Story Market Day
- Thread starter ComCamGuy
- Start date
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Sorry, my brain didn’t translate for others. Rephrased with motorcycle instead of bike. Mr Bill is right. 30+ years of riding and I forget to translate for others
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Yeah I'm pretty sure we can forgive that little glitch pardner
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Guess I missed these pics earlier -- BLOODY amazing a bright green full size side arm can be so subdued -- if that was a service finish-coloured pistol, it would probably be so close to invisible, it would be amazing -- in fact I think if the beige holster was swapped out for something to match the belt etc, it would really disappear.
BTW --this story won't EVER disappear
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
I’ll see what I can do about that.
The belt example and other pics are because I hate reading stories that say or list the character has all these ten thousand items in their bug out bag or their pockets. If some of the famous characters of other stories had the stuff they claimed, they would be carrying a thousand pounds
The belt example and other pics are because I hate reading stories that say or list the character has all these ten thousand items in their bug out bag or their pockets. If some of the famous characters of other stories had the stuff they claimed, they would be carrying a thousand pounds
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The phone number was the store. Doug figured it was Angelique with an update on his mother. He was wrong. It was rare enough to hear his father’s voice on the phone, he hated telephones. He couldn’t remember him ever leaving a message on an answering machine. He remembered asking it about it many times. One day, a few years ago, his father relented. It may have been the scotch, or the hour, but he finally told him why he hated phones.
Evidently, his father’s job in the military involved intercepting and analyzing signals from radios, telephones and so forth. He knew what someone could learn by just listening to things. He used these skills to plan his defection. Once the United States government was done with him, he was able to convince them to set him up in the park ranger job out here. He still avoids phones and the internet. This is why it was a bit shocking to hear his voicemail. He had to play it again to really hear what he was saying.
“Mal'chik, the store was attacked. Leka was hurt. We can use your help when you can get here.”
Doug’s brain went into hyperdrive, or at least it tried to. Fatigue and confusion were taking a toll on him and he needed to fight it. It would take him hours to get there, especially with darkness falling. He pushed forward. He needed to get there. At least he knew the roads and trails.
He was pushing himself to go faster and faster. He kept telling himself he knew the roads and trails; it shouldn’t be taking this long. For a moment, he wished he had Bekka here to do the driving. That thought, the thought of her franticly driving him through the darkness screaming down the trail with her hair on fire, sobered him up like no other since his father’s voice unhinged him. Bekka’s a raging psycho behind the wheel. He didn’t need to show up at the store to help with a barf bag full of jerky and energy drink and underwear full of shit.
That shot of adrenaline helped bring him into focus. It also put in his mind the need to pay attention to his driving. He was trying to push his own skills behind the wheel. He tried to remember some of the tricks Bekka had used to shave time and make ground. He felt he had to get there as quickly as he could. He tried to channel his inner Bekka.
Evidently, his father’s job in the military involved intercepting and analyzing signals from radios, telephones and so forth. He knew what someone could learn by just listening to things. He used these skills to plan his defection. Once the United States government was done with him, he was able to convince them to set him up in the park ranger job out here. He still avoids phones and the internet. This is why it was a bit shocking to hear his voicemail. He had to play it again to really hear what he was saying.
“Mal'chik, the store was attacked. Leka was hurt. We can use your help when you can get here.”
Doug’s brain went into hyperdrive, or at least it tried to. Fatigue and confusion were taking a toll on him and he needed to fight it. It would take him hours to get there, especially with darkness falling. He pushed forward. He needed to get there. At least he knew the roads and trails.
He was pushing himself to go faster and faster. He kept telling himself he knew the roads and trails; it shouldn’t be taking this long. For a moment, he wished he had Bekka here to do the driving. That thought, the thought of her franticly driving him through the darkness screaming down the trail with her hair on fire, sobered him up like no other since his father’s voice unhinged him. Bekka’s a raging psycho behind the wheel. He didn’t need to show up at the store to help with a barf bag full of jerky and energy drink and underwear full of shit.
