Paramedic Pt. 06

The two boys hooted and hollered, slapping Liam on the back.

Troy spoke up quickly "the reason you're here is because of his love for you, and yours for him. Something we all could see the first time we met you. You two seem to have the most incredible auras when you are together. Liam, we had all watched your ass from time to time, but it wasn't meant to be with anyone but Jared."

Tyler acted huffy and in the best lisp looked at Troy. "You were looking at his ass you slut!" He regained his composure "Well, I have to admit, I was looking at it too. Liam, you have a nice ass in your tight uniform pants, it is better when you wear your loin cloth and real hot when you wiggle it while playing volleyball naked."

Troy slapped Tyler's shoulder and said "who the slut now?"

Liam was laughing by now and looking at his new friends. "Your asses aren't bad either guys"

Troy and Tyler looked at each other and then as if choreographed, put their hands on their hips and said at the same time "you slut!" and then started to laugh.

"We have all noticed you finally got Jared to get rid of those horribly worn out old ratty boxers he used to wear all the time. The bikini briefs he wears now are much better! Good taste Liam" Troy exclaimed.

Liam acknowledged them. "Thank you. It was a fight but I badgered him until he caved in."

"We did laugh when Jared told us the story of how he was outed by Pierre at the restaurant and Jared not knowing you spoke French fluently" said Tyler. "I almost pissed myself I was laughing so hard."

"OK, enough of laughing at Liam and talking about his perfectly formed, well-muscled tight little ass. Let's get some more wood on the fire. Troy, would you make a light lunch while we get the lodge ready? I know we are supposed to fast before a sweat but I think we need some light food after the healing session earlier" asked Tyler.

"Yes, no problem. I will come down to give you a hand after it is ready" he replied.

Jared had wandered through the forest and along a trail until he came to a clearing. In the clearing was the stump of large spruce tree. Jared moved to it and sat down cross legged. He held his arms out, palms up.

"Mother Earth, I am here in your bosom after doing the Creator's work. I need your help to release the evil energy and fill myself with light to continue the work" prayed Jared.

Jared began to chant to the sky. He continued to chant while he brought his hands down and placed them palms down in the ground. His eyes lit up bright white. The ground around the tree stump began to glow a rich yellow. The yellow colour slowly moved from the ground through the tree stump until it covered Jared's entire body. It began to glow brighter and brighter. Jared's eyes had been glowing white but began changing yellow. After three minutes, the yellow light began to shimmer and change into red. The red remained for 3 minutes before turning black for another 3 minutes. The black slowly faded into white light for the last 3 minutes. The colour slowly began to retreat off Jared and back into the stump. The tree stump grew with the intensity of the colour. Like a torpedo being fired from a submarine, a ball of white light shot into the northern sky and disappeared out of sight. This was followed by a ball of yellow light to the east, a ball of red light to the south and finally a ball of black energy to the west. Jared continued to sit crossed legged and began to chant slowly thanking each of the directions of the medicine wheel for their strength and assistance. He continued to chant for the next 30 minutes.

Tyler motioned for Liam to follow him into the forest behind the lodge skeleton. He pointed at some cedar trees growing and said "let's cut a couple of the lowest branches from each of the tree. The cedar is powerful medicine in a sweat and it is placed on the ground where we sit. It keeps us safe from the evil ones." They cut an armful of cedar each and took them the lodge.

Liam cleaned out the old rocks from the ring within the lodge and carefully placed them into the wheelbarrow. He moved the wheelbarrow and set it down near the boat on the beach.

Tyler watched with interest and asked "Why are you doing that Liam?"

"The rocks spoke to me and told me we needed to return them to the river bed. They are just on loan to us for the ceremony" replied Liam. He thought deep for a moment and then said "Tyler, I am not sure where this came from or why I know it but the rock spirits are good for us, they represent the traditional ways, truth and justice and are called Grandfather. When heated and water poured on them in the sweat lodge their cleansing spirit is released into the lodge."

Tyler looked shocked. "I think the old knowledge within you just poked its head up again Liam."

They spread the cedar out on the ground and Liam asked about sage being collected and added to the cedar. Tyler looked surprised again and motioned for him to follow him up the trail. They arrived at the same spot where Jared and Liam had made love the night before. Along the edges of the trail and into the open areas, sage grew wild. The only place it did not grow was where they had spent the night.

