Clouds began to form over the horizon as the tires on my convertible caressed the curves of highway 101. It had been a relaxing day visiting the tourist traps along the Oregon coast. I had even managed to find a great deal on an HR Giger piece that I had been lucky to find.
The wind was starting to pick up and the air had changed. It now had that sweet clean smell that only rain can bring.
I pulled the car over onto the shoulder just beneath a highway sign. I pressed the button to raise the convertible top and peered up at the sky waiting for the top to finish it's ascent to the "upright and locked position." I wasn't about to let a little rain spoil my day.
"Crescent City, CA 150 miles", the highway sign read. With more than enough fuel to make it to Crescent City, I accelerated back onto 101 and settled in for the cruise.
Daylight was slowly fading as cloud cover made it's way inland and the first few drops of rain had begun to dance on the windshield. Waiting until the windshield was completely saturated, I turned on the wipers and switched on my headlights.
Having listened to Metallica and Disturbed for the last 300 miles, I decided to turn off the CD player and see what I could find on the radio. Granted, I was a billion miles from known civilization, but my mind needed the break from James screaming "...you will do, what I say, when I say..."
I switched over to the FM band and scanned the airwaves. The digital display on the radio slowly churned through the frequencies. Fumbling in the darkness of the car, I turned up the wipers. The rain now coming down steadily, I focused to keep my vision on the illuminated pavement.
"Ask the lord for forgiveness!" a voice bellowed out through the speakers. "Only god can save you from eternal damnnation" it continued. I reached down to turn down the volume as the radio began scanning for another frequency. The tuner churned for probably another 10 minutes before I realized that it wasn't going to find anything.
Ok David, I guess you win. I grabbed The Sickness and placed it into the CD player. As the guitars began to thunder through the speakers and the drums began pounding in my head, I felt a small jerk through the steering wheel. Another, then the oil pressure indicator light on the dash came on.
I slowed the car and pulled off to the shoulder. Just as I got the car to a stop, the engine seized. "Damn it!!" I couldn't believe that here I was, helpless on the roadside, several miles from anything! "Shit!" I just figured that the Check Engine light that had been on since Newport just meant that an O2 sensor had gone tits up. I kept wondering to myself "Isn't that Check Engine light just for emissions malfunctions?" I reached over and grabbed my cell phone. I flipped it open, dialed 411 and waited.
Seconds later, my phone with all it's technological glory indicated that it could not locate a signal. Well, that's just great. I pay good money each month to have accessibility in just these types of situations. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I tossed the phone into the passenger footwell.
Out of the corner of my eye and through the blur of the water cascading down the windshield, I saw a faint amber glow. A warm and inviting glow. Someone was living in these woods. I switched on the wipers to get a better look. Well, it wasn't my imagination. There, in the distance and surrounded by woods, was a small flickering light.
I reached for my cell phone and put that in my inside jacket pocket. I grabbed my peppered beef jerky, stuffed that into my other pocket, and stepped out into the rain. No longer a drizzle, or a sprinkle, I was now walking in a downpour. Keeping close to the guardrail, I walked further south toward the light in the woods.
Two miles? Ten miles? I had been walking for a couple of hours it seemed. My hair, matted firmly to my head and my clothes weighing probably 10 pounds more from all the rain only made the walk that much more uncomfortable. I finally arrived at a dirt road, now transformed into mud, that lead off of the highway. Two distinct ruts with weeds growing between them. Judging by the length of the weeds, it wasn't a frequently traveled road. As I peered down the road, there it was. The light that I had set out to find. Certainly, whomever lives here would be able to assist me. One foot, then the other. 200 more yards and I would be on the porch. One foot, then the other, it won't be much longer now.
The walk up the driveway was longer than the walk along the freeway, at least it seemed. The pathway was not well lit and the sounds of the woodland creatures just added more anxiety to an already nervous soul. But, I kept going.
Probably 50 yards away now, I could make out a small cabin, the smell of a fire burning in the fireplace. It was not a large cabin, probably just a one room weekender. It wasn't very well maintained, high weeds surrounded the rotted out wooden deck that surrounded the front and north sides. I couldn't make out a car in the driveway, but that was no matter since nobody would leave a fire burning in their fireplace, would they? The flicker of the fireplace lit up the windows and trees surrounded the small property.
As I got much closer to the cabin, the front door opened. I could make out a figure in the doorway, but as my eyes adjusted to the light coming through the doorway, I still couldn't make out any details. I froze in my tracks as I suddenly realized that I was trespassing and that this resident may not take too kindly to visitors.
"Hello! My car broke down up the road and I was looking to find some assistance, maybe I could use your phone?" I yelled. Rain kept pounding on me as droplets of mud splashed up onto my pants.