That shot of adrenaline helped bring him into focus. It also put in his mind the need to pay attention to his driving. He was trying to push his own skills behind the wheel. He tried to remember some of the tricks Bekka had used to shave time and make ground. He felt he had to get there as quickly as he could. He tried to channel his inner Bekka.
Last edited:
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
It was dark when Doug’s headlights lit up the front of his father’s store. Everything looked fine, peaceful. This struck him as odd. He figured the sheriff’s deputies or the state cops would have been here by now.
The early winter chill hit him as he swung the door to his truck open. He grabbed his wool coat as he stepped out of the vehicle and slung it over his arm. He would need it when he came back out. With no cloud cover tonight, the temperatures were plummeting. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had snow up near his place by the end of next week.
Walking in the door of the store, he was hit with the strong smell of cleaning chemicals. He knew he smelled pine oil, and probably breach. The rumpled figure of his father was in the middle of the isle near the counter, a mop in his hands as he was feverishly scrubbing the wet floor, even though it was already gleaming.
“Dad! What’s going on? Where’s Angelique? What happened?” His father looked up at him as he asked all his questions. He set the mop in the bucket and took a step forward. He held his empty arms out for an embrace.
“It’s OK, Mal'chik. She is going to be fine. She is tough like us, not a china doll like that Suka, her mother.”
Even in his worry and panic, he still got an inward chuckle at his father’s pet name for Angelica’s mother. His father had started using it long before his divorce and she thought it was endearing her father-in-law had a special pet name for her in Russian. All the charm went out of it for her when she finally figured out how it was spelled and looked it up. Suka was bitch or slut. Doug broke the embrace to ask him again.
“Dad, ‘splain it to me. What happened?”
His father looked him in the eyes, a look of sorrow came over him. Even though Doug probably already knew, he had to be told before they got to the business of Angelique.
“Doug, Jelena has passed. She went around dawn. It was peaceful in the end. I was up at the house with the hospice people most of the day. The Neptune Society came and picked her up so we can scatter her ashes under her rose bushes like she wanted. The hospital bed, all the machines, they were all picked up today. I was sweeping and putting things back together when I got a call from the store. Angelica was down here running things. It had been quiet and she said she would be fine here so I could take care of things up at the house.” He paused for a moment.
Doug had a feeling when he talked to his father last night that it wouldn’t be long. That his mother had departed at sunrise wasn’t a surprise either. She loved the sunrise. He could still hear her humming as she would make biscuits for Sunday morning breakfast, a family tradition. He had been around enough dead people to know she was at peace now. After the spirit leaves, it is free to be itself again. He held onto that lesson from all his years at church growing up. He had yet to see anything in his adult life to make him believe otherwise.
“Go on, Dad.”
“I got a call telling me there was an attempted robbery and Angelique had been injured. I rushed down here as fast as I could.” An angry look came over his face. “I should have been here! Protecting my granddaughter was more important than sweeping a damn empty room!”
Doug could see the tears in his eyes and hear the brittle edge to his voice.
“It’s OK, Dad. Just tell me what happened.”
“It’s not OK, Doug! You trusted me with her! And I staked her out like a goat! And the wolves showed up, but I didn’t even stick around to get the wolves!”
“Dad, just tell me what happened. We can get pissed at who to blame later.”
His father seemed to shudder as he took a few deep breaths to compose himself before he continued.
“Evidently, two guys came in and started harassing her. You know the type, punks picking on a little girl. They were trying to get her to just punch in the gas authorization, open the register, all the while leering and making subjections about all the things they wanted to do to her. Well, you know your little ‘Leka. She gave attitude right back just as hard. She didn’t put up with any of it, even refused when they pulled out a gun. She tells them ‘**** you’ even with guns in her face! Well, with their bluff called, they had to do something, so one of them shot her in the leg!”
Doug came unglued!
“They shot her! Which hospital did they take her to! What did the cops say? Was she able to get a description of them?”
“DOUG, STOP! Angelique is in the back room. She has already been treated. The cops aren’t around to call, and even if they were, it was unnecessary.”
“What do you mean, unnecessary? Those guys have to be stopped. And how long ago was this that you could go all the way to town to get her treated and be back?”
