Encounter With a Pickup Truck
Finding warmth in a cold world
Sandy walked down the road. She would step off to the side of the road when vehicles passed then she would step back out onto the road. The road had been plowed but there were eight inches of snow on the ground on either side of the road.
A very loud diesel pickup truck came to a stop next to her. Sandy stopped and looked to her side to see the passenger side car window come down. Driving the truck was a large grizzly bearded man who then called out to her, “Hey there, girlie. You need a ride?”
“No thank you. I’m going for a walk.”
“Going for a walk? In this weather? Carrying all those bags? Really? Are you sure you don’t want a nice warm comfortable ride?”
“Absolutely!” With this, Sandy turned away from the truck and continued walking.
A brief moment later the pickup truck drove on, leaving Sandy in a foul cloud of diesel exhaust.
When Sandy finally got home her hands were so cold that she could barely turn the doorknob on the front door. Once inside she immediately went into the kitchen to put the bags of food on the counter. Then she went into the living room to find that it was full of people.
Jordan, Sandy’s husband, stood up from his chair, “Honey, what on earth took you so long?”
“Well, I decided to take a side trip to the North Pole. What took me so long was that my stupid car died and I had to walk.”
Stephanie, who was sitting on the couch with her husband spoke up, “Why didn’t you call Triple A?”
With a scowl, Sandy replied, “Because I don’t have Triple A. I can’t afford Triple A. I can’t even afford Double A.”
No one laughed at her joke (probably because of the scowling).
Jordan put his hand on her shoulder, “Honey, why didn’t you call me. I would have come and gotten you.”
Sandy looked over towards the kitchen and then she pointed, “Because my phone is over there on the counter. I forgot to bring it. And, for some reason, I just couldn’t quite reach it from the parking lot where my stupid car was — and still is.”
She turned her attention back to the living room full of guests.
And that is when she saw him!
It was the big grizzly bearded man from the pickup truck who offered her a ride! He was sitting in the big recliner over by the fireplace.
Seeing Sandy looking at the man, Jordan walked her over to him, “Honey, I’ve told you a lot about him and now you finally get to meet my boss, Big Brandon the Bull.”
Brandon stood up from the recliner and extended his hand for a handshake, “It’s so good to finally meet you.”
Sandy guessed that he was around six feet, seven or eight inches tall. She still had her wool mittens on and she kept them on to shake his hand, “Uh… hello…uh, glad to meet you. Jordan speaks very highly of you.”
Big Brandon the Bull smiled. If he had any teeth they were not visible behind his long thick bushy beard, “Well, I hope you at least enjoyed your walk a little.”
Sandy tried to smile but her facial muscles were still too cold to bring forth a full smile, “Yeah… uh… sure. It was jim-freaking-dandy.”
Suddenly, she broke eye contact with Big Brandon the Bull and spun around to address all the others in the room, “All the food is freezing cold by now so I will go and warm everything up. It shouldn’t be long before we can eat.”
With this she bolted for the kitchen followed by Jordan.
Once in the kitchen, Sandy took off her mittens and stuffed them into the pockets of her coat, “You told me he was big but I thought you were exaggerating.”
“Hey, The Bull might be big but deep down he’s a real pussy cat.”
“Well he looks more like a sabre-tooth tiger. I hope I got enough food.”
“Don’t be silly. We’ll be just fine. Besides, Stephanie and Bob brought a green bean casserole, Barb brought her famous potato salad, and Francine brought one of her to-die-for pecan pies. Plus we have the cake. Now what I want you to do is go sit by the fireplace and thaw out. I’ll take care of warming up the food.”
“No, Jordan! It’s YOUR birthday. You’re not supposed to work on your birthday. The best way for me to warm up is to shuffle around in this cozy kitchen getting the food ready. I’m okay. You go out there and talk with your friends… and your boss.” Sandy needed to be alone.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Sweetie, I sure do love you.”
“I love you, too, Jordan. And happy birthday. Now get the hell out of my kitchen.”
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction.
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