Ron Helmboldt

Fly off the Mountain Ron Helmboldt

Blinking lights ahead broke the early dimness that held this Montana morning in a light fog. The lights glowed larger than the simple, yellow bulbs they were. The yellow beacons announced Pete's Crossroads Café. Tires crunching the cold, hard gravel, Scott eased his pickup into the parking lot This is a story of strong love. Scott loved the mountains and all they gave him. The rugged beauty of sunrises turning the peaks and canyons shades of blue, brown, gold, orange, green. The sparkling streams splashing over rocks and gliding past meadows, hiding speckled trout and bringing a cool drink to grazing antelope, mule deer, and the majestic elk. Then Scott found love of a different kind. Love that thrilled him, captured his heart, changed his life. Love that betrayed him and crashed the world he was building. What happens when the love you build your life on turns bad? Turns your whole existence upside down? Rips your insides out?