//------------------------------// // Delilah // Story: FireWatch // by Darkness Moon //------------------------------// "So... was that the first time you were in a forest?" Aria asked washing the dishes from breakfast. "Technically yes, since the last time was on a peninsula." Sunset smiled. "Smart little pony." Adagio snuggled next to her. "And what happened after that Sunny?" Sonata asked drying the dishes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After calling the number I packed my things. My new backpack with the essentials: a bottle of water, medicine, a lighter, extra clothes, a knife, sunscreen and a tent. Not everything was necessary, only in what would come to the place, the person recommended me to bring things so as not to get bored. I was going to need it a lot. The next morning I arrived at the building where I was greeted. I checked in, they handed me a key and ordered to go to the top floor, to the parking lot. In the elevator I was preparing myself mentally for this, hoping that I had chosen the right clothes. Black and purple running shoes were my favorites for this. The rest were my denim shorts, an aquamarine shirt, a hooded vest and a ponytail. There was a lot of trash when I reached the last level and a single vehicle. It was a SUV. As I was told, I took it. It took me five hours to get to the forest, to the point indicated, where there was a sign. "Thorofare Trailhead... that's the point of work" I whispered. I took the map and I ventured into the forest, walking and climbing, until sunset came. It reminded me when I explored the forests in Equestria in the times when I was alone, without friends. Just me and my research. I saw the sign indicating the place again, Thorofare Trailhead, go ahead, the view was breathtaking. The nights were incredible, I remember that I used to write to Princess Twilight. She wrote to me about the incredible things she did in Equestria, I took the opportunity to ask her about... something personal. But hey, she hardly ever responded to my messages, she was busy after all. The walk helped me a lot to forget not only what I experienced at school, but also what I used to do in Equestria. Seeing nature and animals passing by, was the only thing that existed. At last, I arrived to the watchtower. I went up the stairs and entered the tower. I turned on the electricity. The place wasn't so bad. Not very comfortable but not so uncomfortable either. I saw a radio on the desk and turned it on. "Hello, Two Forks Tower!" said a female voice. "Um…Hello? Whoever this is?” confused. "It’s Sunset, right?" "Yeah" “I’m Delilah” "Yes, that’s what the guy said on the phone" "So, what’s wrong with you?" "Excuse me?" “People take this job to get away from something. So what’s wrong? ” "What's wrong whith you?" "That’s a great idea, go ahead" "Look, I just hiked for two days so I don’t really follow whatever it is you’re doing right now” "You take a stab at what’s wrong with me” she insisted. "Fine, then can I sleep…? Forever?" "Sure, girl. Now, go ahead" "Okay. You’ve killed three husbands. You’re a black widow. You’re justo out here until the heat dies down and then you’ll kill again "VERY good. Bra-vo Sunset” "Okay. I sleep now? ” "Not quite Now, you" "Okay. Goodnight. Bye" "Let's see... I don't know anything about you" And you better not know. "I say you got fired from your job and have finally decided to write your novel. That’s the sort of bullshit reason you’ll find a manout in the woods” "Good night" "Welcome to the job" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “This story is very boring" said Aria. "Yes, the first few days were super boring." said Sunset. "I was really bored." "Maybe it would be better if you pass certain details, Sunny." suggested Adagio. "Okay, I'll wait for Sonata to finish." "Sorry, but a story is not the same without food." said the blue siren. She came with a plate full of s’mores, chips, fruits, peanut butter sandwiches, and pretzels. "Sonata... are they camping snacks?" Sunset asked. "It's for the atmosphere!" Sonata said happily taking a s’more. "Okay..?" Sunset had a peanut butter sandwich. "Let's continue." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as I got up I made my breakfast and sat at the desk. I decided to start this boredom with my books. “Good morning Sunset. Well, I guess ‘good afternoon’. You probably slept like a rock. Anyway, there’s still a few hours of dayllight to get some work in. I can see you at your desk, so call me when you're ready." I take the radio. "Hey, sorry. Guess I slept in" “You got a relaxing. What, Fourteen hours of sleep? Whew!" "Yes, I guess it’s, what, six?" "6:45." "Whoops!" "Don’t worry about it. That hike put everyone out of commission for a day or two. But now that you're up, let me quickly get you acquainted with the job. There’s a thing in the middle of your room with a round map. Do you see it?" Was right in the middle of the room, I got up to see it better. "Okay, yeah, I see it" "This is the Osborne Fire Finder, invented in 1914 by W.B..." "... Osborne?" "You use this to spot, you guessed it, fi-- what the fuck?" "What is it?" "Nothing. Um, you use this to—oh, fuck me!” "That language