Inflatable Kayak Blog

(Candace Clayton is an author who’s written novels, poetry and other short stories. She was kind enough to write this fictional adventure series specifically for the Inflatable Kayak Blog about ‘The Traveling Man’, a kayaker who tells us tales about his youthful adventures with his buddies on the rivers where he grew up. We hope you are enjoying it!)

When last we ran into our adventurous duo, they were trapped in a cave full of chanting, dancing ghosts. Will The Traveling Man and his buddy John, survive this latest adventure? Let’s rejoin them and find out….

I consider myself a fairly brave man, but I must admit that I was plum terrified. There we were, walking towards a group of ghosts. John was walking so close to me there was a hairs breadth between us. I think he woulda held onto my arm if he’d a thought he could get away with it and not look like a ninny.

One by one those ghosts stopped their chanting and dancing and turned to face us. Then we noticed something about their faces that stopped our fears right in their tracks. Those folks were sad. They had the longest frowns on their opaque faces I had ever seen on any creature. Sad ghosts? What the heck? I turned to look at John and saw he had noticed the same thing I had. Wonder and concern etched John’s normally cheerful face. We picked up our pace and headed over to see what was wrong with these sorrowful folk.

In no time at all we were standing right in front of this group of spectral beings. The one who had beckoned us over seemed to be the fella in charge. He looked right at us and spoke.

“Many moons we have waited. Many moons we have danced. Many moons we have watched. Your arrival signals the end of this test of patience.”

John’s mouth opened in shock and his chin nearly hit the floor of that cave. I just stood there in wonder of what we were witnessing.

“Long ago, through times now forgotten, we were a happy people. Not like you see us now. We celebrated life and the Giver of Life. We had much success in hunting. We had many horses and young, strong braves. We became proud. We became arrogant. We no longer followed the ways of our fathers. We no longer celebrated the Giver of Life. “

John and I sank to the floor and sat down.

“The Giver of Life also gave us the gift of knowledge. This knowledge had enabled us to build our fine canoes. We used these for hunting in the swamps, fishing and gathering of herbs for healing. This freedom we gained from the canoe also increased our arrogance. We claimed we had created the canoe on our own. We refused to teach other tribes the ways of building this life saving gift. The Giver of Life was angry. Our tribe was condemned to this secluded cave, until we were able to help someone in dire need. You are that someone.”

I sat there wondering how lowly little me was gonna help these folks outta their predicament. John and I couldn’t even get ourselves outta the cave. We were lost.

“We are going to lead you two young braves out of the darkness. We will fulfill our destiny and go to our final rest in peace.”

Those were the last words we heard him speak. With a wave of his hand, we found ourselves back in our canoe. We were surrounded by the tribe. Each one emitted a soft blue light. Picking up our paddles, we started out of the cave and into the night.

It was a long trip back to the dock. Each time we started to head in the wrong direction, our guides would gently lead us back on the right path. Anytime a log or tree root blocked our path, they quietly removed it. If we were followed by yellow eyes, half submerged in the water, or heard the slither of a snake, they gently shooed the curious creature away.

Just as the sun was starting to rise, we reached the very dock we had set out from the day before. With the rising of the sun, our guides all looked back towards the swamp and slowly disappeared.

John and I vowed never to speak of this again, as we didn’t want folks thinking we were loony. But, we didn’t let this stop us from adventuring out again. No sirree. We had many other adventures. Like that one time when me and ….

Come back Next month and see what crazy predicaments our two travelers get themselves into.

The author, Candace Clayton, lives in Granbury, Texas with her Husband and family, spending as much time in the outdoors as she can.

(New Chapters of “The Traveling Man” series are published on a monthly basis here in the Inflatable Kayak Blog. Check back soon for another chapter or set your computer to receive our RSS feed and you’ll be informed automatically when the next part of the story will be posted.)