The man got a good grip on my arm, planted his feet, and on the count of three, pulled with all his might. He succeeded in pulling me about halfway out the pile of debris.
As I started to take some of the debris off my legs, the man asked hopefully, “All set?”
I looked up and read his body language. Sighing, I removed a few more branches before answering. “Yeah, I’m all set. Thanks for your help and I’m sorry for troubling you.”
I looked back up again, and saw not to my surprise, that he was already a couple hundred yards away and was about to disappear into the woods. Shaking my head, I crawled out from the pile of debris and sat on the curb.
‘What else could possible go wrong?’ I said to myself as I began to brush the mud and dirt off my clothes. I soon had my answer when I tried to take my glasses off to clean them.
They were stuck to my face. The pine sap that I got drenched with had dried like super glue. My glasses, along with my wedding band and my medical alert bracelet, were securely bonded to my skin. Try as I might, I couldn’t remove my glasses without removing skin as well.
Pursing my lips, I stood up and re-started my walk towards downtown. When I attempted to check the time, I discovered one more thing that was damaged by the pine sap: my cell phone.
Putting it away for the moment, I checked to make sure that I still had the other items that were needed for my errands. A minute later, I was all set, so I picked up the pace and shifted gears.
Shifting from a charley horse to a not-quite-giving-up pace, within a few minutes I was walking past the bridge and down the side road that ran by the hospital. By the time I was on the sidewalk and walking down the steep grade, I had found my stride and once again was making excellent time.
At this point, I was itchy as all heck and I needed to find a usable water source to wash off the pine tar. Suddenly, I remember the big old hay field that sat in front of the hospital.
That big old hayfield had about five inches of snow sitting on top of it. And what is snow boys and girls? Yup, you guessed it, frozen water. So off I went, cutting down the hill that was next to the hospital.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
6 comments:
Go on, give me your best shot. I can take it. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have created this wonderful little blog that you decided to grace with your presence today.
About that comment moderation thingy: While yes, it does say up above I can take it, I only use it to prevent the occasional miscreant from leaving thoughtless and/or clueless comments.
So remember, all of your comments are greatly appreciated and all answers will be given that personal touch that you come to expect and enjoy.
G. B. Miller
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Nice detail on the description. You're clearly seeing the scene with clarity.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteI think that's one of the few things I can do well in my writing. Sometimes I have a tendency to go overboard, but I've been getting a better grip on it lately.
The pine sap fiasco had me laughing! Poor fellow, I felt bad for him. Detail is wonderful. I love when I can visualize a scene so vividly.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteI thought adding the pine sap was a nice touch. Not too many things around me that I could use with more effectiveness than good old fashioned pine sap.
This is so Stephen King-ish! love it.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank Miss Jannie. That's high praise indeed.
ReplyDelete