FireWatchby Darkness MoonChaptersThe EmploymentDelilahEverything Looks NormalStalkerBuried PastThe TruthThe EmploymentThe smell of hot pancakes was one of Sonata's favorite smells, the first were tacos of course. Her missed cooking that well, when they were on the peninsula it was much more difficult, because he had to sit uncomfortably. Besides she didn't have much to cook. The stress of not being able to experiment with her dishes bothered her a little, but she had to do it to survive. But now since they returned home that was just a bad memory. Like the asylum thing. Or even before that, like when they lived in that horrible apartment. Her favorite place in Sunset's house was definitely the kitchen. "Again you are distracted while you cook." Aria smiled. "Last time you burned my breakfast." "I'm not distracted, I was just thinking!" Sonata said. "Whatever. What got you so distracted?" Aria asked. "Well, the past, the asylum, the peninsula and..." "And?" "Us!" Sonata said happily. "Aww! You are pretty when you blush.” it was her turn to smile. "Whatever!" Aria laid down on the sofa. "Where are Sunset and Adagio?" she caressed Onix. "In their room." Sonata placed the pancakes on the table. "Really? Can't they go a night without fucking?” Aria growled. "Ari! I'm cooking!" Sonata squeaked disgusted. “Speaking of which, breakfast is ready, could you go get those two? Please?" "Yes, yes, I know." Aria got up from the sofa and went upstairs. She stopped at the door and listened to moaning and laughing. "Hey, you two! Stop eating each other and go down to breakfast!” She knocked on the door. "W-we're coming~~!!!" groaned Adagio. "These two... Seriously." Aria whispered walking away. In the room…[ Sunset hugged Adagio close] "T-This is not over Sunset~..." "I know Dagi~. You told me that the last three times." Sunset whispered in her ear. "We have not yet reached our fourth time, like every morning~~" kissing the lips of his beloved. "I know, but you heard, breakfast is ready." Sunset said. "I could eat you again~~" Adagio purred. "Oh I know~" she winked sensually. "But we can do that later. Also I need a break. It's not easy To do it with a broken leg. Come on." she got up and put on her pajamas. “Okay. By the way, have you seen the new jacket I bought? I can't find it." Adagio helping his girlfriend. "I think you left it in the closet." finishing changing. "If I remember correctly you hung it next to my old jacket." taking her crutches. "Okay. I'll go down as soon as I find her." she said putting on her pajamas. "Alright, see you downstairs." Sunset said opening the door to leave. Once alone, Adagio finished changing and went to the closet. The jacket was right where Sunset said. When she took the garment, Sunset's jacket hung on a splinter in the wall. She removed it and accidentally moved the wall discovering a piece of secret hiding place. Meanwhile…in the kitchen, girls were eating the food together. "Sonata, this breakfast is really delicious." said Sunset. "Thanks Sunny, I wanted to try a new recipe, I think I enjoy vegetarian food." "Speak for yourself." Aria said chewing on her bacon. "How funny..." said Sunset. A furious Adagio with a box in her hands reached the dining room. "And what's wrong with you?" asked Aria. The siren put the box on the table and reached in to get something out. "Didn't you find your jacket?" Sunset asked eating. But she spat out her fruit as soon as she saw the Artifact Ball in his hand. "I think you won't make it to the fourth round." growled Adagio. "Now... Do you mind... Explaining yourself?" "I-" "I found it." Aria stood up. "Aria?" Adagio said confused. “I found it when you and Sonata controlled the situation. You dropped the bomb, scaring one of those mutants and one of them fell, but not only with that. With the sphere, I took it and I turned it off. I kept it until I had the opportunity to give it to Sunset. ”Aria explained. "Why did you do something so stupid?!" Adagio screamed. "I didn't because I wanted a trophy, Dazzle!! Sunset said that thing controls them. I remembered that, so when I saw it I turned it off. I thought it would work!” "And since when do you know about that?" Adagio asked puzzled. "Since you threw us into the snow and froze us. Why don't you put up with a fight." said Aria. "That wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone on your stupid explorations." she growled. "Oh we know! You just wanted to be home and fuck your girlfriend.” Aria spat. "Excuse me?!" Adagio yelled. "Wow! Girls, calm down.” Sonata reacted. "Adagio calm down. That thing was in red mode for a long time. It was normal for them to continue being furious." said Sunset. "Anger is not easy to get rid off." "I agree with you." Aria said looking at Adagio. "Take your eyes away or you will see something you will regret." she approached dangerously. "Girls! Please stop! ” Sonata shouted getting in the way. Sunset tried to get up, but she accidentally hit her leg. Adagio approached her immediately. "You have to sit down." Adagio said. With Aria's help they managed to seat Sunset on the sofa. “Adagio, Aria thought that towards the correct thing. It wasn't a bad decision and we didn't look For a treasure or trophy. But it is understandable that you behaved like this, we were in a dangerous situation. It was logical to be scared. And Aria, none of us were ready for that. It wasn't good to press them, you knew it, and so did I." "Sunset I-" "No. Seriously Adagio, Sonata is right, not the part of the fight. You have to stop fighting and you also Aria.” said Sunset. "We escaped alive and it's the only thing that matters." "Good." they both agreed. "By the way, what are all those things?" Sonata said looking inside the box. And also to release tension. "Well, the truth is that each object inside has a long history." Sunset replied. "This is the camera from asylum." said Aria approaching and taking the device. "I haven't touched it since the night I brought you home." said Sunset. "What did you do with yours?" "I think it's in our room." looking at Sonata. "I haven't turned it on or watched the tape either." "Well, the night we got here, you were asleep." Sunset looked at Adagio. "I got up and placed the camera next to my other objects." "What are you talking about? Objects?" Adagio asked. "Sonata, could you pass me the box." she obeyed. "You see, before the asylum even long before the battle of the bands I had different experiences. The asylum and the peninsula were another crazy adventures." Sunset searched among things. "Specifically... After the fall dance." she pulled out a radio. "A walkie talkie?" Aria said. "Exactly. You see, nobody trusted me. Even my friends. Even though they supported me, I knew they didn't trust me, so I needed… my own space.” Sunset took out a strange device. "What is that?" Adagio asked. "A Wave Receive. I kept it and I was lucky that the police did not take it from me." "Police? Seriously Sunset?” Aria smiled. "It's not what you think. In reality all these devices are part of history." "I want to hear it." said Sonata. "Yes, let's hear about your first police encounter." said Aria. "Okay, start Sunset." said Adagio "Maybe you could bring us more of Sonata's breakfast." said Aria. She did so. Soon everyone was sitting in the living room with more breakfast. Sunset was with the radio and the wave detector, with Onix in her lap. "Well... I think that was the most hectic and strange summer I had." she started to talk. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The whole school hated me, and why shouldn't they? I tried to conquer school. I destroyed part of the school. Not to mention the thousands of other bad things I did to them in the past. Every time I walked in the hallways or left a classroom everyone looked at me with faces of hatred and rejection. My old self wouldn't have cared less, but now it was different. Not just in attitude. In the end I met my… friends…? They help me for Twilight, not for their will. I discovered that little by little. For example when I helped Fluttershy with the animals she used to mention her and what she did for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Not that it was bad to take care of animals, but the only positive thing that happened was meeting my Onyx." stroking the ferret, who happily reacted to his mistress. "And what happened to your other ‘friends’?" Aria asked, making quotation marks in the last part. "Okay…" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At first I wasn't bothered by mentioning the fall formal or my past. With Applejack it was no better, I mean helping her family pick apples or to do the hard work in the barn wasn't bad. But she is too honest and direct in what she says, you can imagine. With Pinkie it was not so hard. I mean she is more innocent. I didn't want to take her remarks personally because I know they weren't her intention. But with Rainbow it was something else. I was very surprised she rarely mentioned it. She wanted me not to think about it. I wanted to help her in the gym to train. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “That explains a lot~ Sunny~~." Adagio whispered and laughed when she saw her girlfriend's blush. "How quickly your anger goes away, Dazzle." said Aria. "I think Sunset is perfect to 'keep it under control'. We only had to wait a few centuries to find it." Sonata said. "Shut up..." Adagio said blushing. "Ahem! As I was saying.." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To further confirm what she was trying to deny. I help Rarity with some dresses, only as a model. I know they were trying to make me feel better and they did. They made me feel optimistic, but... The truth was that I didn't feel well. I wanted to flee, but I couldn't return to equestria. Much less now. I even missed the last day of school. I waited outside of school, trying to think of what to say. Not that I didn't had a lie planned. I didn't want to tell them the truth. The bell from the last class woke me up from my thoughts. There they were, the last to leave, as always. "Hey Sunset!" it was Rainbow Dash. "What's going on?" "Where were you? We were looking for you, why didn't you come to class?" "The truth is that I couldn't, I had a personal situation." I replied a little nervous. "What happened?" Rarity asked. "It's my pet, he ... Felt bad." I lied. "Oh no! You better check him out! ” Fluttershy said worried. "Don't worry, I'll take it before the summer" "What are you talking about? Wouldn't you spend the summer with one of us?” Applejack asked confused. "Yes, that's what I wanted to talk about, I really wanted to spend some time alone." I said. "I will look for a summer job, I need extra money." "Doesn't working with that Waylon Park pay you enough?" "Rainbow!" "It's okay Rarity. Waylon is going to be spending the summer with his family and paying for my Home is not that easy. His help has been a great help to me." I said. "Then we will continue to help you!" Pinkie said. "No girls, you have your plans with your families. Besides, I'll be fine." I smiled. "Sunset…" "Seriously, don't worry about me." "Well... If that's okay with you." said Fluttershy. "Thanks. Now. Do you want to go get something to eat?" I said. Yes, it was easy to convince them. They didn't suspect my attitude, not even Applejack. It didn't surprise me. That was the first time I lied to them and I hoped it was the last, but... You know. In conclusion, we went out, had fun, and said goodbye. I left Onix with Fluttershy, she said she would take care of him herself, which I was glad for. I went home and sat in the dining room thinking about the words of the girls... 'Spend vacation with one of us...?' That sounded like they were passing a ball. Like it was a lottery. I didn't knew why. But I'm wasn't going to let it affect me again. "And now what will I do?" I said looking at the table and noticing an advertisement in the newspaper. "Wanted ranger, inexperienced. Hmm… firewatch...?” I Accepted it. Author's Note Firewatch is known for taking players on a journey and kicking them in the gut when done. I decided to take Firewatch apart and make sense of its controversial ending because I think Firewatch has one of the most powerful endings in modern games. It's almost too real to handle. Adagio is annoyed with Sunset for discovering his secret hiding place, Sunset, however when she reveals the origin of the objects, her friends become interested. Delilah"So... was that the first time you were in a forest?" Aria asked washing the dishes from breakfast. "Technically yes, since the last time was on a peninsula." Sunset smiled. "Smart little pony." Adagio snuggled next to her. "And what happened after that Sunny?" Sonata asked drying the dishes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After calling the number I packed my things. My new backpack with the essentials: a bottle of water, medicine, a lighter, extra clothes, a knife, sunscreen and a tent. Not everything was necessary, only in what would come to the place, the person recommended me to bring things so as not to get bored. I was going to need it a lot. The next morning I arrived at the building where I was greeted. I checked in, they handed me a key and ordered to go to the top floor, to the parking lot. In the elevator I was preparing myself mentally for this, hoping that I had chosen the right clothes. Black and purple running shoes were my favorites for this. The rest were my denim shorts, an aquamarine shirt, a hooded vest and a ponytail. There was a lot of trash when I reached the last level and a single vehicle. It was a SUV. As I was told, I took it. It took me five hours to get to the forest, to the point indicated, where there was a sign. "Thorofare Trailhead... that's the point of work" I whispered. I took the map and I ventured into the forest, walking and climbing, until sunset came. It reminded me when I explored the forests in Equestria in the times when I was alone, without friends. Just me and my research. I saw the sign indicating the place again, Thorofare Trailhead, go ahead, the view was breathtaking. The nights were incredible, I remember that I used to write to Princess Twilight. She wrote to me about the incredible things she did in Equestria, I took the opportunity to ask her about... something personal. But hey, she hardly ever responded to my messages, she was busy after all. The walk helped me a lot to forget not only what I experienced at school, but also what I used to do in Equestria. Seeing nature and animals passing by, was the only thing that existed. At last, I arrived to the watchtower. I went up the stairs and entered the tower. I turned on the electricity. The place wasn't so bad. Not very comfortable but not so uncomfortable either. I saw a radio on the desk and turned it on. "Hello, Two Forks Tower!" said a female voice. "Um…Hello? Whoever this is?” confused. "It’s Sunset, right?" "Yeah" “I’m Delilah” "Yes, that’s what the guy said on the phone" "So, what’s wrong with you?" "Excuse me?" “People take this job to get away from something. So what’s wrong? ” "What's wrong whith you?" "That’s a great idea, go ahead" "Look, I just hiked for two days so I don’t really follow whatever it is you’re doing right now” "You take a stab at what’s wrong with me” she insisted. "Fine, then can I sleep…? Forever?" "Sure, girl. Now, go ahead" "Okay. You’ve killed three husbands. You’re a black widow. You’re justo out here until the heat dies down and then you’ll kill again "VERY good. Bra-vo Sunset” "Okay. I sleep now? ” "Not quite Now, you" "Okay. Goodnight. Bye" "Let's see... I don't know anything about you" And you better not know. "I say you got fired from your job and have finally decided to write your novel. That’s the sort of bullshit reason you’ll find a manout in the woods” "Good night" "Welcome to the job" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “This story is very boring" said Aria. "Yes, the first few days were super boring." said Sunset. "I was really bored." "Maybe it would be better if you pass certain details, Sunny." suggested Adagio. "Okay, I'll wait for Sonata to finish." "Sorry, but a story is not the same without food." said the blue siren. She came with a plate full of s’mores, chips, fruits, peanut butter sandwiches, and pretzels. "Sonata... are they camping snacks?" Sunset asked. "It's for the atmosphere!" Sonata said happily taking a s’more. "Okay..?" Sunset had a peanut butter sandwich. "Let's continue." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as I got up I made my breakfast and sat at the desk. I decided to start this boredom with my books. “Good morning Sunset. Well, I guess ‘good afternoon’. You probably slept like a rock. Anyway, there’s still a few hours of dayllight to get some work in. I can see you at your desk, so call me when you're ready." I take the radio. "Hey, sorry. Guess I slept in" “You got a relaxing. What, Fourteen hours of sleep? Whew!" "Yes, I guess it’s, what, six?" "6:45." "Whoops!" "Don’t worry about it. That hike put everyone out of commission for a day or two. But now that you're up, let me quickly get you acquainted with the job. There’s a thing in the middle of your room with a round map. Do you see it?" Was right in the middle of the room, I got up to see it better. "Okay, yeah, I see it" "This is the Osborne Fire Finder, invented in 1914 by W.B..." "... Osborne?" "You use this to spot, you guessed it, fi-- what the fuck?" "What is it?" "Nothing. Um, you use this to—oh, fuck me!” "That language lady..." “Out your west-facing window—are you seeing what I’m seeing?" I went to the window to confirm what Delilah was seeing. "Are those fucking fireworks?!" she yell angrily. ”Whoa! That’s not legal, right?” "Uh, no! You need to get down there right now and stop them. Fire danger is through the fucking roof” "Is that really my job?" "Your job is whatever I say it is. The closest ranger is, like, two days away. Go down there and set’em straight” "Do I write them a ticket?" "Easy there, dirty Sunnshy" "Well…?" “Get going. You’II probably need a rope to get down the shale between you and the lake if I remember right. There should be one in the supply box on the way. The code is ‘1-2-3-4’. It's actually that for all of them” I analyzed the map to find the box that Delilah told me. It was located at CACHE 306. The closest one to my tower. I took my backpack and I left the tower to the direction. With the help of the compass I didn't get lost. I honestly didn't expect this kind of tasks in this job, but hey, if she says I have to do what she says, then I do it. In a little while I got to the box. I put in the code, and took the opportunity to update the map. Maybe in other boxes I can update too. There wasn't much, but the important thing was the ropes I needed. And an energy bar. “There is a snack here. Probably I'm gonna eat it” "Where was that?" "I have come to the box" It was delicious. I continued my way until I reached a small ravine of earth. In the distance I could see the fireworks and a hook for rope. I wandered down the ravine, thinking about how my friends were doing or what this boring job would be like. My thoughts didn't last long as the rope broke. "No, no, noooo!" I fell on the rocks, I got up with annoyance and took the radio. "Ugh, hey" "What the hell is wrong with you?" "My rope snapped coming down the shale slide" "You didn't break anything, did you?" "No, I think I’II make it” "Well be careful for chrissake" That didn't help me much. I think it was my karma for cursing this job so much. Anyway I took the map to make sure I'm going in the right direction. I found camp. It must have been one of those pyromancer campers. Empty beer cans, a bottle of whiskey with a fire next to it. I cleaned up the place and confiscated the fireworks. I also found two types of clothes, it seemed that they were having fun bathing in the lake. I listened to music which confirmed the obvious, but they were too far away to see them. “I have found them in the lake. naked” "Skinny dipping?" "Yeah" "Is there a girl over there?!" "Ha ha… oh boy. have a Enjoy dealing with that!" Delilah said to me. I take the radio. "COOL STEREO!" "Whoa! HEY! PUT THAT DOWN!" "Seriously! It was expensive!” As Delilah had told me, she did not want reports of brutality by authority, so I decided to leave her in place. "Thank you! Now get lost! ” said her other friend. Although on second thought... "YOU—YOU ASSHOLE!!!" I throw the radio into the lake. "Light another firework and it won’t be your stereo I wreck!!" “Oh FUCK you, psycho! "Yeah!, fuck you!" "You’II fucking pay for this! You can’t just harass girls in the Woods! Let’s get out of here” They hid behind some rocks. Maybe I went too far, but hey, they didn't know anything about me, so I might not be so sweet with them. "Hey, did that go okay?" it was Delilah. I thought a little about my answer, tell you what I did. “It went fine. Hopefully there won’t be any more trouble” "Good. Thanks for going down there” I followed my route to return I discovered that it was very far from where I fell in that descent. I had to follow the river. "So… I have a bit of a confession to make" Delilah? "What is it?" "Um... look, I was drunk lash night when I welcomed you to the job" "Yeah, well, you're not the first boss to be guilty of that” "I know. I just… I know I can get a little pushy, putting you on the spot about why you’re out here and stuff“ "It’s fine" "I’II…keep that sort of a thing to a minimum" can notice hers nerves. "Anyway, let me know when you get back to your lookout” It was, until you hear thunder, some storm? "Hey, I heard some thunder" "Yeah, I’ve got eyes on a storm out to the north" "That’s bad, right? Because of the lightning? ” "It just means that we’II be busy Hurry home. And try not to get hit by lightning” “I got hit by lighting when I was nine years old so. I’m safe. It’s not going to strike twice and all that” was in equestria, I explored in the forest, with… with someone. "Well, there was an old lookout named Roy Sullivan, who got hit by lightning seven times." "I don’t like the sound of that" "Yeah. Well, if it makes you feel better, it wasn’t what killed him" "What killed him?" "Suicide. Would you believe?" Without realizing it, lost in conversation, I entered a cave. "What's in this cave down here?" "In Thunder Canyon?" "THUNDER Canyon?" "Hey, I didn’t name it. But in the cave? I don't know, rocks. NFS tells people not to go too far in there. It’s pretty dangerous” "So…?" Sooo I say fuck it. You’re a grown woman. You can go where you want ” "Great. I used to go caving with someone back in... Colorado. She loved it. Might be great to explore it sometime this summer" it was actually in equestria, and she was a co-worker, not a friend. "That could be fun. Obviously, be VERY careful" "This cave is gated off" A metal fence covered the only entrance. "It’s to stop spelunkers from dying without getting the keys from the Forest Service office first" "Makes sense" "Although Debbie says she lost them like three years ago, so, maybe its mysteries are locked away for good" "Ah damn." "Yeah, but maybe you can find another one to get your caving kicks in" "This one’s so closet o home and convenient thought" I pouted. "Aww, sorry Sunny" Defeated, I climbed the stones to get out of the cave. It was already night. How bad I didn't have my flashlight. I knew I will need it. I kept moving forward, not much, because suddenly, someone shone a flashlight on me, but I couldn't see who that figure was. "There’s some guy out here giving me the creeps” "The creeps?" she said. And at that moment he left. "Wait. He’s looking at you? Is he doing anything else? ” "I... I don’t think so?" "Sunset, there’s something I... something someone should’ve told you about this area" “What is it?” "It's outside" "Come on" I wasn't going to let him bother me with horror stories. "The whole thing. And people come and go as they please, It’s…It’s madness! ” "Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it" “Look, bumping into someone in the middle of nowhere is part of the fun” I hate when they make fun of me, but it's still weird. I was also almost close. I climbed over some rocks and came to my tower. I took the opportunity to ask Delilah about the things the job offered me. Like the latrine, a horrible figure of a ranger, the generator. While we were talking, I walked up the stairs and found my laptop on the floor. "Uh…" "What can I do for you?" "Well... my computer is on the ground. Outside of my tower” "Did you bring your computer? You write?" "Yeah—look,…uh, the wind? No. How the hell…” "You should get inside" "Fuck me” I took my laptop, thank goodness, it wasn't broken, despite the fall. That protector Waylon gave me except for all the information I have inside. I went upstairs and saw the broken window, and the place was in disarray. "Someone broke in.” "They what?" “They just, they wrecked the place. Threw my laptop out of the window... MOTHERFUCKER!!” "Holy shit. I’II let the Forest Service know what happened" I went in and closed the door. I put down the laptop and started to collect everything, my books lying around, the open drawers. Luckily my things hadn't been stolen, since they were hidden under the bed, behind one of the drawers. The only thing missing was my sheets. "Okay, I put in a call" "What can they do about it? Will they catch whoever did it?” “This is the Forest Service Sunset, they’re not exactly Hawaii Five-O. Do you have any idea who would’ve done this? ” At this point I thought about that guy with the flashlight, but the girls in the lake, I was more sure of them, they surely got revenge on the radio. "I did probably piss off the girls at the lake... Ugh. Fuck Them!" "Okay, Well, I’II have the rangers keep an eye out for a couple of young women and question any they find. I can't believe someone did that… I can’t believe someone would do this… I worry about bears and fires and that’s about it and now I’ve got to worry about some… what, violent campers?” I finished cleaning and sat on the bed. “Okay, in the morning I'm going to call my friend Patty, who Works the desk down in Cody. They keep a list of everyone who’s officially been in and out of the trailhead since… Well, forever, and see if we can get a list of names” "Thanks" "I need you to feel dafe out here" Well, I don't feel calm at all, it will be hard for me to sleep tonight. "Just point me to the Forest Service weapons cache and I’II feel safer tan the Pope in his lille car“ "Yeah,... someone made the choice years ago that leaving people with infinite amounts of alone time and a gun was kind of a bad idea” "Grenades?" "I’II see what I can do." