Mary's Trip

A hot wind blew as Mary sped down the isolated road, unaware and oblivious to what lay in wait for her. The sun bore harshly down on her and she now wished she had put the top up on the car at the last stop. But what the hey thought Mary, this is what 1966 Mustangs are for. Full sun and cruising down highway 21 at breakneck speeds, jamming to Steppenwolf and heading nowhere, just as long as it was some where far away from the redneck town that she left 3 days ago. You know the type of town where everyone was in your business, always putting there nose’s where they didn’t belong, always giving those disapproving looks because you chose to dress a certain way or even if you dare to be a little different. Good riddance thought Mary, and good night nurse as her late father used to say when he finished polishing off the remaining liquid of the mexacali tequila. It felt so good to leave all that, to start freshly in a big city where no one cared how short you wore your dress or if you did color your hair, grief what a bunch of jerks she thought.

The landscapes blurred as Mary accelerated down the straight and lonely road, sometimes pegging the speedometer at 110. She noticed little as she rocketed along singing to the song “magic carpet ride” with the mustang her own Persian rug taking her away from the dull and boring life that once held her prisoner, shackled and bound to the normalcy of a life less exciting as little flashbacks of her dad kept her company. A happier time that was, even though Ed Bishop spent too much of his time trying to extricate the tiny worm from the bottom of the Mexacali bottle. He was a good dad to Mary; He taught her much of what it meant to be a free thinker and to shun the norm. “They ain’t nuttin but a bunch of sods too afraid to let go of their cods” was a favorite saying of her dads and remembering this Mary broke out in laughter. “The old sods lost their cods cause they were too busy playing with their rods” Mary shouted in a maniacal tone as she stepped harder on the accelerator and sped off down the empty highway.

With darkness, fast approaching the narrow blacktop seemed to take on a life of its own, bending and twisting the serpentine mile went into the black Nevada night. How many hours had she been driving, eight, ten, and she no longer knew? The desert had a way of bending time and mixing a little reality in for good measure and keeping one in almost a state of delirium. Mary thought that she must stop, but where. The last sign of the civilized world seemed like a lost memory, somewhere long ago, a singular place in your mind that you know exist, but have difficulty recalling. Such was this, riding the desert road into the blackest night she had ever seen. Not a single star shone from the pitch blanket above her. She was not only tired, but hungry too; it was then that she realized that she, in her excitement to leave Hicksville that she had totally forgotten to eat. She slowed the car to a safer speed and reached into her nap sack in the back seat in hope of finding something to nibble on. Half looking over her shoulder and half at the road, she weaved back and forth across the blacktop like she had seen her dad do after leaving the bar and then coming to pick her up at school. Suddenly there was a loud thud and then a horrible BUMP de BUMP as the front right tire of the mustang let out a sinister hiss sending Mary’s car careening into the soft sand of the desert floor and bringing the vehicle to a sudden stop. Cripes said Mary, this is all I need and what the heck was that I hit? It was then when she got out of the car that she noticed that the seat of her pants were wet, not only had she not taken the time to eat, but she hadn’t bothered with taking a piss either. Well, that is at least one of them out of the way chuckled Mary as she dug in the back seat for a flashlight that was in her emergency kit that she proudly packed for those just in case times like these. Let's see thought Mary, band-aids, gauze, ammonia sticks and a spare kotex, but no flashlight. She knew that she had packed it, but where was it?

Off in the distant night, Mary could hear the howl of the coyote, a lonely cry that sent shivers up her spine. It wasn’t just the howl that caused her to shiver, it was getting cold as the sand lost it day’s heat to the night and the wet place between her legs wasn’t helping either. Nearing exhaustion, Mary began to sob, softly at first and then uncontrollably. The hot wet tears fell from her face and landed in small patterns on her white cotton blouse. She knew that she was in need of rest, but how could one sleep under these circumstances. She needed to find help, but from where? She could not remember passing a car in hours. You should have stuck to the main road a voice inside her said. You are going to die out here and if anyone finds you, all they will find are a bunch of sun bleached bones. “Shut up Mary screamed as the diminutive voice continued its treason to Mary’s soul. That's right Mary it went on, them big ole bleached bones will make a nice home for some spider or snake, that's right (Mary's bones is my home, said the spider to the snake) Stop it please said Mary just before everything went black as she felt herself struggling to remain on her feet. And with a sharp pain running laps in her head, Mary fell to the ground in a small heap.

