[[One Ending]] OR [[Another Ending]]\n <html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/NamingEverest_zpseda94fb4.jpg"></html>
<h1 style="text-align:center">Miranda Cooper</h1><html>\n\n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/archaeology_zps832f7cc1.jpg\n"></html> \n<h1 style="text-align:center">[[Back|Mom Archaeology]]</h1><html>
<h1 style="text-align:center">Jacquetta Hawkes</h1><blockquote><p class="tab"> Jacquetta Hawkes (5 August 1910 – 18 March 1996) was a British archaeologist and writer.</p></blockquote><html><p><blockquote><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/JacquettaHawkes_zpsf9d2d986.jpg"> </p></blockquote></html><blockquote><p>Born Jessie Jacquetta Hopkins, the daughter of Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, she married first Christopher Hawkes, then an Assistant Keeper at the British Museum, in 1933. From 1953, she was married to J. B. Priestley. </p><p>She is perhaps best known generally for her book A Land (1951). She was a prolific writer on subjects quite removed from her principal field. She was above all interested in discovering the lives of the peoples revealed by scientific excavations.</p><p> With her first husband, Christopher Hawkes, she co-authored Prehistoric Britain (1943) and with J. B. Priestley she wrote Dragon's Mouth (1952) and Journey Down a Rainbow (1955). Her other works include The World of the Past (1963), "Prehistory (History of Mankind: Cultural and Scientific Development, Volume 1 Part 1)" (1963) prepared under the auspices of UNESCO, The Atlas of Early Man (1976) and The Shell Guide to [[British Archaeology|Mom Archaeology]]</p></blockquote>\n
Brenden would never be satisfied by simply climbing higher than his father. In fact, he had awakened one morning after a dream of the mountain, knowing that he had to set a record of being the first to snowboard back down Mount Everest. Brenden always bolstereed his courage and insured his luck by always wearing a Zuni neckless given to him by his mother. That day Brenden was surprised and frustrated that he had somehow lost or forgotten the neckless. "Oh well," he thought to himself. Tossing the idea off as superstition he no longer needed, Brenden Cooper continued on, taking pack and snowboard to the top of what he thought of as the “true face” of Everest, the Hornbein Couloir. \n\nHis mother, Miranda, had insisted he have a base camp at the bottom of the most difficult part of the climb, not the very bottom, but close enough. An old family friend who had accompanied Brenden's father in the past, Gus Peterson, had promised MIranda he would watch out fo Brenden, and had also understood the need Brenden had to succeed and agreed to wait at the basecamp.\n\nThe Hornbein Couloir is the most steep and most continuous descent possible from the summit. Hoping for enough snow, Brenden was concened to find maybe too much. He considers waiting for avalanche risks to subside, but checking his phone he gets a good weather forecast and decides to chance it. He set off just before 2:00 PM. It was a little late in the day, but he had come too far to not pursue his dream. Brenden pushed off to descend Mount Everest on a snowboard and to make everything right for good. \n\n Later, witnesses who had been climbing and had seen Brenden, reported last seeing him swerving toward his planned route. Brenden had gone way beyond the time that Gus Peterson had been expecting him. Peterson picked a small group and went up to see if they could find Brenden. At one point some of the searchers believe they see a figure sliding down the face of the North Col. But there was nobody else climbing Everest in that area at this time of the year. Who could it be? The group descended to the bottom of the Hornbein Couloir where Brenden should be by that time. When they reached the spot there are no snowboard tracks. It appears Brenden had fallen to his death. Brenden had disappeared. The search party later found his snowboard tracks ending about 1,500 feet down the Hornbein Couloir from the summit where he set off. His body has still never been [[found|One Ending]].\n
<h1 style="text-align:center">One Way</h1><blockquote> Even behind dark glasses, specifically designed for high elevations, Brenden Cooper’s eyes squinted in the sun’s brilliant glare. Biting cold at once numbed and stung his bare cheeks. Yet, he caught intermittent glimpses of the sparkle from the white blanket of snow that surrounded him on this last powder field leading to his jagged final ascent. At this elevation, the silence is deafening, broken only by the [[steady Crunch|Another Way]]! Crunch! Crunch! of his snowshoes and the wheezing of his own steaming [[breath.|Coyote Moon Saloon]] This was it! It was finally the day. Brendan would reach the [[pinnacle.|Mountain Snowshoeing]] To the Tibetans it was, [[Deodhunga|Everest Sketch]], Holy Hill. To the rest of the world…”Mount Everest!” To Brenden Cooper it was the [[monstrous|Another Ending]] enigma that, nearly ten years ago, during a freak, [[high elevation|One Ending]] storm, had taken his famous, [[archeologist|Cooper sr dies]] father, Dr. Nicholas Cooper. </blockquote>\n <html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/mount-everest_zps83cfb9dd.jpg\n"></html> \n\n
