The Guardians of Yellowstone

Word Art by Andy Bass

“We gotta go!!!!” he yelled to the rest of the group. As the fighter jets quickly closed in from a distance, the group dispersed in all directions. The oncoming danger left Matt, Luke, and Braden in a panic. The jets were now close enough to open fire, and the deafening roar of their engines drowned out all other sounds. The trio looked at each other with nothing but fear in their eyes. In that moment, they had no choice but to rely on their wits and instincts. They knew they had to find cover and fast, or face the wrath of the war machines. As the world around them turned into a blur of chaos and explosions, Braden turned to his friends. With death quickly closing, he calmly explained, “I have an idea. I know how we can beat them.”

On a cloudy fall Saturday, three high school friends departed from Kansas City to begin their trip to Yellowstone National Park. They had been planning this adventure for months, and the excitement was felt throughout the car. The drive would take about 16 hours, so they had made sure to pack great food, computers, and pillows. Braden even packed his PS5 to play in the hotel room. The three buddies decided to make the trip in Matt's new mini-van he got for his 18th birthday.

As they ventured deeper into the heartland of America, the landscape gradually transformed from city skyscrapers and fancy suburban homes to the countryside. As the hours passed, their laughter filled the van as they reminisced about their high school memories. Luke, the designated aux, spent hours building a playlist of all the guys favorite songs, setting the vibes for the road trip. Braden was in charge of directions, so it was his job to ensure they didn’t miss an exit. Around the 5 hour mark into the trip, Matt got tired of driving, so he recommended they rotate tasks. When they parked the car to get gas and reload on snacks at Oncue, they noticed something very strange. There was a moose in the nearby forest staring right at them. At first, the guys laughed and tried to mess with the humongous creature. When the moose didn’t stop staring for five straight minutes, Braden began to feel unsettled. “I don’t know how I feel about this moose anymore,” he said nervously. The three friends took one more look, and they all swore the moose smiled at them! Quickly hopping back in the car and speeding off, they couldn’t believe what they just saw. “No way that thing just smiled!!” Braden said. “ I knew I wasn’t seeing things,” Luke commented. 

As they merged back onto the highway, the three friends sat in silence, contemplating what they had just encountered. At the 10 hour mark, Matt and Luke were passed out in the back seat and Braden stared aimlessly at the empty road in front of him. It was time to get gas again, so he pulled into the gas station and cruised over to the nearest pump. When Braden put the nozzle into the car, he decided he needed to go to the bathroom. Leaving Luke and Matt sleeping in the car, he walked towards the store. As he walked, he glanced to his right and caught sight of a black lamb which seemed to be lurking behind some bushes. He thought it strange to see that type of animal, but kept heading to the entrance. Right when Braden was about to open the door, the black sheep let out a noise he had never heard before. It was a very wild screech, one like no other. Without second thought, he bolted back to the van and sped off disregarding the gas nozzle still in the tank. With gas spilling everywhere and Braden making a fool of himself, Matt and Luke woke up. When Braden explained what had happened, they looked back in the distance, and the black sheep was nowhere to be seen. However, Luke and Matt had no doubt that Braden wasn’t making it up. “There’s been weird vibes this whole trip, I don’t know what’s up,” Matt said. “Yea man, should we still even go?” Luke responded. “C'mon guys, we’re not going to let this prevent us from going on this trip we’ve been planning for months!” Braden says and proceeds to floor the minivan into the distance. 

Time passed and before they realized, it was the 14 hour mark which meant it was time for their final stop for gas. They traded jobs for one last time, which meant it was Luke’s turn to drive. After packing back into the car with plenty of snacks and a full tank, they turned up the music and built up the hype for their destination that was less than 3 hours away. Once they turned the corner out of their pump, they realized something was preventing them from leaving. A deer was standing in their only way out. However this was not a normal looking deer. It was taller than the van and nearly as wide. Despite the honking and yelling, the deer stared directly at the minivan without moving an inch for quite some time. After a couple of minutes passed, the deer began to do a dance, standing up and flaunting its 4 legs. This had the friends very confused. “This is our third strange encounter with animals, I told you guys something is up!!” Matt said. “Just start driving towards it Luke, see if it moves.” Braden said. As Luke began to accelerate towards the humongous deer, it ran off faster than they could realize. “What just happened!!!” Braden yelled. “Something is really off,” Matt commented. “Well this should make for a fun trip if this keeps happening,” Luke commented. The friends seemed to embrace the oddness of the trip at this point and carried along normally as they merged back onto the interstate. 

