The HazeWalker

Stomp Grounds

Kyle and I made love for hours. It was the most primal, erotic, perfect thing I had ever experienced.

Everything about it just felt right. We were on the bed tangled in the white sheets, his hand running through

my curls as I lay on his chest listening to his heartbeat. I raised my head up and looked out the window. I

could see the first signs of dawn starting to peek over the treetops.. Oh s**t! I thought as I jumped up and

grabbed my cell phone. It was already 6am. “What time do the ceremonies usually start!” I asked quickly turning to look at Kyle. God how I just wanted to stay in bed with him all night. “Usually around sunrise.” he

said sitting up on his elbows. “Grandfather invited us to the stomp grounds this morning. I completely forgot,

if I don’t show up he will be so disappointed in me.” I cried as I jumped from the bed running frantically

around the room. The thought of hurting my grandfather or upsetting him in anyway made my stomach feel

like it was in knots. They were trying to include me in the family and now I was going to mess everything up.

“They said you would know where it was.” I informed Kyle as I stopped momentarily to get my head together..

“f**k!” he said getting up from the bed and putting his clothes on. “Okay Eliza, calm down! We still have

time, I will get you there.” he told me as he took my face into his hands and looked into my eyes. “Here is

what we are going to do, I'm gonna go to the house and get ready. I'll hurry as fast as I can. Be ready when I

pull up.” he explained taking a moment to give me a breathtaking kiss that made me ache between my legs.

Get your damn mind out of the gutter Eliza! There is no time. I mentally kicked myself. “Your stuck with me

now.” he laughed as he walked out of the bedroom and out the front door. I laughed and shook my head at

him.

I got in the shower quickly washing my hair and body. I shaved my legs rinsed off and got out. I

wrapped a towel around myself grabbing my hairdryer from my bag and plugging it in. I dried my hair until it

was only a little moist and ran some mousse through it, as I crinkle my curls. It was the fastest way I knew to

fix my hair. I applied some powder, blush, mascara, and lip gloss not wanting to do to much. The women in

the village I seen at the diner had no makeup on, but were still naturally beautiful. I head my phone going off

in the bedroom. I ran and grabbed it off the nightstand. “Hello.” I answered out of breath. “Are you ready?” It

was Kyle, s**t. “I still have to get dressed, but I don't know what to wear.” I whined into the phone. “Just

jeans and a shirt will be fine Eliza.” he laughed. “Okay I'll be just a second.” I told him as I rummaged through

my clothes that were now out of my bag and strewn all over the floor. “I'll be pulling up in just a few minutes.”

he told me before he hung up. I dropped my phone onto the bed and pulled on American Eagle bootcut

jeans, with my grey tank top, and purple and rey wrangler button up shirt over it. I heard Kyle pulling up

outside. That was hardly five minutes! I thought as I slipped my socks on, and then pulled my pink and brown

Justin boots over them. I grabbed my brown Wrangler belt and my purse and rushed out the door. I quickly

turned around locked the door, and ran to Kyle's truck. I was out of breath by the time that I climbed up in his

red Dodge . I shut my door and looked at Kyle as I blew out a breath. “My god.” I said through a laugh. “I

have never gotten ready so fast.” “You look great.” Kyle commented as he looked me up and down. I strung

my belt through my loops on my pants and fastened it. “Finished.” I said cracking up. I looked over at Kyle

who was wearing his tight wrangler jeans, and animal skin fringed shirt, with his hair braided down his neck.

You look incredible.” I told him as we pulled out of the driveway and made our way down the gravel road,

deep into the woods.”Thanks, I always try to mix in a little of the traditional native wear when I go to the

stomp grounds!” he explained with his eyes watching the road ahead of us. “The stomp ground location is

always kept a secret within the tribe!” Kyle informed me. “ I am so excited, I can't wait.” I told him practically

jumping from my seat.

Moments later I could faintly make out a fire burning through the trees. It had became lighter outside

but you still couldn’t see very well without a flashlight. Kyle came to a stop about a hundred yards from the

fire that was still obscured by the trees in the dense woods I surveyed our surroundings as I stepped down

from the truck. “Where is everyone else?” I asked Kyle, noticing that there were no other vehicles in sight.

“Everyone mostly ride their ATV’s up here. They are parked on the trail on the other side of the grounds.” he

explained as he took my hand and led me through the maze of trees. It was hard to see anything in front of

us, the canopy of trees blocking what light there was, but Kyle seemed to have no problem navigating

through the woods. “You seem to know this place well.” I observed while he held my hand and helped me over a fallen tree. “I could walk through this place with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back.”

he laughed. “I have been coming here since I was old enough to ride an ATV. We weren’t allowed to come to

the ceremonies at such a young age, but we would come here and pretend to have ceremonies of our own.”