Mary awoke to pure agony, it felt as if her legs were on fire, as well as they should be considering that when she passed out last night, she had the misfortune to land atop the largest black ant hill this side of the Rocky Mountains. They were all over her, sending out there venom in thousands of tiny stings. Jumping a little uneasy to her feet, she began slapping furiously at her pants looking like someone trying to play (hambone, but without the spoons). Rata - tat-tat, take that you stinking ant. And after realizing that her efforts to evict them from her person failed, she ripped her pants off and began to brush them from her red and already swollen legs. Tears streamed down her face as the pain began to overwhelm her. I am going to die she thought; my bones will belong to the spiders and snakes. Large whelps were forming everywhere on her once smooth skin, distorting her long shapely legs into grotesque lumps of bleeding flesh. Tears ran hot down her face as she removed her remaining articles of clothing in effort to rid herself of the angry black mass that laid claim to their domain by attacking what they deemed a danger to their species. Hundreds if not thousands of the little crushed insects   lay scattered about Mary’s feet, victims of Mary’s effort in self-preservation. Still hundreds more scurried about her body sending out intermittent strikes in various places across her red and swollen skin. Mary quickly reached into the back seat of her crippled Mustang and grabbed a can of white rain hairspray and began immersing herself in it’s sticky mist in hopes of smothering the little devils. Self preservation is a part of our make up that we give little thought to, here I am in the middle of God knows where, naked as the day I was born and spraying every crack and crevice with “the hold that last...WHITE RAIN” Yes I will survive thought Mary, And those spiders and snakes will just have to find somewhere else to live cause I...Her voice faltered and the sleep returned to her ravaged body and mind. Not knowing how close she really was to being rescued, she fell like a worn rag doll into the back seat of her car.

Heading east into the rising Nevada sun, Jimmy “(pee wee)” Reece reached for a Newport and punched in the old trucks lighter. Small dust devils swirled out in front of him as he headed down the empty stretch of highway. Not many people used this road much anymore since the government moved their test site further north and that was why “pee wee” was here, our government as always was not very frugal concerning what they left behind as useless junk and on a good day of riding the devils dust he might clear an easy hundred or so. One time he even found a two hundred pound aluminum basin that would fetch an easy thirty-five cents a pound and was taken aback when the dealer offered him a buck and a quarter a pound. If he had only known that it was not an aluminum basin, but one made of titanium that went for five times what the scrap dealer paid him, but he did not know. Slowing the old Ford down to almost a crawl, “Pee Wee” surveyed the sandy flats for anything that would glint from the sun. Mornings were the best time to scavenge for discarded tax dollars, because of the angle of the sun, once it got too high in the sky, everything reflected upward and away from the eye. Spotting something just ahead, Jimmy stopped the truck and almost had to roll out of the cab. Standing at six foot six and weighing in at three hundred and twenty, grace of movement had all but left him, actually people think he got the nick name “Pee Wee” from how much he weighed but that couldn’t be further from the real reason. He got the name when he was in school, long before he started putting on weight.  He got the nick name on the first day of high school and to be more precise, it was right after the coach in the gym class told everyone to hit the showers. It was then that the infernal name was applied and has stayed with him throughout life. Walking with care across the soft sand, Jimmy spotted what had caught his eye from the road. It was lying at the base of some scrub that would someday pull its roots from the soil and go rolling across the desert floor casting its seed as it went. “We people are a little like that thought Jimmy” “we uproot from our home and go rolling off somewhere to destinations unknown casting our seeds along life’s way.” Jimmy mused upon this as he stooped with effort to pick up the small object that lay as a small child all wrapped up in a blanket of sand. Brushing back the sand Jimmy let out a yell of joy so loud, that if Mary had been conscious, she most assuredly would have heard, but she did not for she from her ordeal had slipped into a deep sleep that would last well into the day. Like a small child and unable to contain his excitement, Jimmy jumped up and down on the desert floor shouting and singing, “looks what I founds” said Jimmy. “I founds me a solid gold cigarette case” and with that he let out a soft sigh of relief. Reaching into his back pocket he removed the handkerchief that he put there this morning and began to wipe the dust away from the gold case, as he was doing so he noticed a faint inscription start to appear across the front of the case. He could not quite make it out though. Walking back to the truck with a little more spring in his step than previously and not really watching where he was walking stumped his foot against a large stone and fell head first into a large patch of cactus that sent waves of pain coursing his large body. Slowly he began to rise from his bed of pain, only to freeze. He lay motionless, anchored to the desert floor, gasping in horror, for less than ten inches from the tip of his bulbous nose was the biggest rattler he had ever seen. The cacti needles continued to stick him with every labored breath he took, but move another inch he would not. Here he was in a stare off contest with this big ugly snake, he knew that one wrong move, and in this bed of needles, he would forever lay. With the blood leaving his arms to where they felt like inanimate stumps attached to his shoulders, he knew that he needed to lower himself down into a laying position and he would have to do it very slow, cause if he did it too quickly or if the stumps that used to be arms gave out and he fell. He knew that old Randy Rattler would hit him right between the eyes. He slowly started lowering himself, moving, but seeming not to move. He guessed it was about six inches to the sandy floor, but it might have been six miles judging the way his arms felt. One inch and five to go thought Jimmy as the snake flicked its black tongue back and forth rapidly. Two inches, four to go, and I am still alive whispered Jimmy under his breath. Suddenly Randy Rattler raised his sleek body into an upright position and Jimmy heard the rattles begin their rhythmic almost hypnotic song. This is it thought Jimmy, I’m dead meat and the buzzards are going to think they had up and died and gone to heaven, cus dey aint ever seen this much dead meat at one time, almost laughing at this last thought, Jimmy closed his eyes. Less than 300 yards away, Mary began to awake from her forced sleep.

