TFW CH 9 Leaving Phoenix

We had found the key in Phoenix, the golden car that had been drowned in the desert.  And now, we found ourselves approaching an old cabin in the desert. 

Move It On   by JJ Grey and Mofro  

Patrick, the driver of the huge, white utility truck who now sat in the rear of the crew cab with his face staring out of the window, was the first to say something. 

He said, “What the fuck is that?”

Indeed.

Under the light of the huge red moon setting in the west, it was a monstrosity.

We had taken many turns to get to this place, guided by the Glinty dude.

The new Sun would rise up in another hour, and already the stars began to wink out and go to sleep in their brightening blanket of deep blue.

Bryan stopped and climbed out from behind the steering wheel.  Glinty was next.  He had been sitting bitch, you know, but no one told him that.  All along the drive to his cabin in the east he had been marveling at all of the controls to the big truck.  Bryan answered his questions like a gentleman.

“Yes, sir, this is like the wheel at the helm of a boat.”

“Yes, sir, this is the clutch to the wheels of this ‘big carriage’.”

“Yes, sir, that petal on the floor is for the brakes…”

Bryan was the tour guide, gawd bless him.

The rest of us weary bastards clambered out and stood in the sand before the huge cabin.

Joey the Lion Man, said, “Weeee-ill.  This is where you drove that black model chick?”

I said, “Well, Joseph, it didn’t look like this at the time.”

Tellesco didn’t say a damned thing.  He just helped Patrick out of the back.  Patrick, however, had some choice words.  He said, “Now I know this is really all a dream after all.  None of this is real.  Good.”

You know, my friend, we all have our own way to navigate uncharted waters.  All is well, and well is all, for all.

Glinty pointed to the rear of the huge cabin in the desert.  He said to Bryan, “Let’s get these boys some food and water, then we put this mighty vehicle in my barn.  Sound good to you?”

Bryan only nodded.  Maybe he was thinking, hoping that this was a dream after all, like Patrick was busy doing.

Well, we made our way up the steps to the veranda.  Huge doors awaited.  The steps up to it were crafted from old iron wood, and they looked to be a hundred years old.  The scorch of a hundred years of desert sun had only made them harder.

It was indeed hard to walk up them steps.  We were beat.

But not beaten.

Stars   by Switchfoot  

Glinty paused before the massive old doors with black iron hinges and hardware.  He said, “This is our safe haven, our base.  Welcome to each of you.  Please enter and let us have sustenance and rest.  Rest your troubles on the hat hooks inside.  We are a family now.”

Then his old, creaky fingers wiped across the door handles with blue sparks as he whispered a few words to himself.

The bolt clicked with a loud ring.

He pulled them doors out wide, and before us we saw a warm interior, lit by hurricane lanterns on the walls and a fire roaring inside a huge hearth to the right.

Many large, cushy chairs surrounded that field-stone hearth, and to the left, a long wooden table held pitchers of water and gleaming plates and silverware.  Pots of stew and Dutch ovens of slow roasted meat lined the middle of the table.  Among them were bottles of old fine wine, and pitchers of well water.

Glinty turned back to me and Bryan as them others went for the table.  He said, “let’s hide that vehicle out back in the barn.  We got some work before you two set your teeth to eating. This agreeable to you young men?”

Well, how could we refuse?

But I could smell the food all hot and waiting, and there was even fresh fruit all about the place settings.  A true feast awaited, but there was more work to do.

Dayam.

Bryan and I climbed into the crew cab of the utility truck as Glinty stalked over to the big barn.

Bryan looked at me and said, “This is all a dream, isn’t it?”

I looked out the windshield at the old ghost cowboy walking off ahead of us. 

It wasn’t a dream. 

It was a fucking nightmare.  

I turned back to him and said, “Bryan.  Whatever you want to think, that’s cool.  Whatever helps.  Right now, let’s not think about it too much.  Let’s make an agreement that we will go back inside and eat, after we hide this giant bitch.  Cool?”

Bryan laughed.  That was good to hear.  He said, “OK.  Will, wherever you lead I will follow.”

Dayam.

Why did he have to say that?

Who in the hell was I to do any leading?

All I said was, “My friend, wherever we go, we have to stay true to each other, and them others.  That’s all we got.  Leave no one behind.”

He nodded, and that was good enough for him.

God help him.

Glinty led us to the giant barn and he opened it up.  The entrance was wide and tall enough for the white utility truck to enter.  Glinty closed the barn doors behind us as Bryan shut that beast down.

Food and drink awaited us, and it was going to be damn fine to eat, drink and be merry, before sleep.

We would sleep like the dead.

Of course, Glinty had some words to tell us before we left the barn.

Of course.

Nothing was ever easy for us.

God Help You.

God Help Us All.

---willies out.

From Nowhere   by Dan Crall 

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