Oscar Meyers Part 2: Academia By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2005 Chapter 34 The horse shook its head and danced sideways as a result of the horsefly. Oscar leaned over and patted the horse on the neck. The horse calmed down. Looking over at Debbie and Georgia on their horses, he said, “Tell me again how it is that you know how to ride.” Debbie rolled her eyes and said, “I’m a girl, girls love horses, and I grew up in the country. Add all of that together and you get the fact that it was absolutely necessary for me to learn how to ride. That was when I was a little girl.” “I took riding lessons because riding a horse made me feel real good,” Georgia answered with a grin. She winked at Debbie knowing that she would understand exactly what she meant by feeling real good. Wanapitz, an elderly man who appeared to be in his early eighties, looked over at the trio and said, “It is time we hit the trail.” “Okay,” Oscar said staring at his horse with an edge of distrust. Wanapitz nudged his horse forward expecting the others to follow behind him. Debbie and Georgia followed behind the elderly man. Oscar looked down at his horse and said, “Go.” When nothing happened, he tried to nudge the horse with his heels. It moved forward three steps and stopped. Oscar leaned over and said, “You and I are about to have some problems.” The horse ignored Oscar in the manner of all horses that are unimpressed with their rider. Oscar kicked the horse a little harder and it moved forward a couple of more steps. When it went to stop, Oscar used his heels just a little harder. Deciding that it had enough of that, the horse bucked. Georgia happened to look back at Oscar in time to see the horse attempt to get rid of its rider. It was an unsuccessful attempt as were the several attempts that followed. Oscar relaxed and rode the bucking horse. When it finally calmed down, he nudged it with his heels. The horse turned its head and looked back at him. Grinning at his troubles, Georgia called back, “Quit playing with the horse.” Oscar glared in her direction and said, “I’m not playing. This horse is broken. It doesn’t go where I tell it.” Debbie and Georgia turned their horses to watch Oscar try to get his horse moving. They laughed so hard that they were practically falling out of their saddles. Frustrated, Oscar climbed out of the saddle and walked in front of the horse. Pulling the reins, he led the horse over to where the two girls were waiting for him. Wanapitz turned and looked back at the trio. Riding over to them, he asked, “What’s the matter? Did it throw you off?” “It’s broke,” Oscar said. Concerned, Wanapitz climbed off his horse and went over to Oscar’s horse. He examined the animal with great care and said, “I don’t find anything wrong with it. What’s the matter?” “It’s broke. It doesn’t go where I tell it to go.” Wanapitz looked at Oscar as if he were an alien from outer space. Raising an eyebrow, he said, “You don’t know how to ride, do you?” “Well, not exactly,” Oscar answered feeling a little embarrassed. He had assumed that the Gods and Goddesses would have given him the skill to ride a horse. “Get on the horse,” Wanapitz said sounding a little frustrated. They should have left an hour earlier, but the trio seemed to have frittered away their time getting ready. Once Oscar was on the horse, Wanapitz grabbed the reins and led the horse over to his horse. He climbed up and nudged his horse forward. Oscar’s horse followed along without complaint. He muttered, “I’m getting too old for this.” Georgia and Debbie rode beside Oscar. Georgia said, “Little Oscar can’t ride.” “Poor little Oscar,” Debbie said with a little pout on her face. Smiling at him, she added, “The horsy doesn’t want to play nice.” Oscar grumbled while holding onto the saddle horn. He didn’t appreciate the humor of the situation when the pair of women started laughing. Turning to them, he said, “It wouldn’t start for me.” The two girls burst out laughing again. Even Wanapitz turned and looked at Oscar like he was crazy. Unable to believe that he would ever have this conversation, Wanapitz said, “It is not a car, it is an animal. You don’t start an animal.” “So how do you make it go?” Oscar asked. It took the rest of the day, but Oscar finally learned enough about controlling the horse to ride it without being led. Debbie and Georgia had enjoyed the entire afternoon. It was more than just the entertainment value provided by Oscar. The rubbing of the saddles had a pleasurable effect on the women. Of course, the saddle had just the opposite effect on Oscar. When he got off of the horse when they