September 21st, 2019
A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent Johnathan recited to himself as he continued to look for arrowheads in the white sand dunes at Oasis State Park. Once a month he’d come out here with Boy Scout Troop 411 to clean the park. Then they’d all split up and spend half the day sifting through sand looking for any Indian arrowheads that might still be out there. Sure, people had been looking for them for years but every once in a while, a new one would be found.
There were so many collectors in this area of the Midwest that finding a single rare arrowhead could theoretically send the entire Troop to Summer Camp next year. More likely, any arrowheads they found would be worth just enough to send one of the scouts from a low-income family. Today was one of Johnathan’s last two free days before he had to start packing for his trip to Alamogordo next weekend on the 28th. Today was going to be his last chance to spend with all of his friends from the Troop before he headed off to college. He’d met up with Johnny, Ben, Mike, Craig, and a few others and they’d headed out early this morning.
Next weekend he’d be on his way to New Mexico State University Alamogordo to start his Associate Program. After that, he hadn’t decided what he was going to do. He was looking forward to getting started though. Thinking about the Scout Law and planning for the future, Johnathan was pleasantly surprised when his fingers felt something hard touch them. Focusing on his hand, he moved his fingers slowly until he was able to grab whatever it was.
Success!
He slowly pulled up a dull silver ring. He lifted it out of the sand and looked at it. He thought he saw etching along the inside but when he looked again the etching wasn’t there. It was dull silver in color, but he decided that it looked cool. He checked to see if it fit, then placed it on his right-hand ring finger. It fits, Johnathan thought then admired it for a few more seconds before he went back to looking for more arrowheads. As he continued to sift through the sand the ring he found slipped from his thoughts and he forgot that he was even wearing it.
Johnathan spent the rest of the day looking for arrowheads, but he didn’t find any. He stood up, dusted himself off, and started walking back to the parking lot. He spotted his Troop Master, Mr. Landry. “Hey Mr. Landry, I didn’t find any arrowheads today,” Johnathan said.
“That’s all right, Johnathan, we’re about to head home anyway. It’s getting late,” Mr. Landry replied.
Looking around, Johnathan saw that everyone else was packing up and said, “Just going to head to the car and check my phone, if that’s all right. Reception is bad out here in the dunes, but I should be able to see if anyone has tried to call me over by the parking area. “
Going back to what he was doing Mr. Landry answered jokingly, “Go on, at your age, I’m sure there’s something more important on the internet to look at.”
Johnathan made it to the parking lot and pulled out his phone. Unfortunately, Mr. Landry was mistaken. There was absolutely nothing interesting going on. Reports of murders. Right-wing analysts spinning things towards their narrative. Left-wing analysts spinning their bullshit. Like anyone was too stupid to understand exactly how transparent any of their statements were. Besides, there were more important things to do than worry about politics. Johnathan had just turned 18 on July 16th and was about to head off to college. He was sure he’d have better things to worry about, like passing the classes his mom and dad were paying for him to take.
Once everyone was packed up they drove back to town. Clovis New Mexico sits on the border of Texas up near the Texas panhandle. With about 50,000 people, give or take, Clovis is not a very big town. In fact, the biggest town near Clovis is Albuquerque which takes about 6 hours to get to. Amarillo and Lubbock Texas are about two hours away but they’re not incredibly big with only about 200,000 residents in Amarillo and 250,000 in Lubbock. Not much bigger than Clovis but with a little more to do and a larger variety of restaurants for sure.
The drive home was uneventful and too soon Mr. Landry pulled up to Johnathan’s house. Johnathan jumped out of Mr. Landry’s SUV. He grabbed his stuff from the back and called over his shoulder, “Sorry we didn’t find any arrowheads, but I was glad to spend time with all of you again today. See you all the next time I’m in town.”
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Mr. Landry called back, “Always glad to have you, Johnathan. Tell your mom and dad I said hi and have a safe trip next week. You’re always welcome to come by and hang out. Now I must get these other hellions, I mean Scouts, home before their parents start to worry. See you around.”
