Crazy Charlie (part two)

Charlie tries to keep his balance on the narrow trail. He follows the river canyon from the high desert to the foothills of the mountains ..where the water rushes between boulders and sycamore trees. He catches a glimpse of it every once in a while ..but, from his altitude, it looks like a thin ribbon of water winding slowly around pebbles and twigs. He gets lost when the trail crosses a dry riverbed and branches into a maze of paths ..some going up into another canyon ..and others going nowhere in particular. He decides to follow the dry riverbed down to the main stream. At first, it meanders pleasantly around rocks and trees ..but suddenly it straightens out and becomes steep ..then the ground beneath his feet gets brittle and breaks loose ..until he’s sliding several feet down the slope with every step. At first, it’s fun ..he feels like he’s walking on the moon ..then it becomes a terrifying out-of-control slide down the mountain side. He tries steering with his feet like a bobsled ..but it doesn’t do any good. He gets flung over the edge and floats into the canyon below. He looks down and sees something coming up real fast It’s his reflection in a pool of water. He hits it and sinks to a depth of several fathoms before getting his bearings and jetting back up to the surface ..gasping for air. The pool is a slow-moving part of the river ..pausing before it flows through some massive boulders and cascades into more pools below. Charlie grabs his pack and bedroll floating by ..swims over to the bank .. lifts himself out of the water ..and comes face to face with an extremely tall woman ..no tan lines ..surrounded by a dozen radiating golden children ..all beaming up at him ..eyes wide open. He stands there speechless for a moment ..then blurts out: “Hi, I’m Charlie ..is this the way to Shangri-La?” She smiles, points downstream and tells him he’s almost there: “Just follow the river trail ..you can’t miss it.”

continued ..