lady..." “Out your west-facing window—are you seeing what I’m seeing?" I went to the window to confirm what Delilah was seeing. "Are those fucking fireworks?!" she yell angrily. ”Whoa! That’s not legal, right?” "Uh, no! You need to get down there right now and stop them. Fire danger is through the fucking roof” "Is that really my job?" "Your job is whatever I say it is. The closest ranger is, like, two days away. Go down there and set’em straight” "Do I write them a ticket?" "Easy there, dirty Sunnshy" "Well…?" “Get going. You’II probably need a rope to get down the shale between you and the lake if I remember right. There should be one in the supply box on the way. The code is ‘1-2-3-4’. It's actually that for all of them” I analyzed the map to find the box that Delilah told me. It was located at CACHE 306. The closest one to my tower. I took my backpack and I left the tower to the direction. With the help of the compass I didn't get lost. I honestly didn't expect this kind of tasks in this job, but hey, if she says I have to do what she says, then I do it. In a little while I got to the box. I put in the code, and took the opportunity to update the map. Maybe in other boxes I can update too. There wasn't much, but the important thing was the ropes I needed. And an energy bar. “There is a snack here. Probably I'm gonna eat it” "Where was that?" "I have come to the box" It was delicious. I continued my way until I reached a small ravine of earth. In the distance I could see the fireworks and a hook for rope. I wandered down the ravine, thinking about how my friends were doing or what this boring job would be like. My thoughts didn't last long as the rope broke. "No, no, noooo!" I fell on the rocks, I got up with annoyance and took the radio. "Ugh, hey" "What the hell is wrong with you?" "My rope snapped coming down the shale slide" "You didn't break anything, did you?" "No, I think I’II make it” "Well be careful for chrissake" That didn't help me much. I think it was my karma for cursing this job so much. Anyway I took the map to make sure I'm going in the right direction. I found camp. It must have been one of those pyromancer campers. Empty beer cans, a bottle of whiskey with a fire next to it. I cleaned up the place and confiscated the fireworks. I also found two types of clothes, it seemed that they were having fun bathing in the lake. I listened to music which confirmed the obvious, but they were too far away to see them. “I have found them in the lake. naked” "Skinny dipping?" "Yeah" "Is there a girl over there?!" "Ha ha… oh boy. have a Enjoy dealing with that!" Delilah said to me. I take the radio. "COOL STEREO!" "Whoa! HEY! PUT THAT DOWN!" "Seriously! It was expensive!” As Delilah had told me, she did not want reports of brutality by authority, so I decided to leave her in place. "Thank you! Now get lost! ” said her other friend. Although on second thought... "YOU—YOU ASSHOLE!!!" I throw the radio into the lake. "Light another firework and it won’t be your stereo I wreck!!" “Oh FUCK you, psycho! "Yeah!, fuck you!" "You’II fucking pay for this! You can’t just harass girls in the Woods! Let’s get out of here” They hid behind some rocks. Maybe I went too far, but hey, they didn't know anything about me, so I might not be so sweet with them. "Hey, did that go okay?" it was Delilah. I thought a little about my answer, tell you what I did. “It went fine. Hopefully there won’t be any more trouble” "Good. Thanks for going down there” I followed my route to return I discovered that it was very far from where I fell in that descent. I had to follow the river. "So… I have a bit of a confession to make" Delilah? "What is it?" "Um... look, I was drunk lash night when I welcomed you to the job" "Yeah, well, you're not the first boss to be guilty of that” "I know. I just… I know I can get a little pushy, putting you on the spot about why you’re out here and stuff“ "It’s fine" "I’II…keep that sort of a thing to a minimum" can notice hers nerves. "Anyway, let me know when you get back to your lookout” It was, until you hear thunder, some storm? "Hey, I heard some thunder" "Yeah, I’ve got eyes on a storm out to the north" "That’s bad, right? Because of the lightning? ” "It just means that we’II be busy Hurry home. And try not to get hit by lightning” “I got hit by lighting when I was nine years old so. I’m safe. It’s not going to strike twice and all that” was in equestria, I explored in the forest, with… with someone. "Well, there was an old lookout named Roy Sullivan, who got hit by lightning seven times." "I don’t like the sound of that" "Yeah. Well, if it makes you feel better, it wasn’t what killed him" "What killed him?" "Suicide. Would you believe?" Without realizing it, lost in conversation, I entered a cave. "What's in this cave down here?" "In Thunder Canyon?" "THUNDER Canyon?" "Hey, I didn’t name it. But in the cave? I don't know, rocks. NFS tells people not to go too far in there. It’s pretty dangerous” "So…?" Sooo I say fuck it. You’re a grown woman. You can go where you want ” "Great. I used to go caving with someone back in... Colorado. She loved it. Might be great to explore it sometime this summer" it was actually