I asked my friend Ray to write a couple of blogs about when I first appeared. I felt his perspective was relevant to what I am attempting. The art attached to this posting was inspired by Ray. “Inspired” because he drew it but insisted I make it. Ray has always been a harda#$ once he made up his mind on something. So, now I’m an artist, too.
My name is Raymond Haygood. I am Moses’ first and oldest friend. I found him. Actually, I was the person who brought him out of the desert. It was someone else who found him but she disappeared. Anyway, Moses asked me to write something about when I found him. I am not as good with words as Moses, so I apologize up front.
I was coming back from visiting a friend in El Morro. That’s across the border in New Mexico. I took the right onto 191 off 61 and was heading back up to Interstate 40. Somewhere between that turn and Sanders, I found him. It was turning dark and I saw this car pulled off to the side of the road.
So, I pulled over carefully, taking my shotgun down from rack behind me. Out there, you practice the Good Samaritan rule, but take precautions because, you never know if someone is really in trouble or waiting to practice some “badass” on you. Anyway, I saw this woman trying to wrestle this naked guy into her car. I asked if everything was alright. She said no and needed help. I walked over, gun still in my hand.
My defenses went down when I saw the guy. He was alive but not responsive. I’m a nurse so I dropped to the ground to check vitals. He was alive but sketchy. Erratic pulse, shallow breathing and his eyes were so dilated; they were all pupil just black without color. I picked him up and carried him over to the bed of my truck. There was an old blanket back there I wrapped him in. I think I told the lady to follow me and then headed north to Sanders.
Found a minor emergency clinic opened and got him into the doctors there. It was only later when the police showed up that I noticed the lady wasn’t around. The cops asked me to describe her but, things had happened so fast, I couldn’t. I guess she followed me into Sanders and just kept going. Didn’t want to get caught up in the official crap of finding some guy in the desert, I guess
Anyway, the guy wakes up and has no idea who, what or where he is. Keeps cracking about this noise he heard. Some kind of music he needed to get back to. They sedated him and he slept for the next day in a half. State Trooper’s showed up and took over then. They weren’t sure what to do with him. I suggested the facility I worked at in Scottsdale. Nice place for a “loony bin” but I told them it was state funded and he’d be taken care of there until they found out what his deal was.
I followed his ambulance down to Scottsdale and helped admit the poor guy. When they asked for a name I told them John “Moses” Doe. Moses, the admitting nurse asks. “Yeah. Moses. He came out of the desert, man. You want him to be just another John Doe?”
She was a friend of mine and so, Moses was entered on his file. I went home to sleep after we got Moses tucked in that night. As I got out of the truck, I reach back like I always do to get my shotgun. The rack was empty. I had left the thing in the sand on the side of the road. It was my favorite gun. Never did find it.
Moses Haygood 
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