in good spirits. “Get in the truck. I’ll pay the man and we’ll be on our way.”
When we were on the road again, I fought the urge to tell Connor to turn around, to take us anywhere but home. I couldn’t explain it. I told myself that the hovering cloud was the product of an early summer storm, that what the skunk had told me was nothing more than acid-induced bullshit. I fidgeted in my seat, feeling hot and anxious. Connor agreed that it was unusually warm and turned on the air conditioning.
Suddenly the cloud was on top of us – that’s when huge flakes of what looked like snow began to fall. Connor’s wipers fought valiantly to clean up our field of vision as the flakes became thicker. The cleaner steamed as it hit the windshield, lubricating the wipers and messing the view. Connor finally pulled off the road, got out, and tried to clean the window himself with a rag. After a couple of futile wipes, he hopped back into the truck.
“ What is this shit?” He brushed it out of his hair and collar. “It’s hot too, did you see that? Look at how my wipers are dragging along the windshield. Everything’s so hot and the visibility is really starting to suck.” The sound of the wiper motor struggling suddenly became audible.
“ It looks like ash,” Julia said. “Not to alarm anyone, but when I was in Costa Rica and the Arenal Volcano erupted, this is exactly what it looked like a few minutes later. Maybe there’s a forest fire somewhere, burning out of control.” She reached out the window, collected some of the downpour onto her palm, and studied it. “This is some pretty big ash, though.”
Sara’s voice trembled. “Just don’t go back out in it unless you have a rag or something to put over your mouth and nose. We don’t know what this stuff is. It could be from a chemical plant that burned down somewhere.”
We stared at each other, anxiety and confusion visible on our faces as we tried to figure out what was happening. The silence was finally broken by John knocking on Connor’s window.
“ I’m not going to ask you guys what the hell’s happening here, but I will suggest we get to cover as soon as possible.” He glanced back at his vehicle covering his face and head with his hands.
“ Shit. Okay, let’s all go to Joel’s house and wait this out. We can call our houses from there. That cool, Joel?” Connor looked at me.
“ Sure, my place is closest. Let’s do it.”
John nodded. “I’ll tell the rest of them.”
Sara handed him a t-shirt from her bag. “Put this over your mouth, John, to be safe.”
He thanked her, then ran back to his car, jacket pulled over his head, t-shirt pushed into his face.
Trying my best not to panic, now sure of what had happened, knowing the source behind the dirty snow, I turned and forced a smile at the girls. “It’ll be alright... We’re almost home.”
Connor stepped on the gas and we rocketed back into action. During the final approach home we ran into a type of traffic congestion that only a farming town could throw at you. A herd of panicked cattle was pouring onto the road, pushing into one another as they squeezed through the narrow opening in the driftwood fence. Once again our motorcade was forced onto the shoulder. The stampede ended quickly enough, thank God, and soon we were moving again. I thought of my neighbour- did he know that his livestock had broken free? The trees were on fire behind his house: perhaps that was what spooked the cows. Shit, what if my forest was going up in flames? Or my house!
“ Shit, I gotta clean the window again.” Connor pulled over and got out while the rest of us remained in the car, craning our necks to see out the windows. A deafening sound came from above. I spotted a low-flying plane, a fat-bodied military one. A Hercules? Water poured out of its belly, smothering the flames behind my neighbour’s house. That was a reassuring sight. Then we saw six more flying just over the tree line,
When we were on the road again, I fought the urge to tell Connor to turn around, to take us anywhere but home. I couldn’t explain it. I told myself that the hovering cloud was the product of an early summer storm, that what the skunk had told me was nothing more than acid-induced bullshit. I fidgeted in my seat, feeling hot and anxious. Connor agreed that it was unusually warm and turned on the air conditioning.
Suddenly the cloud was on top of us – that’s when huge flakes of what looked like snow began to fall. Connor’s wipers fought valiantly to clean up our field of vision as the flakes became thicker. The cleaner steamed as it hit the windshield, lubricating the wipers and messing the view. Connor finally pulled off the road, got out, and tried to clean the window himself with a rag. After a couple of futile wipes, he hopped back into the truck.
“ What is this shit?” He brushed it out of his hair and collar. “It’s hot too, did you see that? Look at how my wipers are dragging along the windshield. Everything’s so hot and the visibility is really starting to suck.” The sound of the wiper motor struggling suddenly became audible.
“ It looks like ash,” Julia said. “Not to alarm anyone, but when I was in Costa Rica and the Arenal Volcano erupted, this is exactly what it looked like a few minutes later. Maybe there’s a forest fire somewhere, burning out of control.” She reached out the window, collected some of the downpour onto her palm, and studied it. “This is some pretty big ash, though.”
Sara’s voice trembled. “Just don’t go back out in it unless you have a rag or something to put over your mouth and nose. We don’t know what this stuff is. It could be from a chemical plant that burned down somewhere.”
We stared at each other, anxiety and confusion visible on our faces as we tried to figure out what was happening. The silence was finally broken by John knocking on Connor’s window.
“ I’m not going to ask you guys what the hell’s happening here, but I will suggest we get to cover as soon as possible.” He glanced back at his vehicle covering his face and head with his hands.
“ Shit. Okay, let’s all go to Joel’s house and wait this out. We can call our houses from there. That cool, Joel?” Connor looked at me.
“ Sure, my place is closest. Let’s do it.”
John nodded. “I’ll tell the rest of them.”
Sara handed him a t-shirt from her bag. “Put this over your mouth, John, to be safe.”
He thanked her, then ran back to his car, jacket pulled over his head, t-shirt pushed into his face.
Trying my best not to panic, now sure of what had happened, knowing the source behind the dirty snow, I turned and forced a smile at the girls. “It’ll be alright... We’re almost home.”
Connor stepped on the gas and we rocketed back into action. During the final approach home we ran into a type of traffic congestion that only a farming town could throw at you. A herd of panicked cattle was pouring onto the road, pushing into one another as they squeezed through the narrow opening in the driftwood fence. Once again our motorcade was forced onto the shoulder. The stampede ended quickly enough, thank God, and soon we were moving again. I thought of my neighbour- did he know that his livestock had broken free? The trees were on fire behind his house: perhaps that was what spooked the cows. Shit, what if my forest was going up in flames? Or my house!
“ Shit, I gotta clean the window again.” Connor pulled over and got out while the rest of us remained in the car, craning our necks to see out the windows. A deafening sound came from above. I spotted a low-flying plane, a fat-bodied military one. A Hercules? Water poured out of its belly, smothering the flames behind my neighbour’s house. That was a reassuring sight. Then we saw six more flying just over the tree line,
Similar Books