“They will never do it again. Ever. Or anything else. God or your mother sent a pair of guardian angels to look after Angelique until I could get here.”
“What are you talking about?” He could tell the old man seriously believed what he was saying, but he needed to make more sense.
“They were paying too much attention to Angelique and not enough attention to who was in the store and right outside the store. Kretins!”
“Who? Who was there?”
“Garen and ‘Palka’” His father chuckled.
“Oh ****!” The expletive exploded from him unbidden. Garen and Kara! These dumbasses could have found someone worse to be around while they did dumb shit, but they would have to look long and hard to find them. His father’s nickname for Kara, Palka, meant ‘the stick’. Most people thought it was endearing he gave everyone cute Russian nicknames. Doug knew it was because he had a hard time remembering names.
Garen and Kara were here. He had to know more.
“So, what happened?”
“Evidently, Palka was in the pisser when they shot Leka. She came out and distracted them, and Garen came through the doors and dropped them where they stood. Hence, the mop” he said, gesturing to the mop and bucket.
Damn! He hated to ask the next question, but had to.
“And the bodies?”
“Alek is taking care of it.” His father said it with such an air of finality, he know no other questions on that matter would be answered. “Garen then went and patched Leka up and gave her some drugs. He also wrote you a list of what he did and what she needed next. He said it was just a flesh wound and she would be fine in a couple of weeks. Palka and Garen left a couple hours ago, headed back to his place. He did say that if you needed anything, just let him know, and you knew how to get a hold of him.”
Doug was lost in thought for a few, trying to process. Kara and Garen were here and saved his daughter. Kara and Garen. Why the hell were they so far south? Also, he would have though Garen and Bekka, instead of Garen and Kara. Although, when he first met Garen and Kara, he thought they were a thing or husband and wife, until he met Bekka.
He remembered trying to track Kara through the woods during one of the field problems when they were out here a year or two ago. He had already found and captured all the others. Kara was the hold out. She was damn good in the woods and made him work pretty hard at it. Angelique sometimes reminded him of Kara in the woods, or was it Kara seemed to be an older version of Angelique in the woods. His brain was skipping around all over the place. Too many adrenaline dumps and not enough sleep or fuel in him to stay on track.
"OK, Dad, anything else I need to know before I go back there and check on my girl?”
“No. I need to finish out here. Remember, she was very brave and strong today. Do not undermine it.”
The early winter chill hit him as he swung the door to his truck open. He grabbed his wool coat as he stepped out of the vehicle and slung it over his arm. He would need it when he came back out. With no cloud cover tonight, the temperatures were plummeting. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had snow up near his place by the end of next week.
Walking in the door of the store, he was hit with the strong smell of cleaning chemicals. He knew he smelled pine oil, and probably breach. The rumpled figure of his father was in the middle of the isle near the counter, a mop in his hands as he was feverishly scrubbing the wet floor, even though it was already gleaming.
“Dad! What’s going on? Where’s Angelique? What happened?” His father looked up at him as he asked all his questions. He set the mop in the bucket and took a step forward. He held his empty arms out for an embrace.
“It’s OK, Mal'chik. She is going to be fine. She is tough like us, not a china doll like that Suka, her mother.”
Even in his worry and panic, he still got an inward chuckle at his father’s pet name for Angelica’s mother. His father had started using it long before his divorce and she thought it was endearing her father-in-law had a special pet name for her in Russian. All the charm went out of it for her when she finally figured out how it was spelled and looked it up. Suka was bitch or slut. Doug broke the embrace to ask him again.
“Dad, ‘splain it to me. What happened?”
His father looked him in the eyes, a look of sorrow came over him. Even though Doug probably already knew, he had to be told before they got to the business of Angelique.
“Doug, Jelena has passed. She went around dawn. It was peaceful in the end. I was up at the house with the hospice people most of the day. The Neptune Society came and picked her up so we can scatter her ashes under her rose bushes like she wanted. The hospital bed, all the machines, they were all picked up today. I was sweeping and putting things back together when I got a call from the store. Angelica was down here running things. It had been quiet and she said she would be fine here so I could take care of things up at the house.” He paused for a moment.