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You sure are a little bitch, huh Sunset?" Aria smiled. "I'm not proud of having do that Aria, I had future problems because of these girls." "Were you excited to see them~~?" Adagio smiled. "No! I couldn't see them well, it was getting dark and I only saw shadows." "Did you really get hit by lightning?" Sonata asked. "Yes, it was a long time ago." Sunset replied. "And who were you with?" Adagio asked. "With-" The roar of her stomach interrupted her. "Maybe after eating. How long have we been with the story?" "Hours, officially it's already late, what will we eat?" Aria asked looking at Sonata. "This time I don't want to cook! I want Sunset to continue her story!” "What if we order something to eat?" Sunset suggested. "Tacos!" Sonata yelled. “Fuck it, I'm sick of tacos, we've been order for the same thing like four nights. I want pizza." "Tacos!" "Pizza!" "TACOS!" "PIZZA!" "Girls enough! Stop arguing, we will order Chinese food.” said Adagio. "NO!" the two sirens shouted at the same time "Sunset!!" "I-" "Sunny ~~" Adagio whispered sensually and threateningly. "Actually... I want one of those spring rolls." Sunset ran into the kitchen. "I'm going for the phone!" Author's Note Well, the Sunset adventure is entertaining for our sirens, It seems like a simple boring story, but we still haven't gotten to the best part Everything Looks NormalAdagio enjoyed the last of her shrimp, as for Aria, well she didn't seem so happy that they didn’t eat pizza, but she enjoyed her meat. Sonata was happy with her food, her sweet and sour chicken was not so bad. On the other hand, Sunset was happy, Adagio always asked for vegetable noodles and spring rolls for her. "So Sunset, how was your second day in that boring job?" asked Aria. "I want to know who destroyed your tower." said Sonata. "I bet it was those girls." said Adagio. "And I think it was that dark figure with the flashlight." said Aria. "Well, I didn't know who it was until the day... I think 33 or 32." "Wait... how long were you in that forest?" Aria asked. "It was a total of 79 days, I think it was a little less than when we were on the peninsula." Sunset explained. "But, I will reveal to you who destroyed my tower:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What I loved in the afternoons aside from watching the sun go down in the mountains, was writing in my digital diary, adding what happened yesterday. My peace did not last long. “Wake up” I take the radio. “I’m awake. I’m awake. What’s your problem?” “Our problem” said Delilah. “Sorry, our problem” “That storm knocked out the pone line I use to talk to the service which means we’re cut off. I tried radio’ing out and that’s not working either” “Can I go fix it?” “Well, you probably CAN’T but what you can do is hike out to where the wire runs through your área and report back if it’s down. Then I can track down a ranger to get someone on it” Take my backpack and I went out the door. “Okay, I can do that! Where is it?” “Remember that cave you hiked through yesterday?” “Yeah, of course” “So, you’re going to want to go back there, go through it and keep going straight to the north when you come out” “Will do” “Thanks Sunshine” “It’s Sunset” “What, you don’t like Sunshine?” “Yeah, I don’t like Sunshine” Someone in equestria used to call me that, and no, it wasn't Celestia. “But Sunshine is similar to your name” “No, it doesn’t” “Okay, alright” I continued on my way following the map. It was quite far, but I managed. In my journey I thought about who and why destroyed my tower. The girls were the most obvious, but that strange figure also made me suspicious. But I didn’t know who it was, and vice versa, because I would if I had not done anything like those girls. When it fully descended until it hit the ground, it was very foggy, and it was very cold. “Uff! It’s actually pretty damn cold out here” “Roger that. It warms up fast. Your city it's cold in the morning too? “Yeah, they are” “What did you get up to down? I mean, what’s life like?” I didn't want to reveal so much about my past, so I'm going a little slow.”You know, I don’t know. I used to just spend a lot of time with my ferret, Onix” “Onix? What kind of name is that?” “It’s a ferret, with black and gray fur” “So, why not call him Toby?” really? Delilah, he is not a dog. "Well... when we chose which pet to love, I saw this little section of the others, and I was sitting on a black stone. It reminded me of a precious stone with the name Onix, it bit it, and I adopted it by giving it that name” “Uh, that’s a really… cute story??” “It is what it is” As I explained, I came out of the cave and found the supply box. “Hey, can you hold on a sec?” “Sure, I’m just going to keep hiking and hoping it warms up” I opened the box and updated the map. When I checked what was inside I heard Delilah, but she was not talking to me, it seems that she left her radio open. “Heyo. I don’t think so. Why, have you? Okay. Good” I thought to talk to her, but I didn't want to interrupt, I knew it was wrong to listen, but I still did. I took the flashlight that was inside the box and kept listening. “No, I don’t think he has any idea. I’m absolutely sure. Would you? Alright. I’ll let you know if anything changes in that regard” was she talking about me? ”Hey, sorry about that. Anyway, I thought about that and that story is cute. And... sorry, you said we? The ferret wasn't only yours, was it? ” My curiosity betrayed me. “Who was that?” “Who was who?” confused. “I don’t think he has any idea. What was that? Were you talking about me?” “Uh, what?” “You left your button pressed or something” “Sunset, that call was work. I was just talking to… actually, it’s not really your business. Why are you freaking out?” “I’m not freaking out” “Good. I’m gonna go quiet for a Little bit. Call me if it’s important” Great, Delilah has moved away, she's upset. I shouldn't have gotten into her affairs, nor should I have listened. It shows that I haven't changed anything. I have to stop being like I was before. I think the best thing would be to talk to her when I get to my destination, examine the communication boundaries north of the canyon. I could see them in the distance, simple, I just have to follow the cables. “I can see the wire you’re talking about. It looks like it’s in good shape from here” I informed her. “Follow it up to the top of the trail, if you can. You can head back as son as you give me the all clear” “Got it” At least didn't sound annoying anymore, I try talking a little more. “We really can’t reach anyone any other way tan these wires?” “What else do you suggest, smoke signals?” Did I notice a smile?. “Just seems dangerous” “If they don’t hear from me for a few days they’II send someone out, butI’d rather it not come to that” Well, she wasn't upset anymore, I think. But I'll still be careful with her. What happens if these cables will get cut? Or are you struck by lightning? We are completely isolated and nobody would find us. It’s quite dangerous if you ask me. According to the map I am very close. I wanted to find more things. It was in front of me and yes, there was a problem. “Yep. Okay, the wire is down here” “Really? Awesome. Good find” “It’s like, I dunno, two and half miles east of me. You follow the trail up the hill you can’t miss it. I’II go see what the damage is” I went up the rocks, and found another supply box, nothing useful inside. Just update of the map. I continued to see if I could fix the cable, as I went up I found cans of beer, they seemed… very familiar. “Guess what?” l call Delilah. “What is it?” “There’s a bunch of empty cans up here” “Sames as before?” “Yep” “These fucking kids” “Why do you think they’d be up here?” “Hell if I know, but they better have stayed away from our communication stuff” I hope so, but it seems that everything points to yes. Anyway, I must find out. I got to the top of the phone pole, and I found out on my own. “Hey, so the wire is definitely down out here. I just found it. Yeah, the thing is…It doesn’t look like the wind. It looks like it was cut, deliberately“ I examine the cable and the message... were some panties that said "Go to hell" with a drawing of me, I think ?. “I KNEW it the moment you said you found their trash. These idiots are going to pay. Do they realice this is how people die? I mean, what if something happened to one of my lookouts while this was going on?! And forbid there is an actual fire burning out of control” “¿What do you want to do?” I ask. “I want you to go find them.” “¿And then what??” “I… I haven’t thought thatfar ahead. That’s not true. Everything that comes to mind is illegal” “Let’s hear it” “¿Oh yeah?” “I came out here for a breath of fresh air and some adventure. What do you got?” “I think I want you to just find them and scare the HELL out of them” “Yeah, I’d make a spokky ghost costume but they stole my sheets.” “Hmm. I don’t know… wait for them to wander off and wreck their camp. Something that would make a teenage girl run home to mommy and daddy” “I’II find them.” I said, releasing the cut cable from my hands. “Thanks Sunset” “But I am going to need a raise” I smile. “Don’t hold your breath. I’d start by hiking back towards your tower and just keep an eye out for anything that would lead you to them.” “Well, they’re big into Red Eagle” I looked into the distance. “Great. See if you can find the path they took down from there. Maybe they looped back around towards the lake or something. I doubt they’re where yesterday but they obviously can’t have gone far” I analyzed the map. Where I last saw them was in Jonesy Lake, so I marked the target. It would be a long walk and a lot of climbing. I didn't want to fall like the last time. On my way I found a backpack hanging from the branch of an old tree. “There’s an abandoned pack out here” “¿I’ts not one of the teens?” “No, it looks like it was lost a long time ago” “Well, you could always pilfer for supplies.” It was too high to reach, so I grabbed a branch and shook my backpack a little. It fell right in front of me. I opened it and I accidentally took a photo of myself on an old instant camera. And there was also a lot of climbing ropes, unlike the ones he had, these were much stronger and resistant. “Well, I’m flush with ropes now. That pack was full of them. In decent condition too” I inform to Delilah happy. “That’s lucky!” “There’s enough rope here that I can just leave them hooked up, I think. Oh, get this- this pack came with one of those cardboard single-use cameras” I explain while hooking the rope to the hook to descend. “¿With pictures left?” “Yeah, he only used three or four” “Neato.” “Thank you, Brian Goodwin.” while I decency by the rope. “Wait, wait… ¿Who?” “The bag had the name Brian Goodwin sewn into the top” “Huh. Wow.” “Do you know him?” “Yeah, I just haven’t Heard that name in a few years” “He was a lookout?” “Ha! Yeah kinda, I guess. He was stationed in Two Forks, your lookout, with his dad Ned three summers ago. Great kid” “You can bring children out here?” “No… you know, I’m not a stickler for rules. They took off halfway through the summer” “What, they couldn’t handle your unique Brand of charm?” smiled mischievously. “Not many can” I could feel that she smiled too. “Unsurprising” I found another box of supplies, and I opened it. “Anyway. So it goes. Have fun with that camera. Try not to snap anything that would a scar Fotodome employee” “I don’t know, I’ve got a lot of hiking to do; I might get bored” “Well, I’m bored as rocks, so I’II keep you company while you find those girls, huh?” There was nothing useful inside the box, just a sharp claw of an animal. I took the opportunity to update the map. “Hey, sorry about snapping at you earlier. I thought about it and I suppose that must’ve sounded kinda weird when you heard me take that other call. Plus, you’re just out here in your own head. Trust me, I know how it is” Really? You know? I highly doubt it, and I'm not talking about work. “So… did you break any hearts back in home? I myself, have chosen to never get attached to anyone who would miss me, but I know I’m a bit of an outlier” “No, I didn’t break any hearts when I left, no special person, I just came here to distract myself” "Really?" "Yes... the truth is that I'm just taking a break, breathing fresh air." "A small change?" "Yes." "Okay, I get it, we can leave it there." I continued on my way until I reached a burned forest. Well, there didn't seem anything was useful, but those girls were the typical stupid blondes. They shouldn't be far, I hope. As I kept walking I thought if it was a good idea to tell Delilah about my past, obviously skipping my otherworldly pony reality. I don't know whether to trust her. It was a damn hike, I kept going down ropes, until I saw a thin column of smoke. “I see a really thin plume of smoke.” “Yeah, I see it too. A thin plume like this is either a new fire or a campfire” “A campfire. You think it’s them?” “I reckon so” “It looks like it’s to the… southwest of me” I look at the map and the compass. “That’s right. If you hike towards Five Mile Creek that should put you in the neighborhood. Keep an eye on that smoke plume. Let me know it it’s getting any larger” “Will do” I walked faster to avoid losing smoke. All this climbing is helping me to exercise, I think I will not have to worry about what I eat. Although thinking things over, I like Delilah, she is nice and funny. She doesn't know me in person, or how I was before, so I could tell her to see if I can get some advice, or what to do when I return. “Look Sunset, just so you know, I didn’t mean to overstep by bounds, earlier, when I as kif you have someone especial” ”Lo sé, pero lo hiciste, no puedes hacer cosas así sabes?” “I know you didn’t. You were just making conversation. I appreciate it.” “So., tell me something, If you want.” I thought about it for a moment until I answered. “I'm a student at Canterlot High, I was known as a bully, you know, the queen bee. I had school eating from the palm of my hand. ” "Bouncer and queen bee…. Wow. It is a controversial topic around here. As you describe me, it sounds sexy.” "I'm not like that anymore." I descended for another descent. "Bouncer or Sexy?" smiled. “Bouncer, I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. Sexy? Well I do not know" For now this is fine, I don't want to reveal so much information yet, little by little. And I don't know if the sun is affecting me, but… did she just flirt me? I got to the lake where I saw the girls. Easy. I just followed the river, until I found another box of supplies. Close to that area, I found a turtle between the rocks, it was super cute, so I took it with me, Onix now has a playmate. “I take it you fell prey to the Forest Service’s big recruiting effort? When it comes to how the hell you ended up out here.” ”I saw the job in the paper and figured, you kno. What the heck?” nothing useful in the box, a sweater and a book. “What the heck? I’ve got no ties and no life, better go spend what’s left of it utter loneliness!” “Something like that” I update the map. Although what I said earlier was not entirely true of my reason for coming here. “Thanks to last summer, the bump in Forest Service Budget actually allowed for us to advertise for the job. Glad it worked.” I save the book I found and followed the path of the river. “I find it hard to believe that you had no one special, you said you were a queen bee. The popular girl, having the crazy guys and the jealous girls, or maybe crazy too.” "Look, A girl got me off the ’pedestal’ because I did things that I'm not proud of. Despite trying to prove myself and be better, the school still hates me. As a stalker I became bullied. They have done all kinds of mistreatment and intimidation, that's why I'm here” "Oh shit. I didn't… what happened? ” "We will talk later." was not yet the time. "Okay, okay Sunset. Umm… what's that girl's name? ” "... Twilight." "It's a nice name" If she will continue with these conversations she will know all of my past. I must be careful with the equestria part. Or my childhood. I walk faster to distract my mental battle. "Why did you do all this?" Oh shit! As soon? “I didn't really grow up in a stable family environment. And when they left me at the boarding school when I was little, I think that my aggressive and smug attitude began, now for me the approval of my tutor was the only thing that mattered to me” "Shit" "Yes…" "How did you get to Canterlot?" ”I… escaped and became independent, I entered school by my methods. Everything changed when Twilight and her friends… defeated me, so to speak, and now they are my friends, because she asked them to.” "Did she ask them? Didn’t they want to be your friends even if you said sorry? ” “Honestly, no. It’s understandable. I mean, they are friendly, but it’s more out of human concern lo my well-being. In short, I deserve it for having been so cruel for so many years. I’m sorry to be such a downer.” “Don’t even. I’m happy to listen. And y’know, we’II try to have SOME fun this summer. I promise” That sounds motivating, while I was telling her about all my teenage drama I arrived at a waterfall where there was a piece of cloth hanging from a branch. I am already very loset o the arrival point, and so it was, I found the camp! But it was devastated. “I have found the source of the smoke. The store is as if it were going through a cutter, I found a piece of cloth on a branch, and it fits in with the tent. ” "They are there? Where are they?" "I don't know. They left. This is devastated” "What happened?" "The truth is that it could have been a bear" "Oh God…." "I'm going to be honest with you. If I find a corpse, I will vomit "Do not say more. Take a look around and tell me what you see. By the way... you have the camera, right? It might be a good idea to take some photos. Just in case" "Yes, well thought out" I took a picture of the ripped tent and the campfire. I explored the place further and found my sheets. It was them. I'm glad they were them and not that strange figure. I also found a note... for me? “They’re gone, for sure.” “How can you tell?” “The girls left someone- me, I guess- a note.” “What’s it say?” “They’re threatening to call the pólice because they think I attacked them.” ”Oh my. Well… did you?” “No, I didn’t do this, okay? Someone or something went to town here but it wasn’t me.” “Beause I told you to scare them, not assault them.” “I didn’t! Of course I didn’t. I just threw their stereo in the lake.” “Yeah, I really wish you wouldn’t have done that.” “This is, I don’t know, weird as hell. But it wasn’t me.” “It’s okay. I belive you. Weird stuff happens in the woods. It could be other campers. They could be having a bad mushroom trip. We really don’t know. But they’re gone. There’s no way to call the cops. They’re not coming back, and we can get to work. I’d really to start to enjoying a quiet summer.” “Yeah. me too.” The next day, I was fixing the broken window, but I needed more wood. I kept thinking about the girls' note. They said that I destroyed the camp, but I didn't, so who? Maybe someone who likes to cause trouble, or maybe... that silhouette at night from the first day, maybe? ”Hey Sunset…” “Yeah?” “Um, what do you look like?” “Why are you asking?” “Because I’m horribly superficial. Now let’s see… in my scope I can only tell you’re a Sun tanning girl wearing shorts.” “It’s hot. And maybe, by the way, I’m not Sun tanning. That’s not very, you know, PC or whatever they say.” “Oh my. You are the Sun Tanning girl. I don’t need a spotting scope for that. And if not shorts then what do you normally like to wear?” "I always wear a leather jacket, light synthetic, jeans, and black boots too." I explained coming down from the tower, looking for more window boards. "Oh I love leather, it's so greaser. Now tell me something about your face. I see you on the other side of the bar. What do I see?" "Eh... um ... I have red and yellow hair, something very appropriate for my name" “Alright, perfect. I want to know about your eyes” “Get out of here” smiled playfully. “I’m drawing you. I need to know.” “You’re what?” Really? “Is that okay?” “Uhhhh…” not really, but... it makes me feel weird. “Don’t answer. I’m going to do it. regardless” “Fine” “Your eyes. Tell me” "They are tough I guess" "Really?" "Yes, you know, after having a reputation as a tough girl, my eyes are what people feared the most, they said that when they saw my turquoise color, their skin froze." "I imagine. Okay got it. Thank you Sunset” “You get what you need?” I went back up to the run with the wood for the window. “Absolutely.” Just a couple of boards and nails, and the window will be fixed, at least they won't charge me for that. “I got that window all patched up. So… what should I do now? What’s next?” I said, looking into the distance at Delilah's tower. “What’s next? What do you think is next?”” “Well, You’ve been the one giving me tasks for two days straight.” “What’s next is you sit in that room until September 1st and call me as the first sign of smoke” “Oh, yeah” I went back inside of the tower. “Why don’t you let me know when you’re mentally prepared for that task and I’II give it to you.” I check my things a little, fix and clean a bit, and check my little new friend for a while, thinking about what name to put on her. Put her back in its box and put in some food. Is better start with this. “Okay. I think I am ready to tacle my long-term commitment of keeping this national forest safe from total destruction” “I am glad to hear you’ve really thought this throught” “Of course” Find some books and my computer, in case I get bored. “We’ve issued you a comfy chair to sit in and everything.” “You know, it’s really not that comfy. It’s wooden, there’s no padding. I actually think I got splinter in my thigh this morning…” and finally, snacks too. “Aww. Regardless, take a seat. The forest depends on you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I knew it!" Adagio smiled. "Pay me." she looked at Aria. "Whatever," she growled reluctantly, handing over a couple of dollars. "So if it was them, how bad." said Sonata. "Stealing sheets and destroying a window seems very stupid to me," said Aria. "If we had been them, we probably would have attacked you, or locked you in the cave," said Adagio. "That sounds... very extreme don't you think?" Sunset asked. "Don't take it bad Sunny, the old sirens would have done it." Adagio smiled. "Speak for yourself." said Aria. "Right... what were you doing in those times?" Sunset asked. "We weren't in this city yet, we were doing the same as always, having fun absorbing magic," Sonata explained. "Yes, sometimes in closed or public places, absorbing energy to feed us" continued Aria. "You... after all we've been through, you have never explained well to me how your gems worked." said Sunset. "Don't take it bad Sunset." Adagio sat closer to her. "There were certain circumstances that did not prevent them, such as the island for example." "Oh sure, but-" "But now you have a story to finish, Sunny," said Adagio. "Yes! What happened after?!" Sonata smiled. "Wait, don't be offended Sunset, but your story is kind of boring." Aria complained. "I know, but... do you remember what Adagio said? About what you guys would have done? ” "What does that have to do with?" "Someone did attack me" "WHO?!" the dazzlings said together. "They will have to wait, we have to clean after dinner." Sunset got up and went to the kitchen. "Also, I must go to the bathroom." she ran. "Wait who was it?!" Aria said. "It would be better to do what she says, to know who I should kill for that" Adagio began to clean, with the help of the others. StalkerSunset came out of the bathroom and started cleaning. She was about to go to the living room to sit down, but she had an unexpected surprise. The dazzlings had finished their homework, the room, the floor, the kitchen was clean too. The dishes were washed and the food stored. Even Sonata had made more snacks. "Wow, do you really want to hear more of the story?" Sunset smiled. "I thought you thought it was boring" "Shut up and sit down." Aria growled, opening a can of beer. "Why did you say someone attacked you?" Sonata asked, jumping on the couch. "Was it those girls?!" "Sonata stop that, and Sunset..." Adagio took his girlfriend's hand and sat her next to her. "Keep going." "I'm surprised you're calm, after hearing that girl was interested in Sunset" Aria smiled. "Right, and ask about her past, ask if she was single, and she was even drawing Sunny." Sonata smiled. "I'm not jealous, Sunset loves me and I don't have to worry." Adagio smiled. "That camper? Compete against me? Please!" "You're jealous. Do you remember last Christmas?" Aria said. "And the new year?" continued Sonata. "I don't know what you two are talking about." the siren defended herself. "Girls, don't fight." said Sunset "Sunset? Did you have anything with that girl? ” Sonata asked. "Well..." glance at Adagio. "If I were you I would think of the answer" Aria smiled. "Yeah..." said Adagio. "And you're not jealous, huh?" Sunet said. "So what was Delilah like? She was cute?” Sonata asked. "Sunny? Were you with her during the battle of the gangs? ” Adagio asked, a little serious. "Y-you know what? I will let the past answer your questions.” Sunset took Onix and placed him on her lap. "I know you want to know about my relationship with Delilah, but what I'm going to tell you is where, in Aria's opinion, the story is no longer boring:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were no more unexpected encounters, I have been two weeks in this forest, now I had many more books than before, the only thing in all those boxes. I finished my homework and went to lunch, I settled between some rocks, enjoying my food and watching the sun go down. Until Delilah called me. Until Delilah call me. ”Hello Sunset, Having a nice afthermoon?” “Well I was…” “Ha ha. I'm paying for all the years that I treat my bosses badly. Uh… called with some bad news. Two young women. Chelsea Stevens and Lily Mclain were reported missing. They’ve got parents out in California who haven’t Heard from them in a weak. .They were supposed to meet an aunt in Cody. If they’re the girls from last weak then you’re probably the last person to have seen them.” "I didn't do anything to them" I defended myself. "What about the camp?" “That wasn’t me. You know that" I knew where she wanted to go, and not say what he had in mind. “Don't get defensive. Look, it’s not gonna be an issue. I mean, if they turn up dead. Then maybe. Should I just not say anything and save us the trouble?” As much as I wanted that, I couldn't ignore this. I don't care about those girls, but I don't want them dead either. “I…I think it’s worth mentioning something” “Yeah. I’ll keep it vague. I really don’t want to talk to the cops.” “Me neither.” another bad story. “Alright Sunset, Thanks. Enjoy the sunset” she laughs. “So funny" That of the girls kept me a little uneasy. I did not sleep well for few nights. I hoped they weren't dead, not because I had done something to them, but because I would have to speak to the police. I used to get into minor trouble, enough with the devil thing. I don't need some missing drugged girls. I had to stop thinking about it since Delilah told me that was a week ago. Leaving that matter aside, my work continued normally, nothing new or strange, now I was checking the map to go to the supply area. We have been here for 1 month, the food is gone and I have to go and pick up what is due to me. “Is it too much of a pain in the ass to bring supplies all the way up our towers?” I asked, looking at the compass, making sure it pointed north. “Well, I get my stuff hand-delivered.” “How’s THAT work? “The perks of a decade of service. You’re hiking in 90 degree heat and I get to do crossword. Isn’t life miserably unfair?. Anyway, when you find the supply drop remember: it’s not just for you. Other lookouts, biologists, a few people get their food there and I don’t want to have to call in for more. There should be loads of good stuff though. Beans, prunes, jerky...” And she started again, talking, talking and talking, about his sister, about prunes, at first it was interesting, but now it was getting irritating. I put the radio on my belt clip and kept walking. Then she told me that a few months ago she was dating a guy named Javier; They dated for five years and she was obsessed, she wanted to marry him, but, her brother passed away, and she didn't come home, he took it well, doing it alone. When he return, said he leave her. That's how she ended up here, she told her sister that Javier was sleeping with the neighbor, and also ... she lied to me. She acknowledged that I came here with a broken heart, not exactly like me, but she understood it that way. I did not bother to correct it, for not going into details. “I figured you’ve told me so much about you, so, you know, there’s something about me. We both fucked up” "Don't worry, I get it" calm her down. It wasn't long before I got there, I climbed on the rocks. I just had to cross a small hill and I would get there. I could see Delilah's tower in the distance, I wondered if I could get there. A long, green box. I used the same code, and there they were, three boxes labeled for each zone, the one in the middle was mine. Found the supplies” I report. “Oh good. enjoy” Like she said, not everything is for me, although I could take everything. But… “Alright, I got everything I need out of here. Time to chow down” “Just yours, right?” “Who do you think I am?” started walking back. There was nothing more exciting until the following month, I no longer remembered how many days passed. 