It was a new moon in the heart of the Mojave Desert, one of the darkest skies in the world. This leg of my adventure proved to be quite interesting. It seems as if we stumbled upon some sort of transcendental portal. Some 'thing' seeped through and made themselves known. We set up camp upon a cliff overlooking a canyon that stretched as far as your eyes could see. The ground was littered with Joshua Trees. Coyotes were howling in the far distance. Their cries would normally be terrifying to an untrained ear. For me it was a reassuring call to arms. The desert is alive and only the strong survive.
The winds were picking up as the sun set behind the horizon. Rushing to use the last glimmer of light we prepared our dinner. The temperature dropped dramatically as if it was foreshadowing what was to come later that night. As the clock inched towards midnight we retreated into the tent. The wind was picking up and large drops of rain started to fall. My friend was asleep as I sat there experiencing this bizarre weather. No rain was in the forecast and the Milky Way's core was about to rise. I was ready to photograph the stars in this magical spot but the weather had other plans for us. Out of nowhere she jumped out of her slumber and sat in the corner huddled up in a ball. I asked if she was OK and she said no. A wave of intense hopelessness hit her like a ton of bricks and it was disorienting. She felt trapped and confused. Where was this unexpected energy coming from?
We shrugged it off. As I was laying there listening to the howls of the wind something strange happened. I entered some sort of trance as if the wind became alive and seeped through the tent walls into my body. My spirit became trapped with this heavy sensation of being smothered into the ground of the desert. It was a desperate loneliness and I was trying to escape it with all my might. I tried to move to alert my friend but my limbs were frozen and I couldn't speak. It's hard to describe this feeling. It's not something I could quite see with my eyes. They were closed but I was awake and aware of everything. My tent, the sleeping bag. My friend. Eventually I was able to break the spell and move my hand to rest on her shoulder. As I went to call out her name something truly bizarre occurred. I whispered "Scarlet." As the daze rolled away from my body I turned over and asked if she heard that. She did.
Who is Scarlet and why did she visit us that night? What was the message? We may never know but I'm excited to see where the next adventure takes me.
Photo and story by Matt Deifer.
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