Wrackie, I am taking you to the scouts today and see how you like it says mom
Cant I stay with you mom? Says wrackie
No, I am going to a party for adults and you wont fit in, says mom
Can I stay with Dad, it is Saturday, says Wrackie
Your father is gone on a business trip, he will be back in a couple days
Where did he go mom, to visit with family.
No, he got a call and had to go on short notice. He will be back soon.
Okay, where am I going, asks Wrackie
You will learn to hike in the Santa Monica mountains says Mom
You will be in good hands, says Mom. They are a big family
Can I have a coke before I go asks Wrackie
Yes, then it is a short drive
There was and maybe is a destination in the small Santa Monica Mountain range. Their exists a small paved road to get there. It is inland to where the landed gentry have big houses with elevators. The blue Chevrolet station wagon with extra strong pneumatic shock absorbers bounces and jumps on the minimally paved highway. Then they are there. A bunch of tall men in khakis are standing to greet them. They have prepared for Wrackie arrival. All sorties eventually leak. The bunch of tall men are forwarded by the tallest, he has a long stride. He looks gaunt, almost like he is starved, just like the men. His eyes are clear, so very clear, and of a lightest grey that they are almost silver.
Hi Wrackie says the leader, I am your guide today, we will be hiking towards a destination, I will show you the way of the woods.
Wrackie turns around to say goodbye to his mother, but she is already gone.
Lets get moving says the leader, we have to reach the destination and get back before nightfall.
Plan your forays within a day time. A tent in the woods is easily spotted. Lets go. You do not have a pack today, you are training, If you carry a rifle, it is good weight training, I have a m-14
Automatic fire out to 800 yards with precision. I love that Garand.
The squad hikes up the mountain in a gully, a debris laden wash that heads uphill. The way is tremulous with moving bolder and falls, but it is a way
Use a gully or a defile to get uphill fast says the leader. Remember, you must move as fast as you can, and never stop, piss in your pants, and don’t drink, it takes time. The opposition view gullies and defiles and watering holes and wait for you to arrive. Never hesitate. Get to your destination and set up. We will have lunch at the intercept.
Wrackie is tired and asks the leader for water from his canteen.
If you drink, you will be shot before you can swallow the water. The answer is no, live with it.
After about two hours of going uphill through scattered terrain, moving fast, with purpose, unseen the squad arrives at a secluded outpost. It is a huge bivouac, a shelter dug into the mountain and covered with tree branches for camouflage. Unless you camouflage, the opposition can see you from the air, camouflage is not cover. Outside the sleeping cave is a large picnic table, How they dragged it up here is a matter of speculation but it is here and now is time for lunch. Wrackie sits down. He is tired and wants to go home and watch tv. The men bring a large oblong form dug out from a pit like a pig, and covered with aluminum foil. The leader peels back the foil from a leg and cuts chunks of the meat off and distributes it to the men with paper plates. They all have an aluminum camping fork and their Kbar, it is hard to separate a man from good food.
The leader pours Wrackie water from his canteen into a paper cup . Bring your own liquids, for no reason drink water from a cistern or a well or you will die.
Wrackie picks up a piece of the meat, tastes it and then swallows the bite. Then he takes another. The meat tastes just like roast pork shoulder.
One of the nameless men says, It needs a little salt.
The leader moves up close to the sitting Wrackie and says:
This is God keeping you alive. The opposition shoots all the farmers so they cannot grow food and our people starve. Kill a hostage and cook him in a pit like the Hawaiians. When you are done, let the animals have the rest. Then move on, do not loiter or linger.
After the sun reaches its zenith, it seems to enlarge and rapidly moves to the sunset, and it is descending now. The group move quickly down the wash, into the gully and down the mountain.
They are moving rapidly now, faster and faster as they are trained.
Back at base camp, the leader shows Wrackie his rifle.
It has never let me down, even once. Never field strip a Garand because for some reason it never works the same again. When it wont fire or jams , then throw it away. To clean a Garand, open the bolt and spray WD40 over all the moving parts and down the barrel and set it out to dry. I hope you enjoined our little mission today, we practice to stay in shape. We all hope you decide to continue in scouting. We will see you later.
What is your name asks Wrackie, I didn’t get it.
Suffice it say, my men call me strider. Enjoy your day.
Wrackie was all alone in the parking lot when mom showed up. He was all dirty and bruised and tired and he sits on a parking strip.
I am back says mom, how do you like scouting.
It is a lot of work and scary, says the wracks
We ate a human being for lunch.
People do not eat human beings said mom, Don’t lie to me, only unholy cannibals in Africa eat human beings.
What for dinner asks the Wrackie?
Grandma cooked you a chicken with garlic and parsley just like you like says Mom.
I am going to sleep till we get home says the Wrackie and he lays down in the back seat with his seat belt on and the day goes on.
She says, you have a long way to go I hope.
Every day without fanfare or clamor the sunsets in Tranquil hills are beautiful. The colors slowly change from yellow to orange to pink to red and then pastel shades of mauve and then that is the end of the day. If it is beautiful, it is made by God.