63? 64? I remember waking up after taking a nap. Delilah woke me up to watch a fire. “You’ve got a front row seat for what might be the biggest fire of the year” “Yeah, it’s really going.” it looked very pretty from where it was. “I’m going to call it in. They’ll send in a hotshot crew for some suppression, but I bet we’ll be stuck with her for the rest of the summer. And she doesn’t have a name yet. I usally think of something funny, or something practical or a Little risque when coming up with them. But why don’t you do the honors” “Uh, Delilah’s a nice name” why do I get nervous? “Haha! No, you big dummy!” “Ha, I was kidding” I was? “Mm-mm. No you were not. You’re sweet. But we can’t call it ’the Delilah Fire’ ” “Okay, what then?” “How about my middle name, June?” “The June fire. Even though it’s July.” “I like it. So there’s this creek down the hill, and you know what my favorite thing to do this?” “What’s that?” I leaned against the wood. “I love to take a bottle of whatever I have on hand. Plunge it deep into the water, and let it chill in there all day. And then on nights like tonight, when it is so disgustingly hot, I have something nice and cool to drink.” “I’ve have done too many bad experiences with tequila. I’m a little reticent to try again.” “Well maybe you just need a new, good experience with it” “Yeah, maybe” was that an invitation to drink? Like a date? “I love how they look at night. During the day it’s just smoke, but when the sun is down you can just… get lost” “Yeah” her voice was hoarse and dreamy, she felt very comfortable.. “I’m glad you here” “Me too” it was not a mistake to come here. “Good. I don’t talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you. Not in the same way. I know it’s probably been awhile since you’ve connected with someone the way we have. I don’t mean to get all heavy, but… it’s been really nice. I wish I was over there. “I wish you were too.” I wish she were here? With me? I think so. “We could sit outside, We could talk. Without these radios. We could, um… you know.” “What? What could we do?” look at her tower with a smile. “Well. Let me tell you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The story was interrupted by the sound of something loud. It was Adagio, pouring ice into his glass, but dropping it noisily. "Are you okay, Dagi?" Sonata asked. "Yes" Adagio replied. Dropping another ice. A very big one. "Adagio, you don't have to be jel-" she stopped when she received a death glare from the siren. "Sunset? Is something else going to happen to you and Delilah? " Aria asked. “Actually… just me. I thought they would kill me ” Sunset replied. "WHAT?!!" the sirens screamed. "I explain:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “You’re going fishing without a license?” Delilah ask me. “It’s ONE fish. And i’m sick of all the stuff I’ve got to eat” “Ok. I won’t tell anyone you’re a poacher. That reminds me, I keep hearing from Fish & Game about a problem bear they’re trying to keep tabs on. Can you search around the lake for fresh tracks and just let me know what you find? There was a crew burning fire lines out to the east and um, you know, I think sometimes it riles the wildlife.” “Problem bear? Fuck that. I’m of the opinions they are ALL problems” “Come on. pleeease” she begged. “Ugh! I can’t believe I’m going to leave this planet as a pile of bear shit. I growled walking to the lake. “THANK YOU SUNSET!” I could feel the smile “Yeah, yeah” Looking for a bear, perfect. I wantes to die so badly that I can't even contain myself. I just wanted something different to eat, this is the last time I try to taste meat. Get to the lake and survey the area. No bear, but, there was a clipboard on a rock. I took it and read it… this made no sense. “What the-? D, I found a clipboard down here and, I… there’s something strange going on” “At the lake? What’s up?” “Someone has written down what we said to each other. Have been saying” check the papers again. “That doesn’t make any sense” “I don’t talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you. Not in the same way.” I read the paper again, that was weeks ago. “No way…” Suddenly, I heard a noise. “Wait. Hold on. Something’s out here” went out to investigate. “Sunset? I’m worried. You didn’t find and eat any mushrooms, did you? They can be butalso, you know, devasting. Regardless, just let me know, okay buckaroo? Oh god. I don’t know why i just called you that” I walked through the bushes, and I found something when crossing the trunk to give access to the canyon. “I found the walkie-talkie out here too” I bent down to pick up the walkie-talkie. It looked much worn and old compared to mine. “Ugh…okay” “It’s going shit.house….UGH!” I received a blow from the back, I tried to look at who it was, but it hit me again on the head. “Sunset? Are you there?” I heard Delilah's voice as she woke up, I checked her pocket. I was missing nothing, except the radio and the clipboard. “What happen?! Sunset!” “I… holy hell, i got hit in the head. Punched or something by someone” I got up and checked my head, no blood, fine. “Are you serious?! What the hell is going on out there?” “I don’t know! Shit!” “Let me get this straight, you found a clipboard with, what, transcripts of our conversations? What else is on it?” “I don’t know! It’s gone. Along with a radio of theirs. Somebody out here could’ve just killed me, Delilah.” “What the fuck… what is going on?” “What’s Wapiti Station?” ”I-I don’t know” “I saw the name WapitIi Station right before I was cold-cocked. Does Wapiti Station mean anything to you?” “Uhhh,, Wapiti Meadow. Maybe it’s Wapiti Meadown. It’s on our maps; it’s not too far from where you are right now. It’s north of the lake. It looks like there be a trail somewhere on the north of Jonesy Lake” “I’ll start hiking that way now. Goddamn…my head…” I updated the map, and headed north. “Are you sure you saw what you saw, Sunset? Maybe you pissed off somemore campers and they came back to sucker punch you.” “Look, I know what I saw. It was our words, with initials for our names, S and D, clear as day” “And you’ve feeling okay?” “I feel fine.” “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I believe you. But that conversation was from TWO WEEKS AGO.” “I know they were. So what’s tos ay they don’t have transcripts from three, four, five weeks ago?” “Our entire relationship. Friendship. Our whole summer” “Someone is out here with a walkie talkie taking notes and talking to God knows who” I went down some rocks. “What the hell do you think is going on at this place?” “Uh, apparently a lot of following you around taking notes. Which is un-fucking-believable, Sunset” “You’re telling me. Alright I’m on my way to Wapiti Meadow; I’ll let you know what I find.” “Okay. There’s got to be a reasonable explanation. Also, I’m going to calla round and see if anyone has had anything weird happen to them or sem spooked. Ahh, I don’t want to make this bigger than it is, yet, you know?” “Yeah, understood” “Yeah, okay. Hike safe” As soon as I got to the area, there was a huge metal fence. The area was impossible to access. Whoever did it, wanted to make sure that no one entered there. “Wow, Delilah… there’s a big chain-link fence between me and the meadow. I don’t think I can get past it” “Uh, a fence?” “Yeah” “How big?” “Big. It goes off in both directions. Acres.” walk around, in different directions. “What the fuck is going on out here?!” “Whatever it is someone doesn’t want anyone to know about it” “Sometimes biologists will cordon off a little área to study flora or whatever, but that’s only a few square feet, usally.” “And the gate is locked up, obviously” "Well, see if you can pass it" “Yes, I've already tried to get in here. There is no way" "Shit" "I don't know how long I can be around without anyone seeing me" “Damn, if you were a firefighter you would have knocked down the door with two hits. Hey ... the guys doing controlled burning. They can still help" "Where are they?" I look the map. "Across the river Ruby; there is a boy scout camp. They made a firewall a few days ago; you should be able to get there for him" "Great" "If they're still there, they'll probably help you get to the other side of the fence" I went to the place, it was in the corner of the map. It would be a long journey. Through rocks and ropes to reach the destination. Delilah told me that everything was fine, nothing happened to the other observers. I suggested calling the police, but she told me it was crazy. I tried to convince her, but she liked her job and didn't want to lose it. As she walked the sun was setting in the distance, she just hoped to arrive before dark, and return. I arrived to the burned forest. I didn't see anyone nearby, I just found another box, with a book, more to collect. When I arrived to the camp, the bridge was broken, but there was a not so long descent so I could go down without problems. This place was very old, Delilah said it hadn't been used since the 50's. I found a note on a log, it seemed to be theirs. “Yes, these guys are gone. I found where they were resting before they were picked up” Ireport. "Shit" At least not everything was bad, I found an ax that would help me to go through the brushes and the fence. I also found toilet paper. “D, the note says that in the next few days… arrival of Thorofare,,, on behalf of Dr. Simmons from… Wapití Station. They have some labs here. He is worried about fires" "Shit. Someone is writing down our conversations. And now we discover that there are some laboratories there that we did not know about? What are they investigating? " "Us. They’re researching us" I saw a tree and started cutting it down to get out of here. “You think they’re studying you and me.” “I do, yeah. Maybe it’s about studying two strangers who talk every day” “Like, if you put someone in solation with someone else, what they do. Well fuck THAT” “Agreed” I finished cutting the tree and left the camp. “I think we should allow for the possibility that this is all just a big misunderstanding but… if you saw what you did.. fuck Sunset” “Yeah, I saw it” I took a last look at the campground before heading out. I felt so unprotected. If someone attacked me from behind, they could do it again. “Are you there? I had a thought.” “Let’s hear it” “You heard someone in the bushes.” “Yeah…” “Okay, so let’s asume we’re being tailed. Or you are, at least. Where are you right now?” “Just on my way back. In and out of trees, in the middle of nowhere” I looked around and behind me. Carrying the ax in my hands. “Do you see anybody?” “No, definitely not.” Thanks to Celestia no. “Alright, so tell me what you think of this-” Suddenly, a male voice was heard, I think, and of pots or something falling. “Did you just cough?” ask Delilah nervous. “No, did you just cough?” “No.” “Oh FUCK…” We said both at the same time, and with the same feeling of fear. “Um, there isn’t any way someone like another lookout could be on this line, is there?” “No. Not without tapping our radios” “What about when I heard you talking to someone else?” “I just left your line open. That’s not what this is. Get in you tower. Shut the door. Don’t leave and don’t use your radio. I’ll call you. Understand? I will call you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "And before continuing I must go to the bathroom." Sunset got up from the couch. "Again?" Aria said. "I'll go shower, it's almost dinner time," she replied. "It's true! I forgot it!" Sonata ran into the kitchen. "Aria feed Onix, I'll go to the bathroom too" said Adagio, about to go up the stairs. "Sunset said she would go first," Aria said. "I know~~" smiled the mermaid. "Come on Onix" took the animal. "This is going to take time" Buried PastBeing so immersed in history, the night caught them off guard. Aria was right, Sunset and Adagio took longer than a shower required. They took the shower separately, and they still had time to spare unlike the others. Sonata was almost finishing another of her delicious creations, while the little ferret rested on Aria's lap. "It's been going on for two hours now." Aria said. "Yes, but I'm glad to see them so in love." said Sonata. "Why aren't you more like Sunset?" "Submissive and weak?" Aria asked. "No, loving and romantic." Sonata said, preparing the food. "You know I'm not so ... affectionate" replied the siren. "Only with you I make an exception." "I know. But is it too much to ask that you last more than one orgasm? " Sonata smiled. "Hey! You're the one who doesn't last even the first! " Aria answered angrily. "Last night you didn't want to!" Sonata yelled, pouting. "Heavens! You never get tired of fighting." Adagio said, coming down the stairs. "About time," Aria said. "And Sonata, I'm sorry I'm not a damn cow like Adagio who needs 20 liters every morning." "Well this cow will show you that-" "Adagio." Sunset appeared holding her arm, preventing another fight. "You are always scolding them for fighting, but you are as easy to provoke as Aria." "Don't interfere, Sunset. If you can't tolerate the fire then get out of the kitchen." Adagio smiled. "I'm aware of your fire Dagi, I'm the one in charge of turning it off… and on~" Sunset smiled. That comment earned giggles from the other sirens and an intense blush from the leader. "But before I get on with the shower, I'll need some energy," Sunset said, hugging Adagio's waist. "What did you prepare Sonata?" "Curry! Seafood for us and vegetables for you.” she smiled, serving the dishes on the table. "You're lucky I'm hungry," Adagio said, as grumpy as Aria. The four sat together, only Onix remained. They served him food and began to eat the delicious dish. "Can you go on with the story, Sunset?" Sonata asked. "When we finish eating, I don't want to throw up," Aria said, eating. "There are no gross parts, really intense," said Sunset. "Then go on," Adagio said. "It's okay. They were the worst nights that I lived, I couldn't sleep with the fear that they would enter the tower, but I didn't expect what was coming: " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I reclined in my chair analyzing my wall, I had marked the entire wall with papers trying to find clues of who was spying on us and why. I picked up the radio and tried to call Delilah… again. “Thorofare tower, this is Two Forks, calling you for the oh fiftieth time today. The Jun’s Fire continues to move in a southerly fashion. Delilah, for fuck’s sake, answer your radio” “Helloooo sunshine! Sorry, I went out for a Little bit. What can I do you for?” I almost fell out of my chair hearing her voice. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night and I’ve been going crazy for the past six hours of sun-up. How are you so shipper?” “Well it’s a new day. What a day, this we’ve been given!” How can she be so calm ?!. “Maybe I am actually asleep right now. Maybe I didn’t stay up all night knowing that someone is-…” “I actually slept just great!” she smiled without a hint of concern. “Uhh… okay?” what's your game Delilah.? “By the way, I was wondering if your flora of the Shoshone info poster was still up inside your tower?” “…What?” I looked around the room for said sign, but that only confused me more. “It’s just protocolo that those stay up, you know, info about your tower, the surrounding tree species, etc.” “Uh, alright…?” “Just, you know, have a look at it. Make sure it’s in shi-shape” “Okay, yeah, it’s up. Why are you acting like this?” “Great! Just wonderful. Do you see the tree in the top row, second from the left?” “Sure… It’s the uh-” “NO. You don’t need to tell me. Just um, internalize it. It’s a great tree. And there’s an área called, um, that tree’s name in your sector that maybe you shoul take a mid-day hike to. Maybe.” Now I understand… “Oh. Yeah. Okay. Maybe I should go for a hike” She's talking to me in code, smart. “Nothing like afternoon in the Rockies, I tell ya. Radio me the moment you get there” It makes sense now, she's trying to tell me to go to that place, so whoever listens won't know. Second tree on the left, Cottonwood, on the map I remember an area on the map, "Cottonwood Creek''. I took my backpack, and I left the tower. I could see the June fire that didn't seem to disperse. “Whoa, the Jun’s fire isn’t going anywhere, huh?” “No. That’s those guys cameo ut to burn that line. It’s at the stage where all we can do is pay attention to it” “They’re not going to try to put it out?” “Not yet, apparently” At least it is a distant danger, not as bad as the who or those who listen to us, and follow, at least me. Every sound made me nervous. I wish I had brought a weapon with me, even though I have the ax I found the other day. Not that I'm scared, but I have a strange feeling for the simple fact that someone is following me and I don't know their intentions. After a while, I got to the area and laid out those circular rocks on the map.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg[/img] “I’m here. I’m at Cottonwood Creek” “You see the cache box there?” “It must be around here somewhere” I looked around and it was there in my view. “It is. Find it and open it. I changed the code. Es 5-6-7-8” “Are you kidding me?” I opened the box with a sigh “I was in a rush!” Once open, I took the opportunity to update the map. I see that inside there was another of so many books, and also… a new radio? It was bigger than the one he had. It was when I understood Delilah's intentions, finding a way to avoid being overheard, with this special radio should be solved. Take the new radio, and leave the other one in the box. I turned it on and adjusted the antenna.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image004.jpg[/img] “I’ve got it now” “Good. I spent all day getting you that radio. I hiked a cahe box, lied to a ranger, lied to ANOTHER ranger and hopefully you are now holding a clean, untapped radio.” “Hopefully” “Holy fuck, Sunset, We have to ge tinto that site” “What the fuck is going on?!? People are listening to us?” I could finally get angry and look for answers. “I don’t know “Our radios are tapped? Are toy fucking serious?!” started walking away from the area. “Our radios are definitely tapped.That’s why I left you the one you just got” “How is this even possible?” “I don’t know, Sunset” “What do you know?”I was suspicious, upset, again I can't trust anyone. “I know that I’m scared” “Who is doing this?” calm me down a bit, she's not to blame. “I don’t know who could be doing this” “Sunset, I've been at this job off and on this for five years, sometimes here, sometimes over near Jackson. A couple of times down in Wind River. And nothing like this has EVER happened before" “Are there any other lookuts this happening to? Somene else in on this? Anyone?” “Ugh… This is just happening to us. Everyone else is fine” “Are you sure?” "Yes. I’ve tried to bring it up to Chimney Rock, Elk’s Fork and Beartooth, lookout and every one tof them got confused, asked me if I’m okay and if I needed to be relieved. Our fucking state coordinator asked if I was just having lady troubles. So no, this isn’t happening to anyone else. And I'm done asking. I just changed my clothes lying on the floor, because I don't know who may be watching me" “Am I just… making all of this up? The eavesdropping, the spying, is this… fuck, are you… is any of this real?” “What? Are you serious?” “Maybe I’m just. Maybe I’m just losing my mind” I remember stopped on the edge of a cliff. “…WHAT?!” “Like dad… Maybe it’s happening to me and I’m imagining that I have a boss out here that we’re being spied on” I getting down on my knees, leaning dangerously on the shore. Even doubted if everything since Equestria was real. “Sunset…” listen to a tone of empathy. “I may be losing my mind like him and end up committing suicide. Or my condo was underneath some power lines and, you, Delilah, you’re not real and just be part of my mind. Seek comfort in what does not exist and forget the living by being obsessed with stupid investigations that lead you to abandon the only thing you had in an orphanage!" I screamed in hard anger, my hands hitting the pointy rocks, ending up with serious scrapes, but not lethal. “Sunset. Think about him. If what happen to him were happenint to you, you wouldn’t even be able to realice it.” “Okay.” She didn't know what I was talking about, however, she helped me to calm down. “Sunset, Sweetie, I am real and this is happening. I’m as real as the sky is blue. Take a second and then call me back. I’m on your side.” I got up and down the cliff with a rope, when I got to the ground, rest a second, just one, and I went back to my step, we had to enter that place, even though I didn't want to... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "She should know the truth, after all, that's how…he raised me" Sunset whispered the last part. She had remained with her eyes closed while she narrated that part, that when opening them, not expect in hers face of the siren so close to her. "Girls..?" Between the three of them they surrounded Sunset in a warm hug, the pony girl making a supreme effort to not cry. "I'm fine, thanks" she smiled hugging the trio. They parted but stayed with her. "Sunset..." Sonata whispered. “Okay, when I finish telling you guys, will understand why I mentioned him. For not to make the story longer than it is with my life. Summary; I grew up with my father, I never met my mother, my father dropped me off at the academy of gifted unicorns a week after being a chosen student of Celestia " "You've never... ever talked about it before" Adagio said. "It's a part of me that I tried to forget" “But Sunny, you can't suppress that kind of thing. In your position of turning to anyone, not even following your ‘friends’ you were alone.” Adagio took the face of her lover. "But no more... you have us" "We were feared creatures in equestria, monsters who didn't care about anything or anyone, but we had us," Aria said. "With you is the only exception we have made in centuries." "In centuries? Nobody else besides me? " Sunset asked, surprised. "There were people we tolerated, but we didn't get romantically involved," Sonata said. "Will you tell me about your past lives one day?" "Not this time Sunny, one story is more than enough." said Adagio. "If it's okay for you to tell us the rest." Aria continued. "Yes, I can continue: " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Okay, I’m alright. I’m headed towards the site” “Good. Keep your head up” I did, until I got to the fence. “I’m busting the gate down. There’s nobody around and it’’s the quickest way in” “Copy that” With the axe it was more than enough to break the door and the padlock. “I smashed open the gate. Should I try to fix or hide this?” “No, screw it” “Okay then.” Now I must investigate the WAPITI station, go down a makeshift bridge, walk down the hill until I reach the source of a very noisy sound, it was an antenna connected to a generator. “Okay, I’m at the site. I don’t see anybody around” “Lucky for us” “Yeah, lucky for us” I close to the tower. “D. there is some serious comms equipment out here. Wireless stuff.” “What do you mean? “I’m talking a big, twenty-foot tall transmission tower. They can probably listen to whoever the hell they want. They’re nestled down in this valley which makes it imposible for you or any lookout to see them.” I walked ahead, I felt restless but confident of knowing the origin of everything, I came to an apartment. First I made sure that there was no one and I entered the area.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image006.jpg[/img] “There’s all sorts of contraptions and shit out here” “Like what?” “Dishes and stuff on metal legs. There’s wires all over the place I don’t know. I’m not really up on hight tech” Even then I was a Waylon Park trainee, he taught me all about programs. “This equipment is not stuff from the hardware store. They’re doing somethng with the soil out here too. It’s gridded off” “Who knows what else they’re up to” After reviewing the area I entered the folder. There were about three beds, things and papers thrown away, a plan with the map of the area, tents, food, and clothes. “I’m in the main tent” I report. “What’s it like?” “It’s definitely some of monitoring station. I just wonder where they are. All of their stuff is here.” [img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image008.jpg[/img] “And they know you’re there. So see what you can find and get out.” “The table is a mess. It's as if someone had been in a hurry or had dropped some things” that made me remember the voice that was coughing that you could hear things falling. “Hey, it seems like everything is registered on this table. Well... controls, computers and other puppies. Shit, do you think they can record our heart rate and things like that? " "At this point, I believe anything" "Well. Shit. Here's a map that confirms that they are following my… our… people's movements. The map has all kinds of trails and marked areas. There are lines that look like some of the trails that I usually walk” "Are you SURE it's you?" "No, but I think so" I took some papers and useful things. Until I checked a box with a strange gadget inside. “I think I found the thing they use to track us” it was a receiver of waves. “Holy Shit…” “You know you sweer like, a lot” “Not the time, Sun” “Anyway, It’s called wave receiver. It looks like picks up anything that emits a signal. I’ts got basic orienteering capabilities, everything. Holy- “ “Holy Shit, Sunset?” “Yeah, holy shit” “You’re gonna take it, right?” “Yeah, of course”. I took the device in my hands and turned it on, the device began to beep. “Okay, this thing is losing its mind. Beeping like crazy” “I can hear it. What’s it after?” “I don’t know, I’m gonna go find out.” I walked around the place. The sound was slower, but when I was in the store it whistled louder. Whatever it is it must be inside. Then I walked in and the sound whistled like crazy on the table. I moved the papers and found a device that was like a black box, I took it and turned it off. Underneath it was a folder with our names and Delilah's. I opened the documents and couldn't understand what I was reading. “Are you shitting me...” “What? W-What is it?” “There’s a folder of reports here” “What do they say?” “They’re assessments. About the two of us. There’s stuff in here about my Friends and Father” “Like what?” “Stuff I didn’t tell you. This is-” I read our profiles without believing it. “W-What does it say about me? You said there was one about me.” “And it looks like they’ve been following me around. What I do when i’M OUT HIKING. ¡SHIT!” “Sunset, do you hear me?” “They say you and your boyfriend are still together.” “What?! We’re not. They’re messing with us.” “Yeah, okay” It's not like I care. “They are. How do they even know who he is? How the hell does this- I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” I said without thinking. “They’ll dump an ocean of wáter on it and these assholes will spend the rest of the summer picking up the pieces. We get to finish out our contracts. Hell, we’ll even call in the fire.” “Yeah, okay” “You don’t sound too excited about that.” “I’m not.” “Look, worst case scenario…” “The whole forest burn down along with whoever’s in it?” “Uhh, fuck… Yeah. Worst case. Well… maybe it’s not the best idea.” “No, it’s definitely not the best idea” sighed regaining my composure. “I’m so fucking wound up!!” “I’ts alright. I’m just going to hike back. We have the wave receiver and tomorrow we can figure out what to do.” I took the axe in my hands and I moved away from the place. When I was passing over the bridge it started collapsing. Luckily I was able to jump in time. When I regained my composure I saw a hill of smoke where I was before. “Hey, shit, the bridge collapsed climbing out here and, uh, now it looks like there’s smoke coming from the site” “¿What the hell happend to IT’S DEFINITELY NOT THE BEST IDEA?” “It wasn’t me!” “Ah. What do we do?” "We just call it in like any other fire." “And what about who started it? What about them?" "The person who started it?" “Yeah” she sounded really mad. “We’re talking about people watching us out here who are now burning the forest and everything in it around us. I don’t know what to do about that” “Except get the hell out.” “Yes. Ge tus the hell out of here” “I will.” The TruthThe next night, I was writing more notes to fill in more of the wall of notes I had made, trying to find out even who is spying on us, and why. Until I heard the receiver's beep again. “This receiver just picked something up” informed Delilah. “Like a signal? It’s going “Beep Beep?” “Yeah. What could it be?” “I don’t kmow. You gotta find out.” “Alright, I’m on my way now.