Rosa Jardine moaned faintly as she lay on the rocky floor of the dark tunnel leading through the low desert hills. Her breathing quickened and she began to stir in the darkness, and then she screamed in terror with her eyes opening wide. She struggled to sit up, unable to see the tunnel walls and her hands slipping on the loose rocks under her.

“Theo!” Rosa whispered loudly, her throat clenched in fear. “Theo, where are you?” she was able to shout, finding new strength. She jumped, on feeling a warm tongue lick the back of her hand, but relaxed as she felt a furry snout and a wet nose nuzzle her face. “Arfie… where’s Theo?” she asked the Husky, finding his collar and using the dog to help her stand up. Rosa felt around the walls of the tunnel with her free hand, still unable to see anything. “Theo! Theo, where are you?” she shouted with rising panic in her voice.

“I’m at the other end of the tunnel, Mom!” Theo shouted back. “Mr. Nobu found me and helped me get out!”

“Rosa, follow the sound of my voice!” Kenji Nobu called out to her. “Theo’s safe… just a scratch on his knee where he walked into the wall at the bend in the tunnel!”

Rosa touched her forehead, just then realizing that it was throbbing in pain and felt wet to her fingers. “It sure would have been nice to know there was a bend in the tunnel, Mr. Nobu! I think I smacked right into it!”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Jardine. I did tell you to go slow and feel your way through… are you OK?” Kenji asked her.

“I bumped my head pretty bad and fell. I think I knocked myself out… keep talking, I’m heading your way,” she answered back, letting Arfie lead her and reaching out blindly with her other hand.

“Yeah, the tunnel has a zig-zag in the middle of it, which is why it’s so dark. You’re not to far from the exit now,” Kenji said. “Wait a sec, sounds like a Presidential PAB broadcast is playing on the radio.” He turned up the volume on the radio, which Rosa used the sound of to find her way forward.

“… all Proud American Brigade members in the vicinity of Ojai! Proceed cautiously to the ranch named ‘Paraiso en la Tierra’ and report to the local authorities of any suspicious activity or persons leaving the region,” the voice of the President said breathlessly. “We are targeting troublemakers in the region with a major offensive, and we need you to be our eyes and ears on the ground!”

Rosa could see the light of the entrance ahead of her, reflected on the rocks of the tunnel wall ahead of her. She and the Husky carefully proceeded toward it, overhearing Kenji mumbling as he turned the dial on his radio, “I wonder what Preacher Bob has to say about this so-called ‘offensive’ the President is babbling about…” Rosa reached the last corner of the tunnel, and had to sheild her eyes from the blazing desert sun beaming in from the entrance. Standing in the entrance in silhouette against the sun was Kenji Nobi, holding the radio up for everyone to hear, standing in his square wooden sandals and brown robe. Theo was kneeling in the sand nearby, tending to the scratch on his knee. 

Rosa emerged into the bright sunlight, blinking as she looked around at the palm trees and shrubs surrounding a series of spring-fed ponds. She looked down at her hand and saw that she was indeed bleeding from her forehead. She took one of the sleeves of the yellow hoodie still tied around her waist, and turned it inside out to dab the cut on her head.

“Mom! You’re hurt,” Theo said, alarmed and ignoring his own injury. Rosa let go of Arfie’s collar, and the Husky bounded over to Theo now running over to assist his mother.

“It’s not too bad. You know, Mr. Nobu, it wouldn’t have come to this if we had gone over the hill instead,” Rosa said as she glared at the short, old man from behind the hoodie sleeve she was using as a bandage. “I had the strangest dreams while I was knocked out inside that tunnel, and no thanks in part to you bringing up my father, Jesus Jardine.”

Kenji wasn’t listening to her chiding at all, but was rather focussed on the excited voice of Preacher Bob coming from the radio:

“The Bird of Fire descended from great height,
Our Paradise on Earth now burning bright!”

*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***