Death by Facebook (42 page)

Larry
couldn't believe it. The moped and its rider were sailing over the
edge of the pit, into the brief space between life and certain
destruction.

The
young officer watched in some confusion as the moped seemed to drop
from view. He began running a little closer, maybe she had fallen
down and he could still capture her.

Janet
felt her heart racing as the moped slowly fell away from beneath her.
Spreading her arms out wide, she finally felt free. The static was
gone, the banshee left behind, the pain in her legs forgotten.
Upside down and slowly spinning backwards she wondered for a moment
if the boiling lava would hurt when she landed.

It
didn't.

~~~

Larry
circled around another two times, half expecting what he had seen to
have been an illusion. The wind shifted back to calm and went back
to hiding the lava lake. He watched the police officer turn and
began hiking back to the trail head. The radio was trying to get his
attention.

“
Larry!
Larry! The moped!” A pause. “Over.”

Circling
higher and higher, moving slowly upwind and away from the plume Larry
called in.

“
Jack,
moped went into the lava lake. Over.” His voice fought to
control the emotion. Crazy or not, suicide was depressing.

The
radio was silent for almost a full minute before Jack got back.

“
Roger
that Larry. We ...” His radio stopped abruptly.

Larry
figured Jack must be talking with someone else, until he felt the
rumble in the air. Long low sound waves were moving up toward him,
pressing into his skin. He looked down to see several of the cliffs
of Kilauea crater collapsing.

“
Earthquake,”
he whispered to himself. “Shirley!” Larry yelled out.
Quickly, he called her on the cell phone. He got two rings and then
heard the connection click dead.

Circling
around Larry watched as more of the crater walls slid down, carrying
trees and large parts of the jungle with them. He could hear them
now, and a ripping sound like aluminum foil being torn.

“
Geez,
this a big one.”

Larry
flew closer to the Volcanoes Observatory, watching more windows break
out and a part of the roof slump down. It looked like everyone was
outside in the parking lot, waving at him.

“
Jack,
come in! Jack!”

All
he heard was static, a massive release of static that made him look
at the tuner, thinking he had gone off frequency. In a few seconds
it cleared and he heard Jack calling back.

“
Jack,”
Larry said. “You guys OK down there?”

“
Yeah,
I think so. That had to be a 7.5!” Jack's voice was wavering.
It could have been the electricity in the air from the quake, but
Larry thought it was probably that he was scared to death.

Circling
once more Larry noticed something dramatic in the lava lake.
Halema'uma'u walls had collapsed as well, sending vast amounts of
cold rock into the lava lake, and the plume had vanished!

~~~

Wally
felt the quake easily through the sand of the beach, turned to Star,
grabbed her arm and literally pulled her into his boat. He dropped
the engine into the water, slammed it into reverse and backed away.
Three minutes later they were both in the deep water, approaching the
flotilla of boats parked there.

“
Oh,
my god!” Star exclaimed, looking back to the beach.

Wally
figured the tsunami was already sweeping the beach and turned to
look. Nothing.

“
What
Star?”

She
was crying though, and jumping up and down on the deck, throwing her
arms out in a victory dance.

“
What?
Star?”

All
she could do was point, not to the beach, but toward the cinder cone.

“
Shit!”
Wally whistled. The cinder cone eruption had stopped. Stopped
pumping lava and smoke. The last of its plume could be seen several
hundred feet above it, slowly rising, disconnected from his creator
and dissipating.

He
looked to the southwest for Halema'uma'u's plume and saw the same
thing, a small cloud moving up and away from where a semi permanent
column had been for years.

With
the trade winds working their magic it only took about twenty minutes
for the southern Big Island coastline and rising land behind the sea
to once again shine. Shine clear in the sparkling tropical air. In
the distance the snow capped Mauna Loa summit shimmered against the
dark blue of a distant sky.

20

The
Lava Lounge had been open a week now after the massive 8.2 quake had
silenced the 30 year eruption of Kilauea, Halema'uma'u and of course
the Kapoho Cinder Cone. Scientists from all over the world were
packed inside enjoying their first Lava Lager along with Larry
Larson, Shirley and the local crew.

