Tierra Sagrada

“I am reading the document, The Terrible Twos, and the short history of Etiwanda. The worst tragedies were the episodes of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis starting over 100 years ago, or roughly five generations back. During the West Coast environment tragedy, our Homeland Security shrugged. However, the desire to have a reasonable enforcement of stability seemed universal in the battered West. History calling it the Terrible Twos, which started in the spring of 2202 when the first set of hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes and Pacific seismic disruptions came about.” David stopped and asked Nona Clark, Department Head of Religious and Social Studies at the Colorado University, if the recorder sound levels were alright.

“Sounds good, David.” Looking away from the dials, Nona saw David waving a paper in his hand.

“I found this article in my review of papers from 99 years ago:

 The archipelago in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” has suffered its deadliest year of natural disasters in more than a decade. Earthquakes leveled parts of the tourist island of Lombok in July and August. In September, a double quake-and-tsunami killed more than 2,000 people on Sulawesi Island.

“This was the shortest article,” he said biting his fingernail cuticles. “I was getting bored and started looking for backup material.”

“You did research?” Nona, paying attention, grinned at her husband. “I’m happy you’re using the university’s services. Go on if you’re ready. I have it on pause,” she said, holding up one finger.

Watching the recorder’s digital spinning wheel, he continued. “They defined a toxic environmental normalcy, if you can call creating a normalcy the price for significant deviation from the standard regiment resulting in toxic deaths. This was taught in the ZooCoo school programs at a young age. I decided to escape the forced normalcy in Plaza del Sol, my community inside of Etiwanda. Leaving was terrifying because of the unknown, however liberating it originally seemed, because of the unknown.” David turned off the recorder as he laughed at his own nonsense. “God, this sounds trite.”

Nona, rubbing her eyes, looked at the recorder. “I can see why you laugh. We should edit some of this. Why don’t you skip the trip into the mountains and talk about your cabin experience? I think that is very revealing.” She pulled her reddish-brown hair behind her ears.

Elementary school started next week for the kids, then the university classes started the following week. Summer events were over and the kids, as well as David, were acting bored, so Nona decided on a little project to keep their minds occupied. It was Jessica, their youngest child’s idea to tell stories that were normally reserved for her cabin.

“We could do it here,” she said. Peter, whose thick hair was black enough to have a bluish sheen, chimed in. “Have Dad  tell us about the plaza. I’m already forgetting things.”