“ took my backpack and axe and left the tower. “You know what I just picked up?” “Uhh…no” “A fifth of Major Bueno tequila Major from the creek” “Are you DRUNK?!” I stopped when I saw hers tower in the distance. “NO, I am GETTING drunk!” “Hey, D. I don’t wanna ‘harsh your vibe’ but maybe just maybe that’s a bad idea?” “Sunshine, Sunshine, Sunshine…” “What?” “You’re harshin’ my vibe. My thinking is I could stay up all night worried I’m gonna lose my job because of the sit fire. Or, I could not worry and let the chips fall where they may. It’s not like there’s any proof we were down there.” “My thinkimg is I’m going to follow this wave receiver” I was already halfway there, according to the sound. “Oooh, I like it when you think.” sounded sexual and drunk. “Aye yai yai. I’ll just leave you alone with whatever these thougts are” turned off the radio and followed the receiver. The sounds did not make the situation less tense, the sound was louder too, until it sounded non-stop on a rock wall in the middle of the trees. It was a strange backpack, with a keychain pendant with a key. While I was drinking, I activated a kind of alarm. It was so loud that I destroyed it with the ax. Upon examining it, it had nothing interesting, but that key was the one to that cave. “D—I found some sort of supply bag. Light camping gear, some clothes. Basics. But it was alarmed. I think that’s what was making the receiver go haywire” “You’re okay? It’s not a trap or anything?” “I’m fine. But… there’s also a st of keys here. I don’t know why they’d be hidden out here. They say ‘Shoshone National Forest cave 452’ Is that the one in the canyon?” “Yes, it is. Who the hell took them?” “And what the hell is in that cave?” “Okay, okay, Let’s just think” “Says the woman with half a bottle of tequila in the her belly” walking out of the zone. “Maybe they’ re panicking and were preparing to beat it. The fire has them spooked and we have new walkie talkies so we have the upper hand” “It’s hard to feel like you have the upper hand when you’re standing in the dark in the middle of the woods” light up the map to see the way back. “Oh, well you’re back in your tower. Maybe you need a drink too” I stopped. “I’m not in my tower” “I am looking at a man standing in your lookout. And it’s not you?” “It is not me.” “Oh my God. Go.” “I’m going.” There is someone in my tower at the moment, doing god knows what. I was so nervous, not about arriving, because I met that person on the way. I hid in some bushes and called Delilah. “Hey, I got turned around… is that person still there?” “No, he’s gone” "Well. I'm close, but I didn't want to meet him" "Yeah... be careful" “I’II call you when I ‘m back” I climbed the tower with caution, if it were not for the ax I would not dare to climb. Everything seemed normal, nothing messy. “I don’t see anyone up here.” “He was just there” I was about to go inside when I found a tape with headphones taped to the door. Takeoffs and played the audio. “I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down!” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” “We’ll dump an ocean of wáter on it and these assholes will spend the rest of the summer picking up the pieces. We get to finish out our contracts. Hell, we’ll even call in the fire.” “Yeah, okay” It was our voices, in the moment before the fire. Someone must have recorded that, it was there and I couldn't see anything. “It’s a tape of us talking down at the sit. It sounds like it was recored from somewhere nearby.” “Oh jesus…” “Yeah. And… it sounds like we were the ones who burned it down--- and that it was your idea” “No.” “We are screwed” “NO.” “D, just don’t freak out, okay? Don’t freak out” “Oh my God. ¡¿WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING SUNSET?!?” I could not sleep well that day. I woke up in the middle of the night continuing to listen to the tape, until the morning, just doing that, leaning my hand on the window seeing everything full of smoke from the fire, listening to the tape over and over again. “I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down!” “We should just burn the place down!” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” “We should just burn the place down!”.” “I think I’m going to throw up.” “Yeah. Fuck-” I stopped recording when I heard Delilah. “What’s wrong?” “Someone claiming to be ‘Sunset, in Two Forks’ called a lookout in another sector early this morning and said that I knew what caused the Wapiti Meadow fire.” “Uh…” “So, I just got off the born with that lookout who’s wondering what I know. Or that I’m an arsonist. Or that I’m fucking losing it. Furthermore, I bet don’t have the only tape of us from last night. So someone has evidence to back it up. We need to find out what someone’s been keeping in that cave” “I’m going down down there now.” I took my backpack and the axe. “We don’t have a lot of time left out here. If we don’t find some fucking answers when they lift us out it’s going to be handcuffs” “We just have to stick together. Keep our story straight. From the first day with those girls, to the person breaking in our conversation, everything. We gotta be honest and consistent” I said calmly as left the tower. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right” “I know.” So I took the map and went straight to the cave, it was easier with the wave receiver with a built-in compass. I never liked the cave since I arrived, but something told me that it was not going well. “Hey. You… you didn’t actually make that call, right? To the other lookout?” was Delilah. “It just stuck in my craw. I let myself imagine how fucked I would be if you’d been lying to me. But now that I’ve asked I kinda just wish I hadn’t” “Of course I didn’t. No way. They’re just trying to p us against each other.” “Yeah… you’re right” “That’s not going to happen, though.” “Thanks Sunset.” Get to the cave. I did not think to delay so I used the key to finally open the gate. But, I had barely advanced a bit, when I heard it close behind me. “What the hell?!” I jump fright. I came back and now I am stuck. I had no choice but to keep going and I didn't have the climbing gear so it would be very dangerous, there were a lot of steep descents. I had to find the way out of the cave. And worse still, I couldn't use the radio since I was underground. I made my way through the rocks using the ax, being careful not to cause a cave-in. I went through tight and narrow passages, at least it was not that dark. “It’s freezing in here” said to myself. Continuing further and further, until I reached another steep descent. It was a surprise of my life to see something below, it was a red shoe. “¡¿IS ANYBODY DOWN THERE?!” But nobody answered me, so I decided to continue. It took me a while, and I found my way out. “¿Hey, hey you there?” I call Delilah. “Yeah, what is it? What did you find?” “Nothing yet. Because someone tried to trap me in there” “You saw someone?!” “No, someone slammed the gate behind me and then ran away, I found another way out. But if I hadn’t…Fuck!” walked away from the exit. “So… so you didn’t find anything?” “No. There’s a spot where someone had sunk an anchor but the hardware’s gone now” until I get to some kind of hiding place. “I don’t have any climbing equipment” she sighed in frustration. “Delilah, I just found an outcropping that someone was using as a Little fort. I think it was Brian Goodwin.” “Really?” “Yeah. He built himself a real castle.” “He was in the middle of really sprucing up the join when they left” when seeing a picture with the boy's fort symbol. “A bunch of rocks stacked up, he made a Wall and a perimeter.” “Ha, Wow, Yeah, that’s perfect.” “But, you know, maybe he did it because he was afraid of them” “Whenever I think Brian possibily going through this crap I get sick to my stomach.” “Yeah. Sorry. Hey, remember that pack I found?” asks after picking up a picture. “Back on your second day? Yeah.” “I found a plan Brian drew about he was gonna get it back” “Oh, I’m sure it was quite elaborte” “It’s some ‘Wile E. Coyote’ stuff, I’ll tell you that much. It’s a little weird that he’ just lave so some of this stuff out here” “Well, maybe they were in a burry when they left, Like I said he wasn’t supposed to be out here” “Umm… Brian was doing a scince fair Project aout bouncing radio waves off of a meteor shower” As I read your homework, I was impressed. “Poor kid left his homework?” “Yeah. He must’ve been pretty smart, huh?” “Sharper tan a lot of the grown-up knuckleheads I’m used to, yeah” “Yeah, but not smarter tan yours truly, right?” smile. “Wait, are you seriously feeling threatened by the intelligence of a twelve year old you’ve never met?” “I’m just saying, I’m pretty, you know, with it. A pretty bright bulb” “Yeah Sunset, you’re a regular Rhodes Scholar” “Nice” I kept searching, finding some things that I kept for myself. “There is… something about Brian that I have never told you or anyone else” Delilah sounded…. guilty? “About the fact that you were here, despite the rules.I uh, they almost got busted, Brian liked to go out on the railing of the tower and wave at the planes that dump wáter on fires and I got a call because someone thought a kid was up in Two Fork. I lied and just said it was Ned. If I ratted him out they would’ve been forced to leave and, I dunno, I guess I felt like I was saving him from whatever shitty life Ned was going to bring him back to. Not that ended up mattering.” It seems that this Ned was not a good father, I guess I don't know much. I grew up without my father since I became a student of Princess Celestia. I know she shouldn't, but she became my closest maternal figure I could ask for. I guess she was fragile back then. After I finished searching, I found a lot of pitons or rope anchors. I assumed that it would help me to go deeper into the cave. I found a crack where I could put a piton and go down with the help of a rope. “What do you think is in there?” Delilah ask. “There’s got to be something. Why else try to kill me?? I don’t know really… we gott find out. What do you think?” “Whatever’s it is, they don’t want you telling anyone about” “They closed the door when they could’ve just...” “Bashed your head in with a rock or chopped you with a…” “Are you serious with this shit right now?” it bothered me at the last part you said. “Ugh…hatchet. God, are yo usure you want to go back in there?” “Yeah. Especially now that I’m thinking about all the fun ways to be killed” sarcasm activated. “Sorry. At least locked you in doesn’t know you’’ve gotten out. Hopefully you find whatever they’re hiding in there and it’ll be worth the risk.” I followed the map to go to the cave. “Oh Also…Those girls turned up. Looks like didn’t kill them. Nobody did. They took some farmer’s tractor for joy ride down in Riverton and in landed jail “Dodged a bullet, there.” sighs in relief. “Yeah, we’ve got enough unanswered shit to answered shit to answer for. I’d say.” At least this wasn't related to them, just some bitches looking for trouble, I wonder if they knew anything. But I didn't think about it much since I got to the cave. I used the key again to enter; just the place where they closed the door before, I could go down, and with Brian's pythons I could advance, or descend in this case, without problem. Keep going down without stopping until you reach the place. There was. In the distance a figure, a body next to some piles of rocks. “Ah shit…” I get closer to see better. “Are you…? Oh God” he was dead. I saw a rope with a piton. “You fell.” “You’re Brian Goodwin. Oh no. Good. You poor fucking kid” I knelt down, and next to it I placed a toy dinosaur that I had found in the castle. I got up and went over very careful not to step on the body. Look up at the rugged gallery. “Your… stuff gave out. You poor kid” It was too much of a stretch, it fell from the top, I noticed a shoe was missing, and it was the same one I saw before… from the top of the cave. I have to get out of the cave and report on the body, for evidence I took a photo. Then I felt bad for doing it, but I need evidence. As I climbed to the exit, my mind was lost, poor boy. I ended up the same as where I started, I finally left “Hey, D.” “There you are. I’ve been worrying my ass off.” “Hey, you might want to take a seat “I’ve been sitting this entire time. I’m almost always sitting. What’s wrong?” “The only thing in the cave was a body.” “A body? Gah, what a mess.” “Delilah. It’s Brian Goodwin.” “Sigh…You’ve got to be fucking kidding m….Who does that…? What…? I don’t… How?” “Climbing, I think. Or maybe to look like a climbing accident.” “Mmhmm…” “I don’t know, maybe it was Ned.” I didn't think of that clearly, but I didn't have any more suspects, or it could have been a horrible accident. But wouldn't it make sense if not because his body is still there? “If not him directly, he put it stupid-fucking not how in his head to get him kill. Son of a bitch." “Yeah I’m sorry, Delilah. I’m so sorry.” “He’d b alive had I told someone he was out here. I don’t know where he’d be but I can assure you it would not be rotting at the bottom of that cave.” “I…” “There’s- there’s-- there’s nothing to say. Hike back. I think we’re leavng tomorrow, anyway” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The silence was present, when the girls finished they stayed in their places without saying anything, the only one to move was Onix, who moved away from Sonata to go with Sunset, she caressed him. "Shit..." Aria said. "Aria!" Sonata said. "It’s okay," Sunset said. "I was going to say it too" "I'm sorry you had to go through that Sunny" Adagio caressed her arm gently. "He was a little boy, he had so much ahead of him" "Do you think it was Ned, Sunset?" Aria asked. "Back then, yes, and I'm still thinking about it." "Still? Still not finished? " Sonata asked. "No. This is the final outcome, I will tell you what happened when I left, and what happened afterwards. And don't worry, it won't be any longer " "Good Sunny, finish telling us," smiled Adagio. "Very well: " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was putting my things away, only my computer remained. I took some things and food with me. Frankly I already wanted to leave, everything was full of ash in the air. So much that I wanted to know the truth, now that you know that he was hiding in the cave, from the poor dead boy, but he kept thinking that something was still missing. “You see that plane?” call Delilah. “No, I was just busy packing up.” “There’s going to be a lot more. The service says this thing is 2% contained.” “¿Is this the Jun fire or the site fire or?” “The two fires merged into one unmitigated disaster. They’re renaming it after my lookout. You about packed up?” “Shouldn’t we talk for a sec? You know, about…things?” “About what?” “About what happen to Brian” “I don’t know what to say… it’s like the universo cooked up the cruelest thing to have happen. Does it connect to everything else? I don’t know. I don’t know if I even want to.” “What can I do?” suddenly hear something. “We have to just wait for the helicopters.” “Okay” I followed the source of the noise. “Until then you could follow that signal. Maybe” “Holy crap, yeah. Oh my” she was right, was the wave receiver “We don’t know what it is. It could be nothing.” “It could also be whoever was listening to us. Whoever made the tape.” I took my backpack and left the tower. “Okay, yeah. You should pack up everything you need in case we get the call and you can’t come back” “Alright look. If something happens…” “I’ll remember you.” “I was hoping you’d have a backup plan or something” “Yeah, um, okay. I’m probably going to move to Canadá. Ontario, maybe.” “No, I meant if something happens to me.” started walking away from my tower for the last time. “Right. If you don’t find out who made that tape and I have to hit the road.” “Forget it” sighed hiding my irritation. “Be safe Sunset.” This may be my last journey, and I didn’t mean leaving the forest. I worried that I was walking towards my death. Although this is already the third time that I found myself in this situation, at least it’s daytime compared to those times. I quickly took my mind off those bad memories and went on my way. “What’s your status?” call Delilah. “I think I’m getting close” “Alright well, I just got Word that they’re coming to ge tus. My place.” “You sound worried.” “No. It… it’s just…” “Brian?” “I’ll coordinate with the evac team and let you know when to head towards the tram. It’s North. Far. Past where you found that cut back in May” I could not believe it. I was finally going to meet her. I felt a bit excited, however, it is not the best moment, with everything that is happening. I'll think about how to help Delilah, now I must follow the noise. It led me to a rock with a rope on top, obviously climbing. The censor was another strange device, but the strangest thing is that my name was written on the rocky wall. “Someone left a rope for me to climb up.I’m down near the lake.” “¿How do you know it’s for you?” “There’s a tracking collar tied to it, someone was leadding me here. And there’s another tape.” Peel off the taped ribbon from the rope. “Oh my Sunset” Put the tape in the cassette player for the first tape. And listen to the following: “Hi, Sunset. You better find this before it burns up. We’ve been causing each other a lotta headaches, Now I gotta go stake out a site that’s as fit for living as the one you’re about to find. You’ll get it when you see it.” While listening to that man's voice, I started to climb. “You can’t blame me for keeping an eye on you. Not after bumping into you back in May. Down by the cave for fuck’s sake.” So he was the man I saw on my second day, the first time I was in the cave, now it makes sense. “I’ve been up here for three years. I kept it cozy. Winters are harsh as hell, and I ran out of books. But I got that antenna rigged up-and Delilah, she’s a record you don’t gotta flip. I kinda get why Brian took to her.” I got to the top and went up the hill and found a couple of boards, it was a makeshift hatch, it had its shelter very well hidden. “About a week ago I stopped worrying about you finding anything out and that’s right when everything went shit-house with you two.” I open the hatch and get inside. “You guys don’t know anything about having kids, alright? Nobody knows nothing. It ain’t Andy and Opie walking down to the lake to fish every afternoon. It ain’t Mayberry. But you gotta know I didn’t kill him, alright? We were climbing. I was teaching him. Brian was uneducated in the way to to anything. He just- he just fucking didn’t sink this anchor the right way.” The place was horrible, a dirty sleeping bag, a broken table with papers and a broken chair. Probably where he had all the information. Also several metal things and devices, he left little food, rotten of course, at the bottom there was a large hole, surely where he sat to read or listen to us. But the things they said made me angrier and angrier. “You know, I thought about going back, having to answer questions and having to get him put in the ground, and I didn’t see the point. Don’t come looking for me. I’m sorry about your father.” Asshole. He was a just a kid who didn't know, you were his father, why didn't you protect him? “We found the surveillance operation” l report Delilah. “Okay. ¿What does that mean? ¿What is it?” “It was Ned Goodwin. He was the one listening to us. Just him.” “Ned Goodwin… He made the tape?” “Yeah. He’s gone. Deeper into the Shoshone. He desn’t want anyone to know he’s out here. D…” “Because he killed Brian. Becaus he killed his fucking son.” She was upset and I don't blame her. "He have bunker with radios and everything." “You… need to get back here. They say helicopters are making rounds.” “Okay.” After taking a few things, I got ready to go out.I left the bunker to run to the meeting point, I will finally meet Delilah. When I'm halfway there. “I know I should be relieved… relieved that there’s no evidence of us starting that fire, relieved that we’ re not crazy, that there wasn’t some conspiracy.” call Delilah. “But I’m not. He was a sweet kid. With a shitty father who out here like a coward after dumping him in a hole.” “Delilah, I think it was an accident. I don't think Ned wanted to kill him. "We don't know what happened." "Ned wanted his son to know how to climb and do things that, towards him, but Brian was different." And what was the result, Sunset? Sorry, it would have been so easy to just tell the truth and send it home. I can't get it out of my head " "You did not do anything wrong" "Yes, I do. And now I have to think about whether or not to tell people that Brian is there, so they can get his body back. If I do, they will ask me about Ned Goodwin." She was speechless, this really affected her more than me. “D?” “Oh. fuck.” “Is that a helicópter?” “Yeah, Hold on. Hey! No There’s one more. Yes. Here, yeah. He’s coming. Okay.One second. They’re here but they’re making rounds. They’ll come back I think, I think I’m going to go with them.” “Wait. Just wait, ¿okay? I’m not that far” speed up the pace. “Eh… Sunset, they’re here, they’re wating, right now.” “Please.” I begged. “Sunset, I don’t, I don’t want to meet you and just sit here in a dead boy’s shadow. ¿Okay? I don’t want to do that. I know that sounds harsh.” No plase… “Okay, I’ll wait.” “I’m not far.” “Okay” I ran and climbed as much as I could, I couldn't stop myself, I've been waiting for this all summer. I'm finally going to meet her, she had so many mixed emotions. I finally got to where she told me, the funicular. Enter to pass the cliff and finally meet Delilah. I arrived, there was the symbol of the forest ranger on a rock, poles with cables, and the signal that they transmitted from here to communicate. I climbed the small hill, up the stairs. “¡Damn, it’s a nightmare out there!” I shouted with the immense heat that it was, deep down it was more for him to hear me. But nothing. “Hello? Delilah!” Arrived at the bottom of the stairs, his room, it was empty, he was gone. Go through the door and examine your room. This is where she was all this time. “Oh, Shit- it’s a nightmare out there!” I arrive at your table where you had a radio, with some headphones. “Hello? Delilah! Dammit” I sat down and put them on. “Hello? Is anybody there?” “Hi. Yeah, it’s me.” Was her. Delilah. “You’re not here” hers desk had a bottle of tequila, apples and peanut butter papers, and a picture of me, when asked me what I look like. “No… Don’t be mad” "I'm not mad, just ..." "Not mad, just disappointed?" "I’m not your father who has caught you smoking in your room" “I just couldn’t be out there for another minuete.” "You should have told me." "You really wanted me to stay." "You’re right. And now I am-" "Disappointed." "Yeah" “I know. It shouldn’t take long for the helicopter to reach you.” “Okay” sigh. “I here’s a debrief in a situation like this. Lots of questions.” “Ugh, shit. So, taking stock. We found out an old lookout killed his only son and decided to become a lonely hermit.” “Yes” “And we prevented… one fire?” “Basically started another.” “Okay, so that’s a wash.” “I’ll have to figure out what I’m doing every summer from no won that isn’t this.” “You¿re not coming back?” “No. And you’ll have to… I don’t know” “Me neither. I don’t know what’s next.” “Tell you what: why don’t you choose me for me, and I’ll choose you for you.” “Ha. Alright, sure. Maybe...” I couldn't believe what I said. “Maybe you could come back to Boulder with me and figure it out down there.” “Um….” “Just… just a thought.” a very stupid I thought. “You don’t want me down there.” “Well, I just asked you.” “I’ve got some things to do in Casper and maybe I’ll head south sometime afther that. I could come by. Sure.” it didn't sound very sure. “Okay, yoSo, what about me?” “I think you should visit your father. And then you can figure it out. You can still do something interesting with your writing projects. If you write a book about this, put a sexy accent or something.” “I, umm… yeah.” "And your friends too" "Yeah, right." my friends…? “Sunset… I. You came out to put your memories behind you and they’re still right there in front of you.” "You're right. I mean ... I guess you're right " "Well" "When I come back, I might as well..." “Let's not think about this summer. Next year will come right away and then the following year, and then… I don't know. My Aunt Judy called it a pause in the corridor of time. " "Did your Aunt Judy smoke a lot?" joke "Yes she" she smiled a little, I could feel it. "But you should also follow her advice." "Yes, we'll see" “There’s the helicopter.” “They’ll land back where you hiked up. Good luck Sunset.” “Goodbye Delilah” “I mean it, Good luck.” “Yeah.” “Bye, Sunshine.” I took off my headphones, took one last look at her room, and walked out the door. The helicopter was in front of me. A firefighter gave me signs to climb. Time to go home, he helped me up, I settled down and the helicopter began to climb. Not before, take a last look at Delilah's tower, with the ranger symbol. The time to say goodbye. To this place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So what's new?" Sonata asked. "After arriving at the base, they asked me some questions, they held me for two days" "Did you sleep in a cell?!" Aria said surprised. “Yes, they went through my things and found all the evidence, I had saved Ned's tapes. I also took some photos.” "And what happened to Delilah? Was he so nice there, Sunny? " Adagio asked. "No. That was the last time I spoke to her, I don't know what became of her "sighed the pony girl. "And Ned?" Aria asked. "I don't know either, I think they're still looking for it," said Sunset. "Did they take your things, Sunset?" Sonata was worried. “Not everything, I stole the wave detector as a souvenir. They would not need it anyway " "At least you made it out of it alive," Adagio said, taking his hand. "Yes, my third time escaping death" she sighed. "THIRD?!" the Dazzlings yelled. "Technically four, with the peninsula." "Does it have to do with your other objects?" Sonata asked, looking into the box where Adagio had left them. "Yes, each of them has her story." "I think we had enough history for one night." Adagio got up from the sofa. "It's late, we must sleep." "Is that right? It would be better to clean up and go to sleep. " Sunset took the box, but she stopped, looking at her new family. She smiled wistfully and went up to her room. Inside her, she put down the objects and closed the closet. Before leaving, she looked at the picture of a forest, where the tower of her companion, Delilah, was seen. Author's Note The truth has finally come to light, now that the culprit of the harassment has been discovered, and the mystery has been solved. A very interesting adventure, the first of others. After 84 years I have been able to upload the chapter, instead of saying the reason for my absence, I want to say that I hope to continue writing this peculiar universe that I have created.