Jack
and Alice felt it was time to let it all hang out in public and were
smooching it up in the corner booth. All the Volcanoes Observatory
crew were there. It had been an intense couple of weeks since the
Kapoho event had begun and everyone was enjoying some relaxation on
the tab of the Lead Scientist.

Word
was out around the world that the longest recorded eruption of modern
times was over. The people that lived on the Big Island were
especially thrilled. The vog had finally cleared, swept away for the
last time by some nice trade winds and their showers. It was the
pristine Hawaii that everyone remembered from their small kid days.

Larry
watched the door to the bar open again, this time to whistles and
hoots.

“
Oh
my god, those guys! Again?”

The
bartender looked over at the door where Larry was staring.

The
five head lamp characters were back, sans the headlamps but wearing
blue and white striped ball caps this time. They all sauntered up to
the bar, saw Larry and immediately surrounded him.

“
Hey,
Larry! How you doing buddy?” Everett asked.

Larry
turned around, smiling. It was going to be a party after all.

“
Let
me see now, Pat, John, Dave, Tim and of course, Everett.”

“
Wow,
great memory Larry,” Pat remarked.

“
Of
course,” Larry laughed. “Bartender, two Lava Lagers for
each of these fine gentlemen. Except Everett. He gets only one!”

They
all laughed at that. Everett never could handle his lava.

“
So,
what are you guys doing back?” Larry asked. Tourism in the
Volcanoes National Park usually attracted those in search of a
picture of lava. Those days were gone now.

“
Oh,
we're here to buy some real estate!” John exclaimed. “We're
headed to Kona tomorrow morning, got our eyes on some great places
near the water.”

“
Really?”
Larry wondered. “What if the eruption starts up again?”

“
We
don't think it will,” Tim said, looking over to Dave.

“
Yeah,”
Dave said. “We left dozens of gin bottles all around the
crater the last time we were here.”

Larry
turned to look at Shirley, at her knowing smile as she nodded to him.

“
Remember
that crazy red head you guys were flirting with last time?”
Larry raised his eyebrow.

“
No,
no.” Pat laughed. “That was Dave.”

“
Thanks
Pat.” Dave deadpanned. “She isn't here is she?”
He looked around quickly.

Larry
shook his head in disbelief, just thinking of the story he was going
to tell them later.

“
Come
on over for dinner to my place tonight. I've got a story for you.”

~~~

Poho
and I had completed our first meet and greet. It was something
everyone here seemed to take turns doing. We were thrilled not only
because we were able to help a new arrival through a few of the
mysteries, but that we found ourselves capable of infinite
compassion.

Our
first arrival had had a rough one, having had a shortened life full
of darkness and confusion. It had been a case where the good soul
within had been attacked constantly by an insidious poison. A poison
in the mind that some poor humans get stuck with, or fall prey to.

The
real joy was seeing the release from those shackles as they moved
into the light and took each of our hands, Poho and I. We could
immediately tell from the nature of her smile that this was the first
time she had ever really been clean, been happy.

Poho
didn't really recognize her but I sure did. I'd explain it to him
later, but for now I was just happy that Janet was finally free.

~~~

Wally
was putting the finishing touches on Star's new cabin, and as
primitive as it was, it was far more special than any mansion. It
was set up high on large telephone pole stilts and had a commanding
view of the ocean through the coconut palms.

“
I
think this will keep you for a while,” he said over a glass of
wine that evening.

Starshine
Aloha, true to her name, pointed out the first light in the evening
sky and leaned over to kiss her hero. They both sat on the small
outside deck in the warm light of candles and each others attention.

“
I
love you, Wally,” Star whispered just above the quiet.

“
I
love you more,” Wally grinned. He had finally understood just
how much. Star was a beacon of hope, proving to him that optimism
was quite capable of carrying the day.

The
gentle ocean moved tenderly at the edge of the sand mirroring the
movements of the palm trees high above. Star watched it all and her
mind drifted off to wonder how her friend Jimmie was doing, if she
had heard the good news about the cove yet. Watching the stars
twinkle just beyond her reach she soon curled up with her love and
fell softly asleep.