The noon sun was hot as it bore down on Mary’s naked and swollen flesh as she slowly opened her eyes and trying to shake the haze that had formed while she slept. Blurred chrome of the Mustang’s door handle shone like a thousand suns impeding her effort to awaken. “Sleep Mary, sleep” a voice said as she attempted to raise her head high enough to view her surroundings. “Close your eyes and sleep, all is well Mary, just close your eyes and it will be all right, the voice said again. No said Mary, you are a liar, you just want me to close my eyes and sleep the forever sleep. Mary lifted her head above the door of the car; only to see a barren wasteland as far as one could see. Clear ripples of heat danced to a silent tune across the deserts floor, distorting the rocks into grotesque shapes akin to some (B) movie that one might see at the drive-in. Lifting herself into an upright position Mary got a clearer picture of her surroundings which could be described in two words, (empty and lifeless), that is with the exception of the spiders and snakes and of course, those damned black ants, looking now at her naked body that was covered with tiny red bumps that resembled the German measles that she had as a child, but these looked more severe and angry. Cautiously she threw her leg over the side of the car mooning the empty highway in the process. Stepping from the back of the mustang onto the hot gritty sand, looking carefully not to disturb the ants domain again. Delicately Mary walked to the front of her car and noticed that she not only had a flat tire, but her entire front fender was missing. “What on earth did I hit thought Mary” and it was then that she saw it...

Oh, my God thought Mary. There on the side of the fender well hinged the remains of...No God, please do not let it be so and with hesitation she bent over and looked beneath the car throwing her white moon towards the sky this time, half looking and half not. She lets out a long sigh, nothing there, nothing but this old rag of a flannel shirt that is, but no body, no mutilated corpse starring back with the questioning eyes. The ones that say look what you done to me you twit, the ones that forever cry for revenge when you attempt to sleep at night as if normal sleep could ever enter your presence again. Nothing there, thank you lord, there is nothing there… at least not under the car, but what about back where the collision happened. Looking back East in the direction she came from, starring up the empty road she squinted against the sun that judging by its angle made it close to eleven am. Trying to gather her senses and get her act together, Mary found her panties and her blouse, but there was no sign of her pants. Sliding her panties up her tender inflamed legs one inch at a time made her look like some stripper doing her show in reverse, finally she got them up and on her hips, there was a slight yellowish stain down the center from where she had wet herself earlier. Leaning over and picking up her blouse that went on with less difficulty than the panties, she saw what looked like boot prints in the sand. Fear gripped her heart; someone was here, someone watching her while she slept. She traced the steps with her eye, as they staggered across the desert floor in the direction of some mountains that rose upward from the inhospitable terrain like some prehistoric sentinels that refused to abandon their post. Confused as to what to do next, Mary scrounged around the back seat looking for a left over soda pop. Her mouth felt as dry as the sand that was now beginning to burn beneath her feet. She could not ever remember being this thirsty her entire life. Finding a can of DR. Pepper, she climbed back into the car to wait. Wait for what, she thought? The small voice in her head spoke up once more, Mary. Oh Mary? You know what is next don’t you? Shut up exclaimed Mary! The voice though continued, this time louder than before. You are going to sit out here and wait on a car to come and you know that is not going to happen. You are going to die out here Mary, you are going to die and all that will be left is them bleached out bones that the spiders and snakes will call home. Mary let out a piercing scream, NO, NO, I will not die. Three hundred yards away, Peewee cocked his head ever so slightly…….to be continued

J. Allen Wilson © November 2005