The EmploymentThe smell of hot pancakes was one of Sonata's favorite smells, the first were tacos of course. Her missed cooking that well, when they were on the peninsula it was much more difficult, because he had to sit uncomfortably. Besides she didn't have much to cook. The stress of not being able to experiment with her dishes bothered her a little, but she had to do it to survive. But now since they returned home that was just a bad memory. Like the asylum thing. Or even before that, like when they lived in that horrible apartment. Her favorite place in Sunset's house was definitely the kitchen. "Again you are distracted while you cook." Aria smiled. "Last time you burned my breakfast." "I'm not distracted, I was just thinking!" Sonata said. "Whatever. What got you so distracted?" Aria asked. "Well, the past, the asylum, the peninsula and..." "And?" "Us!" Sonata said happily. "Aww! You are pretty when you blush.” it was her turn to smile. "Whatever!" Aria laid down on the sofa. "Where are Sunset and Adagio?" she caressed Onix. "In their room." Sonata placed the pancakes on the table. "Really? Can't they go a night without fucking?” Aria growled. "Ari! I'm cooking!" Sonata squeaked disgusted. “Speaking of which, breakfast is ready, could you go get those two? Please?" "Yes, yes, I know." Aria got up from the sofa and went upstairs. She stopped at the door and listened to moaning and laughing. "Hey, you two! Stop eating each other and go down to breakfast!” She knocked on the door. "W-we're coming~~!!!" groaned Adagio. "These two... Seriously." Aria whispered walking away. In the room…[ Sunset hugged Adagio close] "T-This is not over Sunset~..." "I know Dagi~. You told me that the last three times." Sunset whispered in her ear. "We have not yet reached our fourth time, like every morning~~" kissing the lips of his beloved. "I know, but you heard, breakfast is ready." Sunset said. "I could eat you again~~" Adagio purred. "Oh I know~" she winked sensually. "But we can do that later. Also I need a break. It's not easy To do it with a broken leg. Come on." she got up and put on her pajamas. “Okay. By the way, have you seen the new jacket I bought? I can't find it." Adagio helping his girlfriend. "I think you left it in the closet." finishing changing. "If I remember correctly you hung it next to my old jacket." taking her crutches. "Okay. I'll go down as soon as I find her." she said putting on her pajamas. "Alright, see you downstairs." Sunset said opening the door to leave. Once alone, Adagio finished changing and went to the closet. The jacket was right where Sunset said. When she took the garment, Sunset's jacket hung on a splinter in the wall. She removed it and accidentally moved the wall discovering a piece of secret hiding place. Meanwhile…in the kitchen, girls were eating the food together. "Sonata, this breakfast is really delicious." said Sunset. "Thanks Sunny, I wanted to try a new recipe, I think I enjoy vegetarian food." "Speak for yourself." Aria said chewing on her bacon. "How funny..." said Sunset. A furious Adagio with a box in her hands reached the dining room. "And what's wrong with you?" asked Aria. The siren put the box on the table and reached in to get something out. "Didn't you find your jacket?" Sunset asked eating. But she spat out her fruit as soon as she saw the Artifact Ball in his hand. "I think you won't make it to the fourth round." growled Adagio. "Now... Do you mind... Explaining yourself?" "I-" "I found it." Aria stood up. "Aria?" Adagio said confused. “I found it when you and Sonata controlled the situation. You dropped the bomb, scaring one of those mutants and one of them fell, but not only with that. With the sphere, I took it and I turned it off. I kept it until I had the opportunity to give it to Sunset. ”Aria explained. "Why did you do something so stupid?!" Adagio screamed. "I didn't because I wanted a trophy, Dazzle!! Sunset said that thing controls them. I remembered that, so when I saw it I turned it off. I thought it would work!” "And since when do you know about that?" Adagio asked puzzled. "Since you threw us into the snow and froze us. Why don't you put up with a fight." said Aria. "That wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone on your stupid explorations." she growled. "Oh we know! You just wanted to be home and fuck your girlfriend.” Aria spat. "Excuse me?!" Adagio yelled. "Wow! Girls, calm down.” Sonata reacted. "Adagio calm down. That thing was in red mode for a long time. It was normal for them to continue being furious." said Sunset. "Anger is not easy to get rid off." "I agree with you." Aria said looking at Adagio. "Take your eyes away or you will see something you will regret." she approached dangerously. "Girls! Please stop! ” Sonata shouted getting in the way. Sunset tried to get up, but she accidentally hit her leg. Adagio approached her immediately. "You have to sit down." Adagio said. With Aria's help they managed to seat Sunset on the sofa. “Adagio, Aria thought that towards the correct thing. It wasn't a bad decision and we didn't look For a treasure or trophy. But it is understandable that you behaved like this, we were in a dangerous situation. It was logical to be scared. And Aria, none of us were ready for that. It wasn't good to press them, you knew it, and so did I." "Sunset I-" "No. Seriously Adagio, Sonata is right, not the part of the fight. You have to stop fighting and you also Aria.” said Sunset. "We escaped alive and it's the only thing that matters." "Good." they both agreed. "By the way, what are all those things?" Sonata said looking inside the box. And also to release tension. "Well, the truth is that each object inside has a long history." Sunset replied. "This is the camera from asylum." said Aria approaching and taking the device. "I haven't touched it since the night I brought you home." said Sunset. "What did you do with yours?" "I think it's in our room." looking at Sonata. "I haven't turned it on or watched the tape either." "Well, the night we got here, you were asleep." Sunset looked at Adagio. "I got up and placed the camera next to my other objects." "What are you talking about? Objects?" Adagio asked. "Sonata, could you pass me the box." she obeyed. "You see, before the asylum even long before the battle of the bands I had different experiences. The asylum and the peninsula were another crazy adventures." Sunset searched among things. "Specifically... After the fall dance." she pulled out a radio. "A walkie talkie?" Aria said. "Exactly. You see, nobody trusted me. Even my friends. Even though they supported me, I knew they didn't trust me, so I needed… my own space.” Sunset took out a strange device. "What is that?" Adagio asked. "A Wave Receive. I kept it and I was lucky that the police did not take it from me." "Police? Seriously Sunset?” Aria smiled. "It's not what you think. In reality all these devices are part of history." "I want to hear it." said Sonata. "Yes, let's hear about your first police encounter." said Aria. "Okay, start Sunset." said Adagio "Maybe you could bring us more of Sonata's breakfast." said Aria. She did so. Soon everyone was sitting in the living room with more breakfast. Sunset was with the radio and the wave detector, with Onix in her lap. "Well... I think that was the most hectic and strange summer I had." she started to talk. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The whole school hated me, and why shouldn't they? I tried to conquer school. I destroyed part of the school. Not to mention the thousands of other bad things I did to them in the past. Every time I walked in the hallways or left a classroom everyone looked at me with faces of hatred and rejection. My old self wouldn't have cared less, but now it was different. Not just in attitude. In the end I met my… friends…? They help me for Twilight, not for their will. I discovered that little by little. For example when I helped Fluttershy with the animals she used to mention her and what she did for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Not that it was bad to take care of animals, but the only positive thing that happened was meeting my Onyx." stroking the ferret, who happily reacted to his mistress. "And what happened to your other ‘friends’?" Aria asked, making quotation marks in the last part. "Okay…" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At first I wasn't bothered by mentioning the fall formal or my past. With Applejack it was no better, I mean helping her family pick apples or to do the hard work in the barn wasn't bad. But she is too honest and direct in what she says, you can imagine. With Pinkie it was not so hard. I mean she is more innocent. I didn't want to take her remarks personally because I know they weren't her intention. But with Rainbow it was something else. I was very surprised she rarely mentioned it. She wanted me not to think about it. I wanted to help her in the gym to train. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “That explains a lot~ Sunny~~." Adagio whispered and laughed when she saw her girlfriend's blush. "How quickly your anger goes away, Dazzle." said Aria. "I think Sunset is perfect to 'keep it under control'. We only had to wait a few centuries to find it." Sonata said. "Shut up..." Adagio said blushing. "Ahem! As I was saying.." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To further confirm what she was trying to deny. I help Rarity with some dresses, only as a model. I know they were trying to make me feel better and they did. They made me feel optimistic, but... The truth was that I didn't feel well. I wanted to flee, but I couldn't return to equestria. Much less now. I even missed the last day of school. I waited outside of school, trying to think of what to say. Not that I didn't had a lie planned. I didn't want to tell them the truth. The bell from the last class woke me up from my thoughts. There they were, the last to leave, as always. "Hey Sunset!" it was Rainbow Dash. "What's going on?" "Where were you? We were looking for you, why didn't you come to class?" "The truth is that I couldn't, I had a personal situation." I replied a little nervous. "What happened?" Rarity asked. "It's my pet, he ... Felt bad." I lied. "Oh no! You better check him out! ” Fluttershy said worried. "Don't worry, I'll take it before the summer" "What are you talking about? Wouldn't you spend the summer with one of us?” Applejack asked confused. "Yes, that's what I wanted to talk about, I really wanted to spend some time alone." I said. "I will look for a summer job, I need extra money." "Doesn't working with that Waylon Park pay you enough?" "Rainbow!" "It's okay Rarity. Waylon is going to be spending the summer with his family and paying for my Home is not that easy. His help has been a great help to me." I said. "Then we will continue to help you!" Pinkie said. "No girls, you have your plans with your families. Besides, I'll be fine." I smiled. "Sunset…" "Seriously, don't worry about me." "Well... If that's okay with you." said Fluttershy. "Thanks. Now. Do you want to go get something to eat?" I said. Yes, it was easy to convince them. They didn't suspect my attitude, not even Applejack. It didn't surprise me. That was the first time I lied to them and I hoped it was the last, but... You know. In conclusion, we went out, had fun, and said goodbye. I left Onix with Fluttershy, she said she would take care of him herself, which I was glad for. I went home and sat in the dining room thinking about the words of the girls... 'Spend vacation with one of us...?' That sounded like they were passing a ball. Like it was a lottery. I didn't knew why. But I'm wasn't going to let it affect me again. "And now what will I do?" I said looking at the table and noticing an advertisement in the newspaper. "Wanted ranger, inexperienced. Hmm… firewatch...?” I Accepted it. Author's Note Firewatch is known for taking players on a journey and kicking them in the gut when done. I decided to take Firewatch apart and make sense of its controversial ending because I think Firewatch has one of the most powerful endings in modern games. It's almost too real to handle. Adagio is annoyed with Sunset for discovering his secret hiding place, Sunset, however when she reveals the origin of the objects, her friends become interested.
Delilah"So... was that the first time you were in a forest?" Aria asked washing the dishes from breakfast. "Technically yes, since the last time was on a peninsula." Sunset smiled. "Smart little pony." Adagio snuggled next to her. "And what happened after that Sunny?" Sonata asked drying the dishes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After calling the number I packed my things. My new backpack with the essentials: a bottle of water, medicine, a lighter, extra clothes, a knife, sunscreen and a tent. Not everything was necessary, only in what would come to the place, the person recommended me to bring things so as not to get bored. I was going to need it a lot. The next morning I arrived at the building where I was greeted. I checked in, they handed me a key and ordered to go to the top floor, to the parking lot. In the elevator I was preparing myself mentally for this, hoping that I had chosen the right clothes. Black and purple running shoes were my favorites for this. The rest were my denim shorts, an aquamarine shirt, a hooded vest and a ponytail. There was a lot of trash when I reached the last level and a single vehicle. It was a SUV. As I was told, I took it. It took me five hours to get to the forest, to the point indicated, where there was a sign. "Thorofare Trailhead... that's the point of work" I whispered. I took the map and I ventured into the forest, walking and climbing, until sunset came. It reminded me when I explored the forests in Equestria in the times when I was alone, without friends. Just me and my research. I saw the sign indicating the place again, Thorofare Trailhead, go ahead, the view was breathtaking. The nights were incredible, I remember that I used to write to Princess Twilight. She wrote to me about the incredible things she did in Equestria, I took the opportunity to ask her about... something personal. But hey, she hardly ever responded to my messages, she was busy after all. The walk helped me a lot to forget not only what I experienced at school, but also what I used to do in Equestria. Seeing nature and animals passing by, was the only thing that existed. At last, I arrived to the watchtower. I went up the stairs and entered the tower. I turned on the electricity. The place wasn't so bad. Not very comfortable but not so uncomfortable either. I saw a radio on the desk and turned it on. "Hello, Two Forks Tower!" said a female voice. "Um…Hello? Whoever this is?” confused. "It’s Sunset, right?" "Yeah" “I’m Delilah” "Yes, that’s what the guy said on the phone" "So, what’s wrong with you?" "Excuse me?" “People take this job to get away from something. So what’s wrong? ” "What's wrong whith you?" "That’s a great idea, go ahead" "Look, I just hiked for two days so I don’t really follow whatever it is you’re doing right now” "You take a stab at what’s wrong with me” she insisted. "Fine, then can I sleep…? Forever?" "Sure, girl. Now, go ahead" "Okay. You’ve killed three husbands. You’re a black widow. You’re justo out here until the heat dies down and then you’ll kill again "VERY good. Bra-vo Sunset” "Okay. I sleep now? ” "Not quite Now, you" "Okay. Goodnight. Bye" "Let's see... I don't know anything about you" And you better not know. "I say you got fired from your job and have finally decided to write your novel. That’s the sort of bullshit reason you’ll find a manout in the woods” "Good night" "Welcome to the job" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “This story is very boring" said Aria. "Yes, the first few days were super boring." said Sunset. "I was really bored." "Maybe it would be better if you pass certain details, Sunny." suggested Adagio. "Okay, I'll wait for Sonata to finish." "Sorry, but a story is not the same without food." said the blue siren. She came with a plate full of s’mores, chips, fruits, peanut butter sandwiches, and pretzels. "Sonata... are they camping snacks?" Sunset asked. "It's for the atmosphere!" Sonata said happily taking a s’more. "Okay..?" Sunset had a peanut butter sandwich. "Let's continue." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as I got up I made my breakfast and sat at the desk. I decided to start this boredom with my books. “Good morning Sunset. Well, I guess ‘good afternoon’. You probably slept like a rock. Anyway, there’s still a few hours of dayllight to get some work in. I can see you at your desk, so call me when you're ready." I take the radio. "Hey, sorry. Guess I slept in" “You got a relaxing. What, Fourteen hours of sleep? Whew!" "Yes, I guess it’s, what, six?" "6:45." "Whoops!" "Don’t worry about it. That hike put everyone out of commission for a day or two. But now that you're up, let me quickly get you acquainted with the job. There’s a thing in the middle of your room with a round map. Do you see it?" Was right in the middle of the room, I got up to see it better. "Okay, yeah, I see it" "This is the Osborne Fire Finder, invented in 1914 by W.B..." "... Osborne?" "You use this to spot, you guessed it, fi-- what the fuck?" "What is it?" "Nothing. Um, you use this to—oh, fuck me!” "That language lady..." “Out your west-facing window—are you seeing what I’m seeing?" I went to the window to confirm what Delilah was seeing. "Are those fucking fireworks?!" she yell angrily. ”Whoa! That’s not legal, right?” "Uh, no! You need to get down there right now and stop them. Fire danger is through the fucking roof” "Is that really my job?" "Your job is whatever I say it is. The closest ranger is, like, two days away. Go down there and set’em straight” "Do I write them a ticket?" "Easy there, dirty Sunnshy" "Well…?" “Get going. You’II probably need a rope to get down the shale between you and the lake if I remember right. There should be one in the supply box on the way. The code is ‘1-2-3-4’. It's actually that for all of them” I analyzed the map to find the box that Delilah told me. It was located at CACHE 306. The closest one to my tower. I took my backpack and I left the tower to the direction. With the help of the compass I didn't get lost. I honestly didn't expect this kind of tasks in this job, but hey, if she says I have to do what she says, then I do it. In a little while I got to the box. I put in the code, and took the opportunity to update the map. Maybe in other boxes I can update too. There wasn't much, but the important thing was the ropes I needed. And an energy bar. “There is a snack here. Probably I'm gonna eat it” "Where was that?" "I have come to the box" It was delicious. I continued my way until I reached a small ravine of earth. In the distance I could see the fireworks and a hook for rope. I wandered down the ravine, thinking about how my friends were doing or what this boring job would be like. My thoughts didn't last long as the rope broke. "No, no, noooo!" I fell on the rocks, I got up with annoyance and took the radio. "Ugh, hey" "What the hell is wrong with you?" "My rope snapped coming down the shale slide" "You didn't break anything, did you?" "No, I think I’II make it” "Well be careful for chrissake" That didn't help me much. I think it was my karma for cursing this job so much. Anyway I took the map to make sure I'm going in the right direction. I found camp. It must have been one of those pyromancer campers. Empty beer cans, a bottle of whiskey with a fire next to it. I cleaned up the place and confiscated the fireworks. I also found two types of clothes, it seemed that they were having fun bathing in the lake. I listened to music which confirmed the obvious, but they were too far away to see them. “I have found them in the lake. naked” "Skinny dipping?" "Yeah" "Is there a girl over there?!" "Ha ha… oh boy. have a Enjoy dealing with that!" Delilah said to me. I take the radio. "COOL STEREO!" "Whoa! HEY! PUT THAT DOWN!" "Seriously! It was expensive!” As Delilah had told me, she did not want reports of brutality by authority, so I decided to leave her in place. "Thank you! Now get lost! ” said her other friend. Although on second thought... "YOU—YOU ASSHOLE!!!" I throw the radio into the lake. "Light another firework and it won’t be your stereo I wreck!!" “Oh FUCK you, psycho! "Yeah!, fuck you!" "You’II fucking pay for this! You can’t just harass girls in the Woods! Let’s get out of here” They hid behind some rocks. Maybe I went too far, but hey, they didn't know anything about me, so I might not be so sweet with them. "Hey, did that go okay?" it was Delilah. I thought a little about my answer, tell you what I did. “It went fine. Hopefully there won’t be any more trouble” "Good. Thanks for going down there” I followed my route to return I discovered that it was very far from where I fell in that descent. I had to follow the river. "So… I have a bit of a confession to make" Delilah? "What is it?" "Um... look, I was drunk lash night when I welcomed you to the job" "Yeah, well, you're not the first boss to be guilty of that” "I know. I just… I know I can get a little pushy, putting you on the spot about why you’re out here and stuff“ "It’s fine" "I’II…keep that sort of a thing to a minimum" can notice hers nerves. "Anyway, let me know when you get back to your lookout” It was, until you hear thunder, some storm? "Hey, I heard some thunder" "Yeah, I’ve got eyes on a storm out to the north" "That’s bad, right? Because of the lightning? ” "It just means that we’II be busy Hurry home. And try not to get hit by lightning” “I got hit by lighting when I was nine years old so. I’m safe. It’s not going to strike twice and all that” was in equestria, I explored in the forest, with… with someone. "Well, there was an old lookout named Roy Sullivan, who got hit by lightning seven times." "I don’t like the sound of that" "Yeah. Well, if it makes you feel better, it wasn’t what killed him" "What killed him?" "Suicide. Would you believe?" Without realizing it, lost in conversation, I entered a cave. "What's in this cave down here?" "In Thunder Canyon?" "THUNDER Canyon?" "Hey, I didn’t name it. But in the cave? I don't know, rocks. NFS tells people not to go too far in there. It’s pretty dangerous” "So…?" Sooo I say fuck it. You’re a grown woman. You can go where you want ” "Great. I used to go caving with someone back in... Colorado. She loved it. Might be great to explore it sometime this summer" it was actually in equestria, and she was a co-worker, not a friend. "That could be fun. Obviously, be VERY careful" "This cave is gated off" A metal fence covered the only entrance. "It’s to stop spelunkers from dying without getting the keys from the Forest Service office first" "Makes sense" "Although Debbie says she lost them like three years ago, so, maybe its mysteries are locked away for good" "Ah damn." "Yeah, but maybe you can find another one to get your caving kicks in" "This one’s so closet o home and convenient thought" I pouted. "Aww, sorry Sunny" Defeated, I climbed the stones to get out of the cave. It was already night. How bad I didn't have my flashlight. I knew I will need it. I kept moving forward, not much, because suddenly, someone shone a flashlight on me, but I couldn't see who that figure was. "There’s some guy out here giving me the creeps” "The creeps?" she said. And at that moment he left. "Wait. He’s looking at you? Is he doing anything else? ” "I... I don’t think so?" "Sunset, there’s something I... something someone should’ve told you about this area" “What is it?” "It's outside" "Come on" I wasn't going to let him bother me with horror stories. "The whole thing. And people come and go as they please, It’s…It’s madness! ” "Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it" “Look, bumping into someone in the middle of nowhere is part of the fun” I hate when they make fun of me, but it's still weird. I was also almost close. I climbed over some rocks and came to my tower. I took the opportunity to ask Delilah about the things the job offered me. Like the latrine, a horrible figure of a ranger, the generator. While we were talking, I walked up the stairs and found my laptop on the floor. "Uh…" "What can I do for you?" "Well... my computer is on the ground. Outside of my tower” "Did you bring your computer? You write?" "Yeah—look,…uh, the wind? No. How the hell…” "You should get inside" "Fuck me” I took my laptop, thank goodness, it wasn't broken, despite the fall. That protector Waylon gave me except for all the information I have inside. I went upstairs and saw the broken window, and the place was in disarray. "Someone broke in.” "They what?" “They just, they wrecked the place. Threw my laptop out of the window... MOTHERFUCKER!!” "Holy shit. I’II let the Forest Service know what happened" I went in and closed the door. I put down the laptop and started to collect everything, my books lying around, the open drawers. Luckily my things hadn't been stolen, since they were hidden under the bed, behind one of the drawers. The only thing missing was my sheets. "Okay, I put in a call" "What can they do about it? Will they catch whoever did it?” “This is the Forest Service Sunset, they’re not exactly Hawaii Five-O. Do you have any idea who would’ve done this? ” At this point I thought about that guy with the flashlight, but the girls in the lake, I was more sure of them, they surely got revenge on the radio. "I did probably piss off the girls at the lake... Ugh. Fuck Them!" "Okay, Well, I’II have the rangers keep an eye out for a couple of young women and question any they find. I can't believe someone did that… I can’t believe someone would do this… I worry about bears and fires and that’s about it and now I’ve got to worry about some… what, violent campers?” I finished cleaning and sat on the bed. “Okay, in the morning I'm going to call my friend Patty, who Works the desk down in Cody. They keep a list of everyone who’s officially been in and out of the trailhead since… Well, forever, and see if we can get a list of names” "Thanks" "I need you to feel dafe out here" Well, I don't feel calm at all, it will be hard for me to sleep tonight. "Just point me to the Forest Service weapons cache and I’II feel safer tan the Pope in his lille car“ "Yeah,... someone made the choice years ago that leaving people with infinite amounts of alone time and a gun was kind of a bad idea” "Grenades?" "I’II see what I can do." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You sure are a little bitch, huh Sunset?" Aria smiled. "I'm not proud of having do that Aria, I had future problems because of these girls." "Were you excited to see them~~?" Adagio smiled. "No! I couldn't see them well, it was getting dark and I only saw shadows." "Did you really get hit by lightning?" Sonata asked. "Yes, it was a long time ago." Sunset replied. "And who were you with?" Adagio asked. "With-" The roar of her stomach interrupted her. "Maybe after eating. How long have we been with the story?" "Hours, officially it's already late, what will we eat?" Aria asked looking at Sonata. "This time I don't want to cook! I want Sunset to continue her story!” "What if we order something to eat?" Sunset suggested. "Tacos!" Sonata yelled. “Fuck it, I'm sick of tacos, we've been order for the same thing like four nights. I want pizza." "Tacos!" "Pizza!" "TACOS!" "PIZZA!" "Girls enough! Stop arguing, we will order Chinese food.” said Adagio. "NO!" the two sirens shouted at the same time "Sunset!!" "I-" "Sunny ~~" Adagio whispered sensually and threateningly. "Actually... I want one of those spring rolls." Sunset ran into the kitchen. "I'm going for the phone!" Author's Note Well, the Sunset adventure is entertaining for our sirens, It seems like a simple boring story, but we still haven't gotten to the best part
