Free Outview by Brandt Legg Page B

the oldest?”
    “Not technically because each individual
tree only lives like a hundred thirty years. The oldest single tree is a
bristle cone pine called Methuselah, also in California. It’s almost five
thousand years old.”
    “Wow!” Linh said.
    “There was an even older one in Nevada
named Prometheus, but some grad student cut it down in 1964 to find out how old
it was.”
    “You’re kidding!” Linh said. “Was he
arrested or anything?”
    “No. There are different accounts of
whether he actually knew what he was doing but . . . I mean it’s really a crime
what we do to trees. The cure for all our diseases is probably in the
rainforests, but we may never know.”
    “It’s sad,” Linh shook her head.
     
    It was just after eight a.m. when we
arrived. I’d been to Crater Lake before, but something was different this time.
The glassy indigo water reflecting cotton clouds and two thousand foot volcanic
cliffs disoriented me. Only the pines, firs, hemlocks, and the solitary Wizard
Island rising out of the incredibly deep lake kept me from falling down. Gravity
also helped. It was cooler because the elevation was over a mile higher than
Ashland, and, although it was a beautiful day, it smelled like snow as always
because the lake was filled almost entirely by snowmelt. The silence sounded
like meditation, but slowly I began to hear a rush of water, lava, and steam.
It grew so loud that I screamed to Linh and Kyle, “What’s that noise?”

 
     
    17
     
     “What noise?” Kyle asked, just mouthing
words because I could hear nothing above the roar, which increased to the point
I believed the lake might erupt. A shimmering ripple crossed the surface of the
water, then instantly, complete silence. A tall, Indian-looking old man emerged
from the trees, scruffy, leathery, long, thin, tangled gray hair, light gray
pants and white shirt faded and worn.
    “You boy, you shouldn’t be here.”
    “Excuse me?” Kyle answered.
    “Not talking to you. It’s that one.” He
waved a spindly finger at me. “He shouldn’t be here yet.”
    “Why not?”
    “You’re not ready to be here . You’ve
not studied; you’ve not practiced. You ain’t even awake yet.”
    “I think you’re confused,” Kyle said
gently.
    “Confused? I’m way beyond confused, but
you’re not even up to confused yet, so maybe you should mind your own
business.” The old man wasn’t aggressive or threatening, but he didn’t look
like he was going to leave. I was uncomfortable, but at the same time he was
magnetic, like a bristly, cranky old college professor adored by his students
because of his sheer brilliance.
    “Look, could you just please leave us
alone?” Kyle tried once more.
    “There are three of you, so even if I did
leave, you wouldn’t be alone. I belong here, so I’ll not be leaving.” He threw
a stick at me. “What about you, Nathan?” Linh gasped, and Kyle looked at me
with stunned concern.
    “How do you know my name? Who are you?”
    “If you were supposed to be here, you would
know my name already. I’m the Old Man of the Lake.”
    “Okay, old man, how do you know his name?” Kyle
asked.
    “Listen to me. I’m not just some old man;
I’m the Old Man of the Lake. And I already told you to mind your own
business, Dac.” He called Kyle by his Vietnamese name, which almost no one
knew.
    “Seriously, who are you?” Kyle was looking
around, worried. I was scanning the area as well, remembering Amparo’s warning
that we were in danger.
    “Could you just tell us who you are and how
you know our names?” I asked.
    “Nathan Ryder, everyone knows your name,
just not yet.” We stared at him. He looked straight at me.
    Linh broke the silence, “Do you want us to
leave?”
    “Doesn’t matter what I want. He just ain’t
going to understand this place yet.”
    “Would you explain it to me?” I asked.
    “Sure thing, Nayyy-thonn, then I’ll teach
you about the origin of the universe, how to walk on water,