The others called out, “See you, Johnathan”, and “Don’t have too much fun chasing those college girls” which led to an “Oooooooo” and Mr. Landry laughing as he halfheartedly said, “Knock it off!” Johnathan stepped back and watched them drive off, When they turned the corner and he lost sight of the SUV he turned and walked up the sidewalk to his front door. As he opened the front door and walked inside he called out, “Mom, Dad, I’m home.”
Calling from the kitchen, Johnathan’s mom replied, “We saw you pull in; come on back to the dining room it’s time to eat.” After a short pause, she continued, “And don’t forget to wash your hands.”
As Johnathan put his stuff down by the door, he responded with a quick, “Yes Mom” and went to the kitchen sink, washed his hands, and dried them. Making his way to the dinner table, he sat down and asked, “So what did I miss?”
“Nothing much,” his mother answered as she started making her plate then continued; “I went shopping with Sally down the street. Stocked up on food supplies and such, but other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. “
He watched what his mom put onto her plate and realized they were having a pot roast. Of course, he’d smelled beef when he’d entered the house, but they could have been having steak. But no, they were having a pot roast, cooked to perfection with beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Oh yeah, dinner was about to be awesome!
Closing his mouth before he started to drool, Johnathan waited for his mom and dad to serve themselves. After his father handed him the utensils, he piled a good portion of what was left onto his plate. Being an only child did have some perks: no brothers or sisters to share with. Of course, the downside of that point is he had no brothers or sisters to share anything with. Enough melancholy, Pot Roast!
Johnathan’s family was not much for small talk while eating. Once they were all done, Johnathan gathered all the dishes, rinsed them off, and then placed them in the dishwasher. He knew a dishwasher was supposed to wash the dishes and had made the point that they didn’t need to be rinsed first. He’d come to terms with the fact that it was just easier to do what his parents wanted than try to use logic against their logic, which had something to do with it made it easier to keep the dishwasher clean and helped keep their dishes remain more sanitary if he rinsed off the dishes before he put them in the dishwasher. There were so many holes in the logic his mother had used but he’d lost that argument more times than he’d like to admit over the last six years so he just rinsed off the dishes before he put them in the dishwasher.
Jarring him out of his thoughts, his dad asked, “Are you ready to enjoy your last week home before you head down to the college next weekend?”
Johnathan continued to rinse the dishes as he answered, “Yep, today was great. I got to hang out with my friends who all have school or work this week, while all I have to do is pack up my stuff and take it easy. You were right, Dad, having a plan is always easier on your time.”
“Hopefully that’s not the only lesson you’ll remember,” his dad said with a heartfelt smile before he said, “Your mom and I wanted to give you one more gift to help you on your way. Come with me.” His dad said as he stood up from the dinner table with his mother and they walked over to the garage door and stepped through waiting for him.
Wondering what his parents were doing, Johnathan followed them into the garage to find his mom standing next to a new-looking, silver-gray, Nissan Rogue. He knew that his father was not made of money and had expected that his father would be driving him down to Alamogordo next weekend. Johnathan had not expected his parents to get him a car. “Are you serious?” Johnathan asked with an excited voice.
“Yep, it’s a 2017 model, so it’s not brand new, but it has low miles, and we did get a really good deal on it. We of course will be making the payments and covering the insurance, but it should go without needing to be said that you must continue to be the responsible young man you’ve proved yourself to be these last four years,” his dad said with a hint of pride.
His father paused and his mother took over, “Besides, with your own car, there will be absolutely no excuse for you not to drive home unless the mountain roads are closed due to snow, which we all know doesn’t happen all that often as the plows for those roads are on the ball all the time.”
Stepping forward, tears of joy in his eyes, he hugged his dad and whispered a muffled “Thank you, dad.” He stepped back and bent down a little bit to hug his mom and whispered, “Thank you, Mom.” After a little bit, Johnathan let his mom go and stepped back. He realized that all of a sudden he felt extremely woozy as the room started to spin. He dropped to a knee as he muttered, “Dizzy,” and started to collapse sideways. His father caught his head and eased him down onto the concrete, rolling him onto his back.
Johnathan felt his father put his hand to his head while muttering, “No Fever, not clammy, overworked, overexcited, dehydrated, think maybe he faint…” were the last words Johnathan heard before he drifted off into darkness.