Doug had a feeling when he talked to his father last night that it wouldn’t be long. That his mother had departed at sunrise wasn’t a surprise either. She loved the sunrise. He could still hear her humming as she would make biscuits for Sunday morning breakfast, a family tradition. He had been around enough dead people to know she was at peace now. After the spirit leaves, it is free to be itself again. He held onto that lesson from all his years at church growing up. He had yet to see anything in his adult life to make him believe otherwise.
“Go on, Dad.”
“I got a call telling me there was an attempted robbery and Angelique had been injured. I rushed down here as fast as I could.” An angry look came over his face. “I should have been here! Protecting my granddaughter was more important than sweeping a damn empty room!”
Doug could see the tears in his eyes and hear the brittle edge to his voice.
“It’s OK, Dad. Just tell me what happened.”
“It’s not OK, Doug! You trusted me with her! And I staked her out like a goat! And the wolves showed up, but I didn’t even stick around to get the wolves!”
“Dad, just tell me what happened. We can get pissed at who to blame later.”
His father seemed to shudder as he took a few deep breaths to compose himself before he continued.
“Evidently, two guys came in and started harassing her. You know the type, punks picking on a little girl. They were trying to get her to just punch in the gas authorization, open the register, all the while leering and making subjections about all the things they wanted to do to her. Well, you know your little ‘Leka. She gave attitude right back just as hard. She didn’t put up with any of it, even refused when they pulled out a gun. She tells them ‘**** you’ even with guns in her face! Well, with their bluff called, they had to do something, so one of them shot her in the leg!”
Doug came unglued!
“They shot her! Which hospital did they take her to! What did the cops say? Was she able to get a description of them?”
“DOUG, STOP! Angelique is in the back room. She has already been treated. The cops aren’t around to call, and even if they were, it was unnecessary.”
“What do you mean, unnecessary? Those guys have to be stopped. And how long ago was this that you could go all the way to town to get her treated and be back?”
“They will never do it again. Ever. Or anything else. God or your mother sent a pair of guardian angels to look after Angelique until I could get here.”
“What are you talking about?” He could tell the old man seriously believed what he was saying, but he needed to make more sense.
“They were paying too much attention to Angelique and not enough attention to who was in the store and right outside the store. Kretins!”
“Who? Who was there?”
“Garen and ‘Palka’” His father chuckled.
“Oh ****!” The expletive exploded from him unbidden. Garen and Kara! These dumbasses could have found someone worse to be around while they did dumb shit, but they would have to look long and hard to find them. His father’s nickname for Kara, Palka, meant ‘the stick’. Most people thought it was endearing he gave everyone cute Russian nicknames. Doug knew it was because he had a hard time remembering names.
Garen and Kara were here. He had to know more.
“So, what happened?”
“Evidently, Palka was in the pisser when they shot Leka. She came out and distracted them, and Garen came through the doors and dropped them where they stood. Hence, the mop” he said, gesturing to the mop and bucket.
Damn! He hated to ask the next question, but had to.
“And the bodies?”
“Alek is taking care of it.” His father said it with such an air of finality, he know no other questions on that matter would be answered. “Garen then went and patched Leka up and gave her some drugs. He also wrote you a list of what he did and what she needed next. He said it was just a flesh wound and she would be fine in a couple of weeks. Palka and Garen left a couple hours ago, headed back to his place. He did say that if you needed anything, just let him know, and you knew how to get a hold of him.”
Doug was lost in thought for a few, trying to process. Kara and Garen were here and saved his daughter. Kara and Garen. Why the hell were they so far south? Also, he would have though Garen and Bekka, instead of Garen and Kara. Although, when he first met Garen and Kara, he thought they were a thing or husband and wife, until he met Bekka.
He remembered trying to track Kara through the woods during one of the field problems when they were out here a year or two ago. He had already found and captured all the others. Kara was the hold out. She was damn good in the woods and made him work pretty hard at it. Angelique sometimes reminded him of Kara in the woods, or was it Kara seemed to be an older version of Angelique in the woods. His brain was skipping around all over the place. Too many adrenaline dumps and not enough sleep or fuel in him to stay on track.
