Free Appalachian Galapagos by Weston Ochse, David Whitman

three of us made it down." He smiled. "The alcohol has worn off now and I think I got some of my sense back. What we did was stupid. We wrecked that boat in the middle of those rapids, and could have been killed. Yet none of us got hurt."
    "That's just luck, Lukas," Jimmy said.
    "You don't really believe that, Jimmy. Remember when Frank didn't want to carry the Bigfoot? I convinced you that God's hand was involved then and you sided with me."
    "I don't know. Maybe I bought it a little...It made sense, but it wasn't like I was totally convinced and ready to chant Jesus' either."
    "Just follow me on this. We took a dangerous journey, one that should have gotten us killed. Then, I go off on this rant about God's hand. That's not even like me to talk like that, man."
    Jimmy grinned. "I agree that it's not like you, man. A typical Lukas conversation usually involves beer or women or WWF or all three. Certainly not God."
    Lukas shot Jimmy a heated stare. "This ain't no time for jokin ', Jimmy. Those dudes upstairs can be down here any minute. You know me well. I've always believed in God. Anyway, I went on that rant about God's hand. I think I was makin ' sense, and I was onto somethin '. You don't think it's just a little bit fucked up that I talk about God's hand, and then ten minutes later we find out the beast I killed is the newly resurrected Jesus Christ to those people up there? We're talkin ' about God's hand and then we find a group of religious fanatics. That's a pretty fucked up thing, don't you think?"
    "You don't really believe that do you, Lukas?" asked Frank. "You don't really believe that the beast you killed is anything holy?"
    "I'm not sure, Frank. Dammit , but how do we know?"
    "Lukas, you sound like a madman. All this shit about God's hand is one thing. I can buy that. He's about all that's going to save us now. But now you are going to say that those lunatics up there are right?"
    Lukas shook his head.
    "I ain't sayin' that at all, Frank. I'm pretty sure it's probably just some kind of weird ape that is supposed to have died off with the dinosaurs. It's just the Bigfoot to me. But the truth is, we don't know what the hell I killed. I do know that I shouldn't have killed it. Beer makes me mean and stupid. You're a smart dude. Coincidences are one thing, but there are so many little things that seem to add up into a pattern. Earlier this afternoon we were stupid and drunk. Now we're sittin ' in a church basement waiting to die. We're missin ' somethin ', here. We need to make it right."
    "What we're missing is a way to survive."
    Lukas shook his head. "I think what we're missin ' is faith. I think what we need to do is pray. I think we need to ask for forgiveness 'cause I'm not ready to die."
    Frank sighed. "You want us to pray, Lukas?"
    "I don't see how it can hurt us, Frank," Jimmy added.
    Lukas held out his hand. "I'm serious. We need to ask for forgiveness. If we have some faith, we just might get ourselves out of this mess."
    Frank took Lukas' hand. "So you're going to ask God for a miracle?"
    "At the moment, do you have a better idea?" asked Lukas, holding his other hand out to Jimmy.
    The men formed a circle, looking down for a moment in silence. Ten seconds went by.
    "I don't know what to say," Lukas said finally.
    "You can start by apologizing for killing that ape," Frank said, still looking down.
    "The Livin ' Earth," Jimmy corrected.
    Lukas snorted. "Jimmy, be serious for one minute. This might be the last time any of us gets to do much of anythin ' ' cept take a long sleep in some backwoods graveyard." He looked up at his friend. "Would you rather go out with a joke, or with a prayer?"
    "Can't I do both?" asked Jimmy.
    Both Frank and Lukas groaned simultaneously. "I don't think God's listening anymore after that remark," Frank said, head still down. "We are totally and completely, utterly fucking dead."
    "He always listens, Frank," Lukas said.
    "I sure hope so," Frank said. "Would you do it