| One Thing After Another As he moved away from the fire he noticed a spark land near the box he had brought to store the food in. He walked calmly over and stepped on the glowing ember. Then he looked at the box and tried to estimate how many days he could last on what was there. 3 maybe 4 counting with what was stashed in the river to keep cool and fresh. His car had enough gas to drive another � day probably would get him as far as Denver if he was careful with his speed.But then what? He only had money enough to fill up once more and then he would be completely out of cash. He shook his head and felt his back pocket absentmindedly. �I wont worry about that�, He thought to himself,�nothing can be done about it, so I might as well relax, cash or not ,I�m not going back.� He heard a rustling near the river and he gave it no thought. Then he heard it again and turned to listen. The wind? Deer? Then he heard the low throaty growl, a bear! Oh crap!"He�s at the ice chest! My food!"He ran towards the river and as he came over the bank he saw him. Only a medium brown bear but still nothing to tangle with. He picked up a stick and running towards the bear yelled and threw it at him. The bear calmly turned to look, unconcerned. Then he flipped up the box lid with one ,motion and bit into the ham that was in the box. Then as if in spite he hit the box and with a powerful blow sent It into the swift current and all the remaining food sailing. There it floated a short time and then sank.Dave watched with his mouth half open as it faded from sight. He looked back to the bear now chewing away at the 5-lb. ham he was now enjoying.He yelled with all his might,�you bastard�! The bear looked calmly at him and then picked up the ham and slowly walked in to the bushes. Dave fell to his knees in the sand and bent with his face in his hands till his hair was in the small clump of rabbit brush that was growing there.He stayed there for about five minutes, sobbing- -------------------------------------------------------- The road was what seemed like one long and continuous ribbon of asphalt with nothing but brief interludes of variation like an occasional hill or turn out to break the monotony. He pulled into the gas station that looked like it was a locally run business rather than the national chain, big name one across the street. He felt that if he was going to get any help it would be in this small, rather disorderly gas stop. He knew for sure that it would not be out on the next stretch of hiway that lie ahead of him. The next town was almost 100 miles out and if he didn�t find a way to fill his tank here he might not make the distance with what he had left. As he was browsing the small selection of snacks and fishing /hunting gear that was the stores inventory he heard a woman from the back of the store yell out � its doing it again, John�! The man at the counter looked irritated and rolled his eyes and then yelled back �then put in a bucket or two of hot water!� Then he mumbled to himself, �Damn washing, piece of crap machine!�Dave�s ears perked up at that.�Having trouble with your washer?�, he asked� Yeah it starts washing then when its about � full it wont ever put enough water in�, he answered� Soap scum� Dave said The man at the counter looked puzzled ,�what do you mean, soap scum?� Dave turned to face the man squarely now,� it plugs the tube to the water level sensor and the machine doesn�t know when to fill or stop filling�� Yeah, well it might as well be a Lear Jet as far as my fixing it�, he answered� It�s a simple thing to repair�, Dave said "Hey" the man said � Ill give ya 30 bucks to do it if ya got time.� �Sure!� Dave answered and smiled, �do you have any screwdrivers?� �Hey, how come you know about these things?� the man asked as Dave began ti remove the top cover to the machine� "Well my dad used to be a repairman and I helped him from time to time" Tank full now, Dave drove off with a grin on his face, � well that was easy enough,� he thought�That will get me quite a ways and who knows what lies ahead?� He was listening intently to a song on the radio and didn�t notice the car pulling hard to the left. Then he heard the unmistakable thumping of a flat tire.H e pulled over to the side and got out. The tire was ruined, that was for sure. He opened the trunk and pulled the spare out and tossed it on the ground. THUD. It too was flat!Dave just stood there and looked at it in unbelief! Flat ! How could that be? He checked it before he left and it was fine. It was almost a new tire!Two flats now and 7 dollars left in his pocket, not a good picture. The next town was approximately 30 more miles away.He rolled the tire to the front of the car and leaned on the fender, waiting. The first car just sped by. �A family on their way to who knows where� Dave thought� C�mon ,people lets give a guy a break�, Dave said out loud to no one in particular. |