In a Flash
June 6, 2013
June 2013 CYOA
*******
Part 1 by Teri
Words 337
The day had dawned bright and
clear, the warm southern breeze a promise of summer which loomed just around the
corner. But as was often the case in the last few weeks what was promised was
not to be. By midmorning the sky was dotted with wispy clouds. By
noon the wind had changed and blew from the west carrying with it the familiar
odor of rain as dark clouds gathered on the horizon. By mid-afternoon the
sun was being obscured by the approaching storm front, and with it the warmth
of its rays, the rumble of thunder growing ever louder. With the first flash of
lightning Chris motioned toward the nearby structure.
Vin and
Ezra did not have to be told twice and ran toward the relative safety found
within the building as the storm built around them. Chris brought up the
rear and prepared to pull the door shut behind them as a gust of wind yanked it
from his grasp and slammed it against the outer wall before flying closed with
a resounding bang. Before there could be a repeat performance Chris slid
the latch into place.
Vin
watched dust devils dance merrily across the floor as the wind whistled through
cracks in the walls and under the door. Then, suddenly there was a
flash of light and a resounding crack, followed by the booming rumble of
thunder loud enough to rattle the walls.
“We can hazard a guess that the old
oak in the meadow took a direct strike,” Ezra stated to no one in particular.
“I wonder how Buck and JD are faring.”
Chris nodded his agreement.
“Buck sure picked a hell of a day to show JD his favorite fishing hole.”
As the first ping of rain hit the
tin roof Ezra moved toward the center of the building, leaned against one of
the structure’s wooden support poles, and casually picked a piece of lint from
the cuff of his shirt as the three settled in to wait out the storm.
*******
ATF Part 2 by Teri
Words 501
Within moments the ping of rain on
the roof took on a new dimension. Inside the barn it sounded as if some
demented demon was playing a drum solo above their heads.
“What the…”
“Hail,” Vin
explained to Ezra as he leaned back against a bale of hay and tipped his hat
over his eyes. “Best jest wait it out.”
“But the Jag…” Ezra sputtered
as he headed for the door.
“That’s what insurance is
for,” Chris reached out and grabbed the man by the arm, “besides, it’s
already too late at this point.”
Ezra’s moan was drowned out as the
pounding grew consistently louder.
The horses whickered and stomped in
their stalls but as a whole seemed to remain calm as the hail appeared to let
up. Then another resounding boom of thunder shook the structure and the
heavens opened as the sound of a torrential downpour could be heard.
“It would appear that someone has
royally pissed off Mother Nature.”
“Quit your griping it could be
worse, you could be out in that mess. Now deal out that deck I know
you’re carrying.” Chris straddled a bale of hay and waved a hand
motioning for Ezra to sit. “We can play some Gin Rummy to pass the time
while Rumpelstiltskin, over there, gets his beauty
sleep.”
Vin
reacted to Chris’ comment with a hand-motion of his own.
*******
JD and Buck sat huddled under an
overhang of rock as the storm raged around them. The wind continued to
whip rain upon the two thoroughly drenched men.
“Come on, JD you’ll love it….Best
fishing hole around, he says,” JD muttered.
“He is right here. And
it is the best fishing hole in the state. Not my fault it decided to
rain.
Weather gal only said a twenty
percent chance this morning.”
“I have my doubts it was her
weather map you were looking at, Buck.”
“I will agree that the station
might have hired her more for her ability to boost the ratings than for her
weather forecasting abilities, but you have to agree that she is one fine
looking filly.”
“Well that ‘fine looking filly’
isn’t going to get our camping gear back,” JD groused.
“Come on JD, look at the bright
side, we could have been in the truck when that tree fell.”
“Buck, you are so full of it!”
JD tried to keep his face stern but
it was a losing battle.
*******
“Gin!”
“Shit!”
“That is three dollars and
seventy-five cents you owe me, Chris.”
“Nobody can be that lucky!”
Vin
chuckled.
“Finally decided to join the
living?”
“Who can sleep
with ya ol’ ladies bickerin’?”
Vin rose and moved to open the door as handfuls of hay
were tossed in his wake. “Sounds like the storm’s
passed.”
