This story is based on a prompt from MJ Polk’s publication, Stories From The Jukebox. This week’s prompt is, Heroes, the 1977 song by David Bowie. Thanks to MJ for the opportunity. (Lyrics in italics)
“Hey, I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Gonna hike around up near Fern Grotto for a while. Got a lot on my mind. Anything I can do for you, before I go?”
“Not that I can think of. Just be careful Lance, I’ve been reading about coyotes attacking dogs around the area.”
“Sunny’s out back sleeping. I’m taking the bike.”
“Okay. We should make ravioli for dinner. I’ll start some red sauce. See ya’ in a bit.”
I hopped on my Harley and rode toward a trail I call Heaven’s Gate, A curvy and difficult path known for stunning views of the ocean at the very end of the trail.
My mind was filled with nagging thoughts I just couldn’t shake. I was wondering about my life and why it wasn’t where I thought it should be.
Crissy and I had a big argument a couple of days back that was still lingering. It was my fault. I was in a foul mood and decided to take it out on her.
Riding through the hills and hiking up mountains are two things I can usually count on to clear my mind, only lately, the rides weren’t doing it. On my last bike ride, I had driven so recklessly, it almost didn’t feel real. Like I didn’t even care if I made it back home.
This time, I parked at a lot near the trail head and strapped on my hiking boots, grabbed my U.C. Santa Barbara ball cap and headed up the path.
Crissy and I have been hiking together since our college days and we try to get out to the local trails at least two or three times a week. Crissy’s a runner, so sometimes, it’s like I’m hiking alone.
The passing of both of my parents in the last year has been hard on me. Losing them made me realize I had been running though my days so fast for so long, that I had neglected some of the more serious aspects of my life.
Like my relationship with Crissy.
She had needed me to be present on so many occasions recently and every single time, I was absent. Just totally tapped out. She deserved so much more than I had been giving her.
On sunny days, the locals head out to the trail to view the sunset from a spot called Bold Rock. A massive flat boulder stuck straight into the side of the mountain at the edge of a cliff. There aren’t any safety rails or ropes so you have to be extremely careful when you’re near the rim.
As I rounded the bend that leads to the cliff, I heard a low hum and figured it was a group of hikers up ahead of me. When I reached the clearing in front of Bold Rock, I saw an abnormally large group of people huddled around talking and pointing toward the cliff.
I looked over and was startled to see a man sitting on the mountain’s edge with his feet dangling over the side.
I had never seen anyone that close to the edge and I was stunned by the sheer sight of it. As I got closer, I noticed it was an older man with long white hair.
A young couple told me the gentleman had been flailing around in the crowd a little earlier, acting erratically.
He told everyone he was tired of life and all that it entailed. When someone tried to calm him down, he headed straight out to the bluff, eased up to the edge and sat down.
Watching the tense scene gave me a knot in the pit of my stomach. The man kept shaking his head and waving his arms around. He clearly didn’t seem capable of making rational decisions.
You could hear the still-gathering crowd whispering while watching him out on the edge of the ledge. Some folks were praying and a few were actually taking pictures.
We were all surprised when we saw another man walk slowly out toward the bluff.
A group of older ladies in running gear turned around to inform us the man was Ben Downs, the retired surfer and local celebrity.
I watched as he stopped about twenty feet away from the edge and started talking to the man.
I almost felt a sense of shame at watching the man’s personal drama unfolding out in front of us. The tension hung in the air like a thick fog. The silence was deafening.
More than a few gasps could be heard a few minutes later, when the surfer sat down and scooted up to the edge. He was now sitting directly beside the old man on the very edge of the massive cliff.
The man standing next to me whispered,
“This is crazy, isn’t it? The thing is, Ben Downs has been all over the news lately because his daughter was killed in a boating accident down at Lake Havasu a couple of months back, after his wife had passed away with cancer just last year. Now, here he is trying to save someone’s life on the edge of a mountain. What a story.”
A brisk wind was whipping through the surfer’s billowy blue shirt and the old man’s long thin gray hair. The sight of those two in that setting seemed like a scene from an action movie.
Ben Downs eventually put his arm around the fellow and we were shocked to see the old guy do the same to him.
I sat there with my head in my hands wondering what on earth the two men could be talking about. What would Ben Downs say in a situation like that? What would I say? Would I even go out to the ledge to save someone I didn’t even know?
Those thoughts had Crissy running through my mind again.
I felt ashamed that I hadn’t been doing what a husband is supposed to do. She needed me, but even the simple things had escaped my grasp. I was having trouble locating the energy I needed to get back in the game.
I was brought back to consciousness when I heard people mumbling again and I looked up to see both men slowly scooting back from the edge. There was a light sprinkling of spontaneous applause from the onlookers.
I watched as Mr. Downs stood and then reached down to help the man up. They both walked back from the edge toward a strand of trees, where they stood talking.
I turned to head back down the trail, but only after spotting a smile on both of the men’s faces.
On the slow ride back home I thought about the scene I had just witnessed.
Something had that guy contemplating his entire existence on this earth, even had him thinking about checking out for good.
And then, a man who had recently experienced a spate of unthinkable tragedies in his own life, had the mental fortitude to forget about himself and walk out to that precipice, in that wind, to save a man’s life.
That’s heroism.
That’s the stuff of legend.
It figures, I guess. Facing monstrous waves in oceans around the world requires a different type of dude. A stout soul.
When I returned home, Crissy was on the couch reading a book.
“Hey babe, I just saw the craziest thing.”
I slowly explained the whole scenario as Crissy sat mesmerized.
“Ben Downs has been in the public eye for a long time. He can swim like the dolphins, and he’s a hero to young surfers everywhere, but his competitive days are over. He’s no longer that guy. But, he made damn sure that a complete stranger’s life was safer, just for one day. He beat whatever that guy was facing, just for one day. He stole time, just for one day.
“I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting lately, Crissy. I’ve been caught up in my own head. I’ll do better. I promise.”
“Well, just so you know Lance, I’m not looking for a hero, but if I was, It would be you.
“Do you remember, back in college, when that gunfight broke out at a bar across the street from us?
I can remember
Standing by the wall
And the guns shot above our heads
And we kissed as though nothing could fall
“That’s who you are, You are bold and brave. You can handle anything.
“Whatever it is, whenever those demons are in your head, just know, we can beat them for ever and ever.
“We can do it together. We’re a team!
“The next time you feel like that, just know this.
We could steal time just for one day…
we can be heroes for ever and ever…
what d’ya say?”
Good one Marty...food for thought.
Well done!