"OK, Dad, anything else I need to know before I go back there and check on my girl?”
“No. I need to finish out here. Remember, she was very brave and strong today. Do not undermine it.”
steamroller
Contributing Member
Great chapter, thank you.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you 
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Doug walked into the back office. On the couch half asleep was his daughter. He could see the pained look on her face, mixed with the relief a child feels when their parent arrives.
“How you doing, kid? I hear you had an exciting day today.” He dropped his keys and coat on the desk as he pulled up a chair to her side.
“Oh, Daddy, it was scary and horrible and exciting, all at the same time.”
Doug could hear the slow slur to her words. Not much, but it was there some. He checked the paper on the desk from Garen. Holy Crap! No wonder she was a bit out of it. He had no idea where Garen got his supplies, but this shit he had only seen in history books or old school movies.
Garen had left three tiny syringes with fluid in them. All three together probably couldn’t fill a bottle cap. There were big red sharpie marks segmenting them into three doses. Next to them was a drug he WAS familiar with; Narcan.
Garen had left several doses of Laudanum, also known as Tincture of Opium, a ridiculously potent opioid with both morphine and codeine in it that can be taken in liquid form. Its use was something from the turn of the century, the 19th and 20th century that is. The FDA was working hard to ban it but it squeeked through some loopholes and was still around evidently.
He could remember Garen talking about figuring out the most potent drug that will fit in the smallest container, which made sense for the backcountry. He also had a whole block on alternate drugs if you were in other countries and couldn’t get the flavor you liked. That was where he talked about Laudanum. Angelique was going to be feeling a bit numb and off for a bit.
“So, I think you should probably come on out to the house with me tomorrow. We will get your clothes and such and you can start settling in. Maybe we can get Grandpa to come out there too. We could use some time out in the park.”
“That would be a good thing Daddy. Grandpa needs some time to rest. Babushka passing has taken a lot out of him.”
Doug had to remind himself how grown up she was. He hadn’t been around to see a lot of it, but she was turning into quite a wonderful woman.
“I hear you got to meet a friend of mine today. I work with Garen every now and then teaching stuff in the park. I heard he helped you out today.”
“That part was real scary. When he came in, two big ripping sounds and those ****tards were toast! The guy was kinda gruff, but the woman was nice.”
"That was Kara. She is nice. I’m glad you got along with them. Maybe we will see them soon. After your leg is a bit better, we can head up to Garen and his wife’s place. They live out northwest of the park. You remember the lakes we hiked to back when you were eight?”
“Yeah, kinda?”
“That was Thor’s footprints. It’s about halfway to Garen’s place. You just keep going north and then west and it’s up that way.”
“That wasn’t his wife?”
“Nope. You would like his wife though. Nuttier than your Babushka’s fruit cake, but great people. Did you already eat dinner?”
“Grandpa already made me food. Twice.” She yawned. Doug could see how worn out she was by the day’s events.
“Why don’t you just take a nap for a bit while I go over some more things with Grandpa and get a bit to eat, OK?”
“Ok Daddy.” In moments she was back asleep. He took his green jacket and covered her up.
With the frantic activity of the last two days, his fuel gauge was empty and he wanted to let Angelique rest. Doug went out to talk with his father and have some food. Both things would do him and his father good.
“How you doing, kid? I hear you had an exciting day today.” He dropped his keys and coat on the desk as he pulled up a chair to her side.
“Oh, Daddy, it was scary and horrible and exciting, all at the same time.”
Doug could hear the slow slur to her words. Not much, but it was there some. He checked the paper on the desk from Garen. Holy Crap! No wonder she was a bit out of it. He had no idea where Garen got his supplies, but this shit he had only seen in history books or old school movies.
Garen had left three tiny syringes with fluid in them. All three together probably couldn’t fill a bottle cap. There were big red sharpie marks segmenting them into three doses. Next to them was a drug he WAS familiar with; Narcan.
Garen had left several doses of Laudanum, also known as Tincture of Opium, a ridiculously potent opioid with both morphine and codeine in it that can be taken in liquid form. Its use was something from the turn of the century, the 19th and 20th century that is. The FDA was working hard to ban it but it squeeked through some loopholes and was still around evidently.