"You have been here already Liam, haven't you?" asked Tyler.

"Yes, Jared and I slept under the stars last night, and we ...made...love... here too" he said slowly with embarrassment.

"This is a sacred place and a good place for people. I hope you two enjoyed yourselves. No worries about talking about sex with any of us. We are monogamous with our boyfriends but we do like to talk about sex and drool at really good looking men though" he said as he laughed.

Liam looked up and smiled at Tyler. "I don't mind looking at you guys naked either" he said as he started to blush.

They gathered some sage and took it to the lodge and spread it on the ground as well. The two of them went to the storage shed and retrieved the bundle of canvass and the buffalo hide. Once they were all in place, they used a few rocks along the outside to hold everything down in case a wind came up.

Troy showed up just as they finished. Tyler pulled him into his arms and said "I missed you." They kissed gently. The three of them went to check on the rock fire to add some wood and then up to the cabin where they grabbed a bottle of water and headed back on the dock. It was mid-afternoon now and the heat felt good on their bodies. They pulled up the large chair which resembled a couch and sat down, watching at the waves on the lake. Before they knew it, they were all asleep, leaning onto Tyler's shoulders who was sitting in the center. They dozed until they were woken up by Jared, Darren and Josh standing in front of them.

Josh asked "did you guys sleep the afternoon away or what?" The three got up and hugged him. Jared and Darren joined the hug as well. They were all relieved their family was still intact.

"Gentlemen and I use that term loosely considering who I am speaking too..." started Jared, but was met with 10 upright single fingers being held towards him. "Ok, I can take a hint. Ladies..." continued Jared. He only got that word out when the five men grabbed him, carried him to the end of dock and threw him into the water.

Jared climbed out on the end of the dock "you have been bad boys, no snacks and straight to your rooms!"

They threw him in again.

Jared climbed out again and stood on the end of the dock. "Snack time you assholes" he said laughing. The group cheered and they all went up to the cabin, grabbed a plateful of lunch and sat on the deck to eat.

"How are you feeling Josh?" asked Liam.

"I feel fine Liam. I feel normal is the best way to say, like nothing happened" he replied.

"You were difficult to heal Josh. You had severe bleeding going on - subdural hematoma. It needed to be repaired to prevent further bleeding and the complications of increased cranial pressure."

Jared looked around the table and saw Darren looked a bit confused. Jared looked at Troy and said "Can you explain what the medical stuff we were just talking about was to the hose puller. Make sure you use small words though."

Everyone laughed but Darren; He raised his right hand with his fingers and thumb sticking up straight, his thumb touching the tips of all his fingers. "Do you know what this is Jared" he asked.

"No clue" Jared replied.

Darren then repositioned his fingers had all moved into a fist with the middle finger alone still sticking up. "It's a whole bouquet of these" he said chuckling.

"That's one for the hose puller!" Liam said laughing.

"Fuck you too little one. Jared, you are having a bad influence on him. He's getting mouthy" Darren said.

Everyone laughed.

Jared then looked serious and then spoke. "It is getting closer to sweat time. I need to speak with Liam. Darren, I just remembered you actually missed them last year because of you schedule didn't you?"

"Yes, I was upset about it too" he replied.

"I need you with Liam as well then and it may answer at least some of your questions. Can the rest of you clean up lunch and check the fire to make sure it is still hot" asked Jared.

Troy spoke up "Will we have time for a volleyball game? Tyler and I like watching Liam's tight little ass wiggle." Liam stood up and wiggled his ass at them.

Troy came and gave it a smack with his hand. "It feels even better Tyler!"

Josh came to the rescue and said "we better get out of here before Jared turns us into newts."

"He turned me into a newt" said Tyler. The guys were looking at him when he continued "I got better."

Darren spoke up "That's it. I didn't come all the way in the bush to hear you three recite Monty Python sketches. Josh, I am hiding those DVD's when we get back."

Tyler spoke up "Jared you better talk to Liam about what happened when we were working on the lodge this afternoon. Some of his knowledge popped up while we were fixing up the sweat lodge. He knew about the rocks."

Jared looked at Liam and smiled. "We'll definitely talk about that. Thanks Tyler."

The others got up and set about their tasks.

"Liam, you have some knowledge about what this about already from some of the things we have talked about." He nodded his head in agreement. "Darren, you are aware of some things, but you have not been exposed to as much as the rest. I know what I did this afternoon surprised you Darren" Jared said.