Everything Looks NormalAdagio enjoyed the last of her shrimp, as for Aria, well she didn't seem so happy that they didn’t eat pizza, but she enjoyed her meat. Sonata was happy with her food, her sweet and sour chicken was not so bad. On the other hand, Sunset was happy, Adagio always asked for vegetable noodles and spring rolls for her. "So Sunset, how was your second day in that boring job?" asked Aria. "I want to know who destroyed your tower." said Sonata. "I bet it was those girls." said Adagio. "And I think it was that dark figure with the flashlight." said Aria. "Well, I didn't know who it was until the day... I think 33 or 32." "Wait... how long were you in that forest?" Aria asked. "It was a total of 79 days, I think it was a little less than when we were on the peninsula." Sunset explained. "But, I will reveal to you who destroyed my tower:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What I loved in the afternoons aside from watching the sun go down in the mountains, was writing in my digital diary, adding what happened yesterday. My peace did not last long. “Wake up” I take the radio. “I’m awake. I’m awake. What’s your problem?” “Our problem” said Delilah. “Sorry, our problem” “That storm knocked out the pone line I use to talk to the service which means we’re cut off. I tried radio’ing out and that’s not working either” “Can I go fix it?” “Well, you probably CAN’T but what you can do is hike out to where the wire runs through your área and report back if it’s down. Then I can track down a ranger to get someone on it” Take my backpack and I went out the door. “Okay, I can do that! Where is it?” “Remember that cave you hiked through yesterday?” “Yeah, of course” “So, you’re going to want to go back there, go through it and keep going straight to the north when you come out” “Will do” “Thanks Sunshine” “It’s Sunset” “What, you don’t like Sunshine?” “Yeah, I don’t like Sunshine” Someone in equestria used to call me that, and no, it wasn't Celestia. “But Sunshine is similar to your name” “No, it doesn’t” “Okay, alright” I continued on my way following the map. It was quite far, but I managed. In my journey I thought about who and why destroyed my tower. The girls were the most obvious, but that strange figure also made me suspicious. But I didn’t know who it was, and vice versa, because I would if I had not done anything like those girls. When it fully descended until it hit the ground, it was very foggy, and it was very cold. “Uff! It’s actually pretty damn cold out here” “Roger that. It warms up fast. Your city it's cold in the morning too? “Yeah, they are” “What did you get up to down? I mean, what’s life like?” I didn't want to reveal so much about my past, so I'm going a little slow.”You know, I don’t know. I used to just spend a lot of time with my ferret, Onix” “Onix? What kind of name is that?” “It’s a ferret, with black and gray fur” “So, why not call him Toby?” really? Delilah, he is not a dog. "Well... when we chose which pet to love, I saw this little section of the others, and I was sitting on a black stone. It reminded me of a precious stone with the name Onix, it bit it, and I adopted it by giving it that name” “Uh, that’s a really… cute story??” “It is what it is” As I explained, I came out of the cave and found the supply box. “Hey, can you hold on a sec?” “Sure, I’m just going to keep hiking and hoping it warms up” I opened the box and updated the map. When I checked what was inside I heard Delilah, but she was not talking to me, it seems that she left her radio open. “Heyo. I don’t think so. Why, have you? Okay. Good” I thought to talk to her, but I didn't want to interrupt, I knew it was wrong to listen, but I still did. I took the flashlight that was inside the box and kept listening. “No, I don’t think he has any idea. I’m absolutely sure. Would you? Alright. I’ll let you know if anything changes in that regard” was she talking about me? ”Hey, sorry about that. Anyway, I thought about that and that story is cute. And... sorry, you said we? The ferret wasn't only yours, was it? ” My curiosity betrayed me. “Who was that?” “Who was who?” confused. “I don’t think he has any idea. What was that? Were you talking about me?” “Uh, what?” “You left your button pressed or something” “Sunset, that call was work. I was just talking to… actually, it’s not really your business. Why are you freaking out?” “I’m not freaking out” “Good. I’m gonna go quiet for a Little bit. Call me if it’s important” Great, Delilah has moved away, she's upset. I shouldn't have gotten into her affairs, nor should I have listened. It shows that I haven't changed anything. I have to stop being like I was before. I think the best thing would be to talk to her when I get to my destination, examine the communication boundaries north of the canyon. I could see them in the distance, simple, I just have to follow the cables. “I can see the wire you’re talking about. It looks like it’s in good shape from here” I informed her. “Follow it up to the top of the trail, if you can. You can head back as son as you give me the all clear” “Got it” At least didn't sound annoying anymore, I try talking a little more. “We really can’t reach anyone any other way tan these wires?” “What else do you suggest, smoke signals?” Did I notice a smile?. “Just seems dangerous” “If they don’t hear from me for a few days they’II send someone out, butI’d rather it not come to that” Well, she wasn't upset anymore, I think. But I'll still be careful with her. What happens if these cables will get cut? Or are you struck by lightning? We are completely isolated and nobody would find us. It’s quite dangerous if you ask me. According to the map I am very close. I wanted to find more things. It was in front of me and yes, there was a problem. “Yep. Okay, the wire is down here” “Really? Awesome. Good find” “It’s like, I dunno, two and half miles east of me. You follow the trail up the hill you can’t miss it. I’II go see what the damage is” I went up the rocks, and found another supply box, nothing useful inside. Just update of the map. I continued to see if I could fix the cable, as I went up I found cans of beer, they seemed… very familiar. “Guess what?” l call Delilah. “What is it?” “There’s a bunch of empty cans up here” “Sames as before?” “Yep” “These fucking kids” “Why do you think they’d be up here?” “Hell if I know, but they better have stayed away from our communication stuff” I hope so, but it seems that everything points to yes. Anyway, I must find out. I got to the top of the phone pole, and I found out on my own. “Hey, so the wire is definitely down out here. I just found it. Yeah, the thing is…It doesn’t look like the wind. It looks like it was cut, deliberately“ I examine the cable and the message... were some panties that said "Go to hell" with a drawing of me, I think ?. “I KNEW it the moment you said you found their trash. These idiots are going to pay. Do they realice this is how people die? I mean, what if something happened to one of my lookouts while this was going on?! And forbid there is an actual fire burning out of control” “¿What do you want to do?” I ask. “I want you to go find them.” “¿And then what??” “I… I haven’t thought thatfar ahead. That’s not true. Everything that comes to mind is illegal” “Let’s hear it” “¿Oh yeah?” “I came out here for a breath of fresh air and some adventure. What do you got?” “I think I want you to just find them and scare the HELL out of them” “Yeah, I’d make a spokky ghost costume but they stole my sheets.” “Hmm. I don’t know… wait for them to wander off and wreck their camp. Something that would make a teenage girl run home to mommy and daddy” “I’II find them.” I said, releasing the cut cable from my hands. “Thanks Sunset” “But I am going to need a raise” I smile. “Don’t hold your breath. I’d start by hiking back towards your tower and just keep an eye out for anything that would lead you to them.” “Well, they’re big into Red Eagle” I looked into the distance. “Great. See if you can find the path they took down from there. Maybe they looped back around towards the lake or something. I doubt they’re where yesterday but they obviously can’t have gone far” I analyzed the map. Where I last saw them was in Jonesy Lake, so I marked the target. It would be a long walk and a lot of climbing. I didn't want to fall like the last time. On my way I found a backpack hanging from the branch of an old tree. “There’s an abandoned pack out here” “¿I’ts not one of the teens?” “No, it looks like it was lost a long time ago” “Well, you could always pilfer for supplies.” It was too high to reach, so I grabbed a branch and shook my backpack a little. It fell right in front of me. I opened it and I accidentally took a photo of myself on an old instant camera. And there was also a lot of climbing ropes, unlike the ones he had, these were much stronger and resistant. “Well, I’m flush with ropes now. That pack was full of them. In decent condition too” I inform to Delilah happy. “That’s lucky!” “There’s enough rope here that I can just leave them hooked up, I think. Oh, get this- this pack came with one of those cardboard single-use cameras” I explain while hooking the rope to the hook to descend. “¿With pictures left?” “Yeah, he only used three or four” “Neato.” “Thank you, Brian Goodwin.” while I decency by the rope. “Wait, wait… ¿Who?” “The bag had the name Brian Goodwin sewn into the top” “Huh. Wow.” “Do you know him?” “Yeah, I just haven’t Heard that name in a few years” “He was a lookout?” “Ha! Yeah kinda, I guess. He was stationed in Two Forks, your lookout, with his dad Ned three summers ago. Great kid” “You can bring children out here?” “No… you know, I’m not a stickler for rules. They took off halfway through the summer” “What, they couldn’t handle your unique Brand of charm?” smiled mischievously. “Not many can” I could feel that she smiled too. “Unsurprising” I found another box of supplies, and I opened it. “Anyway. So it goes. Have fun with that camera. Try not to snap anything that would a scar Fotodome employee” “I don’t know, I’ve got a lot of hiking to do; I might get bored” “Well, I’m bored as rocks, so I’II keep you company while you find those girls, huh?” There was nothing useful inside the box, just a sharp claw of an animal. I took the opportunity to update the map. “Hey, sorry about snapping at you earlier. I thought about it and I suppose that must’ve sounded kinda weird when you heard me take that other call. Plus, you’re just out here in your own head. Trust me, I know how it is” Really? You know? I highly doubt it, and I'm not talking about work. “So… did you break any hearts back in home? I myself, have chosen to never get attached to anyone who would miss me, but I know I’m a bit of an outlier” “No, I didn’t break any hearts when I left, no special person, I just came here to distract myself” "Really?" "Yes... the truth is that I'm just taking a break, breathing fresh air." "A small change?" "Yes." "Okay, I get it, we can leave it there." I continued on my way until I reached a burned forest. Well, there didn't seem anything was useful, but those girls were the typical stupid blondes. They shouldn't be far, I hope. As I kept walking I thought if it was a good idea to tell Delilah about my past, obviously skipping my otherworldly pony reality. I don't know whether to trust her. It was a damn hike, I kept going down ropes, until I saw a thin column of smoke. “I see a really thin plume of smoke.” “Yeah, I see it too. A thin plume like this is either a new fire or a campfire” “A campfire. You think it’s them?” “I reckon so” “It looks like it’s to the… southwest of me” I look at the map and the compass. “That’s right. If you hike towards Five Mile Creek that should put you in the neighborhood. Keep an eye on that smoke plume. Let me know it it’s getting any larger” “Will do” I walked faster to avoid losing smoke. All this climbing is helping me to exercise, I think I will not have to worry about what I eat. Although thinking things over, I like Delilah, she is nice and funny. She doesn't know me in person, or how I was before, so I could tell her to see if I can get some advice, or what to do when I return. “Look Sunset, just so you know, I didn’t mean to overstep by bounds, earlier, when I as kif you have someone especial” ”Lo sé, pero lo hiciste, no puedes hacer cosas así sabes?” “I know you didn’t. You were just making conversation. I appreciate it.” “So., tell me something, If you want.” I thought about it for a moment until I answered. “I'm a student at Canterlot High, I was known as a bully, you know, the queen bee. I had school eating from the palm of my hand. ” "Bouncer and queen bee…. Wow. It is a controversial topic around here. As you describe me, it sounds sexy.” "I'm not like that anymore." I descended for another descent. "Bouncer or Sexy?" smiled. “Bouncer, I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. Sexy? Well I do not know" For now this is fine, I don't want to reveal so much information yet, little by little. And I don't know if the sun is affecting me, but… did she just flirt me? I got to the lake where I saw the girls. Easy. I just followed the river, until I found another box of supplies. Close to that area, I found a turtle between the rocks, it was super cute, so I took it with me, Onix now has a playmate. “I take it you fell prey to the Forest Service’s big recruiting effort? When it comes to how the hell you ended up out here.” ”I saw the job in the paper and figured, you kno. What the heck?” nothing useful in the box, a sweater and a book. “What the heck? I’ve got no ties and no life, better go spend what’s left of it utter loneliness!” “Something like that” I update the map. Although what I said earlier was not entirely true of my reason for coming here. “Thanks to last summer, the bump in Forest Service Budget actually allowed for us to advertise for the job. Glad it worked.” I save the book I found and followed the path of the river. “I find it hard to believe that you had no one special, you said you were a queen bee. The popular girl, having the crazy guys and the jealous girls, or maybe crazy too.” "Look, A girl got me off the ’pedestal’ because I did things that I'm not proud of. Despite trying to prove myself and be better, the school still hates me. As a stalker I became bullied. They have done all kinds of mistreatment and intimidation, that's why I'm here” "Oh shit. I didn't… what happened? ” "We will talk later." was not yet the time. "Okay, okay Sunset. Umm… what's that girl's name? ” "... Twilight." "It's a nice name" If she will continue with these conversations she will know all of my past. I must be careful with the equestria part. Or my childhood. I walk faster to distract my mental battle. "Why did you do all this?" Oh shit! As soon? “I didn't really grow up in a stable family environment. And when they left me at the boarding school when I was little, I think that my aggressive and smug attitude began, now for me the approval of my tutor was the only thing that mattered to me” "Shit" "Yes…" "How did you get to Canterlot?" ”I… escaped and became independent, I entered school by my methods. Everything changed when Twilight and her friends… defeated me, so to speak, and now they are my friends, because she asked them to.” "Did she ask them? Didn’t they want to be your friends even if you said sorry? ” “Honestly, no. It’s understandable. I mean, they are friendly, but it’s more out of human concern lo my well-being. In short, I deserve it for having been so cruel for so many years. I’m sorry to be such a downer.” “Don’t even. I’m happy to listen. And y’know, we’II try to have SOME fun this summer. I promise” That sounds motivating, while I was telling her about all my teenage drama I arrived at a waterfall where there was a piece of cloth hanging from a branch. I am already very loset o the arrival point, and so it was, I found the camp! But it was devastated. “I have found the source of the smoke. The store is as if it were going through a cutter, I found a piece of cloth on a branch, and it fits in with the tent. ” "They are there? Where are they?" "I don't know. They left. This is devastated” "What happened?" "The truth is that it could have been a bear" "Oh God…." "I'm going to be honest with you. If I find a corpse, I will vomit "Do not say more. Take a look around and tell me what you see. By the way... you have the camera, right? It might be a good idea to take some photos. Just in case" "Yes, well thought out" I took a picture of the ripped tent and the campfire. I explored the place further and found my sheets. It was them. I'm glad they were them and not that strange figure. I also found a note... for me? “They’re gone, for sure.” “How can you tell?” “The girls left someone- me, I guess- a note.” “What’s it say?” “They’re threatening to call the pólice because they think I attacked them.” ”Oh my. Well… did you?” “No, I didn’t do this, okay? Someone or something went to town here but it wasn’t me.” “Beause I told you to scare them, not assault them.” “I didn’t! Of course I didn’t. I just threw their stereo in the lake.” “Yeah, I really wish you wouldn’t have done that.” “This is, I don’t know, weird as hell. But it wasn’t me.” “It’s okay. I belive you. Weird stuff happens in the woods. It could be other campers. They could be having a bad mushroom trip. We really don’t know. But they’re gone. There’s no way to call the cops. They’re not coming back, and we can get to work. I’d really to start to enjoying a quiet summer.” “Yeah. me too.” The next day, I was fixing the broken window, but I needed more wood. I kept thinking about the girls' note. They said that I destroyed the camp, but I didn't, so who? Maybe someone who likes to cause trouble, or maybe... that silhouette at night from the first day, maybe? ”Hey Sunset…” “Yeah?” “Um, what do you look like?” “Why are you asking?” “Because I’m horribly superficial. Now let’s see… in my scope I can only tell you’re a Sun tanning girl wearing shorts.” “It’s hot. And maybe, by the way, I’m not Sun tanning. That’s not very, you know, PC or whatever they say.” “Oh my. You are the Sun Tanning girl. I don’t need a spotting scope for that. And if not shorts then what do you normally like to wear?” "I always wear a leather jacket, light synthetic, jeans, and black boots too." I explained coming down from the tower, looking for more window boards. "Oh I love leather, it's so greaser. Now tell me something about your face. I see you on the other side of the bar. What do I see?" "Eh... um ... I have red and yellow hair, something very appropriate for my name" “Alright, perfect. I want to know about your eyes” “Get out of here” smiled playfully. “I’m drawing you. I need to know.” “You’re what?” Really? “Is that okay?” “Uhhhh…” not really, but... it makes me feel weird. “Don’t answer. I’m going to do it. regardless” “Fine” “Your eyes. Tell me” "They are tough I guess" "Really?" "Yes, you know, after having a reputation as a tough girl, my eyes are what people feared the most, they said that when they saw my turquoise color, their skin froze." "I imagine. Okay got it. Thank you Sunset” “You get what you need?” I went back up to the run with the wood for the window. “Absolutely.” Just a couple of boards and nails, and the window will be fixed, at least they won't charge me for that. “I got that window all patched up. So… what should I do now? What’s next?” I said, looking into the distance at Delilah's tower. “What’s next? What do you think is next?”” “Well, You’ve been the one giving me tasks for two days straight.” “What’s next is you sit in that room until September 1st and call me as the first sign of smoke” “Oh, yeah” I went back inside of the tower. “Why don’t you let me know when you’re mentally prepared for that task and I’II give it to you.” I check my things a little, fix and clean a bit, and check my little new friend for a while, thinking about what name to put on her. Put her back in its box and put in some food. Is better start with this. “Okay. I think I am ready to tacle my long-term commitment of keeping this national forest safe from total destruction” “I am glad to hear you’ve really thought this throught” “Of course” Find some books and my computer, in case I get bored. “We’ve issued you a comfy chair to sit in and everything.” “You know, it’s really not that comfy. It’s wooden, there’s no padding. I actually think I got splinter in my thigh this morning…” and finally, snacks too. “Aww. Regardless, take a seat. The forest depends on you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I knew it!" Adagio smiled. "Pay me." she looked at Aria. "Whatever," she growled reluctantly, handing over a couple of dollars. "So if it was them, how bad." said Sonata. "Stealing sheets and destroying a window seems very stupid to me," said Aria. "If we had been them, we probably would have attacked you, or locked you in the cave," said Adagio. "That sounds... very extreme don't you think?" Sunset asked. "Don't take it bad Sunny, the old sirens would have done it." Adagio smiled. "Speak for yourself." said Aria. "Right... what were you doing in those times?" Sunset asked. "We weren't in this city yet, we were doing the same as always, having fun absorbing magic," Sonata explained. "Yes, sometimes in closed or public places, absorbing energy to feed us" continued Aria. "You... after all we've been through, you have never explained well to me how your gems worked." said Sunset. "Don't take it bad Sunset." Adagio sat closer to her. "There were certain circumstances that did not prevent them, such as the island for example." "Oh sure, but-" "But now you have a story to finish, Sunny," said Adagio. "Yes! What happened after?!" Sonata smiled. "Wait, don't be offended Sunset, but your story is kind of boring." Aria complained. "I know, but... do you remember what Adagio said? About what you guys would have done? ” "What does that have to do with?" "Someone did attack me" "WHO?!" the dazzlings said together. "They will have to wait, we have to clean after dinner." Sunset got up and went to the kitchen. "Also, I must go to the bathroom." she ran. "Wait who was it?!" Aria said. "It would be better to do what she says, to know who I should kill for that" Adagio began to clean, with the help of the others.
StalkerSunset came out of the bathroom and started cleaning. She was about to go to the living room to sit down, but she had an unexpected surprise. The dazzlings had finished their homework, the room, the floor, the kitchen was clean too. The dishes were washed and the food stored. Even Sonata had made more snacks. "Wow, do you really want to hear more of the story?" Sunset smiled. "I thought you thought it was boring" "Shut up and sit down." Aria growled, opening a can of beer. "Why did you say someone attacked you?" Sonata asked, jumping on the couch. "Was it those girls?!" "Sonata stop that, and Sunset..." Adagio took his girlfriend's hand and sat her next to her. "Keep going." "I'm surprised you're calm, after hearing that girl was interested in Sunset" Aria smiled. "Right, and ask about her past, ask if she was single, and she was even drawing Sunny." Sonata smiled. "I'm not jealous, Sunset loves me and I don't have to worry." Adagio smiled. "That camper? Compete against me? Please!" "You're jealous. Do you remember last Christmas?" Aria said. "And the new year?" continued Sonata. "I don't know what you two are talking about." the siren defended herself. "Girls, don't fight." said Sunset "Sunset? Did you have anything with that girl? ” Sonata asked. "Well..." glance at Adagio. "If I were you I would think of the answer" Aria smiled. "Yeah..." said Adagio. "And you're not jealous, huh?" Sunet said. "So what was Delilah like? She was cute?” Sonata asked. "Sunny? Were you with her during the battle of the gangs? ” Adagio asked, a little serious. "Y-you know what? I will let the past answer your questions.” Sunset took Onix and placed him on her lap. "I know you want to know about my relationship with Delilah, but what I'm going to tell you is where, in Aria's opinion, the story is no longer boring:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were no more unexpected encounters, I have been two weeks in this forest, now I had many more books than before, the only thing in all those boxes. I finished my homework and went to lunch, I settled between some rocks, enjoying my food and watching the sun go down. Until Delilah called me. Until Delilah call me. ”Hello Sunset, Having a nice afthermoon?” “Well I was…” “Ha ha. I'm paying for all the years that I treat my bosses badly. Uh… called with some bad news. Two young women. Chelsea Stevens and Lily Mclain were reported missing. They’ve got parents out in California who haven’t Heard from them in a weak. .They were supposed to meet an aunt in Cody. If they’re the girls from last weak then you’re probably the last person to have seen them.” "I didn't do anything to them" I defended myself. "What about the camp?" “That wasn’t me. You know that" I knew where she wanted to go, and not say what he had in mind. “Don't get defensive. Look, it’s not gonna be an issue. I mean, if they turn up dead. Then maybe. Should I just not say anything and save us the trouble?” As much as I wanted that, I couldn't ignore this. I don't care about those girls, but I don't want them dead either. “I…I think it’s worth mentioning something” “Yeah. I’ll keep it vague. I really don’t want to talk to the cops.” “Me neither.” another bad story. “Alright Sunset, Thanks. Enjoy the sunset” she laughs. “So funny" That of the girls kept me a little uneasy. I did not sleep well for few nights. I hoped they weren't dead, not because I had done something to them, but because I would have to speak to the police. I used to get into minor trouble, enough with the devil thing. I don't need some missing drugged girls. I had to stop thinking about it since Delilah told me that was a week ago. Leaving that matter aside, my work continued normally, nothing new or strange, now I was checking the map to go to the supply area. We have been here for 1 month, the food is gone and I have to go and pick up what is due to me. “Is it too much of a pain in the ass to bring supplies all the way up our towers?” I asked, looking at the compass, making sure it pointed north. “Well, I get my stuff hand-delivered.” “How’s THAT work? “The perks of a decade of service. You’re hiking in 90 degree heat and I get to do crossword. Isn’t life miserably unfair?. Anyway, when you find the supply drop remember: it’s not just for you. Other lookouts, biologists, a few people get their food there and I don’t want to have to call in for more. There should be loads of good stuff though. Beans, prunes, jerky...” And she started again, talking, talking and talking, about his sister, about prunes, at first it was interesting, but now it was getting irritating. I put the radio on my belt clip and kept walking. Then she told me that a few months ago she was dating a guy named Javier; They dated for five years and she was obsessed, she wanted to marry him, but, her brother passed away, and she didn't come home, he took it well, doing it alone. When he return, said he leave her. That's how she ended up here, she told her sister that Javier was sleeping with the neighbor, and also ... she lied to me. She acknowledged that I came here with a broken heart, not exactly like me, but she understood it that way. I did not bother to correct it, for not going into details. “I figured you’ve told me so much about you, so, you know, there’s something about me. We both fucked up” "Don't worry, I get it" calm her down. It wasn't long before I got there, I climbed on the rocks. I just had to cross a small hill and I would get there. I could see Delilah's tower in the distance, I wondered if I could get there. A long, green box. I used the same code, and there they were, three boxes labeled for each zone, the one in the middle was mine. Found the supplies” I report. “Oh good. enjoy” Like she said, not everything is for me, although I could take everything. But… “Alright, I got everything I need out of here. Time to chow down” “Just yours, right?” “Who do you think I am?” started walking back. There was nothing more exciting until the following month, I no longer remembered how many days passed. 