stopped for the night, he walked like a horse was still between his legs. Looking around the campsite, Oscar said, “We are definitely in Kansas.” “It’s so flat,” Debbie said. She turned around looking at the horizon. There was a farmhouse and a telephone pole visible in the distance. She said, “There’s nothing out here.” “What are we doing here?” Oscar asked. All he knew was that Wanapitz had said that he would be shown one of the great spiritual sights of the plains Indians. “You will see tomorrow,” Wanapitz answered. “You said that we would see it today,” Oscar said. Wanapitz replied, “That was before we found out that you didn’t know how to ride a horse. We would have been there two hours ago.” “Sorry. How was I supposed to know that there was more to riding a horse than staying on it?” Oscar asked. The four of them went through the process of setting up a camp and preparing dinner. They finished eating just before sunset. While the sky was getting darker, Oscar said, “I didn’t realize you enjoyed camping, Debbie.” “It is okay. I much prefer roughing it in a four star hotel,” she replied with a smile. She had gone camping several times as a girl scout, although it wasn’t under conditions this rough. There were pleasant memories of eating S’mores around the campfire with the other girl scouts. Leaning back onto his sleeping bag, Oscar pointed up in the sky and said, “The stars are starting to come out.” “There will be a lot of stars this far from civilization,” Georgia said. It reminded her of the night sky in Afghanistan. It had been isolated there and the stars had covered the sky. When the moon was full, it was bright enough to read a newspaper. “It reminds me of Afghanistan,” Oscar said. “I was just thinking that,” Georgia said with a laugh. Listening to the two of them compare their impressions of that far away land, Debbie wished that she had a chance to share that time with them. Georgia always had a very special tone in her voice that spoke of longing when she mentioned Afghanistan. She sighed and said, “It must have been wonderful there.” Georgia laughed and said, “It was anything but wonderful. It was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I’ll never forget the dust. The dust was year round.” “Still, you speak of it with such fondness,” Debbie said. The truth was that Georgia had enjoyed being a warrior. For the first time in her life she had felt complete and able to explore aspects of herself that civilization had denied her. There had been very little about her at the time that was lady-like. She dressed in fatigues, wore combat boots, and, at times, carried a gun. Georgia answered, “You wouldn’t have recognized me back then.” “What was it like?” Looking over at Oscar, Georgia said, “We were alone there. With just the two of us, we tended to seek comfort with each other at every opportunity.” Debbie was quiet for a moment and then asked, “Are you unhappy that I …” Shaking her head, Georgia interrupted, “Not for one minute. When I said that we were alone there, I meant that we were alone there. Even though we were training people, most of the time we were the only ones in camp. We were both lonely for much of the time.” “You had him to yourself,” Debbie said pointing to Oscar. She noticed that he had fallen asleep. “Now we not only have each other, but we also have you. I think that is an improvement,” Georgia answered. She turned to get confirmation from Oscar and saw that he was sound asleep. Chuckling, she said, “It’s at times like now that having you around is a real advantage.” They left early the next morning. After riding for two hours, Oscar felt that they had officially reached the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t a human structure to be seen anywhere. Wanapitz said, “We’ve finally made it.” Turning to the old man, Oscar asked, “You say we’re there?” “Yes,” the old man answered. He climbed off his horse and stretched. There were times when he truly felt his eighty years. Walking over to a bare patch of ground, he squatted and grabbed a short stick that was lying on the ground. Holding up the stick, he said, “This is the place. Come here.” Dismounting, Oscar walked over to where Wanapitz was squatting. Even after just two hours of riding, he was walking bowlegged and wondered if he would ever walk right again. Looking at the stick, he said, “You say that we came all the way here to look at that stick.” Chuckling at the comment, Wanapitz rose with a general creaking of bones and handed the stick to Oscar. He said, “Hold this down so that it touches the ground.” Oscar followed the instructions looking over at