The trio blasted tunes and truly enjoyed the last few hours of their roadtrip. They pulled into the hotel parking lot and unloaded their luggage. After checking into the hotel and unpacking their bags, it was around 8:30 pm.  “Let’s go check out the area and see what we should do tomorrow,” Braden said. Braden had always been the adventurous one out of the group, so the guys went along with his idea. They quickly loaded back into the car and pulled out. After exploring the surrounding area for an hour or so, they found an off-road and decided to see where it took them. The three best friends found themselves at the start of a hiking trail. “Let’s go to the top of this mountain, I bet the view is crazy,” Braden said. So they spent the next hour hiking when they finally reached their destination. “Woah!! This is awesome!” Luke said. “This is the best view I’ve ever seen,” Matt exclaimed. The boys had arrived at the best view in the entire park, and they could see everything. The stars stretched across the sky, covering the infinite array of trees as the mountains stood powerful and tall. Before they could fully take in the scenery, a very bright red light flashed in the distance. “I wonder what that light is coming from,” Matt said. The light began to make patterns, and it wasn’t long before they figured it could be morse code. Braden quickly pulled out his phone and videod the phenomenon. After hiking back down the trail and getting back in the car, the guys discussed their theories on what was happening. “I wonder if it was someone trying to tell us something,” Matt said. “No way, what would anyone possibly have to tell us? It could have been someone calling for help,” Braden said. “I bet it was just a cell tower, you guys are thinking too much,” Luke said. When they got back to the hotel, the friends began to decipher what was happening in the video. “One of my dad’s friends knows morse code. Let’s send it to him,” Luke mentioned. It was 11:00 pm, but they decided to send it anyway due to their strong desire to figure the mystery out. To their surprise, they got a very quick response. “It says “Those who wish to learn will find a way.” Whatever that means,” the text reads. “Now we need to find a way to figure out what this means,” Luke said and the other two agreed. They stayed up until 2:00 am talking about the strange events that had occurred so far on the trip. 

The next morning, they woke up relatively early and headed to their first official day at Yellowstone National Park. The crew pulled into the busy parking lot and walked up to the entrance with lots of excitement. They spent the next few hours viewing the outstanding geysers and incredible landscape. They had lunch at the well known burger shack in town and the boys decided it was time to change up their plans. “Alright guys, it’s time to go check out where that light was coming from,” Braden said. The other two concurred and they set out on their next adventure. After walking for 30 minutes, the trio had reached the edge of the area open to the public. They met a large fence with barbed wire roping around the top, about 20 feet up. 

“Well, this isn’t going to work. Let’s just go back to the rest of the tourists,” Luke said. “No way bro, we gotta figure this out,” Matt responded and Braden nodded his head in agreement. “Tell me your great plan to get inside here then,” Luke said. “Let me think, but we’re not just gonna give up on this mystery,” Matt said. 

After sitting around the fence for nearly an hour, something clicked in Braden’s head. “I know exactly what we need to do,” he said. The group headed back to the van and departed to the nearest hardware store. “Are you sure about this Braden?” Luke asked. “Yea man, look, we’ve been planning this trip for years and now we’re finally here. I know we all want to know what that light was last night so we should solve this mystery.” The other two seemed to reluctantly agree and they headed into the store. They went straight to the tools aisle and to the wire cutters. “This one looks perfect,” Braden said as he reached to pick out the biggest tool he could find. They checked out and were on their way back to the national park. By the time they got back, it was 5pm and the park was nearly closing. 

The boys returned to their previous place along the fenceline and began the operation. Luke and Matt kept watch in both directions while Braden worked on cutting a hole small enough to crawl through the bottom. As 10 minutes passed, the job was nearly done. Despite previously having split opinions, the whole group seemed to now be all in on the adventure. Braden finished cutting and was the first to test out the crawl space he cut out of the fence. Standing at 6 '2, Braden was barely able to get through the small space. In the process he managed to cut his shirt and began bleeding from the stomach. “Ahhhhh that burns!!!” he yelled. The other two laughed as they easily passed through. However, once they got to the other side, the cut was much worse than they thought. The gash went from Braden’s belly button all the way to the top of his abs. “I’ll be alright, let’s keep going,” he insisted.

