The Heiau

Into the valley

After the truck is loaded and strapped down everyone jumps in. Don, Haley, and Elizabeth sit in the cab while George Brad and jessica sit in the bed of the truck. Don reverses out of the driveway and makes his way down the road. The valley comes into view. At the lookout Don pulls on the side and jumps out and walks around the truck. George and Jessica stand up to look at the valley. They see the mountain top on the other side of the valley. Pine tree forests run across the top then cascades all the way down. the northern face a sheer drop down into the ocean. Lush and green the early morning lights the western face. He jumps back in and puts it in 4wheel drive and slowly makes his way onto the valley road. "Sit against the cab and hold on. " Haley tells them through the rear sliding window. The trio scoots up against the cooler Brad to one side George to the other and Jessica holding George's arm sits in the middle. They feel the truck lean forward and thier weight pushes them into the cooler. George watches the lookout moving away from him as they take a turn passing a small river that ends in a water fall straight down into the valley. The road gets steep with a wall of rock and trees on one side and drop and open ocean to the other. They watch as the Valley Lookout gets higher and higher above them. Suddenly the road gets rough and thier eyes vibrate with the truck. half way down they feel themselves being forced to lean further back as the truck pulls into the steepest part of the road. They are almost staring straight at the blue sky. Jessica gripping George's arm harder, it feels like she is trying to squeeze the life out of it.

George knows they reached the bottom when it levels off. They go towards the back of the valley. George stands up and holds the cab window. Helping Jessica to her feet to stand with him. The trees to one side slope up the valley walls. A river runs through a few yards away on George's right past guava trees. The road is bumpy making it hard to focus on anything.

They come around a corner and the trees open up to. George takes in the beauty of the valley. Lush and green walls to each side, wild fern and taro patches scattered all around. The sound of the river flowing through the valley fills his ears accompanied by birds chirping and the leaves rustling. They drive through a shallow section of the river and onto the roadway again. Houses are scattered here and there as they pass through heading to their destination.

They pull up to a line of trees. Passing the trees Don pulls into a small opening over looking the river. The midday sun shines through the canvas of trees over the slow moving river. Trees line both banks of the water. The opposite bank filled with smooth river rocks. A rope hangs from a branch high over the water stretching down to within inches of the rivers surface. A foot from the bottom of the rope it is knotted. Two more knots line the rope.

Don takes his shirt off and walks to the edge of the short drop on their side of the river. Looking towards the river he leaps outward and dives headfirst into the water. Emerging from the water he grabs the rope. "George grab this" he calls out.

George walks to the edge as Don swings the rope towards him. After failing to grab it the first time Don swings the rope and George grabs the knotted end. "Give it a go just try to land in towards the middle where it is deepest." Don tells him climbing up the roots hanging into the water.

George looks around and finds a boulder nearby that sits higher than everything else. He climbs the boulder continuing to hold on to the rope. Looking down his heart starts pumping. Brad and Jessica start to cheer him on. He grabs as high on the rope as he can. George jumps as high as he can and wraps his legs around the rope. His heart drops and stomach rises meeting somewhere near his throat as he plunges downward. At the bottom he feels himself swing upwards again. The air rushes around him as he feels himself soar. He leans back and looks at the yes above him watching a kaleidoscope of green and brown with rays of light shining through. He feels free. He hits the top of his swing and descends once again. He looks down sees himself high above the bank and waits until he reaches the middle of the river and releases.

His body plummets into the water and George feels a rush of cold water cover his entire body. Opening his eyes he looks around and sees river rocks beneath him. Sunlight breaking through the water animate shadows along the rocks. He stays submerged for a little while enjoying the silence surrounding him. He looks up and sees the surface of the river glistening. He feels at peace being under the water. He swims around for a moment then with a push off the rocks lining the bottom he ascends. Breaking the surface of the water he takes a deep breath filling his lungs with fresh valley air. He swims to the roots and sees the rope still swinging so he grabs ahold of it and tosses the end to Jessica standing up near the boulder he was on only moments ago.

George climbs up to where everyone else is and turns to watch Jessica take her turn on the rope swing. She decides to start atop the same boulder that George did. She grabs high onto the rope and let's loose. They all watch as she swings back and forth a few times and let's go to land in the water. Unlike George she emerges from the water almost immediately and wades her way to the bank. One by one they all take turns swinging and landing in the water.

At lunch they all sit on a big blanket near the truck with the food in the middle of everyone. After a quick prayer Haley opens the containers of food to reveal their meal. Korean fried chicken, ume riceballs, hot potato salad, hot dogs, and Kalua cabbage with bags of chips to snack on. After everyone has had their first plates Don grabs his ukulele out of the truck and starts strumming. Haley starts to sing Hi'ilawe and the kids sit back and listen. A wind blows through the trees tickling their faces as they listen to the soothing sounds coming from Haley and Don.

George looks around the valley relaxed and feeling content with the food that he has eaten. He stands up and grabs Jessica's hand helping her to her feet. "Let's go for a walk."

"okay sounds like fun. Brad you coming?"

"No you guys can go I'm gonna chillax some more. Have fun though" Brad responds grabbing another piece of chicken.

"Don't wander too far kids were heading beachside soon" Haley informs them.

"Okay mom we won't be long." The pair walk off heading further into the valley.

"I've always loved the valley. It's like you can feel the mana here. No matter what you always feel that power." Jessica says "it's so serene"

"I know what you mean I feel this peace down here. Like everything goes away." George says looking at the ground. "we used to come down more often until my sister almost down that one time. Since then it's like maybe once every few months if I'm lucky."

They stop in front of a large taro patch. The heart shaped leaves of the taro on it's stem that seems to be growing right our of the water. Hundreds of plants making it look like a blanket of green hearts.

"Aloha" A soft voice whispers behind them. They turn around to see a older lady standing behind them with a lauhala hat and floral dress. She smiles a warm smile that feels welcoming. "you keiki like work da kalo?"

"No thank you we just walking around tutu." George says with a slight bow for respect.

"a'ole pilikea Keiki Kane no problem if you want to come by my hale, my house is at the bottom of the zigzag trail." She says and turns around and walks away. "and please bring your friend the one that had the dream with you"

Please stay tuned more updates to come. Please vote or comment and let me know what you think so far. Thank you