The warm wind came off the mountains and blew into the wide red and brown canyons of stone. The day had turned cloudy after a marvelously bright and grand early spring morning in March. The Arizona ground was becoming warm again after a very brutal and icy winter, but it was still only late March and the desert insects had not begun their march out of the ground. Snakes and lizards foraged desperately for any insects or rodents around the barren wasteland of the small canyon. The change in season had not yielded any noticeable changes on the topography of the crimson and dark grey slate.
Not many cars or trucks plied the two lane black top through this area on a daily basis. No one had noticed the broken railing and the tire tracks of Jillian's old Toyota pick up with its rear cap plowed into the brush and rock, just out of view of the road. The daylight grew weaker, the sun obscured by lofty cumulonimbus clouds headed east across the sky for the south west plains.
Tumbleweeds blew down the two lane road in pairs as if part of some obscure country western dance.
Inside the cab of the Toyota, Jillian still had her bloody forehead pressed against the side of the door. A small dried rivulet of blood extended down the side of her beautiful young face, her leather jacket was open, the tee shirt inside untouched by the dust and dirt that blew inside the vehicle from the broken side window. She was just beginning to regain consciousness after her hallucinations had caused her to go astray and end up in the short ditch off the road.
The young woman of only thirty years dreamt of being taken by a wondrous woman of Native American beauty. This woman took her back to her small isolated cabin where she would help her regain her sobriety and help her retreat from her addiction to drugs. The dream seemed so soothing, restful and painless. Her mind fooled her into thinking she was really dead and this was her afterlife. The thoughts only lasted a few seconds in reality. And then she was there.
The strong, dark skinned woman's hand brushed back Jillian's blood encrusted hair and her two fingers felt her carotid artery for her pulse. Jillian seemed okay, almost asleep, and breathed normally. The dark skinned native seemed relieved. This woman seemed to be just suffering from a bad concussion, she thought, but she should help her out anyway. Besides she had nothing to do today and the weather was changing quickly.
"Hey, wake up! Are you Okay? Wake Up!" The dark haired princess said to her in a firm voice, trying to shake her back into consciousness.
"Ummmgahhhhh," Moaned Jillian, as her eyes fluttered open, totally unaware of where she was.
"Wake up, you have to get out of here!" The woman reached in and opened the door and put her strong arm around Jillian and pulled her out of the door slowly. When Jillian's legs hit the ground they buckled as she tried to stand up on her own but almost fell forward. The resourceful, adept woman grabbed her in time and let her sit down against the truck as she tended to her wounded head.
"Where, where am I, what happened to me?" Jillian asked the attractive woman.
"You crashed and went into a ditch."
"What?"
Valerie looked back into the front seat and spotted the bottle of liquor. She smelled it on Jillian's breath too, and knew right away this woman had a problem.
"I need some water, please do you have any water?" Jillian pleaded.
"I'll get some in my jeep, its right back there, hold on, don't move okay?"
"I'm not goin' anywhere," Jillian stated. She felt sick to her stomach and was so groggy everything looked so fuzzy and distorted.
Valerie ran back to her late model jeep and grabbed her emergency first aid box, paper towels and took out a large bottle of water from her cooler. Luckily Jillian didn't require any stitches to close the wound to her forehead. A few bandages and some water to her face with a few paper towels and Jillian was fully conscious again and the enormity of her actions hit her emotionally.
The young woman wept uncontrollably. Heavy sobs flowed from her face and her entire body shook with apparent grief at her situation. She had borrowed the money to buy the used truck from a girl friend. Jillian had no savings and very few possessions. She was heading to an ex- boyfriend's house to see if he would put her up for a while and help her dry out. This was Jillian's bottom. Now she was broke, had no job, no home and owed a good girlfriend the cash for the vehicle. Usually these depressing thoughts were enough to trigger her desire to drink until the pain of life subsided into the alcoholic haze and she would awaken on her bed with the splitting headache and the same situation to deal with all over again.
Although Jillian didn't have any desire or awareness of how God worked in her life, she knew that somewhere inside of her, she had a Higher Power. She would curse and insult religious folks all the time with her foul mouth, but deep inside she knew, that her Higher Power would indeed help her out someday. This was the beginning. It was literally the spark that lit the fire inside her that brought her back to life.
"Hey, its going to be okay, you're not hurt bad and this truck can be pulled out and made right again, don't worry," Valerie said in a very positive way. Valerie placed her hand on Jillian's shoulder, and placed her hand under Jillian's chin and wiped away some of the tears that still flowed freely down her face. The woman's hand felt warm and yet firm, as if she was so sure everything would be okay.
"What's you're name?" Jill asked her.
"I'm Valerie, Valerie Pierce. I live close to here and I want you to come back with me and let me help you out," Valerie said, the words fell from her lips and surprised herself, as she had been in hiding for some time.
"I'm Jillian, thank you for helping me out," The young woman said sincerely.
"I drove by and spotted your truck sticking out of the brush, I couldn't leave you here," Valerie said as she cleaned her up with the paper towels.
Valerie had come into a small fortune and invested it as securely as she could.
Her family of Native Americans had owned part of trading company and when her parents died, they left her in charge of the money. She knew that all the low- life men in her town would come after her for it, so she hid out, and then left the area.
She found a remote cabin and raised a few dogs. She fished, hunted and lived off the land the way she always had envisioned.
Valerie had spent serious time in recovery from alcohol and drugs before coming into the money. She had been determined to stay off alcohol especially after she became rich, and has succeeded. But with recovery came intense loneliness and now she had no friends and only a few dogs to keep her company through the stark , cold winter. She shunned going back to AA meetings in the small town where she found recovery because of the gossip and knowledge about her inheritance. Every week, Valerie would drive the fifty odd miles to the nearest large city and keep her recovery real by going to a meeting. Sometimes she would even stay to the end.