<h1 style="text-align:center">Camino Interminable</h1><h1 style="text-align:center"><html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/halloween_fb_cover3_png-t1_zps1019704f.jpg"></html>\n<h6 style="text-align:left"><p>This is my first attempt at an interactive, hypertext fiction story. It is made with Twine and powered by Tiddlywiki. It is definitely a work in progress, but in the interest of time, this version will serve to demonstrate some of the possibilities and opportunities offered by this method of fiction writing. Have fun!</p><html><blockquote><ul><li>If links are bad, or you can't find your way, hit "Restart" at the top left.</li>\n<li>The intention is for the story to follow a circular path, but can be random as well.</li></ul><ul><li>There are some links to external sites for which volume should be set on your viewing device for hearing audio.</li><li>Also,this is a work of fiction. None of the characters are real people and facts regarding locations, or professional specifications and equipment are also fictitious</li></ul></blockquote></h6><h1 style="text-align:center"><html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/facespeyote_zps85f5ccb9.jpg"></h1></html><h5 style="text-align:left"> Now in his late 20s, Brenden Cooper needs to put away [[childish things|Another Way]] and get his mind around what he really wants to do with his life. He is a regular guy, but has had some unusual experiences and a somewhat [[unusual family|Coyote Moon Saloon]]. Here you can [[open the door|One Way]] to some of the [[experiences|Flies Eyes pt2]] that make Brenden the person he is today.You can also open other [[doors|Another Way]].</h5>\n\n<html><em>(Readers can click on "Restart" in the left margin of any passage to start from the begining and return to this page)</em></html>\n
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\n[[Back|One Way]]\n\n<html><blockquote><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/MountainSnowshoeing_zpsa03cbc78.jpg"></blockquote></html> \n
First known sketch of what became Everest. Drawn by British surveyor of India, British Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/everest-sketch-110224-02_zps08c07a88.jpg\n"></html> circa early 1830s\n\n<h1 style="text-align:center">[[Return|One Way]]</h1>
[[Back to last|Another Way]]\n<h1 style="text-align:center">(Flashback. 2 weeks earlier)</h1><html><p class="tab"><blockquote><p> \nIn the well-groomed city park, the sun flickered brightly through the leaves of shade trees where Brenden and friends sat in a circle trading songs on guitars and passing another joint around. It was spring and the grass was already lush and green. Although a sunny day, a cool breeze made it comfortable for sitting outside, especially for this activity.</p></blockquote><blockquote><html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/hippie-inpark_zps89ad21ca.jpg"><html></blockquote> <p class="tab"> <blockquote><p>Crazy Sue was technically with Eb, but he hadn’t announced anything, or drawn a line claiming is territory, and Crazy Sue really wanted Brenden. Eb was fun, but too much of a criminal she thought. As his girlfriend, she knew way too much about Eb’s activities. She feared it would become a problem at some point. She knew of times that Eb had been the driver on gas station robberies, as well as the times that Eb actually carried the gun and did the robbing himself. It was still some big party fun though, and Eb could always get that go-fast powder. Sue loved that go-fast. She loved it so much she risked losing her 2-year-old daughter over it. She’d say, “These fuckers just don’t understand what I have to [[deal with|Another Way]]!”</p><p> Crazy Sue was restless as spring moved toward summer. She wondered if her mom was even willing to watch the baby if they were gone a couple of days. The guys were between songs. “Come on you guys! We need a fuckin’ road trip!” Sue jumped to her feet while, in one move, skilfully snatched a Camel cigarette from a pack somebody else had left on the ground as she timed a swoop by the cooler for another beer before reaching a full stance. “My mom will watch Julie, for a couple days. And I get a support check and my food stamps by tomorrow.” Waiting for someone to agree with her, she said, “Gimme a fuckin’ light Brenden!” She knew she could flirt real close with him as he pulled out a bic lighter. She would also try to irritate Eb into giving a shit as she flirted with his friend.