The Pendleton Panther

My first volcano hiking was when I was seven years old. My father´s family owns a coffee farm that takes part of the Acatenango Volcano. The Acatenango, as it is named, is the third tallest volcano in Guatemala out of more than twenty in the entire country. Acatenango is about four thousand meters high or about thirteen thousand feet. The farm’s inner roads go into the volcano as high as three thousand meters, meaning that we had to hike about one thousand meters to the first peak. Acatenago has to peaks with a difference of approximately three hundred meters. The views are incredible.

Our last time at Acatenango, about three years ago, my family and some friends, went to see the volcano. Of course, not everyone could conquer the second peak, and some take more than one hour to get to the first one. We began walking up at around four pm, expecting to have the camp ready by six pm. We get to gather, as we go up the volcano, some firewood for the night. We stay up in to the night singing, telling stories, and basically hanging out. Reaching the second peak is the next early morning challenge, but running the volcano downhill is the best part.

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Duba. She was short and blonde and had a very nice eyebrow ring.  Every day she went skipping around to school, croquet, and searching for her prince.  Unfortunately, she met a lot of evil pirates along the way.  One was very large and bribed her with soda.  Another was a big strong basketball player that captured her and took her away to the far away island of Palmetto.  On one particularly sad, rainy day Duba was having her acrylic nails put on when she heard a knock on the door.  Her tall, handsome, well-dressed father Bergei answered the door.  A young lad in white tights and a sword drove up in his silver carriage with his crazy curly-haired knight.  The lad was very handsome with red hair and a nicely shaped beard.   He asked Bergei’s permission to see Duba, for he heard she was quite a fair maiden.  Bergei slammed the door in the poor lad’s face.  A week later, Duba was outside of Seven Eleven when the lad approached her.  “Hello,” he said.  “My name is Vom.”  They fell instantly in love.  Duba and Vom spend days together walking the beach, sharing secrets and reading eachother poetry.  One day, Bergei saw them together.  He told Duba she was forbidden to talk to him or see him ever again, that she was too young and needed to focus on croquet.  This made Duba very sad.  Fortunately, Duba met a very nice, happy girl named Fana.  Fana and Duba became best friends and Fama helped Duba with all of her problems and vice-versa.  Fama had a blackberry which Duba used to call Vom.  They spoke every night for 2 hours.  Fana didn’t mind that her phone bill was in the thousands because she knew Duba was happy and that made her happy.  One day, Bergei eat a magical piece of fruit shaped like a heart that made him open to the idea of a relationship between Von and his daughter.  Now, Duba, Von, Bergei, and Fana are all close friends.  They go fishing, shoe shopping, out to fancy restraunts and help eachother with their diets.  They all lived happily ever after.

When I stepped outside, upon the barrage of noise, I took a moment to look up into the sky. It was in this moment my eyes were filled for the very first time. So vast and so devouring, my pupils became consumed with the stars above. In a state of peace, it was when my eyes absorbed the spectrum of stars. I noticed for the first time how fortunate I am. For, at the same time I looked into the sky, so did a boy whose life was far different then mine. This boy, unlike me, is faced with dying every day. At the end of his day, he walks out onto the barren land and walks far from the safety of his mother. He knew if his mother ever caught him he would be in a great deal of trouble. What drives him to rebel from his mother’s wishes is not because he wishes to upset her. It is simply because after a long day filled with fear he wishes to simply look up into the sky. To be able to feel free and have a sense of comfort knowing he is all alone with nature. While my eyes are still consumed with the stars, this young boy’s desire to live is driven by the stars. He realizes that if he does not survive he will never see the beauty that most men oversee. This, in fact, scares him more then dying.  — Greg Romein