"To put it mildly" he replied. "I know you are a special person and possess things as Josh describes as gifts from the Creator."

"He is right. My Spirit Guide or Totem is the bear, a healer. I come from a long line of First Nations healers and the Creator channels his will through me. It is something big for you understand I know Darren. But it will become clearer tonight."

"Darren, people sometimes have events called visions. At night they may be viewed as dream, or even termed day dreaming if the person is awake. They are the way the Creator or his messengers speak to some people. Liam, would you describe your vision to Darren please" asked Jared. Liam did so and Darren listened attentively. When Liam finished, Darren looked at him with shock all over his face.

"I never told anyone, not even Josh, I thought it was just a weird dream a couple of nights ago. I saw the same thing in a dream or vision" said Darren.

Jared looked at both of them. "I know. Everyone here had the same vision at the same time that night but it is something they didn't talk to you two about it because of how new you are to this. Let's look at the vision and what we believe it means.

"Liam, do you recognise the location of your vision?" he asked.

Liam thought for a minute and then his eye flew open. "It was where we picked up the rocks for the fire earlier today."

"Yes it was Liam. It is a sacred and a powerful area." They discussed the vision and its possible meaning for about 20 minutes. They were not able to resolve the exact meaning of the bald eagle and wolves based on what they saw or know. Jared knew, but he wanted it to be revealed properly during the sweat.

"Normally, spirit guides only reveal themselves during a vision quest. I have my suspicions this may not be the case tonight. We all had some strong visions, including me. One common theme between them all is they end when we all go into the lodge. This could mean the paths out of the lodge have not been chosen for us or the Creator has chosen not to reveal them to us until we are in the lodge."

Jared continued "The Sweat Lodge is a place of spiritual refuge and mental and physical healing, a place to get answers and guidance by asking spirits, totem helpers, the Creator and Mother Earth for the needed wisdom and power. The four directions and sacred colours each bring their strengths to us as well. It is a very special place for us and it is even made more powerful because of the bond the 6 of us share as brothers."

Darren and Liam were spellbound listening to every word Jared said. Jared went on to explain the traditional ceremony and the way it would be done tonight. They did not have a gate keeper to bring the rocks but he would have Liam do it when the times were right. They were to remove all ear rings, necklaces, watches and such things. Nothing is to be on the body except the breech cloth as it was allowed by being a deer hide from Mother Nature or be naked as either was acceptable.

Jared asked about the rocks. Liam explained what he had suddenly known in his mind.

Jared looked at him and said "Grandfather was right. You do have the ancient knowledge."

The three of them spent about almost 1 ½ hours talking with Jared answering many questions. When they were done, they searched out the others and played volleyball for an hour.

Jared looked at the sun, it was about 5pm now and while still very warm, it was setting. "It is time" he said to the others. Jared went to cabin with everyone and into the kitchen. Troy grabbed the cooler and Tyler helped them fill it full of ice and water bottles. Josh was getting a large bucket out of a cupboard and Jared was grabbing a hide bundle wrapped with leather laces. It was obvious to Darren and Liam they had all done this many times. Jared opened the bundle and checked the contents. Liam saw a large pipe and several birch bark wrapped bundles with a leather lace tying each of them. There was a large smudging bundle and an eagle's feather. The final item was a box of wooden matches. Jared seemed happy everything was in order and rolled it up and tied it closed.

The men all left the cabin and walked to the fire pit. The wood had burnt down once again with the rocks now glowing bright red. A couple had shattered but that wasn't too bad. You don't want to be near the fire pit when one of those rocks blows because of the potential for flying embers or rock chips hitting you. The rocks must have had water in them somehow and when it heated to steam it blows them apart. It usually sounds like a civil war cannon firing when they blow.

Someone had set up Jared's alter table next to the lodge. He placed his leather bag onto it carefully and then went into the lodge for a last minute check. The men had done a good job and everything was ready. Jared grabbed the wooden bucket from the corner and brought it out.

"Darren, would you please fill this and return it back inside the door of the lodge" asked Jared indicating the wooden bucket. "Please make sure the wooden ladle is in it as well."

He ran to the dock to get clear water and filled the bucket, returning quickly and placing it as instructed, with the ladle in it.

"Gentlemen are we ready?" asked Liam.

They all looked like kids inside a candy store as they answered a resounding 'yes'.