The Legend of Insanity Gulch

Latigo Flint knows there are mysteries in the desert to rival any the sea or stars may hold. The old prospectors knew it too. They knew it all too well.

I straightened from the bronze plate embedded in concrete and stared out over a craggy, broken land of ancient, dusty dreams and dementia. I spoke then, my voice low and hard.
"This one stretch of desert has clamed more souls than all of humanity's ocean-crossings put together."

Several feet away stood a family, admiring the view. They turned, eyes wide.
"My goodness, is that really what it says there?" The father asked.

"Not exactly." I admitted. "But then bronze plates at scenic overlooks rarely get the story straight and really shouldn't be trusted."
I trailed a hand across the distant horizon.
"Somewhere out yonder lies Insanity Gulch. Believe you me, many a lonely prospector met his wretched end in the narrow, twisting--"

The daughter shoved me aside and stared at the placard.
"Shall I read it to you missy?" I chuckled. "You don't look half old enough to be at the schoolin' age where they teach all the readin' and cipherin' and whatnot."

She shot me a vicious look. "I'm sixteen you spaz!"

"They teach it that early?!"

She rolled her eyes and read to the end, then looked up at me with a sigh and frown.
"This used to be a gravel quarry--in the fifties. They made concrete down there until demand dwindled and competition from San Bernardino put them out of business."

She gave her parents a disgusted look. "Of all the scenic overlooks you've forced me to stare, this one has got to be the lamest."

"Hey now missy." My voice trembled with emotion. "I already told you you can't trust bronze placards, they never get the story straight. See, I'm talkin' 'bout before it was a gravel quarry; I'm talkin' 'bout when it was known as Insanity Gulch--a craggy, broken land of ancient, dusty dreams and dementia."

"Look." She crossed her arms. "There's nothing out there. No mystery, no gulches, no dementia. They don't ever build gravel quarries in places where there's anything other than gravel."
She shook her head condescendingly. "And someone would have to be pretty dumb not to see that."

I turned from her and stared off into the distance. A soft desert wind blew up from the west. I removed my hat and let it blow through my matted hair.
"It looked like the sort of place where you'd find gold. It just did; everyone agreed."

The family was starting to trudge back to their minivan at this point. I heard their footsteps slow and then stop with a slight crunch in the unpaved parking lot where they stood listening.

"Everyone agreed." I repeated. "If gold was anywhere, it'd be here. But they never found a single nugget, only gravel."

My shoulders slumped and hands dangled limply at my sides. I bowed my head in tribute to countless dead prospectors.

"And in the end it drove them mad."