</p><p>Brenden looked over at Eb as they shared a knowing glance, both well aware that Sue was fuckin’ with them both. As usual. Eb decided to indulge her for a minute. “Where the fuck would we go? All we have is that Delta 88 cruise ship. We’ll need a large trust fund to get a hundred miles in it.” Eb snatched up one of the Camels for himself. Brenden watched as these to blatantly assumed ownership of somebody else’s smokes. Sue snapped back. “You can make a night to get gas money you know, the way you do.”</p><p>“I told you not to talk about my bidness around everybody! Fuck!” Sue backed off, but ignored him. “Or we can use the money I got coming.” Eb took a large hit of the joint that had come around and breathing it out slowly, trying to blow a smoke ring, “That’s what I’m tawkin’ bout.” Brenden shook his head and stood up. His legs were asleep from sitting cross-legged for so long.</p><p>Where would we go?” Brenden dusted off his pants and grabbed his guitar as he prepared to leave. Eb stood and followed Brenden’s lead. “We’ll talk in the morning man. Come by the house.” Brenden said his goodbyes and put his guitar in the backseat of the ’68 Ford Fairlane, slid into the driver’s seat, and was soon [[down the road|The Next Morning]]\n\n.</p></blockquote>\n
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<h1 style="text-align:center"><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/teepee-used-for-the-peyote-ceremony_zps79102db4.jpg"></h1>\n<h1 style="text-align:center">After the Teepee</h1><html><blockquote> <p class="tab"> Now standing outside the teepee in the morning sun, and with waning affects from the “Medicine” lingering upon them, neither Miranda nor Nicholas wanted their time together to end. Over the next days, as Nicholas learned more about the adventurous and brave nature of his peyote partner, he felt himself falling in love, as did Miranda. Looking back, the conversation that started between them during those first days had simply continued for the next seventeen years, until that fateful day high on [[Mount Everest.|Cooper sr dies]]</p><p> Brenden, their son, spent his childhood steeped in the excitement of his parent’s adventures and the importance of their work. He had developed the same curiosity and determination His family was close, and Brenden was particularly close to his father. As far back as Brenden could remember, his father had talked about [[climbing Everest.|One Ending]] His father usually called it [[Deodhunga|Naming Everest]], as it was known by the [[Nepalese.|Another Ending]]</p></blockquote> \n\n
<h1 style="text-align:center">Everything Is About England</h1><html><blockquote> <p class="tab"> It annoyed Dr. Cooper that the British named places after themselves, thinking that any place was new if a Brit found his way there. It didn’t really matter who had occupied a place, or for how long, once the British found it. Brenden remembered his father telling him the story of the British Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh, who, in 1837, surveyed Deodhunga and measured it to be 29,002 feet above sea level. Colonel Waugh’s predecessor and chief surveyor had been the official surveyor of India for Great Britain. His name was Colonel Sir George Everest. </p><p>Brenden’s dad had shown him an article that he had been told had appeared in The Illustrated London News on August 15, 1857. The article was primarily concerned with tea and how the British were announcing they no longer need import tea from China or other distant regions. Britain could grow its own. It was in that article that the history of the [[naming of Mount Everest|Naming Everest]] was documented. It turns out that it was actually the Royal Geographical Society that named Deodhunga, Mount Everest, at the urging of Colonel Waugh, but against the wishes of Colonel Everest.</p></blockquote>\n
<h1 style="text-align:center">Mountain Storm</h1><blockquote> <p class="tab"><p><blockquote>\nEverest drew Dr. Nicholas Cooper like the proverbial moth to the light. He had often pondered over time his strange motivation for risking everything through such a dangerous proposition. He could only suspect that, in contrast to his complicated academic and professional life, Mt. Everest, with its immense presence and 29,000 foot elevation, give, or take 75 feet, was a simple, and uncomplicated challenge. He liked to think of himself as a relatively sophisticated person, a perception that tended to obscure certain truths from his own awareness. The sophisticated Cooper simply shared with others a primal attraction to the challenge of the triumph or failure over nature. Everest drew raw adventurers like Nicholas Cooper without mercy.