He could remember Garen talking about figuring out the most potent drug that will fit in the smallest container, which made sense for the backcountry. He also had a whole block on alternate drugs if you were in other countries and couldn’t get the flavor you liked. That was where he talked about Laudanum. Angelique was going to be feeling a bit numb and off for a bit.
“So, I think you should probably come on out to the house with me tomorrow. We will get your clothes and such and you can start settling in. Maybe we can get Grandpa to come out there too. We could use some time out in the park.”
“That would be a good thing Daddy. Grandpa needs some time to rest. Babushka passing has taken a lot out of him.”
Doug had to remind himself how grown up she was. He hadn’t been around to see a lot of it, but she was turning into quite a wonderful woman.
“I hear you got to meet a friend of mine today. I work with Garen every now and then teaching stuff in the park. I heard he helped you out today.”
“That part was real scary. When he came in, two big ripping sounds and those ****tards were toast! The guy was kinda gruff, but the woman was nice.”
"That was Kara. She is nice. I’m glad you got along with them. Maybe we will see them soon. After your leg is a bit better, we can head up to Garen and his wife’s place. They live out northwest of the park. You remember the lakes we hiked to back when you were eight?”
“Yeah, kinda?”
“That was Thor’s footprints. It’s about halfway to Garen’s place. You just keep going north and then west and it’s up that way.”
“That wasn’t his wife?”
“Nope. You would like his wife though. Nuttier than your Babushka’s fruit cake, but great people. Did you already eat dinner?”
“Grandpa already made me food. Twice.” She yawned. Doug could see how worn out she was by the day’s events.
“Why don’t you just take a nap for a bit while I go over some more things with Grandpa and get a bit to eat, OK?”
“Ok Daddy.” In moments she was back asleep. He took his green jacket and covered her up.
With the frantic activity of the last two days, his fuel gauge was empty and he wanted to let Angelique rest. Doug went out to talk with his father and have some food. Both things would do him and his father good.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Doug and his father sat at the small table beside the counter, a cup of coffee in each of their hands. Doug desperately wanted sleep but his father seemed to need to talk, so coffee it was. For the first hour or so, it was about a whole lot of nothing. Finally the conversation swung around to more serious topics.
“I don’t know how much longer I want to keep the store open. It’s starting to feel like a burden sometimes. We always said once it became more hassle than fun, we would quit. I could probably find a buyer pretty easy, or maybe even lease the land and the store so I still get the stream of income. What do you think?”
“Dad, don’t go making rash choices right now. Just start looking at things and give yourself a good long timeline for the decision and plan. Maybe a year? That would give you space and distance to plan it right rather than rush things. Besides, what are you going to do next? Just sitting and watching tv? You should do something.”
“I don’t know. I was thinking of traveling. Your mother and I were going to get an RV and just go around and see some of the places I have never seen. She was going to show me places she had been when she was still flying. I don’t have her as my guide now but I could at least go visit some old friends and fish a lot.”
“That sounds like at least the start of a plan. The house is paid for, right”
“The house is paid for, there’s a tidy nest egg, and I have my retirement as well. I was figuring the money from selling the store would pay for the RV. I don’t need a big one since it’s just me. It just needs to be big enough and powerful enough to tow my Jeep behind it. Who knows, maybe I take one of those contract winter jobs at one of the campsites or state parks. It gets me somewhere different and seeing different people.”
“Are you thinking of doing this full time? Maybe rent or sell the house and travel full time?”
“Not at first. I figure I can try it out some and see if I like it enough. Besides, I would probably keep the house for you. They probably won’t let you keep squatting out there in the cabin once you retire. You will need somewhere to live of your own eventually.”
“Hell, I have quite a few years to figure that out still. I would love to tweak the paperwork and end up with it as a ‘set aside exception’ like Zed’s place.”
“Your about a hundred and fifty years too late for that. Maybe we could get him to adopt you and you could keep his place. It’s not like his son wants anything to do with it.”
“I was out at Zed’s this morning as a matter of fact. Mr Barnhart was out there as well. They are checking on the cabin and tower for me and shutting them down for the winter.”