63? 64? I remember waking up after taking a nap. Delilah woke me up to watch a fire. “You’ve got a front row seat for what might be the biggest fire of the year” “Yeah, it’s really going.” it looked very pretty from where it was. “I’m going to call it in. They’ll send in a hotshot crew for some suppression, but I bet we’ll be stuck with her for the rest of the summer. And she doesn’t have a name yet. I usally think of something funny, or something practical or a Little risque when coming up with them. But why don’t you do the honors” “Uh, Delilah’s a nice name” why do I get nervous? “Haha! No, you big dummy!” “Ha, I was kidding” I was? “Mm-mm. No you were not. You’re sweet. But we can’t call it ’the Delilah Fire’ ” “Okay, what then?” “How about my middle name, June?” “The June fire. Even though it’s July.” “I like it. So there’s this creek down the hill, and you know what my favorite thing to do this?” “What’s that?” I leaned against the wood. “I love to take a bottle of whatever I have on hand. Plunge it deep into the water, and let it chill in there all day. And then on nights like tonight, when it is so disgustingly hot, I have something nice and cool to drink.” “I’ve have done too many bad experiences with tequila. I’m a little reticent to try again.” “Well maybe you just need a new, good experience with it” “Yeah, maybe” was that an invitation to drink? Like a date? “I love how they look at night. During the day it’s just smoke, but when the sun is down you can just… get lost” “Yeah” her voice was hoarse and dreamy, she felt very comfortable.. “I’m glad you here” “Me too” it was not a mistake to come here. “Good. I don’t talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you. Not in the same way. I know it’s probably been awhile since you’ve connected with someone the way we have. I don’t mean to get all heavy, but… it’s been really nice. I wish I was over there. “I wish you were too.” I wish she were here? With me? I think so. “We could sit outside, We could talk. Without these radios. We could, um… you know.” “What? What could we do?” look at her tower with a smile. “Well. Let me tell you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The story was interrupted by the sound of something loud. It was Adagio, pouring ice into his glass, but dropping it noisily. "Are you okay, Dagi?" Sonata asked. "Yes" Adagio replied. Dropping another ice. A very big one. "Adagio, you don't have to be jel-" she stopped when she received a death glare from the siren. "Sunset? Is something else going to happen to you and Delilah? " Aria asked. “Actually… just me. I thought they would kill me ” Sunset replied. "WHAT?!!" the sirens screamed. "I explain:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “You’re going fishing without a license?” Delilah ask me. “It’s ONE fish. And i’m sick of all the stuff I’ve got to eat” “Ok. I won’t tell anyone you’re a poacher. That reminds me, I keep hearing from Fish & Game about a problem bear they’re trying to keep tabs on. Can you search around the lake for fresh tracks and just let me know what you find? There was a crew burning fire lines out to the east and um, you know, I think sometimes it riles the wildlife.” “Problem bear? Fuck that. I’m of the opinions they are ALL problems” “Come on. pleeease” she begged. “Ugh! I can’t believe I’m going to leave this planet as a pile of bear shit. I growled walking to the lake. “THANK YOU SUNSET!” I could feel the smile “Yeah, yeah” Looking for a bear, perfect. I wantes to die so badly that I can't even contain myself. I just wanted something different to eat, this is the last time I try to taste meat. Get to the lake and survey the area. No bear, but, there was a clipboard on a rock. I took it and read it… this made no sense. “What the-? D, I found a clipboard down here and, I… there’s something strange going on” “At the lake? What’s up?” “Someone has written down what we said to each other. Have been saying” check the papers again. “That doesn’t make any sense” “I don’t talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you. Not in the same way.” I read the paper again, that was weeks ago. “No way…” Suddenly, I heard a noise. “Wait. Hold on. Something’s out here” went out to investigate. “Sunset? I’m worried. You didn’t find and eat any mushrooms, did you? They can be butalso, you know, devasting. Regardless, just let me know, okay buckaroo? Oh god. I don’t know why i just called you that” I walked through the bushes, and I found something when crossing the trunk to give access to the canyon. “I found the walkie-talkie out here too” I bent down to pick up the walkie-talkie. It looked much worn and old compared to mine. “Ugh…okay” “It’s going shit.house….UGH!” I received a blow from the back, I tried to look at who it was, but it hit me again on the head. “Sunset? Are you there?” I heard Delilah's voice as she woke up, I checked her pocket. I was missing nothing, except the radio and the clipboard. “What happen?! Sunset!” “I… holy hell, i got hit in the head. Punched or something by someone” I got up and checked my head, no blood, fine. “Are you serious?! What the hell is going on out there?” “I don’t know! Shit!” “Let me get this straight, you found a clipboard with, what, transcripts of our conversations? What else is on it?” “I don’t know! It’s gone. Along with a radio of theirs. Somebody out here could’ve just killed me, Delilah.” “What the fuck… what is going on?” “What’s Wapiti Station?” ”I-I don’t know” “I saw the name WapitIi Station right before I was cold-cocked. Does Wapiti Station mean anything to you?” “Uhhh,, Wapiti Meadow. Maybe it’s Wapiti Meadown. It’s on our maps; it’s not too far from where you are right now. It’s north of the lake. It looks like there be a trail somewhere on the north of Jonesy Lake” “I’ll start hiking that way now. Goddamn…my head…” I updated the map, and headed north. “Are you sure you saw what you saw, Sunset? Maybe you pissed off somemore campers and they came back to sucker punch you.” “Look, I know what I saw. It was our words, with initials for our names, S and D, clear as day” “And you’ve feeling okay?” “I feel fine.” “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I believe you. But that conversation was from TWO WEEKS AGO.” “I know they were. So what’s tos ay they don’t have transcripts from three, four, five weeks ago?” “Our entire relationship. Friendship. Our whole summer” “Someone is out here with a walkie talkie taking notes and talking to God knows who” I went down some rocks. “What the hell do you think is going on at this place?” “Uh, apparently a lot of following you around taking notes. Which is un-fucking-believable, Sunset” “You’re telling me. Alright I’m on my way to Wapiti Meadow; I’ll let you know what I find.” “Okay. There’s got to be a reasonable explanation. Also, I’m going to calla round and see if anyone has had anything weird happen to them or sem spooked. Ahh, I don’t want to make this bigger than it is, yet, you know?” “Yeah, understood” “Yeah, okay. Hike safe” As soon as I got to the area, there was a huge metal fence. The area was impossible to access. Whoever did it, wanted to make sure that no one entered there. “Wow, Delilah… there’s a big chain-link fence between me and the meadow. I don’t think I can get past it” “Uh, a fence?” “Yeah” “How big?” “Big. It goes off in both directions. Acres.” walk around, in different directions. “What the fuck is going on out here?!” “Whatever it is someone doesn’t want anyone to know about it” “Sometimes biologists will cordon off a little área to study flora or whatever, but that’s only a few square feet, usally.” “And the gate is locked up, obviously” "Well, see if you can pass it" “Yes, I've already tried to get in here. There is no way" "Shit" "I don't know how long I can be around without anyone seeing me" “Damn, if you were a firefighter you would have knocked down the door with two hits. Hey ... the guys doing controlled burning. They can still help" "Where are they?" I look the map. "Across the river Ruby; there is a boy scout camp. They made a firewall a few days ago; you should be able to get there for him" "Great" "If they're still there, they'll probably help you get to the other side of the fence" I went to the place, it was in the corner of the map. It would be a long journey. Through rocks and ropes to reach the destination. Delilah told me that everything was fine, nothing happened to the other observers. I suggested calling the police, but she told me it was crazy. I tried to convince her, but she liked her job and didn't want to lose it. As she walked the sun was setting in the distance, she just hoped to arrive before dark, and return. I arrived to the burned forest. I didn't see anyone nearby, I just found another box, with a book, more to collect. When I arrived to the camp, the bridge was broken, but there was a not so long descent so I could go down without problems. This place was very old, Delilah said it hadn't been used since the 50's. I found a note on a log, it seemed to be theirs. “Yes, these guys are gone. I found where they were resting before they were picked up” Ireport. "Shit" At least not everything was bad, I found an ax that would help me to go through the brushes and the fence. I also found toilet paper. “D, the note says that in the next few days… arrival of Thorofare,,, on behalf of Dr. Simmons from… Wapití Station. They have some labs here. He is worried about fires" "Shit. Someone is writing down our conversations. And now we discover that there are some laboratories there that we did not know about? What are they investigating? " "Us. They’re researching us" I saw a tree and started cutting it down to get out of here. “You think they’re studying you and me.” “I do, yeah. Maybe it’s about studying two strangers who talk every day” “Like, if you put someone in solation with someone else, what they do. Well fuck THAT” “Agreed” I finished cutting the tree and left the camp. “I think we should allow for the possibility that this is all just a big misunderstanding but… if you saw what you did.. fuck Sunset” “Yeah, I saw it” I took a last look at the campground before heading out. I felt so unprotected. If someone attacked me from behind, they could do it again. “Are you there? I had a thought.” “Let’s hear it” “You heard someone in the bushes.” “Yeah…” “Okay, so let’s asume we’re being tailed. Or you are, at least. Where are you right now?” “Just on my way back. In and out of trees, in the middle of nowhere” I looked around and behind me. Carrying the ax in my hands. “Do you see anybody?” “No, definitely not.” Thanks to Celestia no. “Alright, so tell me what you think of this-” Suddenly, a male voice was heard, I think, and of pots or something falling. “Did you just cough?” ask Delilah nervous. “No, did you just cough?” “No.” “Oh FUCK…” We said both at the same time, and with the same feeling of fear. “Um, there isn’t any way someone like another lookout could be on this line, is there?” “No. Not without tapping our radios” “What about when I heard you talking to someone else?” “I just left your line open. That’s not what this is. Get in you tower. Shut the door. Don’t leave and don’t use your radio. I’ll call you. Understand? I will call you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "And before continuing I must go to the bathroom." Sunset got up from the couch. "Again?" Aria said. "I'll go shower, it's almost dinner time," she replied. "It's true! I forgot it!" Sonata ran into the kitchen. "Aria feed Onix, I'll go to the bathroom too" said Adagio, about to go up the stairs. "Sunset said she would go first," Aria said. "I know~~" smiled the mermaid. "Come on Onix" took the animal. "This is going to take time"
Buried PastBeing so immersed in history, the night caught them off guard. Aria was right, Sunset and Adagio took longer than a shower required. They took the shower separately, and they still had time to spare unlike the others. Sonata was almost finishing another of her delicious creations, while the little ferret rested on Aria's lap. "It's been going on for two hours now." Aria said. "Yes, but I'm glad to see them so in love." said Sonata. "Why aren't you more like Sunset?" "Submissive and weak?" Aria asked. "No, loving and romantic." Sonata said, preparing the food. "You know I'm not so ... affectionate" replied the siren. "Only with you I make an exception." "I know. But is it too much to ask that you last more than one orgasm? " Sonata smiled. "Hey! You're the one who doesn't last even the first! " Aria answered angrily. "Last night you didn't want to!" Sonata yelled, pouting. "Heavens! You never get tired of fighting." Adagio said, coming down the stairs. "About time," Aria said. "And Sonata, I'm sorry I'm not a damn cow like Adagio who needs 20 liters every morning." "Well this cow will show you that-" "Adagio." Sunset appeared holding her arm, preventing another fight. "You are always scolding them for fighting, but you are as easy to provoke as Aria." "Don't interfere, Sunset. If you can't tolerate the fire then get out of the kitchen." Adagio smiled. "I'm aware of your fire Dagi, I'm the one in charge of turning it off… and on~" Sunset smiled. That comment earned giggles from the other sirens and an intense blush from the leader. "But before I get on with the shower, I'll need some energy," Sunset said, hugging Adagio's waist. "What did you prepare Sonata?" "Curry! Seafood for us and vegetables for you.” she smiled, serving the dishes on the table. "You're lucky I'm hungry," Adagio said, as grumpy as Aria. The four sat together, only Onix remained. They served him food and began to eat the delicious dish. "Can you go on with the story, Sunset?" Sonata asked. "When we finish eating, I don't want to throw up," Aria said, eating. "There are no gross parts, really intense," said Sunset. "Then go on," Adagio said. "It's okay. They were the worst nights that I lived, I couldn't sleep with the fear that they would enter the tower, but I didn't expect what was coming: " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I reclined in my chair analyzing my wall, I had marked the entire wall with papers trying to find clues of who was spying on us and why. I picked up the radio and tried to call Delilah… again. “Thorofare tower, this is Two Forks, calling you for the oh fiftieth time today. The Jun’s Fire continues to move in a southerly fashion. Delilah, for fuck’s sake, answer your radio” “Helloooo sunshine! Sorry, I went out for a Little bit. What can I do you for?” I almost fell out of my chair hearing her voice. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night and I’ve been going crazy for the past six hours of sun-up. How are you so shipper?” “Well it’s a new day. What a day, this we’ve been given!” How can she be so calm ?!. “Maybe I am actually asleep right now. Maybe I didn’t stay up all night knowing that someone is-…” “I actually slept just great!” she smiled without a hint of concern. “Uhh… okay?” what's your game Delilah.? “By the way, I was wondering if your flora of the Shoshone info poster was still up inside your tower?” “…What?” I looked around the room for said sign, but that only confused me more. “It’s just protocolo that those stay up, you know, info about your tower, the surrounding tree species, etc.” “Uh, alright…?” “Just, you know, have a look at it. Make sure it’s in shi-shape” “Okay, yeah, it’s up. Why are you acting like this?” “Great! Just wonderful. Do you see the tree in the top row, second from the left?” “Sure… It’s the uh-” “NO. You don’t need to tell me. Just um, internalize it. It’s a great tree. And there’s an área called, um, that tree’s name in your sector that maybe you shoul take a mid-day hike to. Maybe.” Now I understand… “Oh. Yeah. Okay. Maybe I should go for a hike” She's talking to me in code, smart. “Nothing like afternoon in the Rockies, I tell ya. Radio me the moment you get there” It makes sense now, she's trying to tell me to go to that place, so whoever listens won't know. Second tree on the left, Cottonwood, on the map I remember an area on the map, "Cottonwood Creek''. I took my backpack, and I left the tower. I could see the June fire that didn't seem to disperse. “Whoa, the Jun’s fire isn’t going anywhere, huh?” “No. That’s those guys cameo ut to burn that line. It’s at the stage where all we can do is pay attention to it” “They’re not going to try to put it out?” “Not yet, apparently” At least it is a distant danger, not as bad as the who or those who listen to us, and follow, at least me. Every sound made me nervous. I wish I had brought a weapon with me, even though I have the ax I found the other day. Not that I'm scared, but I have a strange feeling for the simple fact that someone is following me and I don't know their intentions. After a while, I got to the area and laid out those circular rocks on the map.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg[/img] “I’m here. I’m at Cottonwood Creek” “You see the cache box there?” “It must be around here somewhere” I looked around and it was there in my view. “It is. Find it and open it. I changed the code. Es 5-6-7-8” “Are you kidding me?” I opened the box with a sigh “I was in a rush!” Once open, I took the opportunity to update the map. I see that inside there was another of so many books, and also… a new radio? It was bigger than the one he had. It was when I understood Delilah's intentions, finding a way to avoid being overheard, with this special radio should be solved. Take the new radio, and leave the other one in the box. I turned it on and adjusted the antenna.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image004.jpg[/img] “I’ve got it now” “Good. I spent all day getting you that radio. I hiked a cahe box, lied to a ranger, lied to ANOTHER ranger and hopefully you are now holding a clean, untapped radio.” “Hopefully” “Holy fuck, Sunset, We have to ge tinto that site” “What the fuck is going on?!? People are listening to us?” I could finally get angry and look for answers. “I don’t know “Our radios are tapped? Are toy fucking serious?!” started walking away from the area. “Our radios are definitely tapped.That’s why I left you the one you just got” “How is this even possible?” “I don’t know, Sunset” “What do you know?”I was suspicious, upset, again I can't trust anyone. “I know that I’m scared” “Who is doing this?” calm me down a bit, she's not to blame. “I don’t know who could be doing this” “Sunset, I've been at this job off and on this for five years, sometimes here, sometimes over near Jackson. A couple of times down in Wind River. And nothing like this has EVER happened before" “Are there any other lookuts this happening to? Somene else in on this? Anyone?” “Ugh… This is just happening to us. Everyone else is fine” “Are you sure?” "Yes. I’ve tried to bring it up to Chimney Rock, Elk’s Fork and Beartooth, lookout and every one tof them got confused, asked me if I’m okay and if I needed to be relieved. Our fucking state coordinator asked if I was just having lady troubles. So no, this isn’t happening to anyone else. And I'm done asking. I just changed my clothes lying on the floor, because I don't know who may be watching me" “Am I just… making all of this up? The eavesdropping, the spying, is this… fuck, are you… is any of this real?” “What? Are you serious?” “Maybe I’m just. Maybe I’m just losing my mind” I remember stopped on the edge of a cliff. “…WHAT?!” “Like dad… Maybe it’s happening to me and I’m imagining that I have a boss out here that we’re being spied on” I getting down on my knees, leaning dangerously on the shore. Even doubted if everything since Equestria was real. “Sunset…” listen to a tone of empathy. “I may be losing my mind like him and end up committing suicide. Or my condo was underneath some power lines and, you, Delilah, you’re not real and just be part of my mind. Seek comfort in what does not exist and forget the living by being obsessed with stupid investigations that lead you to abandon the only thing you had in an orphanage!" I screamed in hard anger, my hands hitting the pointy rocks, ending up with serious scrapes, but not lethal. “Sunset. Think about him. If what happen to him were happenint to you, you wouldn’t even be able to realice it.” “Okay.” She didn't know what I was talking about, however, she helped me to calm down. “Sunset, Sweetie, I am real and this is happening. I’m as real as the sky is blue. Take a second and then call me back. I’m on your side.” I got up and down the cliff with a rope, when I got to the ground, rest a second, just one, and I went back to my step, we had to enter that place, even though I didn't want to... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "She should know the truth, after all, that's how…he raised me" Sunset whispered the last part. She had remained with her eyes closed while she narrated that part, that when opening them, not expect in hers face of the siren so close to her. "Girls..?" Between the three of them they surrounded Sunset in a warm hug, the pony girl making a supreme effort to not cry. "I'm fine, thanks" she smiled hugging the trio. They parted but stayed with her. "Sunset..." Sonata whispered. “Okay, when I finish telling you guys, will understand why I mentioned him. For not to make the story longer than it is with my life. Summary; I grew up with my father, I never met my mother, my father dropped me off at the academy of gifted unicorns a week after being a chosen student of Celestia " "You've never... ever talked about it before" Adagio said. "It's a part of me that I tried to forget" “But Sunny, you can't suppress that kind of thing. In your position of turning to anyone, not even following your ‘friends’ you were alone.” Adagio took the face of her lover. "But no more... you have us" "We were feared creatures in equestria, monsters who didn't care about anything or anyone, but we had us," Aria said. "With you is the only exception we have made in centuries." "In centuries? Nobody else besides me? " Sunset asked, surprised. "There were people we tolerated, but we didn't get romantically involved," Sonata said. "Will you tell me about your past lives one day?" "Not this time Sunny, one story is more than enough." said Adagio. "If it's okay for you to tell us the rest." Aria continued. "Yes, I can continue: " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Okay, I’m alright. I’m headed towards the site” “Good. Keep your head up” I did, until I got to the fence. “I’m busting the gate down. There’s nobody around and it’’s the quickest way in” “Copy that” With the axe it was more than enough to break the door and the padlock. “I smashed open the gate. Should I try to fix or hide this?” “No, screw it” “Okay then.” Now I must investigate the WAPITI station, go down a makeshift bridge, walk down the hill until I reach the source of a very noisy sound, it was an antenna connected to a generator. “Okay, I’m at the site. I don’t see anybody around” “Lucky for us” “Yeah, lucky for us” I close to the tower. “D. there is some serious comms equipment out here. Wireless stuff.” “What do you mean? “I’m talking a big, twenty-foot tall transmission tower. They can probably listen to whoever the hell they want. They’re nestled down in this valley which makes it imposible for you or any lookout to see them.” I walked ahead, I felt restless but confident of knowing the origin of everything, I came to an apartment. First I made sure that there was no one and I entered the area.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image006.jpg[/img] “There’s all sorts of contraptions and shit out here” “Like what?” “Dishes and stuff on metal legs. There’s wires all over the place I don’t know. I’m not really up on hight tech” Even then I was a Waylon Park trainee, he taught me all about programs. “This equipment is not stuff from the hardware store. They’re doing somethng with the soil out here too. It’s gridded off” “Who knows what else they’re up to” After reviewing the area I entered the folder. There were about three beds, things and papers thrown away, a plan with the map of the area, tents, food, and clothes. “I’m in the main tent” I report. “What’s it like?” “It’s definitely some of monitoring station. I just wonder where they are. All of their stuff is here.” [img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image008.jpg[/img] “And they know you’re there. So see what you can find and get out.” “The table is a mess. It's as if someone had been in a hurry or had dropped some things” that made me remember the voice that was coughing that you could hear things falling. “Hey, it seems like everything is registered on this table. Well... controls, computers and other puppies. Shit, do you think they can record our heart rate and things like that? " "At this point, I believe anything" "Well. Shit. Here's a map that confirms that they are following my… our… people's movements. The map has all kinds of trails and marked areas. There are lines that look like some of the trails that I usually walk” "Are you SURE it's you?" "No, but I think so" I took some papers and useful things. Until I checked a box with a strange gadget inside. “I think I found the thing they use to track us” it was a receiver of waves. “Holy Shit…” “You know you sweer like, a lot” “Not the time, Sun” “Anyway, It’s called wave receiver. It looks like picks up anything that emits a signal. I’ts got basic orienteering capabilities, everything. Holy- “ “Holy Shit, Sunset?” “Yeah, holy shit” “You’re gonna take it, right?” “Yeah, of course”. I took the device in my hands and turned it on, the device began to beep. “Okay, this thing is losing its mind. Beeping like crazy” “I can hear it. What’s it after?” “I don’t know, I’m gonna go find out.” I walked around the place. The sound was slower, but when I was in the store it whistled louder. Whatever it is it must be inside. Then I walked in and the sound whistled like crazy on the table. I moved the papers and found a device that was like a black box, I took it and turned it off. Underneath it was a folder with our names and Delilah's. I opened the documents and couldn't understand what I was reading. “Are you shitting me...” “What? W-What is it?” “There’s a folder of reports here” “What do they say?” “They’re assessments. About the two of us. There’s stuff in here about my Friends and Father” “Like what?” “Stuff I didn’t tell you. This is-” I read our profiles without believing it. “W-What does it say about me? You said there was one about me.” “And it looks like they’ve been following me around. What I do when i’M OUT HIKING. ¡SHIT!” “Sunset, do you hear me?” “They say you and your boyfriend are still together.” “What?! We’re not. They’re messing with us.” “Yeah, okay” It's not like I care. “They are. How do they even know who he is? How the hell does this- I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” I said without thinking. “They’ll dump an ocean of wáter on it and these assholes will spend the rest of the summer picking up the pieces. We get to finish out our contracts. Hell, we’ll even call in the fire.” “Yeah, okay” “You don’t sound too excited about that.” “I’m not.” “Look, worst case scenario…” “The whole forest burn down along with whoever’s in it?” “Uhh, fuck… Yeah. Worst case. Well… maybe it’s not the best idea.” “No, it’s definitely not the best idea” sighed regaining my composure. “I’m so fucking wound up!!” “I’ts alright. I’m just going to hike back. We have the wave receiver and tomorrow we can figure out what to do.” I took the axe in my hands and I moved away from the place. When I was passing over the bridge it started collapsing. Luckily I was able to jump in time. When I regained my composure I saw a hill of smoke where I was before. “Hey, shit, the bridge collapsed climbing out here and, uh, now it looks like there’s smoke coming from the site” “¿What the hell happend to IT’S DEFINITELY NOT THE BEST IDEA?” “It wasn’t me!” “Ah. What do we do?” "We just call it in like any other fire." “And what about who started it? What about them?" "The person who started it?" “Yeah” she sounded really mad. “We’re talking about people watching us out here who are now burning the forest and everything in it around us. I don’t know what to do about that” “Except get the hell out.” “Yes. Ge tus the hell out of here” “I will.”