</blockquote><blockquote><p>Cooper had met a few climbers who before him had taken the challenge. The tales of their encounters had only fueled his desire. There was a common thread amongst them. They all seemed unable to forget the experience for even a moment, it was like it found its way into their DNA. Even those who had attempted it, or had merely visited Everest, were similarly affected. In fact, Nicholas Cooper was himself a member of those who had visited Everest in the past. Some twenty years previously, Cooper’s Uncle Sean had taken a young Nick Cooper a significant distance up Everest, as well as a visit to other nearby peaks. This had ignited a life-long drive bordering on obsession in Nicholas Cooper. </p><p>It had taken years to make the opportunity possible. Cooper could and would make the trip now before he might be too old to make it. Cooper sometimes worried that he had made too much out of the idea with his young son Brendon, but hell, it was a big deal! He observed that his son, Brenden, at times seemed even more obsessed than Cooper himself. </p><p>The time to climb arrived. Dr. Nicholas Cooper assured his wife and son of his safety and that he would be in contact as best he could. He would return in about a month. The most popular routes taken on Mt. Everest are from the south col (Notch, or saddle in a mountain) from the Nepalese side and from the north col route on the Tibetan side. The Cooper party had decided on the north col route from Tibet. Climbers of Everest know there is no avoiding the reality of glacial and geological hazards. One glacier in particular moves at a rapid pace making crevasses open up to swallow climbers with little warning. Of even more concern are the seracs – huge, house-sized, towering blocks of ice, precariously balanced and ready to tumble over at any time, with no warning what so ever. Adding to the challenges of the mountain itself, members of Cooper's party had been warned by locals that the Chinese, who had invaded Tibet in the early 1950s, and had since imposed significant restrictions against foreigners climbing Everest, were still in the area and were known to be trouble to climbers even to the present day. They were actually accused of killing a frightening number of foreigners on the mountain over time. This did not disuade Nicholas Cooper in anyway.</p><p>Unfortunately, courage and determination would not save him. Sadly, after days of excruciating effort the group reached the last snow field before the final ascent only to be overtaken by eight to ten Chinese soldiers. Only one climber, injured earlier and found further down mountain had survived to tell any of the story. It was later theorized by investigators that the party would have been detained at the location and likely interrogated ruthlessly for hours, as was the reported custom of the Chinese soldiers. According to acquired weather information from that date, a freak storm had moved in, absorbing the mountain top with its fog and unbearable cold. <h1 style="text-align:center"><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/EverestStorm_zps474bc06d.jpg"></h1>Eventually, none of the remaining Cooper party or any of the Chinese soldiers were reported to have survived that day. It was never confirmed with certainty whether it had been the storm or the Chinese that had taken their lives. Brenden Cooper knew his father's skills and experience and was certain they had met with foul play. Being young, he had no means of investigating properly and over the years Brenden had given up ideas of direct justice, or revenge. His rage over time had transformed into a personal challenge of someday succeeding where his father had failed, or had been [[sabotaged|One Way]].</p></blockquote>\n
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That was how it all started. The trip lasted 2 weeks. They left Denver heading south and west. Once out of the city Eb broke out the acid and there they went. They passed through small Colorado towns like, Grand Junction, just before the Utah line, then to Hanksville, Utah, lake Powell, then onto the Grand Canyon, and Flagstaff, Arizona. There was no shortage of beer or corn liquor to wet the whistle and take the edge off of the acid. Playing music at every stop and partying with campers they met along the road. Brenden had worried that he would look up in the middle of the night to see Crazy Sue crawling into his pup tent. He’d stopped her before. So far, Sue had behaved. \nFlagstaff was a little different. Being temporarily out of booze money, Eb walked into a little bar on the main drag. <blockquote><html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/joesplaceflagstaff_zps4c8e04af.jpg"><html></blockquote> It was only about 9:00am. The little bar's location had once been part of the Flagstaff stretch of old route 66. The old route 66 was pretty much gone now and now the watering hole was surrounded with drunk Navajos, including the pitiful sight