“Why are they doing it? Where’s Floppsy and Moppsy? Shouldn’t they be shutting down their own stations?”
“Garret is in San Diego and Tracy blew her knee out. I was supposed to do it, but they offered while I was chasing down the last of the backcountry campers.”
“Still sounds like slacking to me.”
“Well, it’s not like we have the budget or the manpower you had in your days. Then again, we didn’t have to hike uphill, in the snow, both ways, in the dead of summer.”
“And don’t you forget it either, kid! We had to carve our own utensils for the break room out of sticks!”
They both sat and sipped their coffee for a few minutes, topping off the cups with coffee and Irish Cream as needed.
“Son, I have something your mother wanted me to give you.” He slid a small box with a note attached to it from under the table.
Taking the note, Doug recognized his mother’s loopy, angled scrawl;
Vasily, I may have left, but know I am always with you and Angelique. You are always in my heart.
Please be safe and trust in yourself
Love always, Your Mother
Jelena
Doug’s eyes were clouded with tears. His mother was the only one who called him by his middle name. It took him a few before he could see or think again. He lifted the lid to open the box and sat stunned.
“She wanted you to have it. She always told me about you playing with it when you guys were driving here and there when you were little. When she got sick this last time, she sent it out to be restored and engraved.”
Doug heard his father’s voice as if from far away. In the box was his mother’s watch. It was a big, multicolored thing with cities names all around the edge and other calculator wheels and gizmos. He had played with it for hours on her wrist waiting in offices, riding next to her in the car, wherever they were somewhere with nothing to do.
He remembered she called it her retirement watch. He asked her why, since she wasn’t retired then. She was a Flight Attendant and was still going everywhere. She told him a good friend she worked with when she first started told her that with their job, they always had to be on time regardless of the time wherever they were and not to buy a cheap watch. Rather, pick one you will have until you retire, then you can look at it as your retirement present to yourself.
He pulled it out of the box and marveled at it. He remembered it as beat up and scarred. This looked factory new! He could see all the tiny writing around the edges; names of places like Gambier, Midway, Tokyo, Karachi, Santiago. His mother had told him about visiting all these places. She had said then that her goal was to visit all the ones on the watch before she retired. Doug felt a sudden pang of regret. He didn’t remember ever asking her if she succeeded! The lettering on the face stood out bold -Sherpa Guide. The red and black checkerboard pattern on the GMT hand was right in its proper position for Greenwich Mean Time for the time today. On the back, in small script that matched the Sherpa 600 embossing was simply ‘Jelena, Vasily, Angelique,’ all spaced so more could be added after Angelique. She even knew he would want to hand it down to Angelique in time.
Doug buckled the leather strap around his right wrist, the same one his mother wore it on. He wasn’t left-handed like her, but it just seemed right to do so.
In the box, below the watch was an ornate filigree ring on a black silk cord. A small note simply said ‘for Angelique’
“Jelena wanted her to have it. It was her engagement ring and Angelique always found it pretty.”
“I don’t know what to say, Dad.”
“Don’t say anything, it was all your mother’s doing.” His head turned to the door. The sound of tires on gravel. “I wonder who that could be at this hour.”
“I don’t know how much longer I want to keep the store open. It’s starting to feel like a burden sometimes. We always said once it became more hassle than fun, we would quit. I could probably find a buyer pretty easy, or maybe even lease the land and the store so I still get the stream of income. What do you think?”
“Dad, don’t go making rash choices right now. Just start looking at things and give yourself a good long timeline for the decision and plan. Maybe a year? That would give you space and distance to plan it right rather than rush things. Besides, what are you going to do next? Just sitting and watching tv? You should do something.”
“I don’t know. I was thinking of traveling. Your mother and I were going to get an RV and just go around and see some of the places I have never seen. She was going to show me places she had been when she was still flying. I don’t have her as my guide now but I could at least go visit some old friends and fish a lot.”
“That sounds like at least the start of a plan. The house is paid for, right”
“The house is paid for, there’s a tidy nest egg, and I have my retirement as well. I was figuring the money from selling the store would pay for the RV. I don’t need a big one since it’s just me. It just needs to be big enough and powerful enough to tow my Jeep behind it. Who knows, maybe I take one of those contract winter jobs at one of the campsites or state parks. It gets me somewhere different and seeing different people.”