in equestria, and she was a co-worker, not a friend. "That could be fun. Obviously, be VERY careful" "This cave is gated off" A metal fence covered the only entrance. "It’s to stop spelunkers from dying without getting the keys from the Forest Service office first" "Makes sense" "Although Debbie says she lost them like three years ago, so, maybe its mysteries are locked away for good" "Ah damn." "Yeah, but maybe you can find another one to get your caving kicks in" "This one’s so closet o home and convenient thought" I pouted. "Aww, sorry Sunny" Defeated, I climbed the stones to get out of the cave. It was already night. How bad I didn't have my flashlight. I knew I will need it. I kept moving forward, not much, because suddenly, someone shone a flashlight on me, but I couldn't see who that figure was. "There’s some guy out here giving me the creeps” "The creeps?" she said. And at that moment he left. "Wait. He’s looking at you? Is he doing anything else? ” "I... I don’t think so?" "Sunset, there’s something I... something someone should’ve told you about this area" “What is it?” "It's outside" "Come on" I wasn't going to let him bother me with horror stories. "The whole thing. And people come and go as they please, It’s…It’s madness! ” "Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it" “Look, bumping into someone in the middle of nowhere is part of the fun” I hate when they make fun of me, but it's still weird. I was also almost close. I climbed over some rocks and came to my tower. I took the opportunity to ask Delilah about the things the job offered me. Like the latrine, a horrible figure of a ranger, the generator. While we were talking, I walked up the stairs and found my laptop on the floor. "Uh…" "What can I do for you?" "Well... my computer is on the ground. Outside of my tower” "Did you bring your computer? You write?" "Yeah—look,…uh, the wind? No. How the hell…” "You should get inside" "Fuck me” I took my laptop, thank goodness, it wasn't broken, despite the fall. That protector Waylon gave me except for all the information I have inside. I went upstairs and saw the broken window, and the place was in disarray. "Someone broke in.” "They what?" “They just, they wrecked the place. Threw my laptop out of the window... MOTHERFUCKER!!” "Holy shit. I’II let the Forest Service know what happened" I went in and closed the door. I put down the laptop and started to collect everything, my books lying around, the open drawers. Luckily my things hadn't been stolen, since they were hidden under the bed, behind one of the drawers. The only thing missing was my sheets. "Okay, I put in a call" "What can they do about it? Will they catch whoever did it?” “This is the Forest Service Sunset, they’re not exactly Hawaii Five-O. Do you have any idea who would’ve done this? ” At this point I thought about that guy with the flashlight, but the girls in the lake, I was more sure of them, they surely got revenge on the radio. "I did probably piss off the girls at the lake... Ugh. Fuck Them!" "Okay, Well, I’II have the rangers keep an eye out for a couple of young women and question any they find. I can't believe someone did that… I can’t believe someone would do this… I worry about bears and fires and that’s about it and now I’ve got to worry about some… what, violent campers?” I finished cleaning and sat on the bed. “Okay, in the morning I'm going to call my friend Patty, who Works the desk down in Cody. They keep a list of everyone who’s officially been in and out of the trailhead since… Well, forever, and see if we can get a list of names” "Thanks" "I need you to feel dafe out here" Well, I don't feel calm at all, it will be hard for me to sleep tonight. "Just point me to the Forest Service weapons cache and I’II feel safer tan the Pope in his lille car“ "Yeah,... someone made the choice years ago that leaving people with infinite amounts of alone time and a gun was kind of a bad idea” "Grenades?" "I’II see what I can do." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You sure are a little bitch, huh Sunset?" Aria smiled. "I'm not proud of having do that Aria, I had future problems because of these girls." "Were you excited to see them~~?" Adagio smiled. "No! I couldn't see them well, it was getting dark and I only saw shadows." "Did you really get hit by lightning?" Sonata asked. "Yes, it was a long time ago." Sunset replied. "And who were you with?" Adagio asked. "With-" The roar of her stomach interrupted her. "Maybe after eating. How long have we been with the story?" "Hours, officially it's already late, what will we eat?" Aria asked looking at Sonata. "This time I don't want to cook! I want Sunset to continue her story!” "What if we order something to eat?" Sunset suggested. "Tacos!" Sonata yelled. “Fuck it, I'm sick of tacos, we've been order for the same thing like four nights. I want pizza." "Tacos!" "Pizza!" "TACOS!" "PIZZA!" "Girls enough! Stop arguing, we will order Chinese food.” said Adagio. "NO!" the two sirens shouted at the same time "Sunset!!" "I-" "Sunny ~~" Adagio whispered sensually and threateningly. "Actually... I want one of those spring rolls." Sunset ran into the kitchen. "I'm going for the phone!"