The other side of Mount Rushmore

 He marveled at the site as he and his daughter would always explore Mount Rushmore on his days off.

“I want to get a closeup of us by the mountain,” Martin told his daughter getting ready to snap his picture when he noticed an army of wounded and bloody men falling from the crevices of Mount Rushmore to get to them from the other side.

Martin and his daughter began to run.

“Help us! Please!” One of the soldiers yelled. 

While running, Martin realized that he dropped his two-thousand dollar camera.

Hiding behind a rock, holding his daughter not too far from the Mountain, he noticed something unique about the men and women.

“They’re soldiers dad,” Martin’s daughter explained noticing their uniforms.

“I wonder what’s going on, on the other side of Mount Rushmore,” Martin replied.

They both peeked over the rock and noticed that the soldiers were gone, they also noticed that Martin’s camera was gone too. Realizing that they had a clear path to escape, Martin recalled what one of the soldiers had yelled at him.

“Why did I hear one of them yell help us?”

Martin’s daughter pulled her father’s hand.

“Come on dad, let’s go home, this is not our concern,” Martin’s daughter said.

Martin looked his daughter dead in her eyes, 

“Go hide in the truck. If I’m not back in thirty minutes call for help.”

Martin’s daughter refused to let him go. 

“Don’t go dad, I don’t want to lose you like we lost mommy.”

Martin’s life flashed before his eyes. What were the odds of him always being on the fancy side of Mount Rushmore while never really knowing what was on the other side.

Giving in to his daughter’s demands, Martin picked up a black rock off of the ground and drew a black ribbon on the rock where he and his daughter hid. 

Retreating to his vehicle with his daughter, he took a last look at how close they had gotten to Mount Rushmore, but curiosity got the best of him.

“Daddy, what are you doing?”

“You shut up, you little spoiled brat, it’s time to take a look at the real picture. We’re going to see what’s on the other side.”

 Martin sped around the mountain. Having the advantage of being employed by the park this was his chance to figure out the mystery. With his daughter crying, his truck flipped over and slid down the other side of the mountain.

Dizzy and bloody, he and his daughter escaped from the truck while a number of healthy and wounded soldiers came to their aid.

Martin and his daughter left the other side of Mount Rushmore only to be starstruck by a hidden side of reality.

“Here is your camera Mr. President,” one of the soldiers said handing Martin his camera while his truck burned in the distance.

Realizing that there was no turning back now, Martin faced a field of wounded and exhausted men and women only to revive them as their new commander in chief.

“We’re with you,” he said as he and his daughter dropped to their knees surrendering to serve the other side. 

He and his daughter spent the rest of their life on the other side of Mount Rushmore, never to see the front again. One day, unexpectedly, onlookers noticed an army of men and women changing the faces.

A part of Martin died that day while another part of him lived. When his neighbors noticed that his house stood dark for months, they couldn’t help but notice his face along with billions of unknown soldiers on the front of Mount Rushmore. Things were changing.

A new day had been born. 

A new beginning.