“Are you thinking of doing this full time? Maybe rent or sell the house and travel full time?”
“Not at first. I figure I can try it out some and see if I like it enough. Besides, I would probably keep the house for you. They probably won’t let you keep squatting out there in the cabin once you retire. You will need somewhere to live of your own eventually.”
“Hell, I have quite a few years to figure that out still. I would love to tweak the paperwork and end up with it as a ‘set aside exception’ like Zed’s place.”
“Your about a hundred and fifty years too late for that. Maybe we could get him to adopt you and you could keep his place. It’s not like his son wants anything to do with it.”
“I was out at Zed’s this morning as a matter of fact. Mr Barnhart was out there as well. They are checking on the cabin and tower for me and shutting them down for the winter.”
“Why are they doing it? Where’s Floppsy and Moppsy? Shouldn’t they be shutting down their own stations?”
“Garret is in San Diego and Tracy blew her knee out. I was supposed to do it, but they offered while I was chasing down the last of the backcountry campers.”
“Still sounds like slacking to me.”
“Well, it’s not like we have the budget or the manpower you had in your days. Then again, we didn’t have to hike uphill, in the snow, both ways, in the dead of summer.”
“And don’t you forget it either, kid! We had to carve our own utensils for the break room out of sticks!”
They both sat and sipped their coffee for a few minutes, topping off the cups with coffee and Irish Cream as needed.
“Son, I have something your mother wanted me to give you.” He slid a small box with a note attached to it from under the table.
Taking the note, Doug recognized his mother’s loopy, angled scrawl;
Vasily, I may have left, but know I am always with you and Angelique. You are always in my heart.
Please be safe and trust in yourself
Love always, Your Mother
Jelena
Doug’s eyes were clouded with tears. His mother was the only one who called him by his middle name. It took him a few before he could see or think again. He lifted the lid to open the box and sat stunned.
“She wanted you to have it. She always told me about you playing with it when you guys were driving here and there when you were little. When she got sick this last time, she sent it out to be restored and engraved.”
Doug heard his father’s voice as if from far away. In the box was his mother’s watch. It was a big, multicolored thing with cities names all around the edge and other calculator wheels and gizmos. He had played with it for hours on her wrist waiting in offices, riding next to her in the car, wherever they were somewhere with nothing to do.
He remembered she called it her retirement watch. He asked her why, since she wasn’t retired then. She was a Flight Attendant and was still going everywhere. She told him a good friend she worked with when she first started told her that with their job, they always had to be on time regardless of the time wherever they were and not to buy a cheap watch. Rather, pick one you will have until you retire, then you can look at it as your retirement present to yourself.
He pulled it out of the box and marveled at it. He remembered it as beat up and scarred. This looked factory new! He could see all the tiny writing around the edges; names of places like Gambier, Midway, Tokyo, Karachi, Santiago. His mother had told him about visiting all these places. She had said then that her goal was to visit all the ones on the watch before she retired. Doug felt a sudden pang of regret. He didn’t remember ever asking her if she succeeded! The lettering on the face stood out bold -Sherpa Guide. The red and black checkerboard pattern on the GMT hand was right in its proper position for Greenwich Mean Time for the time today. On the back, in small script that matched the Sherpa 600 embossing was simply ‘Jelena, Vasily, Angelique,’ all spaced so more could be added after Angelique. She even knew he would want to hand it down to Angelique in time.
Doug buckled the leather strap around his right wrist, the same one his mother wore it on. He wasn’t left-handed like her, but it just seemed right to do so.
In the box, below the watch was an ornate filigree ring on a black silk cord. A small note simply said ‘for Angelique’
“Jelena wanted her to have it. It was her engagement ring and Angelique always found it pretty.”
“I don’t know what to say, Dad.”
“Don’t say anything, it was all your mother’s doing.” His head turned to the door. The sound of tires on gravel. “I wonder who that could be at this hour.”
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you, oh man, we know what's coming.