The Blue-Schist Sentinels

By Celeste Wolfe

Night after night, a quartet of prehistoric megaliths stand as blue-schist sentinels, on guard since the ancient era of dinosaurs into the digital era of modernity. The foursome’s enduring foundations with their unyielding weight, cutting deep into the earth, arise as if shrapnel protruding from a wound. Their stone polished faces like obsidian glass, the result of mastodon and Pleistocene megafauna rubbing for two-and-a-half million years against perfect surfaces at the perfect height for scratching an itch, all while coastal ocean waves pound a stone’s throw away.  

The closest pair from the walking path, standing at 4 and 5 meters tall, guard a third fallen comrade; their armaments at ready, on ceaseless alert, keeping the eternal vigil with their jagged shako hats — cylindrical cap, tilted visor, gleaming front-badge, and pompom edges reaching up to the sky. Their slaughtered comrade’s body — arms and legs akimbo – lies in pieces at their feet; a once mighty monolith overcome by the onslaught of time, geology, and weather. The fourth of the quartet, far bigger than any tank, 30 meters tall and 30 meters away from the trio, takes point; the first to engage, should anyone breach the quartet’s defenses. 

Our company of four, eternally separated from their battalion, stand watch across a plain of mossy perennial grasses smelling of freshly cut hay amidst a counterpoint of the woodsy lemon-asparagus scent of coastal sage, never to let an intruder pass who would dare climb the cliffs from below. When the night-tide wind wakes, cutting the land with its icy breath, as the midnight moon glows, they stand stoic…  motionless… timeless… the power of their presence… never to be denied. Though the quartet may appear slumberous, do not be fooled, for they prowl the sands casting shadows of their presence across the land. Eternally one with the earth as the earth. A marvel for all to see. For any human caught in the throes of their spell, mortality succumbing to immortality; the quartet will ever remain, the Mammoth Rocks of the Sonoma Coast.

Celeste Chan Wolfe focuses on writing one-hour TV dramas that explore flawed characters whose misbehaviors are driven by deep psychological issues. Her work concentrates on revealing a character’s personal struggle to rectify shame, survivor’s guilt, and the dark secrets that come with family dysfunction. Celeste’s goal in all of her writing is to open a window onto the experiences of the marginalized and socially excluded. She does this through creating imperfect protagonists whose desire is to help the disenfranchised attain their dreams, while building a better world. Celeste is currently repped by manager Jeff Field.