Perform Triage

This time it was not just another round of handing the medicine bundle from mature Meredith to younger Meredith, who had not yet passed through the fire and ice initiation of the Five Worlds. As keeper of the medicine bundle the younger woman might work to save the earth, but the sacred powers were not fully developed in her. She lacked the fortitude to convince people of the need to change. She would have held the bundle for ten years, performing triage on the earth's atmosphere and climate, until she could again pass it off to her younger self in an endless cycle of knowledge and avoidance.

The mature Meredith was ready to accept the challenge.

Goodbye

"Goodbye, then," said the hiker, handing Meredith her pack.

"Goodbye. This time things will be different," Meredith said, hugging her younger self.  

The young hiker appeared to understand and whispered with a smile, "Remember the future."  The hiker climbed into a four-wheel drive vehicle similar to Meredith's and roared off toward the park exit. Before she turned onto the highway, she waved goodbye again.  

Meredith pulled the sacred bundle out of the pack, climbed into her jeep and placed the sacred bundle on the seat beside her.  

Then she sank into relief and cried.