of alcohol soaked Navajo grandmothers. <blockquote><html><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/OldWoman_zpsbf72594d.jpg"><html></blockquote> Eb offered to the bar tender that we play music for the bar for a pitcher and if the bartender liked it, he was to keep them coming. Brenden couldn’t believe the guy went for it. So, they got the guitars and Crazy Sue from the car, set up at a table, filled their first glass of beer, and started their day in Flagstaff. As the day progressed, a crowd gathered. This was not surprising as the bar was only a few blocks from the University. \n\nThe travelers were cordially invited to bring music out to one of the girl’s houses where a big party was planned for the night. “Sounds good. Pedal to the metal!” Ed grabbed his guitar. Sue and Brenden followed to the Delta 88, where Duke, a large Doberman, St. Bernard mix, waited in the backseat. Duke was Eb’s best friend and took up most of the backseat. Once in the car they argued, mostly joking, over the directions to the girl’s place that she had passed to Eb on a bar napkin. Eb started the Delta 88, but before shifting into drive, he said, “We need to sell this acid, but these people are cool. We should turn them all on. Both Sue and Brenden concurred and off they went. \n\nIt was a wild night ending with the travelers parking in the cemetery to lay low and trying to rest before heading out of town. As Brenden sat against a big cottonwood tree, a terrifying shiver climbed up his back and made his hair tingle! “Man, it feels like the devil is hangin’ around here!” But his words drifted into thin air as he realized Eb and Sue were still in the car. Duke sat near Brenden looking on and the Delta 88 was rockin’ and knockin! “Fuck!” Brenden barked to no one. “It’s just you and me Duke.” Brenden laughed at the situation but tried to sleep with one eye open for the devil as he leaned back against the tree. \n\nThe next two days were a blur. They hadn’t sold any acid and it was nearly gone. By the time the Delta 88 reached southern Colorado again, near Cortez, Brenden took stock of the situation. Eb and Sue had fought so hard that Eb sopped and put her on a bus in Kayenta, Arizona headed back for Denver. Sue was angry, but knew this was not the time to push Eb any further. It was down to Duke, Eb and Brenden. Absent a better plan, Brenden said, “Well, we may as well do some more acid and finish this whiskey off.” Eb thought about it for about 5 second. “Sounds good man.”\n\n(Six hours later) Brenden’s nose filled with the scent of humans packed into close quarters as he wondered what the deputy would ask next. All he could remember was laying in the backseat of the Delta 88 with Duke pushed against a door. He was drinking whiskey, tripping on LSD and playing his harmonica as Eb kept the “pedal to the metal!” as Eb would always say. Brenden could remember looking over Eb’s shoulder and up the road. There was heavy traffic in their lane ahead. Brenden also spotted the tunnel up ahead, but didn’t think much of it until he heard Eb say, “Fuck it!” Suddenly Eb pulled the shifter down to 2nd gear of the auto transmission and punched the throttled down to the floor! He popped over into the left lane where Brenden could see a line of cars, including a semi-truck, in the right lane and realized Eb’s expression said he was determined to pass them all and get it done before reaching the tunnel! At first it didn’t seem too risky, but Eb kept the pedal buried in the floor. The big V8 was growling and accelerating quickly. Brenden looked at Duke, who sat upright watching Eb, with his ears drooping. There was a rock face directly on their left and a string of cars and a semi on the right and the Delta 88 was increasing its speed. The white lines of the highway had nearly blurred into one continuous, unbroken ribbon. By the time they were neck and neck with the semi, the truck had taken the lead ahead of the long string of traffic. If they got past the semi and back into their lane soon, it would be ok. \n\nSuddenly, somehow unexpected by their acid and whiskey soaked heads, a car from the other direction, and dead ahead, aimed right toward the Delta 88, came shooting from within the tunnel! The Delta 88 was now travelling at nearly 95 miles per hour. It was on a two-lane mountain road, with nowhere to go but head on into oncoming traffic! Brenden began to feel the reality of the situation, but suddenly, somehow, a split second before the head on collision with the first of three cars, Eb pulled the wheel, dropping the left wheels of the Delta 88 into the barrow ditch on the left! Eb held his steady high speed! An early 70s Olds Delta 88 can haul ass! Duke hung his head down and Brenden yelled, “What the fuck are you doin’!” He looked to the right and from a detached, psychedelic perspective, watched a line of