rustle sent shivers down our spines. We wandered aimlessly. We still couldn't find the riverbank. Our strength had already ebbed that first night. If it weren't for our faith and hope… we probably wouldn't have lasted… I don't know how it happened that for those three days we couldn't get anywhere. We were constantly surrounded by forest. Our sense of direction was hopeless. We ended up in an area not frequented by tourists because… everyone was afraid of wild animals; that's where most accidents occurred. Fortunately, we only learned about this now, after they'd found us.

We kept stumbling, constantly dying of hunger and cold. The next day at noon, the rain stopped. It didn't start until nightfall.

At times, we hummed different songs quietly to ourselves. We wondered what it would be like if we ever got home? We had a feeling Bob wouldn't give up easily. We constantly felt like he was somewhere close, close…very close…Was he? I don't know. Our lives were about to change drastically again…Finally, I started humming under my breath:

"I've been waiting, standing in the dark for hours,

Trying to find the faith and the power to get back home to you."

Maggie smiled. We needed an upbeat song. We continued singing together:

"It's been a long time, long time since I've seen your face.

But on and on I could not replace,

The fire that burns for you. Yeah.

So here's to the good times, here to the bad,

Here's to the memories that we all had.

Here's to tomorrow, let yesterday pass us by.

Tonight, we'll be starting all over again,

And it feels like the first time I.....

No I'll never feel this way again.

Starting all over again.

Do you remember, remember the odds we were given, We

had nothing and we thought that was living, Lord and it

's been such a long

road . Whoa oh, tonight, we'll be starting all over again, And it feels like the first time I..... Know whenever we're together my friends it's like starting all over again. Tonight, we'll be starting all over again, And it feels like the first time I..... No, I'll never feel this way again. Whoa oh, tonight, we'll be starting all over again, And it feels like the first time I..... Know whenever we're together my friends it's like starting all over again. I've been waiting, standing in the dark for hours, Trying to find the faith and the power to start it all over again. Yes... Another song I'm writing here. There are probably ½ Bon Jovi lyrics in this diary! But I can never resist... You surely know that. I don't have the strength to write all this anymore. I can't express what we felt then anyway. I could never write well. Maggie woke up. I'll finish writing later. 

decided to post an excerpt from my diary here. I didn't have the strength to relive it all. It's an important part of our lives. As extraordinary as an episode of "Twin Peaks." Our stalker was arrested. He had a criminal record before. However, we spent a looooong time recovering from a nervous breakdown afterward...

Oh, and I haven't written yet how we ended up in Salt Lake City! While wandering through the woods, a forester finally found us. I'd rather not describe what we experienced when we heard footsteps. Clearly human... getting closer, closer, closer... after three days without food or rest... completely exhausted. Somehow, things got so messed up that they transported us to the hospital in Salt Lake. We stayed there for a few days. They brought our car back. They were talking about us on the news... Yes, we were famous. We gave interviews… We'd been scolded by our parents for our lack of responsibility and seriousness at our age… Maggie's older brother and my cousin came to pick us up. With them, we slowly returned to beloved San Francisco, which, thankfully, doesn't have many large forests… This time, we drove on the highway, not straying even a little from the main Interstate 80.

Yes, the journey of our lives had come to an end. Hmm… I think I meant something else. I think I meant it differently. However, I think you managed to read between the lines everything I didn't write directly. I look at these dozen or so marked pages… Our entire friendship in a more than concise summary. You can't see that we actually went through various crises, that there were times when things were rough between us. I hope you can see, however, that we always recovered.

I'm still sitting on the windowsill, the sun is setting. All day long, I've been choosing words, stringing together my thoughts. I wanted to write about friendship. Something serious, real, and especially for you. Thank you for everything NP.