Georgia and Debbie feeling like a fool. The old man shook his head and said, “Hold it out as far from you as you can while still touching the end of it to the ground.” Oscar adjusted his position and asked, “Like this?” “Yes, now rotate around dragging the stick through the dirt,” Wanapitz said. Oscar did as he was told. When he had returned to his initial position, he asked, “Now what?” “What did you draw in the dirt?” Oscar looked around and then answered, “A circle.” “What is at the center of the circle?” “I am,” Oscar answered wondering what the point of the entire exercise was. It seemed to him that they had come a long way just to draw circles in the dirt. He could have done that back at the Native American College. “Now hold out the stick so that it points to the horizon and then rotate while watching the end of the stick,” Wanapitz said with a smile. Oscar did as he was instructed. Throughout his turn, the stick had remained pointed at the horizon. Anticipating the next question, he said, “It stayed pointing at the horizon.” “What shape did it trace out?” “A circle,” Oscar said. He thought about it for a second and then realized the significance of his answer. He repeated, “It traced out a circle.” “That’s right. What is at the center of the circle?” “I am,” Oscar answered. Thinking it was a phenomenon that was isolated to this one location, Georgia said, “Cool. That really is a magical spot.” Amused at her comment, Wanapitz pointed to Oscar and said, “Move over there a ways and do it again.” Oscar repeated his action and found the same result. After he reported his findings, Georgia said, “He’s still close to this spot. I doubt he’d be able to tell the difference.” Smiling at Georgia’s innocent comment, Wanapitz said, “Ride fifteen minutes in any direction and try it again.” Looking at Debbie and Georgia, Oscar got on his horse and rode north for fifteen minutes. He stopped and looked around. He repeated the experiment expecting to get the same result. He rode back to the other three at a slower pace while thinking about what he had learned. When he arrived, he said, “I got the same result.” “No matter where you go in the plain, the horizon forms a circle with you at the center,” Wanapitz said. He stretched and twisted with a groan. There was a loud pop from one of his knees. He pointed to the horizon. After turning in place, he said, “The horizon forms a circle with me at the center. Such is the way of the plains. The horizon forms a great circle centered on each person.” Not believing Wanapitz, Georgia dismounted from her horse. Holding out her arm, she swept out the horizon while turning in place. She saw that it did form a circle with her at the center. Eyes wide, she said, “It’s true.” “We each walk in the center of our own world. Remember that. When you lose yourself, you can always go to a flat place to find yourself. You will be the one standing at the center of a great circle,” Wanapitz said while watching Oscar’s expression. Nodding his head, Oscar said, “Thank you for showing this to me.” Wanapitz said, “We normally leave a student out here for three days to fully grasp the experience. Each student comes out here alone.” Debbie had been silent throughout the entire explanation thinking about the consequences. Even after Wanapitz and Oscar had mounted their horses, she sat there deep in thought. Looking over at Wanapitz, she said, “This is so sad.” Raising both eyebrows, Wanapitz asked, “Why?” “We are each the center of a great circle, but no two people share the same circle.” “That is another great truth that comes from this experience. We each live in our own world defined by the great circle. No two of us share an identical world,” Wanapitz said. “It makes me feel lonely,” Debbie said. Georgia said, “I know what you mean. I look around and it is like the world and the sky goes on forever. It forces me to realize just how small I am.” “That is another great truth that comes from this experience. That lesson is really brought home at night,” Wanapitz said nodding at Georgia. “It’s a strange mixture of truths. We feel important because we are the center of our world. We feel alone because none can share our world with us. We feel small because the world is so big that we are nothing in comparison,” Oscar said. “You have spoken a great truth. In one hour, you have seen the great secret of the plains.” “It is not a secret of the plains. It is only here that it is easy to discover that secret.” Wanapitz nodded; pleased to see that the three had picked up the lesson so quickly. He said, “Let’s ride out. We need to get back to the house so that you