cars, across the lane the Delta 88 should be in, rolling along parallel to where they were. The semi was in the lead now. Then, “Whoosh!” the cars from the tunnel were shooting between the Delta 88 and the semi! One car! Swoosh! Second car! Swoosh! Finally, car number 3! Swoosh! Eb immediately yanked the wheel back to the right, bounced back into the left lane, and managed to jam the [[Delta 88|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI9lhA9dlEw right in front of the semi and back into the right lane, a split second before entering the mouth of the tunnel!]] \n\nBrenden couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed and had actually lived through. Inside the Delta 88 it was silent while driving the remainder of the tunnel. Once out the other side, Brenden demanded, “Pull off! Pull into that parking lot!” He pointed to a big gravel lot at a truck stop on the side of the road. Eb complied and slowing down, said, “Gotta check ma drawers.” Eb was grinning his coyote grin. Brenden waited for a complete stop then bailed out. He considered kissing the gravel parking lot. \n\nNow, sitting in an interrogation room at the Sheriff’s office, Brenden wondered what Eb was saying in the next room. Unfortunately, the deputy had pulled Eb over after seeing the speed at which the Delta 88 exited the tunnel. He followed into the parking lot and turned on his flashing red lights. Soon a witness from behind the semi pulled in and angrily reported the tunnel incident. A quick radio call and Brenden and Eb were hand cuffed and taken to the county [[jail|Flies Eyes pt 1]].\n\n
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<html><img src= "http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/AnotherWayLarge_zps69c640f0.jpg"></html>How the hell did this [[get started?|Flies Eyes pt2]]Maybe I should have done [[something different.|One Way]]
Camino Interminable
The next morning he found Eb already holding a lit joint in his left hand, and a beer in his right. It was only about 9:00am. “Wanna beer?” Eb asked as he pulled up a kitchen chair. “Uh. Yea, but not going to start just yet.” Eb fought to hold a big hit of weed in and reached to pass half of a joint to Brenden. “No thanks man. I smoke that shit now and I won’t get shit done.” Brenden grabbed another kitchen chair and leaned back on the rear legs. “So, whata ya think about this road trip shit?” Watching Eb he added, “With fuckin’ Crazy Sue, man?”\n\n“Oh yea!” He laid the roach in an ashtray on the table between them. “This is a better idea than you think.” Eb sucked out the last of his beer and got up to grab another. “Sue and I already started work on the idea.” \n\n“Started work on it?”\n\n“Uh, yea.” Eb looked for the right way to break this to Brenden. “Sue fronted me the money to buy a whole sheet of that blotter Shifty was sellin’. It’s some badass acid!”\n\n“No shit? What the …?”\n\n“Hundred hits dude. We trip and we sell it on the road to pay for the trip and we come back with a profit!” Eb looked at Brenden, grinned and popped the new beer, admiring his own genius. Brenden could see the potential for adventure. The idea was growing on him. He was out of school for the summer, and didn’t have a job at the moment. “Awright then. We throw those guitars in and we’re down the road! We better get chips and some fuckin’ beer.” Eb reached over and slapped Brenden’s knee. “And plenty of that Platte Valley Corn liquor.” Both broke into laughter and Brenden stood up. “Sue gave you the money?”\n\n“Well, I kinda had to pawn my guitar to her, but I can keep it and play it if she gets to go with us.” Both Eb and Brenden looked at the floor considering this. Brenden rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Well, alrighty then. Leave in the morning?”\n\n“Let’s do it!” Eb sucked down the rest of his beer, made a free throw into the kitchen trash across the room with it, stood to get started with prepping things to [[leave|Road Trip]].”\n\n
<IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/Peyoterituals_zpsaca424bf.jpg"><h1 style="text-align:center">Coyote Moon Saloon</h1><html><blockquote> <p class="tab"> Nicholas and Miranda met on a summer night a few miles outside of Tucson, Arizona. Each of them, it turns out, had friends who coincidentally knew each other and thereby, had separately invited Nicholas and Miranda to a special ceremony held by some members of the [[Native American Church|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_Church]], as well as a few less adherent Navajos and Tohono O'odham people from the area. Hector Ayze, a well-known “Road Man” of the “Peyote Road,” as it is commonly known by followers, would be officiating during a teepee ceremony. Two of Nicholas’ Navajo friends requested the ceremony hoping for a blessing of their upcoming marriage. Seating around the circle within the teepee was tight, and in the interest of balance, the Road Man directed that, being the only two single male and female, Miranda and Nicholas would sit together squeezing themselves in between a Navajo couple and their four children at their left side, and the children’s 85 year-old grandmother on their right.