Fire in Podunk

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NEW PROMPT:
Write a short story or poem about being stranded at the side of the road.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The small fire seemed harmless at first with only a few acres burning off in the distance. Overhead, helicopters dropped water and fire retardant on the flames.

** Image ID #1448824 Unavailable **

The local firefighters were not planning to close the two-lane road between the small towns of Podunk and Brookfield, so Michael decided to make the short drive to see the fire up close.

“Lucy, you want to come?” Michael yelled this as he tossed his video camera behind the front seat of his old Ford F150 truck.

His girlfriend, Lucy, thought for a second or two before answering. “Are you sure it’s safe to drive so close?” she finally asked. All morning, the local TV news channel showed pictures of the various wildfires burning around the state. Although many were miles away, the air around Podunk smelled of smoke.

“Sure, I’m sure.” Michael shook his head in disgust at Lucy’s cowardly reaction to what he thought of as a grand adventure. “Come on, Lucy, we’ll stay on the road and just take pictures from there.” He waved a small digital camera to show her that was all he planned on doing. “I’ve got my video camera, too. Can’t you just picture what we can post on YouTube?” He got into the truck and waited impatiently for Lucy to join him.

Lucy finally made up her mind, not wanting to disappoint Michael or appear “chicken.” She climbed into the passenger seat of the truck and smiled bravely at Michael. “Okay, let’s go.”

Two miles outside of Podunk, the smoke started to get thicker. Even with the truck’s windows closed, Lucy began choking on the acrid smell. Halfway between the two towns, even Michael started feeling the effects of the smoke.

“Let’s go back,” gasped Lucy, her eyes watering so much she appeared to be crying. “No picture is worth putting up with this smoke.”

Before Michael could agree with her, the truck shuddered and came to a sudden stop. The old truck’s gas gauge, stuck on E for years, finally matched what was in the empty tank. Michael started swearing at the “I told you so” look on his girlfriend’s face. Lucy had warned him yesterday that he should put more gas in the truck. Since the price of a gallon now was almost $5, he’d tried to suck out every drop from the tank before putting in more. It seemed he’d pushed his luck too far.

“Looks like we have to walk back.” He said this while getting out of the truck, resigned to walking the long, boring miles back to town. When he joined Lucy on her side of the road, the closeness of the fire on the other side of the road shocked him. Looking into the woods, he saw flames creeping ever closer to them. The heat was becoming more unbearable, and he could hear Lucy gagging when the thick, overpowering smoke filled her tortured lungs.

** Image ID #1448758 Unavailable **

Stranded on a deserted road next to a raging wildfire was not the exciting adventure Michael had planned for them. “Run, Lucy! Head back to town!” he screamed over the thunderous roar of the flames coming ever closer to them. He grabbed her hand, and they started racing away from the fire.

Within seconds, the fire had jumped the narrow road. Lucy struggled to keep up with Michael, but soon she couldn’t breathe and let go of his hand. When she stopped and fell to her knees, she managed to gasp out, “Save yourself.” She looked behind in terror at the fire closing in on them.

After Michael pulled Lucy to her feet, she was able to go a few more yards before once again falling to the road. By this time, the fire had caught up with them, and flames cut off their escape in every direction. An ember from a fallen tree landed on Lucy’s jeans, causing them to smolder before catching on fire.

She cried out in panic from the burning pain on her leg, and then screamed hysterically as the flames quickly covered her entire body. Michael, who had run a few steps ahead, came back and tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire. His bare hands turned black from beating at the flames covering Lucy.

Only when her shrieks diminished to moans and then silence did he stop and look away from her body and toward the advancing wildfire.

** Image ID #1448744 Unavailable **

Only feet away from where he knelt beside his dead friend, he saw the skeleton of a flame-ravaged tree. In his guilt-ridden state of mind, he believed the tree was beckoning at him. The smoke covering most of the road and surrounding woods became so thick he could no longer see more than a few feet in any direction. His tennis shoes were smoldering from the heat, but he was beyond noticing the pain.

The greedy wildfire grew steadily stronger. Michael tried to pull lifesaving oxygen into his heaving lungs and found overheated air instead. By now, he knew he was dying with no way to escape. Resigned to his fate and too weak to struggle, he lay down on the road next to Lucy’s body and waited for the end.

Just then, he felt himself covered in a soothing red gel. Overhead, one of the helicopters he’d seen earlier in the day was dropping fire retardant on the road. The pilot was unaware of the trapped man below and the fact he was saving his life with only minutes to spare.

The following day in the local hospital, Michael continued to fight for his life. When stripping him of his ruined and blackened clothes, the nurse discovered a melted digital camera in his shirt pocket. Back on the devastated road, a burned chassis of a Ford F150 contained the remnants of a video camera.

YouTube would have to depend on someone else to show how a wildfire looked up close…if they are foolish like Michael and much luckier than Lucy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6b75NNpW5w&feature=related

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Microsoft Word count = 1,000

"The Writer's Cramp"  daily winner for 07/10/08
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////