HAUNT DAWGZ STORIES

THE ANCIENT TRAIL OF TRAUMA

It was warm on the hiking trail with no real shade available for another two miles. Rob and Chad have been friends since kindergarten, and now attend separate colleges.
The onset of summer vacation has brought them both home to Sunset Hills, California. Doing what they did as kids, they hiked the trails near their neighborhood. They were enjoying their day, reminiscing about the early days they spent together on the trail as kids. They thought of all the shared good times, conversations, and laughs. However, it was not as comfortable as they remembered as kids, as the sun seemed to get hotter by the minute.

After about a mile and a half, they stopped and took cover in a little bit of shade from an adjacent mustard bush. There wasn't much shade, but the boys were grateful for it. Chad removed his wide brimmed hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a bandana he wore around his neck. "Man, it is way hot! Let's take a good break when we get up to the Oak trees," suggested Chad. Rob replied, "Yeah, we need to get out from under this sun. It's brutal. We should have started earlier or done this another day. We have all summer dude." "I know, but I thought we would kick off our ten weeks of freedom with a hike like we used to do. Come on. Let's finish this then we can grab lunch," said an optimistic Chad. The two took long sips from their water bottles, put the bottles back in their place on their backpacks, and continued forward.

It was a little struggle, but the two friends finally approached the long awaited canopy of Oak trees. They removed their backpacks and sat under one of the trees, completely in the shade. They drank again and each ate a granola bar to gain energy to complete their loop hike, and get back to their car. "Wow!" commented Chad. He wiped his face then added, "Its hot even in the shade today!" Rob wiped his face with his bandana, took another drink and replied, "Yeah, this heat basically sucks!" "It's amazing the Chumash survived in these hills. You do know the Chumash lived in these hills, right?" asked Chad. "Yup, they were all over these hills and the coast in Southern California," replied Rob. Chad's head moved slowly as he looked all around. "People need to respect this land. The Chumash were the original people of this area who respected nature and all it has to give." Rob wiped his bandana across his face, and looked at the surrounding hills. "Yup, everyone should respect this land." After resting another five minutes, the two reluctantly stood up and put their backpacks on.

As they continued walking, they saw a man laying ahead with his back propped against an Oak tree about a quarter mile up the trail. As Chad and Rob got closer to the man, they saw he had a walking stick laying next to his right hand. The two friends approached the man and saw sweat pouring profusely from under his hat down his face. The man was rough looking, with scraggly gray whiskers, wearing dirty jeans and tee shirt, and old dirty tennis shoes with holes revealing dirty socks. "Excuse me sir," said Chad, adding, "Are you alright?" The man opened his eyes and shot up to his feet, grabbing his walking stick. Without answering the question, he pulled on one half of his stick, which revealed a blade.

The friends focussed on the man's possession of some type of cane sword or walking stick sword. More importantly, they wondered why he was showing it to them. After all, they only stopped to see if the man needed water or some other assistance.

Without saying a word he smiled and lunged blade first at Chad. Chad was able to leap back without getting stabbed, then the man lunged forward again, this time stabbing Chad in the right thigh. Rob jumped on the man's back but the man was strong, and was able to flip Rob over his shoulder onto the ground. The man tried to stab Rob in the chest but Rob quickly rolled to his right, receiving the stab in the front of his left shoulder. Despite their injuries, the two ran up the trail with the crazy man giving chase. Chad yelled, "What is with this guy? We just asked if he was alright!" Breathing heavy from running, Rob finally was able to respond. "I don't know, but I hear his footsteps gaining on us!" The two cut to the right through some sage brush and ran off the trail. That maneuver only bought them about a twenty yard advantage...not nearly what they wanted, or needed. 

Chad stopped and picked up a rock, throwing it at the man. The rock missed which allowed the man to catch up to Chad. The angry crazy man raised his sword and slashed as Chad's face. Chad put his right arm up to block getting hit in the face and received a major laceration to his forearm. Rob was able to throw a rock and hit the man square in the chest which knocked him down. Rob saw the man released the sword so he picked it up, throwing it far into the sage brush.