The three amigos trekked on towards the location of the mystery light. As they were nearly at their destination, the crew came upon a new discovery. There was a parting in the trees where they could spot a massive body of water. “Let’s go swimming!” Matt said, seeming to disregard that the park was supposed to close to visitors in approximately 30 minutes. 

It was nearly dark by this time, but the other two quickly agreed and they bolted towards the water. Just as they took off their shirts and were about to jump in, they heard a stick snap behind them. All three swung their heads around to see what had made the noise. “Uhhhh what made that noise?” Luke said. “It was probably just a rabbit or squirrel,” Braden replied. Just as Braden finished speaking, another stick snapped in the opposite direction. The three friends jumped and turned to see what had happened this time. As they turned to look, a massive, shadowy figure appeared behind a grouping of bushes. SNAP. CRACK. SNAP. 

It slowly but calmly walked closer to the group, breaking many more sticks and leaves. The three friends froze, not moving a single fiber in their bodies. When the figure was close enough to make out what it was, Matt whispered very quietly, “It’s a moose!” They froze and stared at the moose as it stared back. After no movement from either side for what seemed like several minutes, the most unexpected happened. 

“My name is Captain Moose. Welcome to Yellowstone,” the moose says in a grand voice. The three friends stand in awe without saying a word. “There’s no reason to be scared; we actually need you guys to help us out,” Captain Moose added. 

As he says this, two more shadows come out from behind the bushes. “These are my accomplices, Lieutenant Lamb and Sargent Deer,” he adds as they approach the three friends. The friends stand in shock. These are the animals they saw earlier during the road trip! “There’s no time to waste, we need to get straight to the lab now,” Lieutenant Lamb says. The friends are still not quite sure what to say or do at this point. “Why us?” Luke asks. “You guys are the perfect fit for the project. You will soon know much more, don’t worry.” Sargent Deer adds. Before they can give a response, the three friends are prompted to climb onto the back of each animal. They immediately take off and are soaring through the night air. All the friends can do is look at each other and smile. Deep down, this is exactly what they all wanted to happen the whole time. The trio was whisked away into the heart of Yellowstone National Park, a place they had initially come to visit for its natural beauty but had now become a part of something much bigger. As they rode through the night, they had a chance to learn more about their newfound companions. 

Captain Moose explained that they were part of a secret organization dedicated to preserving the balance of nature and protecting the park from various threats. They had been monitoring the three friends for some time and found that they possessed a very unique quality that could help in their mission. As the animals carried them through the moonlit wilderness, the friends couldn't help but wonder what kind of adventure they were embarking on. Their minds were racing with questions and curiosity about the mysteries of Yellowstone and the secret organization to which they had seemingly been recruited. Captain Moose, the wise leader of the animal trio, shared more about the organization's mission. 

“We are known as the "Guardians of Yellowstone," sworn to safeguard the park from any threats, both natural and unnatural. Yellowstone is not just a national treasure, it holds secrets and ancient wisdom about the past civilizations that walked this earth,” he explained. “The government has discovered the secrets this place holds, and they are attempting to come after us. They’re rapidly closing in on our base, so we must act quickly to develop our latest technology.”

Eventually, they arrived at a hidden facility deep within the park, known as "The Laboratory." It was a high-tech, underground complex where Captain Moose and his team conducted their operations. The Laboratory, hidden away within the depths of the park, was a marvel of modern technology and secrecy. Encased within layers of reinforced concrete and concealed by the natural surroundings, it remained an enigma to all but a select few. As they entered, they were surrounded in an ambiance of futuristic machinery, with pristine white walls and polished steel surfaces. The scent of advanced machinery and the low hum of high-tech equipment filled the air. Holographic interfaces, quantum processors, and robotic arms were the hallmarks of this underground complex. The cutting-edge laboratory was a realm where unknown discoveries and newly found technology burrowed deep inside one of the nation’s most well-known sites. Inside, the friends were introduced to an array of advanced technology and learned about their role in protecting Yellowstone. 

“You three all have history at this park. Your ancestors used to perform rituals here thousands of years ago. There’s ways you three are connected that you will never truly know or understand.” Captain Moose states. The three friends stand in awe and are overtaken by the pure beauty of the lab. “This is the real reason you are here, however,” Captain Moose continues. 