Chris’ phone chimed as the men
stood surveying the damage beyond their sanctuary.
“Larabee.”
“Chris, didn’t Buck say he and JD
were headed toward Eldorado Canyon this weekend?”
Chris felt a pang of dread at the
urgency in Josiah’s tone.
*******
ATF Part 3 by Judy
Words: 501
“Yeah,” Chris answered, his stomach
dropping with sudden fear as he watched Ezra run his hands over a few dents in
the Jag’s hood. “Why?” he asked, dreading the answer.
“The storm didn’t last long, but it
dropped a lot of rain,” Josiah explained. “There’s a flash flood warning out
for the canyon. Do you know where they are?” the older man sounded as worried
as Chris now was.
“A couple miles up the creek that
runs through Eldorado,” Chris said, striding across to his black Ram truck,
digging his keys out of his pocket with his free hand. “There’s a small
offshoot in the canyon that leads to a natural pond. Buck swears it’s got the
best fishing in the state,” he added distractedly.
Vin and
Ezra exchanged a look and jogged over to the truck. Chris had already gotten in
and the engine was turning over. The two younger men scrambled to open doors
and crawl in, only just getting their doors shut before Larabee threw the truck
into reverse.
“A little forewarning would be
appreciated,” Ezra said dryly as he braced himself against the 180 degree turn
and tried to buckle his seatbelt.
“Where we goin’, Cowboy?” Vin asked,
pulling the shoulder strap of the front passenger seat across him and snapping
it into place.
Chris glanced at his men, still
speaking into the phone as he drove one-handed. “We’ll meet you at the parking
area… Yeah, I got rope and emergency supplies in the truck, have Nathan bring
the first aid kit. See you soon.” He punched the disconnect button with his
thumb and tossed the phone to Vin. “Try to reach Buck.
He and JD may be in trouble. There’s a flash flood warning for the canyon.”
Vin’s eyes
widened and he only nodded as he complied with Chris’ request. In the back
seat, Ezra pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial number for JD.
After a few moments, both men
sighed. Chris looked at Vin and caught Ezra’s worried
gaze in the rear view mirror. “Well?”
“No answer,” Vin
supplied.
“I encountered the same lack of
response,” Ezra added, worriedly.
“Damn,” was Chris’ only reply.
~~~~~~~
Eldorado canyon
“It’s no good, Buck. There’s just
no signal down here,” JD said with a sigh.
They both stared at the wreck of
Buck’s Red Lady. The lightening must have hit the old oak dead center for half
of the tree lay comfortably upon the truck, from bumper to bumper, reminding JD
of a hot dog on a bun. He held his tongue though, knowing how much Buck loved
his truck and would not appreciate the humor at this time.
Buck sighed dejectedly. When the
rain started, they’d headed for the truck only to see his beauty demolished.
They’d dashed back to the closest overhang of rock to wait out the storm. Now
they needed a way home and had no phone reception. Buck looked up the rough
walls of the canyon.
“Guess we go up.”
ATF Part 4 by Judy
Words: 503
Eldorado Canyon had been formed much
the way its larger relative, the Grand Canyon had been, only on a smaller
scale. During rainy years, a substantial stream ran through the middle, cutting
out its path, deepening and widening the canyon through the centuries. On dry
years, the canyon floor supported scraggly bushes and trees that spread their
roots wide to seek out whatever moisture they could find.
The walls of Eldorado were not
lined with gold, nor were they solid rock. Many areas of the steep canyon were
made of sediments that were more easily eroded than stone. Over the years,
water had washed the dirt and less hardy minerals away, leaving off-shoots of
various sizes along the canyon. Some were only a few feet deep, mere pockets in
the exposed rock.
Buck’s favorite fishing hole lay
within one of these off-shoots. Its solid stone walls reached to the top of the
canyon. Within lay a shady hide-away with a deep, natural spring surrounded
with trees and soft grass.