The TruthThe next night, I was writing more notes to fill in more of the wall of notes I had made, trying to find out even who is spying on us, and why. Until I heard the receiver's beep again. “This receiver just picked something up” informed Delilah. “Like a signal? It’s going “Beep Beep?” “Yeah. What could it be?” “I don’t kmow. You gotta find out.” “Alright, I’m on my way now.“ took my backpack and axe and left the tower. “You know what I just picked up?” “Uhh…no” “A fifth of Major Bueno tequila Major from the creek” “Are you DRUNK?!” I stopped when I saw hers tower in the distance. “NO, I am GETTING drunk!” “Hey, D. I don’t wanna ‘harsh your vibe’ but maybe just maybe that’s a bad idea?” “Sunshine, Sunshine, Sunshine…” “What?” “You’re harshin’ my vibe. My thinking is I could stay up all night worried I’m gonna lose my job because of the sit fire. Or, I could not worry and let the chips fall where they may. It’s not like there’s any proof we were down there.” “My thinkimg is I’m going to follow this wave receiver” I was already halfway there, according to the sound. “Oooh, I like it when you think.” sounded sexual and drunk. “Aye yai yai. I’ll just leave you alone with whatever these thougts are” turned off the radio and followed the receiver. The sounds did not make the situation less tense, the sound was louder too, until it sounded non-stop on a rock wall in the middle of the trees. It was a strange backpack, with a keychain pendant with a key. While I was drinking, I activated a kind of alarm. It was so loud that I destroyed it with the ax. Upon examining it, it had nothing interesting, but that key was the one to that cave. “D—I found some sort of supply bag. Light camping gear, some clothes. Basics. But it was alarmed. I think that’s what was making the receiver go haywire” “You’re okay? It’s not a trap or anything?” “I’m fine. But… there’s also a st of keys here. I don’t know why they’d be hidden out here. They say ‘Shoshone National Forest cave 452’ Is that the one in the canyon?” “Yes, it is. Who the hell took them?” “And what the hell is in that cave?” “Okay, okay, Let’s just think” “Says the woman with half a bottle of tequila in the her belly” walking out of the zone. “Maybe they’ re panicking and were preparing to beat it. The fire has them spooked and we have new walkie talkies so we have the upper hand” “It’s hard to feel like you have the upper hand when you’re standing in the dark in the middle of the woods” light up the map to see the way back. “Oh, well you’re back in your tower. Maybe you need a drink too” I stopped. “I’m not in my tower” “I am looking at a man standing in your lookout. And it’s not you?” “It is not me.” “Oh my God. Go.” “I’m going.” There is someone in my tower at the moment, doing god knows what. I was so nervous, not about arriving, because I met that person on the way. I hid in some bushes and called Delilah. “Hey, I got turned around… is that person still there?” “No, he’s gone” "Well. I'm close, but I didn't want to meet him" "Yeah... be careful" “I’II call you when I ‘m back” I climbed the tower with caution, if it were not for the ax I would not dare to climb. Everything seemed normal, nothing messy. “I don’t see anyone up here.” “He was just there” I was about to go inside when I found a tape with headphones taped to the door. Takeoffs and played the audio. “I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down!” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” “We’ll dump an ocean of wáter on it and these assholes will spend the rest of the summer picking up the pieces. We get to finish out our contracts. Hell, we’ll even call in the fire.” “Yeah, okay” It was our voices, in the moment before the fire. Someone must have recorded that, it was there and I couldn't see anything. “It’s a tape of us talking down at the sit. It sounds like it was recored from somewhere nearby.” “Oh jesus…” “Yeah. And… it sounds like we were the ones who burned it down--- and that it was your idea” “No.” “We are screwed” “NO.” “D, just don’t freak out, okay? Don’t freak out” “Oh my God. ¡¿WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING SUNSET?!?” I could not sleep well that day. I woke up in the middle of the night continuing to listen to the tape, until the morning, just doing that, leaning my hand on the window seeing everything full of smoke from the fire, listening to the tape over and over again. “I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down!” “We should just burn the place down!” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” “We should just burn the place down!”.” “I think I’m going to throw up.” “Yeah. Fuck-” I stopped recording when I heard Delilah. “What’s wrong?” “Someone claiming to be ‘Sunset, in Two Forks’ called a lookout in another sector early this morning and said that I knew what caused the Wapiti Meadow fire.” “Uh…” “So, I just got off the born with that lookout who’s wondering what I know. Or that I’m an arsonist. Or that I’m fucking losing it. Furthermore, I bet don’t have the only tape of us from last night. So someone has evidence to back it up. We need to find out what someone’s been keeping in that cave” “I’m going down down there now.” I took my backpack and the axe. “We don’t have a lot of time left out here. If we don’t find some fucking answers when they lift us out it’s going to be handcuffs” “We just have to stick together. Keep our story straight. From the first day with those girls, to the person breaking in our conversation, everything. We gotta be honest and consistent” I said calmly as left the tower. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right” “I know.” So I took the map and went straight to the cave, it was easier with the wave receiver with a built-in compass. I never liked the cave since I arrived, but something told me that it was not going well. “Hey. You… you didn’t actually make that call, right? To the other lookout?” was Delilah. “It just stuck in my craw. I let myself imagine how fucked I would be if you’d been lying to me. But now that I’ve asked I kinda just wish I hadn’t” “Of course I didn’t. No way. They’re just trying to p us against each other.” “Yeah… you’re right” “That’s not going to happen, though.” “Thanks Sunset.” Get to the cave. I did not think to delay so I used the key to finally open the gate. But, I had barely advanced a bit, when I heard it close behind me. “What the hell?!” I jump fright. I came back and now I am stuck. I had no choice but to keep going and I didn't have the climbing gear so it would be very dangerous, there were a lot of steep descents. I had to find the way out of the cave. And worse still, I couldn't use the radio since I was underground. I made my way through the rocks using the ax, being careful not to cause a cave-in. I went through tight and narrow passages, at least it was not that dark. “It’s freezing in here” said to myself. Continuing further and further, until I reached another steep descent. It was a surprise of my life to see something below, it was a red shoe. “¡¿IS ANYBODY DOWN THERE?!” But nobody answered me, so I decided to continue. It took me a while, and I found my way out. “¿Hey, hey you there?” I call Delilah. “Yeah, what is it? What did you find?” “Nothing yet. Because someone tried to trap me in there” “You saw someone?!” “No, someone slammed the gate behind me and then ran away, I found another way out. But if I hadn’t…Fuck!” walked away from the exit. “So… so you didn’t find anything?” “No. There’s a spot where someone had sunk an anchor but the hardware’s gone now” until I get to some kind of hiding place. “I don’t have any climbing equipment” she sighed in frustration. “Delilah, I just found an outcropping that someone was using as a Little fort. I think it was Brian Goodwin.” “Really?” “Yeah. He built himself a real castle.” “He was in the middle of really sprucing up the join when they left” when seeing a picture with the boy's fort symbol. “A bunch of rocks stacked up, he made a Wall and a perimeter.” “Ha, Wow, Yeah, that’s perfect.” “But, you know, maybe he did it because he was afraid of them” “Whenever I think Brian possibily going through this crap I get sick to my stomach.” “Yeah. Sorry. Hey, remember that pack I found?” asks after picking up a picture. “Back on your second day? Yeah.” “I found a plan Brian drew about he was gonna get it back” “Oh, I’m sure it was quite elaborte” “It’s some ‘Wile E. Coyote’ stuff, I’ll tell you that much. It’s a little weird that he’ just lave so some of this stuff out here” “Well, maybe they were in a burry when they left, Like I said he wasn’t supposed to be out here” “Umm… Brian was doing a scince fair Project aout bouncing radio waves off of a meteor shower” As I read your homework, I was impressed. “Poor kid left his homework?” “Yeah. He must’ve been pretty smart, huh?” “Sharper tan a lot of the grown-up knuckleheads I’m used to, yeah” “Yeah, but not smarter tan yours truly, right?” smile. “Wait, are you seriously feeling threatened by the intelligence of a twelve year old you’ve never met?” “I’m just saying, I’m pretty, you know, with it. A pretty bright bulb” “Yeah Sunset, you’re a regular Rhodes Scholar” “Nice” I kept searching, finding some things that I kept for myself. “There is… something about Brian that I have never told you or anyone else” Delilah sounded…. guilty? “About the fact that you were here, despite the rules.I uh, they almost got busted, Brian liked to go out on the railing of the tower and wave at the planes that dump wáter on fires and I got a call because someone thought a kid was up in Two Fork. I lied and just said it was Ned. If I ratted him out they would’ve been forced to leave and, I dunno, I guess I felt like I was saving him from whatever shitty life Ned was going to bring him back to. Not that ended up mattering.” It seems that this Ned was not a good father, I guess I don't know much. I grew up without my father since I became a student of Princess Celestia. I know she shouldn't, but she became my closest maternal figure I could ask for. I guess she was fragile back then. After I finished searching, I found a lot of pitons or rope anchors. I assumed that it would help me to go deeper into the cave. I found a crack where I could put a piton and go down with the help of a rope. “What do you think is in there?” Delilah ask. “There’s got to be something. Why else try to kill me?? I don’t know really… we gott find out. What do you think?” “Whatever’s it is, they don’t want you telling anyone about” “They closed the door when they could’ve just...” “Bashed your head in with a rock or chopped you with a…” “Are you serious with this shit right now?” it bothered me at the last part you said. “Ugh…hatchet. God, are yo usure you want to go back in there?” “Yeah. Especially now that I’m thinking about all the fun ways to be killed” sarcasm activated. “Sorry. At least locked you in doesn’t know you’’ve gotten out. Hopefully you find whatever they’re hiding in there and it’ll be worth the risk.” I followed the map to go to the cave. “Oh Also…Those girls turned up. Looks like didn’t kill them. Nobody did. They took some farmer’s tractor for joy ride down in Riverton and in landed jail “Dodged a bullet, there.” sighs in relief. “Yeah, we’ve got enough unanswered shit to answered shit to answer for. I’d say.” At least this wasn't related to them, just some bitches looking for trouble, I wonder if they knew anything. But I didn't think about it much since I got to the cave. I used the key again to enter; just the place where they closed the door before, I could go down, and with Brian's pythons I could advance, or descend in this case, without problem. Keep going down without stopping until you reach the place. There was. In the distance a figure, a body next to some piles of rocks. “Ah shit…” I get closer to see better. “Are you…? Oh God” he was dead. I saw a rope with a piton. “You fell.” “You’re Brian Goodwin. Oh no. Good. You poor fucking kid” I knelt down, and next to it I placed a toy dinosaur that I had found in the castle. I got up and went over very careful not to step on the body. Look up at the rugged gallery. “Your… stuff gave out. You poor kid” It was too much of a stretch, it fell from the top, I noticed a shoe was missing, and it was the same one I saw before… from the top of the cave. I have to get out of the cave and report on the body, for evidence I took a photo. Then I felt bad for doing it, but I need evidence. As I climbed to the exit, my mind was lost, poor boy. I ended up the same as where I started, I finally left “Hey, D.” “There you are. I’ve been worrying my ass off.” “Hey, you might want to take a seat “I’ve been sitting this entire time. I’m almost always sitting. What’s wrong?” “The only thing in the cave was a body.” “A body? Gah, what a mess.” “Delilah. It’s Brian Goodwin.” “Sigh…You’ve got to be fucking kidding m….Who does that…? What…? I don’t… How?” “Climbing, I think. Or maybe to look like a climbing accident.” “Mmhmm…” “I don’t know, maybe it was Ned.” I didn't think of that clearly, but I didn't have any more suspects, or it could have been a horrible accident. But wouldn't it make sense if not because his body is still there? “If not him directly, he put it stupid-fucking not how in his head to get him kill. Son of a bitch." “Yeah I’m sorry, Delilah. I’m so sorry.” “He’d b alive had I told someone he was out here. I don’t know where he’d be but I can assure you it would not be rotting at the bottom of that cave.” “I…” “There’s- there’s-- there’s nothing to say. Hike back. I think we’re leavng tomorrow, anyway” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The silence was present, when the girls finished they stayed in their places without saying anything, the only one to move was Onix, who moved away from Sonata to go with Sunset, she caressed him. "Shit..." Aria said. "Aria!" Sonata said. "It’s okay," Sunset said. "I was going to say it too" "I'm sorry you had to go through that Sunny" Adagio caressed her arm gently. "He was a little boy, he had so much ahead of him" "Do you think it was Ned, Sunset?" Aria asked. "Back then, yes, and I'm still thinking about it." "Still? Still not finished? " Sonata asked. "No. This is the final outcome, I will tell you what happened when I left, and what happened afterwards. And don't worry, it won't be any longer " "Good Sunny, finish telling us," smiled Adagio. "Very well: " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was putting my things away, only my computer remained. I took some things and food with me. Frankly I already wanted to leave, everything was full of ash in the air. So much that I wanted to know the truth, now that you know that he was hiding in the cave, from the poor dead boy, but he kept thinking that something was still missing. “You see that plane?” call Delilah. “No, I was just busy packing up.” “There’s going to be a lot more. The service says this thing is 2% contained.” “¿Is this the Jun fire or the site fire or?” “The two fires merged into one unmitigated disaster. They’re renaming it after my lookout. You about packed up?” “Shouldn’t we talk for a sec? You know, about…things?” “About what?” “About what happen to Brian” “I don’t know what to say… it’s like the universo cooked up the cruelest thing to have happen. Does it connect to everything else? I don’t know. I don’t know if I even want to.” “What can I do?” suddenly hear something. “We have to just wait for the helicopters.” “Okay” I followed the source of the noise. “Until then you could follow that signal. Maybe” “Holy crap, yeah. Oh my” she was right, was the wave receiver “We don’t know what it is. It could be nothing.” “It could also be whoever was listening to us. Whoever made the tape.” I took my backpack and left the tower. “Okay, yeah. You should pack up everything you need in case we get the call and you can’t come back” “Alright look. If something happens…” “I’ll remember you.” “I was hoping you’d have a backup plan or something” “Yeah, um, okay. I’m probably going to move to Canadá. Ontario, maybe.” “No, I meant if something happens to me.” started walking away from my tower for the last time. “Right. If you don’t find out who made that tape and I have to hit the road.” “Forget it” sighed hiding my irritation. “Be safe Sunset.” This may be my last journey, and I didn’t mean leaving the forest. I worried that I was walking towards my death. Although this is already the third time that I found myself in this situation, at least it’s daytime compared to those times. I quickly took my mind off those bad memories and went on my way. “What’s your status?” call Delilah. “I think I’m getting close” “Alright well, I just got Word that they’re coming to ge tus. My place.” “You sound worried.” “No. It… it’s just…” “Brian?” “I’ll coordinate with the evac team and let you know when to head towards the tram. It’s North. Far. Past where you found that cut back in May” I could not believe it. I was finally going to meet her. I felt a bit excited, however, it is not the best moment, with everything that is happening. I'll think about how to help Delilah, now I must follow the noise. It led me to a rock with a rope on top, obviously climbing. The censor was another strange device, but the strangest thing is that my name was written on the rocky wall. “Someone left a rope for me to climb up.I’m down near the lake.” “¿How do you know it’s for you?” “There’s a tracking collar tied to it, someone was leadding me here. And there’s another tape.” Peel off the taped ribbon from the rope. “Oh my Sunset” Put the tape in the cassette player for the first tape. And listen to the following: “Hi, Sunset. You better find this before it burns up. We’ve been causing each other a lotta headaches, Now I gotta go stake out a site that’s as fit for living as the one you’re about to find. You’ll get it when you see it.” While listening to that man's voice, I started to climb. “You can’t blame me for keeping an eye on you. Not after bumping into you back in May. Down by the cave for fuck’s sake.” So he was the man I saw on my second day, the first time I was in the cave, now it makes sense. “I’ve been up here for three years. I kept it cozy. Winters are harsh as hell, and I ran out of books. But I got that antenna rigged up-and Delilah, she’s a record you don’t gotta flip. I kinda get why Brian took to her.” I got to the top and went up the hill and found a couple of boards, it was a makeshift hatch, it had its shelter very well hidden. “About a week ago I stopped worrying about you finding anything out and that’s right when everything went shit-house with you two.” I open the hatch and get inside. “You guys don’t know anything about having kids, alright? Nobody knows nothing. It ain’t Andy and Opie walking down to the lake to fish every afternoon. It ain’t Mayberry. But you gotta know I didn’t kill him, alright? We were climbing. I was teaching him. Brian was uneducated in the way to to anything. He just- he just fucking didn’t sink this anchor the right way.” The place was horrible, a dirty sleeping bag, a broken table with papers and a broken chair. Probably where he had all the information. Also several metal things and devices, he left little food, rotten of course, at the bottom there was a large hole, surely where he sat to read or listen to us. But the things they said made me angrier and angrier. “You know, I thought about going back, having to answer questions and having to get him put in the ground, and I didn’t see the point. Don’t come looking for me. I’m sorry about your father.” Asshole. He was a just a kid who didn't know, you were his father, why didn't you protect him? “We found the surveillance operation” l report Delilah. “Okay. ¿What does that mean? ¿What is it?” “It was Ned Goodwin. He was the one listening to us. Just him.” “Ned Goodwin… He made the tape?” “Yeah. He’s gone. Deeper into the Shoshone. He desn’t want anyone to know he’s out here. D…” “Because he killed Brian. Becaus he killed his fucking son.” She was upset and I don't blame her. "He have bunker with radios and everything." “You… need to get back here. They say helicopters are making rounds.” “Okay.” After taking a few things, I got ready to go out.I left the bunker to run to the meeting point, I will finally meet Delilah. When I'm halfway there. “I know I should be relieved… relieved that there’s no evidence of us starting that fire, relieved that we’ re not crazy, that there wasn’t some conspiracy.” call Delilah. “But I’m not. He was a sweet kid. With a shitty father who out here like a coward after dumping him in a hole.” “Delilah, I think it was an accident. I don't think Ned wanted to kill him. "We don't know what happened." "Ned wanted his son to know how to climb and do things that, towards him, but Brian was different." And what was the result, Sunset? Sorry, it would have been so easy to just tell the truth and send it home. I can't get it out of my head " "You did not do anything wrong" "Yes, I do. And now I have to think about whether or not to tell people that Brian is there, so they can get his body back. If I do, they will ask me about Ned Goodwin." She was speechless, this really affected her more than me. “D?” “Oh. fuck.” “Is that a helicópter?” “Yeah, Hold on. Hey! No There’s one more. Yes. Here, yeah. He’s coming. Okay.One second. They’re here but they’re making rounds. They’ll come back I think, I think I’m going to go with them.” “Wait. Just wait, ¿okay? I’m not that far” speed up the pace. “Eh… Sunset, they’re here, they’re wating, right now.” “Please.” I begged. “Sunset, I don’t, I don’t want to meet you and just sit here in a dead boy’s shadow. ¿Okay? I don’t want to do that. I know that sounds harsh.” No plase… “Okay, I’ll wait.” “I’m not far.” “Okay” I ran and climbed as much as I could, I couldn't stop myself, I've been waiting for this all summer. I'm finally going to meet her, she had so many mixed emotions. I finally got to where she told me, the funicular. Enter to pass the cliff and finally meet Delilah. I arrived, there was the symbol of the forest ranger on a rock, poles with cables, and the signal that they transmitted from here to communicate. I climbed the small hill, up the stairs. “¡Damn, it’s a nightmare out there!” I shouted with the immense heat that it was, deep down it was more for him to hear me. But nothing. “Hello? Delilah!” Arrived at the bottom of the stairs, his room, it was empty, he was gone. Go through the door and examine your room. This is where she was all this time. “Oh, Shit- it’s a nightmare out there!” I arrive at your table where you had a radio, with some headphones. “Hello? Delilah! Dammit” I sat down and put them on. “Hello? Is anybody there?” “Hi. Yeah, it’s me.” Was her. Delilah. “You’re not here” hers desk had a bottle of tequila, apples and peanut butter papers, and a picture of me, when asked me what I look like. “No… Don’t be mad” "I'm not mad, just ..." "Not mad, just disappointed?" "I’m not your father who has caught you smoking in your room" “I just couldn’t be out there for another minuete.” "You should have told me." "You really wanted me to stay." "You’re right. And now I am-" "Disappointed." "Yeah" “I know. It shouldn’t take long for the helicopter to reach you.” “Okay” sigh. “I here’s a debrief in a situation like this. Lots of questions.” “Ugh, shit. So, taking stock. We found out an old lookout killed his only son and decided to become a lonely hermit.” “Yes” “And we prevented… one fire?” “Basically started another.” “Okay, so that’s a wash.” “I’ll have to figure out what I’m doing every summer from no won that isn’t this.” “You¿re not coming back?” “No. And you’ll have to… I don’t know” “Me neither. I don’t know what’s next.” “Tell you what: why don’t you choose me for me, and I’ll choose you for you.” “Ha. Alright, sure. Maybe...” I couldn't believe what I said. “Maybe you could come back to Boulder with me and figure it out down there.” “Um….” “Just… just a thought.” a very stupid I thought. “You don’t want me down there.” “Well, I just asked you.” “I’ve got some things to do in Casper and maybe I’ll head south sometime afther that. I could come by. Sure.” it didn't sound very sure. “Okay, yoSo, what about me?” “I think you should visit your father. And then you can figure it out. You can still do something interesting with your writing projects. If you write a book about this, put a sexy accent or something.” “I, umm… yeah.” "And your friends too" "Yeah, right." my friends…? “Sunset… I. You came out to put your memories behind you and they’re still right there in front of you.” "You're right. I mean ... I guess you're right " "Well" "When I come back, I might as well..." “Let's not think about this summer. Next year will come right away and then the following year, and then… I don't know. My Aunt Judy called it a pause in the corridor of time. " "Did your Aunt Judy smoke a lot?" joke "Yes she" she smiled a little, I could feel it. "But you should also follow her advice." "Yes, we'll see" “There’s the helicopter.” “They’ll land back where you hiked up. Good luck Sunset.” “Goodbye Delilah” “I mean it, Good luck.” “Yeah.” “Bye, Sunshine.” I took off my headphones, took one last look at her room, and walked out the door. The helicopter was in front of me. A firefighter gave me signs to climb. Time to go home, he helped me up, I settled down and the helicopter began to climb. Not before, take a last look at Delilah's tower, with the ranger symbol. The time to say goodbye. To this place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So what's new?" Sonata asked. "After arriving at the base, they asked me some questions, they held me for two days" "Did you sleep in a cell?!" Aria said surprised. “Yes, they went through my things and found all the evidence, I had saved Ned's tapes. I also took some photos.” "And what happened to Delilah? Was he so nice there, Sunny? " Adagio asked. "No. That was the last time I spoke to her, I don't know what became of her "sighed the pony girl. "And Ned?" Aria asked. "I don't know either, I think they're still looking for it," said Sunset. "Did they take your things, Sunset?" Sonata was worried. “Not everything, I stole the wave detector as a souvenir. They would not need it anyway " "At least you made it out of it alive," Adagio said, taking his hand. "Yes, my third time escaping death" she sighed. "THIRD?!" the Dazzlings yelled. "Technically four, with the peninsula." "Does it have to do with your other objects?" Sonata asked, looking into the box where Adagio had left them. "Yes, each of them has her story." "I think we had enough history for one night." Adagio got up from the sofa. "It's late, we must sleep." "Is that right? It would be better to clean up and go to sleep. " Sunset took the box, but she stopped, looking at her new family. She smiled wistfully and went up to her room. Inside her, she put down the objects and closed the closet. Before leaving, she looked at the picture of a forest, where the tower of her companion, Delilah, was seen. Author's Note The truth has finally come to light, now that the culprit of the harassment has been discovered, and the mystery has been solved. A very interesting adventure, the first of others. After 84 years I have been able to upload the chapter, instead of saying the reason for my absence, I want to say that I hope to continue writing this peculiar universe that I have created.
