The jungle is everything. Every leaf, every stone, every tree and every creature. All the water, all the earth, and even the sky. All of it is part of the jungle. It always has been. There is nothing else and never will be. Its name is Raakshas: the monster. Hear the sound of its beating hard! The scream of the apes, the falling trees, the rushing mountain s...
In 1984, I worked a summer job as research assistant for my brother-in-law, Richard, a forestry professor at Boise State University. The job, conducting pine bark beetle surveys, took me into the wilderness four days each week, and during my time off, I stayed with Rich, my sister Abbey, and their young children, Chloe, 3, and Luke, newborn. June 4th was m...
"Santa's Elves Will Do WHAT?" She Demanded It's too bad none of the guys were there to see Lana's face. When she looked up from the "report"—well, the sorry little list of "donations"—those green eyes flashed like a stalking tiger's. She tossed her shining chestnut hair as though to shake off the whole weary world. "You're telling me that 465 bucks is the...
While I was in college, spring break of my senior year was spent skiing in Colorado. The weather that April was fair and warm. In that snowy, high elevation environment, the sunny afternoons were sublimely comfortable, almost hot, chasing skiers into lightweight clothing. And many young women were skiing in swimwear to get a jump on their summer tans. I've a...
The Nameless God Tablet I [...g]od of the desert, and no one would go to the desert to be with him. He sat upon a mountain with his massive head in his massive hands, and sighed. Tablet II He was angry at the other gods because they would not include him in their councils, nor when they hunted for wild beasts in the fields, nor when they threw gre...
The eighteen wheeler skidded noisily to a stop. It woke the passenger up. "Christ on his throne boy, have you lost your senses? We can't pick up a stray right now." Brice defended himself in a hypnotic staccato of curt sentences. "Augie, it look like she got beat up. And there ain't nothing for miles. Gonna storm soon. We gotta help her." It was dark outsi...
Even the most populous cities can seem repetitive when all the streets are empty, namely when you're driving around the outskirts of such a city for a prolonged amount of time. Matt began to notice how the road seemed to repeat itself before Nick did, but he didn't want to mention anything. Nick had become more and more excitable as time wore on, and he cou...
The chalet is on the mountain, off of the beaten path isolated and private. Our bags are delivered by snow mobile, as are the supplies. We take the gondola to the top of the mountain and ski to our chalet in the woods. It is difficult to find, the trails narrow and not well marked. And isolated. We arrive and get situated. I take a long hot shower while you...
I enjoy walking – I'm not old but just enjoy the country air and getting away from all the stress of work. I'm lucky because on the back of my house there is a big mountain which I can walk on for miles. Anyway – one Saturday I was taking a walk up the mountain when I saw a car on the old track about 50 metres up the road. I noticed a young couple appeared...
Fiction - well the masturbation part is, and perhaps fantasy, the rest are memories of real experiences. * My daydream today seems to be counter to the weather. It's raining. But if I close my eyes I can feel the sun on my face as I stand at the crest of a mountain. Looking around I see mountains and valleys, the forest and of course the road I drove in...