MOBRIDGE, SD, INDIAN CREEK RECREATION AREA-

The dog was gone. Taunting thunder was rolling across the prairie, down the downy green slopes, across the water, becoming an almost imperceptible vibration by the time it reached the shore. Long sheets of lightning back-lit the horizon. The tall cottonwoods waved in a wind that hinted at more. Lake Oahe’s brown water slapped its muddy banks in short choppy bursts. The last minutes of dusk had just slipped into the Earth, taking the dog with it. Zelda, never the curious. Her contentment linked to wherever I am. Wherever we were. The car. Rescued from the Humane Society six years ago, she had spent the next eight months in a van, while we fished America’s fishing hot spots. The van was her first home in her second life. Now, as the elements began to coalesce, giving all creatures fair warning to go home, Zelda had gone somewhere else. I whistled into the wind. Loud and prolonged.

My calculated search of the almost deserted campground soon became chaotic and random. The night had suddenly become very black. On my bike, I searched the roads. I peered down the steep river banks to the rocks and mud. I inquired of the few campers at their dying campfires.