I hope that you enjoy my short story, and I would love feedback, but please not with a fake email address. If it is worth saying, good or bad, own it and let me respond. Please enjoy xx Mica
Dad had gone to Murdoch Station for a few days to look at some ice samples that they had taken, so I was on my own, bliss. I could walk around my room naked if I wanted. Well, to be fair, I could walk around naked when dad was here, but, in an empty room it feels more relaxed.
I gave myself the luxury of a ten minute shower. Usually we are limited to 5 minutes, but that is per person, and well, this is a two person room, so I took the showers for 2 people. Rebel. I paid extra attention to every nook, every cranny and every crease that I have, too many creases. I washed inside and out, everywhere, did my hair, what a luxury that was. I think I managed to dispel every speck of grease or oil that I had picked up in the workshop. I wear coveralls, gloves, hair cover, and still those dreaded petroleum products manage to get in to places you would not have thought possible.
Clean, for the first time in weeks I sat on the bed, naked, and luxuriated in my solitude and lay back and closed my eyes.
Bang. There was knocking at the door, bang, again.
"Hang onβ" I called and scrambled for my robe to cover myself.
I opened the door to see what the emergency was.
"Hi sis."
"Leo? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were on the ice roads in Canada.β"
"Well, yes, I was, but they melted, global warming some say, just summer I say. Anyway, they needed an experienced Ice driver here, and 36 hours of flying later on a military transport plane, here I am. Believe me, you donβ't want to even sit on a Military Transport, never mind fly. I sort of managed to sleep. A bit.β"
"Okay, well, okay. So are you just popping in to say hello?β"
"Not exactly.β"
"What do you mean, β'not exactlyβ'?β"
"For the next two nights this is the only bed available, so I am bunking here.β"
"The hell you are, who the fuck told you this bed was available?β"
"Some guy called Bill. Said your dad was away for two nights, no other room, you're family, so, he put me here."
I was going to very cheerfully kill bill, and it would be slow, and it would be excruciating.
"And what happens in two nights?β"
"I go to somewhere called Murdoch."
"Why can't you go there now?"
"Because someone needs to mend the truck. Snapped drive shaft."
"And where is the truck?β"
"In the workshop here somewhere.β"
"So. I have a broken driveshaft to repair that no one has told me about.β"
"I've just told you. So, you're the mechanic here? Cool."
"Cool is a word no one ever uses here. Okay?"
"Chill sis."
"That is even worse. Puns on temperature are just frowned upon. They have all been used over and over that they now grate and grind."
"Okay, okay, no need to get so heated."
He just doesn't give up. I gave him my best look. I was surprised he didn't wither on the spot. So, a broken drive shaft. Depending on the damage, it might be just welding the two halves back together, replacing it with a spare if we have one, or making a new one if we have suitable round stock. Pretty straight forward, I wondered how quickly I could do it and get him out of here.
It's not that I don't love my brother, I do, it is just that he is very handsy. Much more so that dad. Dad loves a shag, as do I, and he reserves his touching until we are in bed. I have respite. But Leo just has his hands on me all the time, and it is wearing.
"I'll just go and look at the damage, why don't you dump your bag and go to the cafΓ© and grab some food. I need some space to get dressed."
"I can help you get dressed sis."
"No. Now, sod off and let me get dressed."
He dumped his bag on the floor by the bed and headed off. I guessed he would find the cafΓ©, literally just follow his nose.
I took a deep breath and kissed goodbye to my two days of peace and quiet. Finally dressed in coveralls, I headed off to the workshop to inspect the damage.
Six-wheel drive, so it had managed to complete the journey from wherever it broke, but the more it was driven the more the chance of secondary and potentially catastrophic damage. They did the right thing to stop here and not try to get to Murdoch.
Gloves on, creeper out, I rolled under the machine and looked for the damage. Oh, pretty obvious. Drive shaft snapped on the second rear axle. I would have to remove the wheel on that axle, disassemble the hub, and pull the half shaft, the other end would just slide off the splines in the dif, Straightforward, assuming none of the bearings were shot and that we had the right hub seals in stock. No time like the present. I chocked the wheels, undid the wheel nuts with the air gun, and jacked the wheel up off the ground, blocks under the suspension, then lower the jack.
Wheel still off the ground, vehicle safely on chocks. Safe. I started hitting the wheel with a sledge hammer, almost the only way to get the wheel rim off. Eventually it popped, and I was able to manhandle it away. The hub took an age to take apart and about two cans of easing oil, and a lot of airhammer. We were being noisy in the workshop today.
Eventually I got the damaged shaft out, back underneath I pulled the other broken end with the splines and went with both pieces to the work bench. I ground down the breaks on each piece and then placed them together. Luckily there was no bend in the shaft, so I could weld it.
I ground down a good section on each broken part to make sure I got good penetration, and tacked them together. I rolled the shaft several times and was happy that I had tacked it true. I then did the full weld all the way round. Let it cool, then put it in the lathe and turned it down to the correct diameter.
Enough. I cleared everything down and headed back to shower, again, and get myself clean before I had some dinner.
"Oh hi sis, how is it then?"
"Oh, mended, of course, I will reassemble in the morning and then you can be on your merry way."
"Excellent. You are the talk of the hub by the way?"
"Oh, why?"
"They all want to know if you are shagging dad, or they want to know if he actually is your dad, or just some old bloke you're shagging."
"Oh? Okay."
"I said I doubted you'd be shagging him as you're gay."
"Cheers for that."
"Anything to help."