"Mister?"

  The driver blinked again as he looked down.

  "Huh, what?"

  A little boy, probably not older than twelve, was tugging at his shirt; he was fidgeting back and forth on a dusty pair of jogging shoes as he absentmindedly scratched the inside of his nose.

  "What can I do for you kid?"

  "Is this your car mister?"

  "Yes it is," he smiled. "Do you like it?"

  The boy suddenly lunged forward and took hold of the driver's leg. He clasped on to it with a vise-like grip as he looked up and began screaming through horrified eyes.

  "CAN YOU TAKE ME OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS. PLEASE MISTER!"

  With a quick flick of his shin, the boy fell away tumbled a few feet into the street. Other people began to push themselves forward, some of them shoving the boy out of their way as they converged on the startled newcomer.

  "No you're goin' to take me!"

  "The hell with him, take me!"

  "I'll pay you for that seat man!"

  "FOR GOD SAKES! YOU HAVE TO SAVE ME!"

  The driver was shocked and he tried to quickly back away from the rushing mob. Someone grabbed a hold of his long hair and almost pulled him down to his knees as they yanked with panicked ferocity.

  "Get off me! Stop it you bunch of freaks! Let me go!" He flung an older woman off his back and forced his way forward to the driver's side, "get your own cars you lazy bastards. Leave me alone!" He opened the door and hopped inside after punching a crazed visage somewhere in it's left eye. He worked the last of the fingers out of his way and slammed it shut.

  The crowd began to rock the jeep, flinging twenty dollar bills onto his windshield as they continued to scream. He stuck the key into the ignition and turned it. As he put the car in first gear, the gawky store owner jumped on top of his hood and started beating his fists down on the silver metal in a wild rage. Driving slowly forward, he split the crowd apart around his advancing bumpers and sped up when it seemed relatively safe. With a quick turn of the wheel, left then right, his hitchhiker slipped off and tumbled out into the street. He immediately jumped up and started chasing after the jeep.

  The driver adjusted his rearview mirror and saw the crowd wailing and still trying to catch up with him.

  "What the hell is wrong with these people?" They disappeared slowly into the receding scenery. He weaved through a few alleys, dodged an overturned and scorched VW bug, and drove parallel to a small river towards the rising hills in the west. "Can't get out of Paradise fast enough." He moved the sunscreen flap down and took one last look behind him. "Damn."

  The sun would begin to set soon, but he thought he could make it to the mountains before it started; it would probably be a beautiful one too by the looks of it.

  "Greg probably went with a few of his buddies to get stoned or something out in the wilderness. Bunch of flakes."

  He flipped the radio on again and shrugged away the last of the chills that the townsfolk had sent through his spine. The reception flickered in and out as the mountains loomed higher. Off to the side of the trail, out of sight from where he was driving, were the large footprints left by a very beautiful, but very tall and very irate, brunette. A tear or two from a captured ex-boyfriend had fallen, but they had quickly dried in the sunshine before they could make the long distance to the ground.

  "Tornado Laura, HA! Stupid hicks."

  He shifted into fifth and sped up to eighty. Static dominated the speakers and he turned off the radio. The road meandered back and forth as it followed the swift path of the river. It was unusually foamy as it twinkled in the fading daylight, but the driver figured it was due to the rapid current. He came upon a wooden bridge that crossed the water and the road continued off deeper into the mountains after turning where he could no longer see.

  "Hmm, don't want to go too far without a plan."

  He brought the car to a slow stop and set the parking brake. He stepped out of his jeep and stretched, his shoes crunching atop the loose gravel. The air was fragrant with the lovely scent of fresh roses and far away he could hear the roar of a waterfall. He looked over the top of his car and studied the small path that lead roughly upriver.

  "The path probably goes up rather quickly by the sound of that water, I should be able to get a look on where I can go from there."

  He locked and closed the door and, after tying both of his shoes, began trudging up the rocky path.

  The rushing river coated the canyon walls with it's vibrant spray. He picked his way carefully, slipping a few times and almost falling into the brink. He still couldn't see it, but he heard the waterfall coming closer. He turned a sharp corner and came upon a small cavern that looked like it curved upward. A soft breeze was filtering through it, proving it had an opening on the other side. He entered.

  The noise of the close waterfall filled the cavern; drowning out the sound of his movement up the walls as he climbed; his hand dislodged a small rock and he paused to watch it tumble down to the ground that was disappearing down below him. He had always wanted to try his hand at spelunking; now wasn't the time he had in mind, but it was better than never.