</p><p> Later, during a bit of a break, the round-cheeked wife in the Navajo couple sitting to their left, who could tell these two had little if any experience in a teepee, leaned to Miranda and, grinning brightly said, “You two sitting together isn’t a tradition or anything. Hector just thought you looked good together.” Then, patting Miranda on the shoulder, the woman turned her attention back to her little daughter who tugged from her other side. Maybe the Road Man was right. Both Miranda and Nicholas soon found the circumstances quite pleasant.</p><p> Soon, all were asked to enter the teepee to start the ceremony. It was then around 8:00pm. There was a fire in the center of the teepee floor that was tended to by the “Fireman” and fueled throughout the ceremony. Heat from the continuous read coals, and the time between water being passed, the couple at times thought they might have to ask to leave the teepee. Although allowed, it was viewed as bad manners to leave before the official end. The voices of the [[Singers|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwjke8uHofI]] as they chanted, the words of the Road Man as he passed information to the participants, and the sensations throughout helped to distract Miranda and Nicholas from the intensity enough to hang on. </p><p> After “sitting up” with the people and partaking of “The Medicine,” the ceremony ended after a Navajo woman formally prayed as she delivered a fresh bucket of cool water, called “Morning Water. The couple learned that it was now nearly 8:00am! Nicholas remembered he had earlier asked his Navajo friend, Joe Nitl'ah, how long the ceremony lasts, Joe’s answer was, “We go sun to sun! That’s dang-near all night long brotha!” At least he had an idea of how long he’d be in there, but he never knew if he should completely believe the mischieveous “Navajo” Joe. It might only take an hour. It had in fact lasted [[all night|After the Teepee]].</p><blockquote><h1 style="text-align:center"><IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/peyote-cacti_zps9aab51e7.jpg"></h1></blockquote>\n\n
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<IMG SRC="http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r650/pdadd59/psychinterrogationroom_zpsbd5fd7da.jpg">\n<h1 style="text-align:center">Flies in the Eyes pt 1</h1><html><blockquote> <p class="tab"> Brenden hunched in the institutional, steel chair at the end of a steel table. Surrounding him were dingy, yellow cinderblock walls with gray, steel-framed windows. “Well Mr. Cooper, here’s how this is going to go,” sitting down in the other steel chair, deputy Rick Stinger was a tall man. In the brown deputy uniform, complete with cowboy hat and black Tony llama cowboy boots, the the deputy sheriff clipped some official looking form to his clipboard. He would now interview Brendon before deciding whether or not to book Brenden or Eb, or both into the small County Jail. “I’m going to get some answers to these questions then we’ll get tis figured out. You’re lucky son. You might be in time for dinner if we book ya.” Stinger smirked sarcastically, trying to spook some confession of his prisoner. He made a check on the form to start. The cuffs were too tight on Brendon’s wrists, which were pulled behind his back, but so far, he’d had no luck getting anyone to loosen them. Stinger continued. “Now, you say your friend...,” Stinger, looked down his nose through slim reading glasses and referred to his earlier notes, “Eb? It was Eb. Right?” \n\n“Uh huh.” Brenden looked at his feet. \n\n“Eb was driving and was the one who tried to race the semi to the tunnel?”\n\n“Yea, I was in the back seat with the dog.” Brendon’s concentration was still off and the lingering psychedelic effects of the blotter acid still apparent. It still looked something like a view through transparent glass with a multi-colored, Persian rug design painted on it. The Persian pattern appeared superimposed over everything in the room. Stinger looked up over his glasses, to Brenden's acid filled brain the deputy's voice seemed to echo with every word. “Son, why do you think Eb would take such risks with your lives? It was a major risk of your lives, racing a semi at highway speed into a mountain tunnel? Is that a common practice of Eb’s? Of Eb’s? Of Eb’s?” Remembering a line, for some odd reason, from Orr’s Catch 22, Brendon replied, “Shit Sheriff! He had flies in his eyes. How can you see with [[flies in your eyes|Flies Eyes pt2]]?</p></blockquote>\n