Kyle smiled as his mind drifted back to his childhood memories. “When I finally got to attend my first stomp

ground ceremony at the age of sixteen, I could hardly contain my excitement. Being able to come here with

my father made me feel like I was a man.” he explained to me, as we started to hear voices coming from the

fast approaching fire.

Moments later we burst through an opening in the woods. In front of us was a big fire surrounded by

several men dressed in their native American clothes sitting upon large cut tree stumps. I noted how the

older members seemed to dress more traditionally then the younger ones. I spotted my grandfather and

uncle among the men. Uncle Preston noticed me and stood up from the fire, making his way over to me. “We

are so glad you made it Eliza. Father wants you to join in on all of the festivities today, which is a great honor.

These are by invitation only and only the head members of our tribe get to listen in on the meetings, join in on

the dancing, and of course smoke the piece pipe.” he winked at me, as he placed his hand on my shoulder

and led me to the circle of men around the fire. The clearing was huge. Aside from the fire it also contained

ten picnic tables lined up in a row, underneath a structure with a roof to protect the food from the elements. It

was enclosed by some type of netting I suspected to protect everything from insects. “What goes on over

there?” I asked my Uncle pointing to a huge open area. “That is were we play anijodi or stickball as most call

it. It is an ancient cherokee game that kinda resembles LaCrosse. I will teach you.” he whispered in my ear

as we walked up beside of my grandfather.I Was looking into the fire watching the orange red and blue colors

dancing around. “The fire is sacred to the ceremony.” my uncle whispered in my ear. My grandfather reach

up and took mine hand in his, pulling me down to sit on a stump beside him. He began speaking in cherokee

and waving over the men. “He says these men are mostly our elders and of course our alpha and chief

medicine men.” My uncle translated as he made his way around to each of the men. “This is Lincoln!” My

uncle told me making his way to the first man my grandfather was pointing at. “His cherokee name is Waya.

He is one of our elders. My Uncle continued translating. “He is also Kyle’s father.” he told me with a wink and

then grinned at Kyle. “I’m sure you will get more acquainted later.” Uncle Preston teased as he made his way

to the next man my grandfather was pointing at. Bill was looking at me curiously. Almost like he was studying

me, and I didn’t like it, in fact the look he was giving me sent shivers down my spine. His eyes were a lot

darker than Kyle’s. He had long thick hair down to the middle of his back, and I noticed how Kyle had

obviously inherited his father's chiseled jawline and body structure, although Bill was a lot larger than Kyle. I

drug my eyes away from him and turned my attention back to my grandfather and uncle. I could hear my

grandfather speaking in cherokee as my Uncle still continued to translate. The next man he went to was a

young man with his hair shaved closely to his head, leaving the top a little longer than the sides. You could

tell he cared a lot about his appearance from the manicured eyebrows, clean fingernails, crisp button down

shirt and jeans, and polished cowboy boots. His eye though looked just like Kyle’s chocolate brown eyes.

“This is Wyatt.” My uncle continued. “He is the studying to be one of our medicine men and also is Kyle’s

brother.” Uncle Preston informed me. “Nice to meet you Eliza.” Wyatt grinned looking over at Kyle who was

sitting next to him. “You to!” I returned his smile, trying to look as confident as I could to this intimidating

group of men. Uncle Preston introduced Kyle next which I already knew, but of course wanted to humor

grandfather, and then seven more men one was the chief medicine man. He was a talk stout man standing at

least 6 and a half feet and had a long beard and long black hair to match. HIs name was Ahuli. The others

were the elders of the tribe. “It is an honor to be here.” I told them all, and meant it.

This was all so special to me, and ment so much that I was getting to know my family, my tribe, and my heritage. “It is an honor to have you here finally.” Farley one of the older members of the tribe and the

chief executive said to me. I wonder if they know about the powers that were passed down from my

grandmother and mother to me! I thought as I sat there listening to them discuss the boundaries of our

territory and other tribes. I Looked around the fire noticing a pedestal sitting to the left beside of Farley. “What

is that?” I whispered into my uncles ear, trying not to interrupt the others conversation. “That my child is our

bible. We are very religious people. We see the world as existing in pairs of opposites. All things must be

kept in their proper place and in balance with their opposites. A mixture of the opposites result in pollution, so

to avoid disaster we have a cleansing ceremony. THe bible tells us of many things. We only kill what we eat

and when we die we are returned back to the earth to replenish it. YOu will earn more, but for fight now take

the time to look around you and realize all the small miracles you experience everyday. WAlking, talking,

seeing, breathing. THose are just a few.” he explained to me as he stared at the leather bound book. My

uncle had a point and I decided right then that everyday I would take a few minutes to appreciate everything

we are given.