  The air was thick with a cool steam that gave the cave a light garden scent. As he continued upward, he began to see a thin shaft of light trying to pierce the foggy darkness. The setting sun was filtering through a large opening ahead and after a few more minutes he was climbing onto a small ledge about two hundred yards above where he started. The driver quickly climbed up a small span of cliff wall and found himself on top of a large mesa.

  The river was flowing up here too. He glanced upstream and watched it curl around an outcropping of rocks and up into the mountains. In the opposite direction, the wide breadth of it constricted as it tried to flow between a clump of bushes along with a thick tree and a few boulders before it poured over the sharp edge. It was the start of his waterfall.

  His long hair was matted against his scalp from the moisture and he ran a slick hand through it to keep it out of his vision. Small shrubs littered the ground and he skipped around them as he walked along the riverbank towards what he had been listening to since the start of his climb. The sun was just starting to nestle on the horizon and a few clouds gave it a comfortable bed to settle down upon. He carefully approached the side and watched as the water accelerated down it's course and plummeted in huge bursts over the side of this natural cliff. The sunset would make it a truly beautiful sight indeed.

  Firmly holding on to a crevice in the rockface, the driver peered over the edge.

  It was astonishing. Red beams of diminishing sunlight bounced off the water and magnified the vibrant color a thousand times over. The white foam it created below was also tinged pink as it churned an eternity's distance below. He tried to get a little closer to the edge to get a better view of the straight, vertical descent.

  The driver sighed at the awesome sight. The water crested over the middle of a large, u-shaped canyon, the walls climbing a little over eighty feet into the air. He looked farther down river and discovered that it turned out to be a series of waterfalls, this one being the tallest before the river continued a good and tumbled into three smaller waterfalls. He assumed it flowed until eventually making it's way to where his jeep was parked. Right below his position, about thirty feet down, there was a large ledge sticking out next to the waterfall. It looked like a small pile or refuse had been carelessly left there to rot in it's solitude.

  "Wait a minute," the driver squinted, trying to focus through the spray that permeated the atmosphere. It was actually a person on that ledge. It looked like a thin man and he was apparently sitting in a beaten dining chair. No, that wasn't quite right. He was tied to it. He was barely moving in fact, the only way he could tell that the man was alive was because he could faintly see his shallow breathing. He brought his hands to his mouth and shouted down.

  "HEY!"

  The man on the ledge shook his head, as if trying to ward away a drunken stupor.

  "HEY! UP HERE!"

  He looked around disoriented for a moment, then glanced up. One of his eyes was swollen shut and a large cut dominated his lower lip.

  "You okay buddy?" The driver studied his face for a second, after replacing his damaged features with fresh ones in his mind, he realized who he was talking to. "You're Greg aren't you? I recognize you from photos I've seen of you and your family back west."

  Greg just sat there staring at him, hundreds of thoughts raced through his befuddled mind and he was desperately trying to sort them out.

  "You look like you're in trouble there friend."

  Something clicked in Greg's head, his eyes widened but he still couldn't formulate what he wanted to say.

  "Tell you what, if you help me out in finding your waste of space brother by answering a few questions ... then I'll help you get back up here. Sound good?"

  Greg sucked in a huge breath and squealed in delight.

  "YOU GOTTA HELP ME MAN! SHE'LL BE BACK ANY SECOND! SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!"

  The driver raised an eyebrow and grimaced, this wasn't exactly the response he was looking for.

  "Sure Greg, I'll help you. Just tell me where..."

  "NO! YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME NOW DAMN IT! SHE JUST DROPPED HER SOAP! IT WON'T TAKE LONG FOR HER TO FIND IT! GET ME OUTTA HERE NOW!" Greg began babbling wildly, hopping up and down in his chair. One of the legs creaked, then snapped, and he quickly fell over. He began sobbing and curled up into the best fetal position the chair allowed.

  "Man, he's worse than the townsfolk." He looked around at he canyon surrounding the waterfall. It looked like there was a huge sheet of leather or burlap a few yards away from him; it was dangling over the boulders on the other side of the river, a thin strap of it hanging down the cliff wall. "Maybe I can use that to get him up..."

  His jaw snapped shut and the color drained out of his face as he saw something new edge it's way into view.

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