He leads them to a vault-looking door in the center of the lab. A small and stout sign is engraved in the wall next to the massive door, reading “Project Slurp Juice.” Captain Moose enters a very long code into a keypad next to the vault. When he finishes, the group can hear many locks and chambers releasing inside the door. Sargent Deer and Lieutenant Lamb continue to stand silently behind the crew. Even they stood in astonishment as the door began to open. When the gargantuan door begins to slowly swing open, Braden, Matt, and Luke are met with a glistening light unlike they had ever seen before. There it stood, a clear jar the size of a single Jif peanut butter container was presented on a table a couple meters in front of them. The friends still hadn’t spoken a single word since they entered the lab, too astonished for their own good. 

“That, my friends, is the reason you three are here.” Captain Moose states. “What does it do?” Luke says being the first human to talk since entering the lab. “That is what you are about to find out.” Captain Moose responds. Just as he says that, the entire lab begins to move and shake. The quake is so violent the state of the art machines begin to break off small pieces onto the stainless quartz flooring. “Hurry! Grab the jar, Sargent Deer!” Captain Moose says. “We are under attack!!” 

The ground continued to shake as Captain Moose, Lieutenant Lamb, and Sargent Deer quickly secured the mysterious jar of Slurp Juice. The friends followed their animal companions as alarms blared throughout the high-tech laboratory. The government had found their secret base and launched an attack. Amidst the turmoil, Captain Moose explained the significance of the Slurp Juice. It was a powerful elixir that held the key to the most sought-after idea in the galaxy: immortality. 

“Hurry, we must make it to the secret tunnels. That is our only hope for a way out!” Captain Moose said. They made their way through each passageway, dodging and ducking between the broken walls and falling rocks. As they came to the exit,  the government's interest in the Slurp Juice was very obvious, as they spotted several fighter jets closing in. The three friends looked at each other with nothing but fear in their eyes. That was when Braden made the bold move to propose his great idea. “Let’s take it! Let’s drink the slurp juice!” he yells amidst the deafening explosions from the left behind lab. Sargent Deer tosses the jar to the three friends, who unscrew its lid and each take a sip. They instantaneously felt the power. As their whole bodies began to shake, the trio briefly floated a couple feet in the air. Quickly returning to the ground, they realized the effects had fully set in. 

With newfound vitality surging through their veins, the three friends now possessed the extraordinary gift of immortality. The government's fighter jets continued to approach, weapons primed for an attack, but the trio remained unfazed. They were now beyond the grasp of death. The Slurp Juice coursing through their bodies granted them not only immortality but also enhanced physical abilities and an extraordinary connection to the natural world. Captain Moose, Lieutenant Lamb, and Sargent Deer looked at them with approval, knowing that these friends were their best hope to protect Yellowstone and its secrets. As the jets closed in, the trio summoned their newfound powers. With a slight thought, they raised their hands, creating a protective shield around them. Bullets, missiles, and explosions ricocheted off their invincible barrier, leaving them unharmed.

The jets finally retreated, overwhelmed by the force from these once ordinary friends. Captain Moose approached the trio with a confident smile. "You've passed your first test, my young guardians. But this is just the beginning of your journey. You now hold the key to unlocking the ancient wisdom hidden within Yellowstone." 

Over the following weeks, the friends fully appreciated their newfound abilities and began their training with the Guardians of Yellowstone. They learned to communicate with the natural world, harnessing the power of the park's geysers, hot springs, and wildlife. They discovered ancient texts and artifacts that revealed the park's history and the mysteries it held. With their enhanced wisdom, strength, and immortality, they were now the protectors of Yellowstone, standing as the Guardians of this extraordinary park. Together with Captain Moose, Lieutenant Lamb, and Sargent Deer, they vowed to guard its secrets and preserve the balance of nature. As they continued their mission, they uncovered even greater mysteries within Yellowstone, including portals to other dimensions, lost civilizations, and the knowledge of how to heal the Earth itself.

Through it all, the trio of friends remained united, guided by their animal companions and the ancient wisdom they had unlocked. Their immortality allowed them to explore Yellowstone's depths for centuries, uncovering its most profound secrets and ensuring that its natural beauty would be preserved for generations to come. The Legend of The Slurp Juice became more than just a short story in Mr. Kennard’s Creative Writing Class. It grew into a legacy passed down through the generations. The tale of Matt, Luke, and Braden’s extraordinary journey from high school friends on a trip to immortal protectors of one of Earth's most remarkable places would be recounted for many chapters of life on Earth. A true legend was whispered around campfires and celebrated in the heart of Yellowstone National Park.