HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021190.jpg

achievement, like taking a piece of that serenity and putting on paper for me to keep in my heart where it still is today, closing my eyes I am able to see it, being there anytime I need to. I was enjoying the heat and taking in the deserts sights when I stumbled off the track and into the wildemess. Exploring everything new to me was my second nature and never even entered my mind what would’ve happened if I went too far or got lost. | would rather face Mother Nature’s wrath than humankind’s any day! After about an hour of drifting off track I came to a pile of rubble, looking like the remnants of an old pueblo made out of clay and rock. I picked up what looked like half of a clay bowl and noted that it had Indian designs etched into the side of it. Excited about my findings I decided to do some more exploring around the fields surrounding the historic site. I collected rare pieces of arrowheads, utensils, and parts of many broken bowls with artwork telling tales of their own. Time was of no essence here and before I even realized the sun had sunk deeper into the hills leaving me without any light to find my way back to the pathway. Feeling silly now after passing by a familiar looking boulder twice over, I was startled when I heard some poor animal become dinner for another, it’s screams of agony only amplified louder and echoed in my car drums, heightening the hairs on the back of my neck and making my heart beat nearly out of my chest. I was lost and confused before but now I was petrified with fear. Taking me over three hours to find my way back to the path and in the direction of Jeffrey’s mansion was a mission, so relieved in the end and so were the housemaids after I hadn’t showed up for dinner, assuming I must’ve been out for one of my usual adventures. I went to bed strenuously exhausted that night and as | was falling asleep the phone rang, it was a call from Jeffrey who had been alerted of my disappearance. “What happened tonight, one of the maids called me to tell me you hadn’t come back from your walk this evening” Detecting a tone of anger in his voice I tried to distract him by telling him of my findings and he scolded me for being gone for so long without anyone knowing where I was. Going back to the Indian remnants, I persisted on telling him what T had found. In the end he was just worried about me becoming a liability, but had to make it sound as if he cared. ‘‘ Don’t worry Jeffrey, I won’t be doing that again. I can honestly say I have learned my lesson and the next time I want to explore | promise to take someone with me”. J satisfied his worry of me being a future nuisance and with that I was finally able to tell him what I had discovered on my walk. He was impressed but did not sound surprised. “You must’ve been gone a long time if you found the old Indian pueblo’s, just be careful you don’t say anything about where you found the stuff on my property, it 91 (2 Copyright Protected Material CONFIDENTIAL GIUFFREO04224 could become a sight for historical preservation and that means the government could ultimately own my land.” T acknowledged his request and told them they were just a gift for my Mom, who was in love with Indians “Wait until she see’s I brought her back real artifacts, she is going to totally freak out.” He didn’t mind that I was taking them. In fact he admired my curiosity and adventurous spirit. He reminded me that tomorrow was my last day. | would be driven to the Albuquerque International Airport the day after next, to meet Jeffrey in New York, for how long, only he knew. Giving Jeffrey many thanks for a great week, letting him know how much I appreciated these small breaks away, we then said goodnight. Hanging up the phone | had caught my second wind and set out to the kitchen to find a late-night snack. Raiding the fridge and pantry, I found some frozen pizzas and popcorn. | put on a movie and munched on the popcorn while the pizza cooked. Some 1980’s dreadful alien flick got the better of me that night. It was based on a true story about people abductions from extraterrestrial beings, which were, like | was, visiting a remote area. I suddenly hated being alone on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. | munched down my burnt, crunchy pizza and became further enveloped in the thick plot. Leaving on the TV and the lights on that night, I spent my night tossing and turning, peeking through the small open crevices of the comforter, half expecting to see an alien being in my bedroom. Living through the night was a relief and J laughed at myself in the morning, how spooked did I get? When I got to New York, Jeffrey, and Ghislane had a good laugh over my tale of survival in the wilderness and then the alien scare. “Your always having the best adventures” Ghislane exclaimed. We were similar in that way, both being s bit of free spirits it was really only her non-existence of moral standards that differentiated the two of us, in that way. “How do you know you weren’t abducted and probed? I mean look at you and all that time alone on the ranch, what do you think Jeffrey, could she pass off as an alien?” Expectedly, Ghislane poked fun at me, her usual fun past time. Our relationship was an odd one, never threatened by each other but always precautious towards one another nonetheless able to crack a joke together, but when it came time to “work” it was no fun and games, she was intensely serious. “With a sense of humor like yours I would tend to think that you are the one from another planet.” Just friendly banter between the two of us, then Jeffrey had to jump in with his two bits, “I think you might be onto something Ghislane.” I squinted my eyes and gave them both an exaggerated death stare and pretended to grab my stomach in pain, “I think some things trying to get out of me”, putting my fist in my shirt to reenact a scene from Alien, I fell onto the couch and faked my death. “I knew it” Ghislane shouted and jumped on me to begin tickling me all over and we 92 M1 Copyright Protected Material CONFIDENTIAL HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021190 GIUIFREGO$225