The two continued running and felt confident they could make it to their car at the trailhead parking lot ahead of the man. The heat was starting to get the best of them which slowed their pace dramatically. They both felt relief as they only had about four hundred feet of trail running left before the parking lot. Around the next bend they saw their car which gave them even more of a relieved feeling. "Yes! There's the car!" yelled Rob. About two hundred feet before the parking lot, they heard footsteps right on their heals. They both looked back and were horrified to see the man right behind them, sword in hand. Suddenly the man lunged at both of the friends with his hands, grabbing an ankle of each, causing them to trip and fall face first, striking the ground hard.

Dazed and bleeding from their noses, the boys rolled over then both stood up, facing their attacker. The two friends tried to tackle the man but he was too strong. He threw Rob back to the ground and swung his sword at Chad's head. Chad ducked and avoided getting struck, but the man swung backhanded, and on that pass Chad received a cut to his upper left arm. As Chad grabbed his arm in pain, he was about to pass out due to loss of blood and due to the extreme heat. The man smiled and had a crazed looked with eyes wide open as he took this as an opportunity to stab Chad in the chest.

He cocked his arm back to get more power then a dazed Rob and Chad heard the cracking sound of something flying fast through the air behind them. Just as the man brought his arm forward to stab, he was struck in the chest by three arrows, and fell onto his back. The confused friends looked in the direction the arrows came from and saw three native Americans, Chumash people, with bows in their hands about one hundred feet up the trail.

The two friends looked at each other in utter disbelief, both with their mouths hung open wide. Their amazement was broken when they looked forward and saw the man get to his feet still with the arrows sticking out of his chest, and walk into the sage brush, picking up his sword. He ran and took a lunge forward towards Chad and Rob, and slashed the sword wildly in their direction. The friends were able to fall on their backs as they felt the wind of the sword fly over them, narrowly escaping the deadly blade. With the two on their back, although arrows in his chest, the man smiled crazily again and brought his arm back in preparation to stab. "I love you brother," said an emotional Chad. "Love you too man," Rob whispered back. Once again, the sound of arrows slicing through the air could be heard, two of them striking the man in the chest, one in the front of his neck, sticking out the other side.

The man dropped to the ground and did not move, bleeding profusely onto the trail. Rob and Chad looked back up the trail and saw the Chumash with bows in hand. One of them raised their hand and waived to the boys, while the other two nodded. The Chumash then faded into transparent figures, then disappeared completely.

The two hobbled to the parking lot where they called 911. They were transported by ambulance to the hospital, and the police handled the deceased dead body of the man on the trail. At the hospital, Chad and Rob were treated for their injuries and eventually released after staying over one night for observation. Over the next few days their thoughts were consumed by the fact they were saved by some sort of ghosts of the Chumash. They went to the Chumash history museum where they contacted an older man of Chumash ancestry. After hearing their story, the old man confirmed they were saved by the spirit of the Chumash, and the only reason the spirits intervened was because of Rob and Chad's earlier thoughts and words of treating their cherished land with respect, and respecting nature, just like the Chumash have done for thousands of years. The spirit of the Chumash accepted these two modern men.

The two walked out of the museum, in shock as their ghost sightings have been confirmed. Chad looked at Rob. "How about that. Our conversation of respecting Chumash land paid off. The Chumash like us!" Rob replied, "Yeah, that old Chumash man said if you respect the Chumash and their land they will come to you, either to help you or to just let you know they are there and respect you."

That night at about 3:15 in the morning, Chad was awakened by the sound of Native American chanting and drums, which lasted for about fifteen seconds then suddenly stopped, as if someone took a needle off a record. There was absolute silence for twenty seconds until Chad was startled when his phone rang. He jumped at the sudden sound of the ringing, then answered. It was Rob who lived across town, a few miles away. Rob only said, "Did you hear it too?"