Buck and JD had driven about five
miles into the canyon before parking and walking another mile to the fishing
hole. Buck’s suggestion of ‘going up’ was not as easy as it had seemed. In some
areas the dirt just crumbled under their weight as they tried to scale the
canyon. In others, the walls were too steep to attempt without safety gear.
Several failed attempts to climb left them frustrated.
They decided to head toward the
entrance of the canyon as they continued to look for a good place to climb to
get reception for their phones. Even the ‘entrance’ they had used was merely a
shallow section of the canyon wall where people had taken advantage to create a
path down into Eldorado and phone reception was always questionable unless you
were at the top of the canyon.
This year was a drier year, though
the stream still burbled merrily over and around the rocks in its bed. JD
kicked a stone into the stream as they walked, then looked at Buck who had his
eyes on the wall beside them. “Hey Buck what do you get when you cross a pond
and a stream?”
Buck sighed and moved a little
faster, pretending he hadn’t heard JD’s tenth stupid joke since the rain had
stopped.
“Buck?” JD called, “why is the
water rising?”
Buck turned around. “JD, I’m not in
the mood…” He stopped at the sight of JD standing in water, the stream they had
been walking beside, visibly rising as they stared at it.
“Shit,” Buck exclaimed, “JD! Climb!
Now!”
JD saw Buck’s panicked face and did
as he was told. Both men scrambled up the nearest wall, clambering for hand and
footholds as the water rose quickly below. Each man searched for a solid grip,
hands and feet slipped as the sound of rushing water filled their ears.
JD’s foot slipped again and only
Buck’s firm grasp on his arm kept him from falling into the roiling water below.
*****
ATF Part5 by Judy
Words: 498
Chris drove as fast as he could
down the dirt road that led to Eldorado Canyon. Lights flashed ahead and he
realized that the rescue workers would not let them any further down the only
path that led down into the canyon. He made a sharp right turn causing Vin and Ezra to exclaim sharply, he ignored them and
concentrated on avoiding the off-road hazards.
There wasn’t a road along the top
edge of the canyon, but people did four-wheel up here and had cleared a path
large enough for Chris’ Ram. He glanced at the clock in his dashboard. They
should be able to make it to the fishing hole, or at
least the cliff above it within five minutes.
Vin looked
out the window into the canyon and cursed. Muddy water filled with debris
rushed along the bottom. He couldn’t tell how deep it was, but it was moving
fast enough that the depth really wouldn’t matter. No one caught in that would
be getting out alive. “Faster, Chris,” he said as he scanned the water hoping
not to see Buck or JD.
Ezra was on the phone with Nathan
who was with Josiah. Between the noise of the flood water, the Ram’s engine and
the background noise on Nathan’s phone, he could hardly understand a word
Nathan said. Finally he disconnected and stuffed the phone into his pocket.
“I think they are on their way,” he
said, leaning across the seat to take his first look at the flood waters.
“Nathan sounded positive, so I believe they achieved their goal.” He shivered
violently at the sight of the raging water.
Vin
straightened suddenly. “Chris, stop!” His command got instant results as Chris
slammed on the brakes sending Vin and Ezra slamming
harshly against their seatbelts. “Over there!” Vin
said, climbing out of the truck. He stared in horror at the sight of Buck and
JD clinging to the wall of the canyon, about ľ of the way up… on the opposite
side of the rising water.
Ezra had his cell phone out in a
split second. While Chris and Vin shouted futilely at
their friends, he shouted instructions into his phone. After what seemed like
ages, but was only a matter of minutes, another more rhythmic sound was added
to the cacophony and a small helicopter appeared overhead.
Chris, Vin
and Ezra watched breathlessly as Josiah maneuvered his borrowed helicopter into
position above Buck and JD. Nathan lowered a rope with a harness attached. The
expected argument between Buck and JD was cut short by the second rope and
harness Nathan dropped on their heads.
Soon both men were strapped in and
being lifted off the cliff face to safety.
Chris sighed with relief and
clapped Ezra and Vin on their shoulders. “Come on
boys, I can’t wait to see what sort of tale Buck makes out of this.”
Vin
chuckled.
“Indeed,” Ezra said with a grin.
“Perhaps we should forewarn the ladies of Denver.”
The end
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