Woke Up Free

Seb woke up to orange sun rays coming through a small opening of the tent. He slightly unzipped his sleeping bag and stretched to open the side of the tent. He sighed and smiled as he watched the rays reflecting off drops of water hanging onto the tips of the Andosols' leaves. This was good. He’d looked forward to for the last six months…..summer was here. Being out in nature away from people and in warm weather was paradise to him.

He reached for his backpack and took out a waterproof folder holding his documents. He was looking for the park rules paper that he had picked on the trail.

“Just the same old rules.” He muttered to himself as he put it back into the folder.

“Where is my fake ticket?” Seb said looking through the folder again.

He pulled out a ticket with the park’s credentials and a price sticker of forty dollars.

“You will not get my money at work and get it while I’m resting.”

Seb was not a fan of charging people to go into public land. He figured that people should be free to experience nature regardless of their financial ability and it was for that reason he sneaked anywhere deemed public including here. He had the fake ticket just in case a warden crossed his path but with the distance he’d gone into the mountains he knew there was a slim chance of meeting anyone. Three years ago he was at this exact spot and it was one of the most meditative and holistic start to summer he’d had.

It was 7.30 am according to his wristwatch. Time for a cold morning dip in a waterfall nearby. He wrapped a towel to his neck, wore his swimming shorts and t-shirt and walked out into the sun. He breathed in the warm air and just stood listening. He could hear the waterfall about five hundred meters away but no birds. It was quiet. That was different from the last time he was here.

He walked down a rocky path towards the waterfall. The side of the fall had some huge boulders and Seb climbed one of them, dropped his towel and jumped into the Lagoon*. His brain went into shock as his skin reddened. Not from cold but heat. The water was not cold and not warm. He quickly swam to the river bank and walked out wincing. He was in the water for only a couple of seconds but he already had burn marks and pain all over his body.

Forgetting his towel, Seb ran up the path to his tent and ransacked his bag to get the first aid kit. He took out a burn cream and rubbed it on his body to ease off the pain. He could not believe how a cold river could be so hot. There has to be something wrong. He thought taking his wet clothes off and wearing cargo pants and hiking shoes.

He walked back to the waterfall and stared at the water noticing steam for the first time. He squatted and dipped his fingers in the water. It was still hot. He took his towel and decided to go around and above the waterfall to investigate. A few minutes later he was at the edge of the fall and he could now see the river making its way from the mountain about a mile away and towards him. The same steam was rising above the flowing water but this time the intensity was higher.

“What in the world is going on?” Seb said perplexed by this phenomenon.

He heard some bleating sound and turned around to see a tribe of mountain goats running through the trees. He hid behind a rock fearing the goats were running from a mountain lion. He watched for a couple of minutes and nothing appeared. Probably just a scare.

Seb decided to walk on the bank slowly towards the mountain to see anything unusual. About two hundred meters from the waterfall he stopped. Next to the river was a spring spewing out boiling water. He kept a safe distance and noticed the height of the boiling water was rising by the second forming a boiling water fountain. This was the source of the hot water. It was because the mountain was once an active volcanic site.

The mountain was not that high but the morning clouds covered the top. Seb stared at the mountain and his heart almost stopped. These were not clouds, this was volcanic ash coming out of the crater! The mountain that had been declared dormant ten years ago was now about to erupt.

As if on cue, an earthquake began. The trees violently swayed and the rocks on the bank vibrated producing an eerie sound. Seb took off along the bank back to where his tent was. He needed to warn the wardens at the entrance to evacuate people. He took down the tent, packed and started off. A ten-mile hike to the entrance of the park.

The trail was filled with monkeys screaming as they also fled. Seb just hoped he would not meet a lion. Two hours and a couple of hair raising earthquakes later, Seb could see the park offices and a jeep parked outside. Sweating and panting he entered the office and saw a warden seated behind the desk speaking on the phone.

“Hey man…..You need to….leave” Seb said bending and holding his knees.

“Who are you?....No not you someone just came in. I’ll call you later.” The warden said hanging up the phone and standing. “What are you doing here? The sign at the gate clearly says ‘No Entry’!”

Seb sat on a bench seat trying to catch his breath.

“I was in the park not out. We need to leave. The mountain is about to erupt!”

“I know. That is why the park was closed two days ago. How did you get in?” The warden asked looking angry and confused.

“You know what? I don’t feel like having a chit chat when that mountain could cover us in lava any minute.” Seb said and stood up.

“Hold up! You are not leaving without my escort. Sit down and wait.” The warden said going into an office.

Seb had no choice. It was another twenty miles to the next town. He had hitchhiked on a lumber truck when coming the previous day and could not walk all the way there. How could he not have heard of the mountain erupting? Then again he had not told anyone he planned on camping near it. The warden came back with a box placed some of the documents on the desk in the box.

“Let’s leave.” He said.

The warden locked the front door and they both climbed into the jeep without saying a word. The warden called someone on the phone.

"Hey, Jimmy?.... Thank God I stayed behind. One of those gipsies you talked about came into the office. I'm dropping him down at the station."

Seb cursed in his head.

The sun rays hit Seb’s face and woke him up. He walked to the window and stared out. On the east, the sky was blue and clear and on the west the sky was crimson. The volcanic ash covered the west side and he could see red hot lava coming from the crater. He looked at the cell door and hoped he had not been forgotten. This was bad.