can leave in the morning.” As they rode, Georgia asked, “Why did you require us to ride so far?” “Look around you. There isn’t a man made structure in sight. There are no telephone poles, houses, windmills, or even fences. This is one of the few places left where you can stand and see nothing made by man,” Wanapitz said. Grinning, he added, “It is also flat as Kansas.” “We are in Kansas,” Debbie said automatically. Lost in his thoughts, Oscar missed the exchange about Kansas. His thoughts were on the comment that this was one of the few places where one could stand and see nothing made by man. As far as Oscar was concerned it was a sad commentary on the expansionist nature of man. He rode in silence for a minute and then said, “There are the national parks.” “Even the large national parks are cut through with roads and dotted with fences and other structures. They aren’t as untouched as here,” Wanapitz said with a sad expression. It seemed to him that the natural world was disappearing. Even here, the land was covered with wheat rather than Buffalo Grass. In a few weeks, great combines would come through and harvest the wheat. The combines would be followed by trucks. Once the wheat was gone, the combines would leave, but the plain would remain. Georgia listened to the exchange and said, “At least the electric lines are gone and the telephone poles are only isolated microwave towers. The fusion battery of John Carter eliminated a lot of eyesores.” “It also made it possible for people to live in remote locations,” Wanapitz said. With cheap power, there were people who lived in the most inhospitable places in the world. He had heard about a man who lived near the artic circle in a house that was heated and powered by a fusion battery. The man grew all of his own food using grow lights and hydroponics. He sighed and said, “As a result, there are very few remote locations any more.” The ride back to the house where they had started was taken in silence. As they rode, Oscar occasionally looked up at the sky watching the sun make its way across the heavens. He didn’t need to wonder what it would have been like to be left alone out here. He had experienced the same isolation in the past. Even then, there had been people in the most unlikely of places. Before reaching the farmhouse, Oscar asked, “Why were you the one to take me out there?” “Why do you ask?” Wanapitz asked. “You don’t seem to be of an age to do this every three days,” Oscar answered. Laughing, Wanapitz said, “We can’t put anything over on you.” “So answer the question.” “Kotyit told me that you were special. He hinted that if I went out there with you that I might learn why you are special.” Oscar studied the elderly man and then looked around. Leaning over to Wanapitz, he asked in a low voice, “What do you know about William Redman Carter?” “I’m not sure what you are asking about.” “His special abilities,” Oscar hinted. “Do you mean his ability to talk to animals or his ability to see the future?” “The later,” Oscar answered. Wanapitz was quiet for a minute and then said, “When I was teaching at the College, William was one of my students. He had this uncanny ability to know what was going to happen before it happened. I asked him about it one day and he told me that he could see the future. I believed him.” “William said that I am to bring peace to the Middle East,” Oscar said. The old man nodded his head and thought about the number of men who had died while lifting the ancient curse that had been put upon the Native Americans. He said, “Great magic carries a great price.” “Yes, it does.” Looking over at Oscar with a sad expression on his face, he asked, “Do your lady friends know this?” “Yes,” Oscar answered with a curt nod of his head. “I imagine they are not too happy about that.” “You can say that again.” It went far to explain why they were unwilling to allow Oscar to make this trip alone. He thought about the price that Oscar would have to pay. The idea that someone so young would have to pay such a high price saddened him. Shaking his head, he said, “I hope that I’m dead before you do that.” “Why?” Oscar asked. He thought that most people would like to know that there would be peace before they died. “I would not like to watch what happens to you. I like you. I think you are a very funny man,” Wanapitz said as Georgia and Debbie rode up to join them. Having only caught the last bit of what the old man was saying, Debbie asked, “Who is funny?” “Oscar.” Georgia asked, “Why do you say that he’s funny?” “My horse is broke because it doesn’t go where I tell it to go. You have to admit, that is funny.”