<h1 style="text-align:center">Mom Archaeology</h1><html><blockquote> <p class="tab"> Brenden had been only sixteen at the time, but had dreamed for ten years of finishing what his father had started. Both of Brenden’s parents were nearly obsessed with adventure and challenge. His mother, [[Miranda, also an archaeologist|Arch Woman]], studied under the well noted, [[Jacquetta Hawkes|Jacquetta Hawkes]], who was one of the first archaeologists to suggest that the ancient Minoans (An early civilization of the island of Crete) might have been ruled by women. In fact, Brenden’s [[parents met|Coyote Moon Saloon]] in Tucson at the University of Arizona, during the time that Miranda had been traveling to Crete, as well as Egypt, following up on her mentor’s assertions that very little if any evidence of a Minoan male ruler existed, whereas abundant evidence of such rulers existed among the Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians and other Minoan contemporaries. </p><p> In her travels, Miranda had herself uncovered significant support for Hawkes’ theories by discovering images, previously unknown, even to her teacher, of strong and [[powerful women|Arch Woman]] in Minoan art. These images were of both men and women shown provocatively and elegantly dressed. What differentiates these images from others is that the men and women seemed to move on equal terms. Jacquetta Hawkes later supported Miranda by underscoring that “In Egyptian, Assyrian and classical Greek art, human women (as distinct from goddesses) are never shown as the equals of [[males|Cooper sr dies]].”</p></blockquote>\n\n
Paul Harshman\nA Hyper-Text Tale
Brenden was not going to be satisfied by simply climbing higher than his father, he had awakened one morning after a dream of the mountain, knowing that he had to set a record of being first to snowboard back down. Brenden knew this was not to be taken likely. It sent chills up his spine whenever he thought of others who had run into natural forces, ending their adventures. Most bodies were left on the mountain over the years. Canadian climber, Sandra Leduc, when describing her experience in one of the worst storms her guides had ever seen said, "lots of dead or dying bodies! I Thought I was in a morgue."\n\nNone of these reports would deter you Cooper from doing what he came to do. By noon that day Brenden had reached the top! This in itself was feat accomplished by a very few climbers, let alone what Brenden was about to try. The temeratures and wind allowed Brenden only a few minutes standing at the summit before starting his descent. \n\nBrenden climbed down for about 20 minutes to a spot holding adequate snow for his purposes. After removing his snowboard from its straps on is backpack, and checking and rechecking his equipment, Brenden Cooper shoved off and began the deadly last stage of the goal he had come to achieve. He realized he could be swallowed up in a crevasse suddenl;y opened by glacial movement, or find himself boarding atop a sudden avalanche, but he was confident in his skills.\n\nHis mother, Miranda, had insisted he have a base camp at the bottom of the most difficult part of the climb, not the very bottom, but close enough. An old family friend who had accompanied Brenden's father in the past, Gus Peterson, had promised MIranda he would watch out fo Brenden, and had also understood the need Brenden had to succeed and agreed to wait at the basecamp.\n\n"I'm on top of the freakin' world!" He shouted to himself. Brenden was flying down the recent powder left by the recent storm and was nearly paralized by the spectacular views surrounding him, when he felt his right foot sleeping too far to still be in the reinforced straps he had added to his board. At this speed his heart fluttered, but, keeping his cool, he managed to slow enough to roll in the snow to stop unharmed. In about ten minutes Brenden had repaired and secured the strap and continued on. In total Brenden had climbed for approximately twelve hours to the summit, and with the exception of the stop to repair his strap, he remained upright on the snowboard for about two hours, traversing 45 to 50 degree slopes and dodging visible cracks all the way to within 100 feet of the basecamp below. He had been spotted. Gus Peterson and others ran toward him from the camp with arms waving and shouts of congratulations and excitement!\n\nA 27-year-old Brenden Cooper had been one of the very few to reach the summit of Mount Everest alone, the youngest to make it at all, and the only person to ever succeed at snowboarding all the way down. He could already feeling the pressure in his chest building with excitement and satisfaction, but it would be a process of realizing he had faced not only his own internal demons, but had possibly defeated some of his [[father's|Cooper sr dies]] [[demons|Another Ending]] as well. \n\n\n.\n.\n.\n.\n.\n.\n.\n.\n.\n\n\n