Something Wicked This Way Comes

Written by: Leni Sosa; Permanence of Wings

My car smoked up and it took the day to fix. These clouds were the beginnings of a storm. Once I was on the road again, I blasted the music to drown out the noise of the forceful wind and hail.
I eventually noticed the car was running on empty and found a gas station in a dead town. The two girls inside wanted nothing to do with me, said they were closed and kept pointing across the street. I had never seen a 24/7 self-serve gas station like this. I guess they felt sorry for my shivering ass trying to figure out how to work it because they stopped their cars and one of them said, “You’re not from around here, you’re from the city.” It wasn’t a question.

I apologized for troubling them earlier. They did a 180 and were as sweet as country pie. When they got out of the car, one girl lost her hat in the wind and had to chase it. Both had nothing more than sweat tops on and I offered my coat to the girl helping me out; I felt guilty they entered the lashing storm for me. She declined to take it and told me that it was “good weather.” She told me she was a “farm girl” and they’ve “seen it all” but they were both shivering. Her bravado was actually endearing. The other girl told me I was lucky…nothing was open in town or nearby. I thanked them and got into my car. Off to Tobermory. At least I gave them a good story about a clueless city girl that couldn’t work the gas tank. Note to self: when it’s taken a full day to fix the car, check the bloody gas before heading out and, at the very least, keep the music low to hear the gas alert.