The war was tough. The General, Dwayne Richardson, known for his kindness and solid-as-a-rock demeanor, noticed how his men felt beaten. Seeing his strong men struggling, he knew something had to be done. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he’d go for a walk and light a smoke. These were the moments he was able to surrender and ponder his next moves. One of those nights he went far into the woods. The night was beautiful and the moon shone upon the mountains tops. What went through his head that night, who knows, maybe it was the way the moon light hit the mountains just right.

Reaching the top, he could see below to where his men were resting and the view was stunning. The moon showered its beauty and the stars twinkled their radiance. Wishing his men could see what he was seeing, the General’s mind raced, designing a place of respite for his men. Then maybe, just maybe, this would give his men hope, for a night or two, they could take a moment to be at peace, up in the mountains.

Every night, the General would fly up to see the progress of the tiny village. The construction workers didn’t mind working extra hours, it was going towards a good cause. While lighting his smoke and analyzing the construction, a shooting star glided across the sky…or so he thought. The comet started to shift to the right, then towards the left, gaining in size by the second. Coming in hot the General quickly ducked to avoid getting hit. Thankfully, he was not injured but his cigar was a different story. Annoyed at his half broken cigar, he quickly followed the so called comet. Deeper and deeper he went into the mountain. A soft luminescent glow became brighter as it bounced off the sides of the mountain finally dead ending into vast pools. The soothing sounds of the gentle waters slowly trickled down the sides of the mountain into the pools. The General immediately became calm, forgetting what he was doing there in the fist place. He stripped down to take a dip in one of the pools. Breathing in and out, a black “soot” was released from his body into the pool. Completely freaked out, the General jumped out. ” Please get back in,” a soft voice creeped inside his head. In total panic he yelled,” Who are you?” Turning around he saw the comet hovering. The comet continued, “Please don’t be alarmed. You just took a dip in our healing waters. Your body just released toxins, please continue. The General, froze solid seeing an alien for the first time, his whole world completely flipped upside down in one night. “Please continue,” as the alien calmly guided the General back into the water. The alien was so soothing, that he was able to slowly relax back to his meditative state again. Breathing in and breathing out, the black soot left his body, vanishing into the crystal blue water. “You had a lot in ya,” giggling the alien. “You probably won’t crave those smoking do-hickeys anymore.” The General felt completely new, washed over like a clean slate.

The alien explained the process of the healing pools. They simply harvest the moon’s energy, always better when it’s not overcast, giving them the ability to create healing pools through energy rituals. The pools help detox the body returning it back to its primitive state. Eventually, the aliens would like to welcome all. However, the world is not quite ready. Discovering them, and the pools, would cause panic or worse, humans taking advantage of a process that has taken hundreds of years to create. Even today, they are still perfecting the process.

The General, knew how the pools could help his men and an agreement was made. The aliens where more than happy to help, something they had been eager to do. Destruction of the pools would be devastating so in order to protect the aliens and their pools, the General would have to create a lie, making it seem that the mountains were to dangerous once the war was over. For the time being, the General set up base in the tiny village for his men, allowing a couple of soldiers at a time to the pools. Heavy curfews were made at certain times and he never revealed alien life to his men. All the soldiers knew was how great the pools felt, and that’s all they needed to know.

The war was finally over and the soldiers had no reason to stay any longer. The soldiers, by oath, could not talk or reveal where they had stayed or discuss any events that may have occurred. The beautiful village was now abandon and long forgotten. The General, however, never went back home, instead staying close by placing No Trespassing signs and traps to keep hikers away. Every now and then, someone would try to reach the village out of curiosity but failed every-time. The General never let it happen, telling lies to near-by hikers to keep them away. For the most part, people were too scared to even try or deal with the General and the mountain became the most dangerous place to be.

Years had passed, the General long gone, one soldier remained, on his death bed. Bringing his great-grandson closer, he shared stories of the war and hidden pools deep within the mountains. The solider broke his oath but in doing so created curiosity in a little boy eager to learn more. The magical stories stuck with the boy all through his childhood and into adulthood. His life’s mission was to discover the origins of the village hidden in the mountains. He explained the pools and the beauty inside the mountains but his colleagues laughed, others called him crazy. “Your great grandfather was delusional!” “The war messed with his mind,” they would say. His professor somewhat sympathized. “Mr. Chywski,” laying his hand on the young mans shoulder, “as historians, we want to discover and truly see what’s out there, I get it, but not this one.” As he slapped his hand into the young mans chest, “let it go.” The professor walked away. Mr. Chywski, refused to listen and continued to plan out his adventure to the village. Thinking he’d be alone, two of his friends joined him. “Going alone is just suicidal,” said one of his friends. “If something happens at least one of us can call for help.” Chywski grinned and said,” I can’t have you guys risking your life, who knows what’s up there.” His friend leaned in closer “That’s a risk we are willing to take.”

The next morning, the three historians started to make their way up the mountains. The only way up was to hike. Everyone was too scared to fly there making it just a little bit more of a challenge. Hiking up, they were able to deactivate most of the traps. Every couple of minutes, they would check for radiation and always looking for signs of unusual species. A few spiders and a few bug bites were acquired but nothing that would cause serious harm to the hikers.

On the third night, they finally reached the top. The village still had it’s charm yet mother nature made herself at home. Vines climb the sides of the buildings and moss covered the windows. Old apartment buildings and bars were covered in heavy dust and a strong musky smell filled the buildings. It was best to camp in the middle of the village for the night.

The sunrise was spectacular. No wonder the General made base up there. Gathering their things and putting their tents back in their backpacks, it was now time to investigate. Why is it so dangerous up here? So far, there has been no harm, only a long hike to the village and the strong smell of musk, which is normal for old abandon buildings . They put on their masks investigating every building. Mr. Chyswki thought to himself how cool it would be to just give this place a little TLC creating an exciting place to visit. Each building about the same, looking for any clues or signs of some sort but coming up to the last building, sounds of water grew stronger and stronger. Mr. Chywski opened the door to see stairs going straight down into the mountain. The sounds became louder and louder as they made their way down to the pools. Their mouths dropped open and their eyes grew wider. They could not believe what they were seeing. Tiny comet like aliens, zooming past one another tending to the pools. “We’ve been expecting you,” said one flying alien comet. “I thought humans would have discovered us by now. The General did a great job at keeping us a secret.” Mr. Chsywki thought, “So that’s why no one trespassed, to protect them he made up lies.”

The alien continued,”Now is the time. We are in a day and age where humans can know the truth. We are here to create a sacred space for all to relax and rejuvenate. We knew that someday someone would come and discover us again when the time was right. You are our messenger. For now, please enjoy yourself.” Still in shock, the young historians took a dip in the pools immediatly releasing their worries.

Returning back from the village as living proof that the village was completely safe, the people were in shock as the young historians came marching back, sharing their stories and the truth. This eventually caused a ripple effect of people slowly making their way to the village and finding out with their own eyes. In honor of the boy who grew up with insatiable curiosity, they named the village after Mr. Chyswki.

It was time to cleanup the village. It became such a big hot spot that more buildings were added over time. Boutiques, galleries, eateries, you name it, and huge wait lists for the healing pools. Paying respect to the aliens, annual festivals and ceremonies are held each year. Who knew that such lies that fooled the people into believing the village was dangerous. But in the end, the general knew it wasn’t time.

Who knows what else is out there for us to be revealed. As we grow mentally and spiritually, in the end, all will be revealed.

Here is a link to the video if you choose to watch the video version 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwWTIncS19Y