Extreme Temperatures

Gil was actually excited about his employer transferring him to another city. He often heard coworkers complain about it, but most of them had families and houses and things like that to stress out about. As a single renter who had never ventured out of Minnesota, the idea of experiencing a life in a different part of the country was exciting. Especially a place like the famously good-weathered great state of California. As much as Gil loved his hometown of Minneapolis, he was actually looking forward to trading in the cold winters and heavy precipitation for sunny beaches and ocean breezes.

He debated whether he even needed to pack his cold-weather clothes, but then realized that he didn’t really have anything but cold-weather clothes to wear. There wasn’t a ton of occasion for shorts and t-shirts in Minneapolis except for a few temperate summer months, so his wardrobe largely consisted of fleece jackets, cozy wool coats, and long-sleeved shirts.

The truck carrying his belongings left earlier that week, and if everything went to plan, Gil would get off the plane and take a taxi to his new rental house just as the truck arrived. It was remarkable what could be accomplished online these days; he had arranged for the truck, rented a house, and leased a car that would be waiting for him in the driveway of said rental property, all from the comfort of his computer in Minneapolis sight unseen.

When the plane touched down at Ontario International Airport, Gil climbed into a taxi and rubbed his palms together gleefully as he headed for the 10 Freeway. Pretty soon they’d merge onto the I-10 West toward Los Angeles and he’d be headed for paradise.

To his surprise, though, the cabbie merged onto the I-10 East instead. Gil was incredibly confused, even more so when the I-10 became the I-15 North headed for Las Vegas.

Gil frantically grabbed for his smartphone and mapped out the address of his new house. He zoomed out and got a look at greater Barstow. Zoomed out again and got a view of the surrounding area which, oddly enough, didn’t have any ocean around it. Zoomed out again and finally saw Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean. Glancing down at the legend on the map, he realized that the ocean was over 120 miles away from where he’d be living!

He thought he remembered something his boss had said about the branch office being away from expensive rents of the city proper, but Barstow was way the heck out there! And, as Gil suddenly realized, in the middle of the desert. He checked the weather report and gawked at the triple-digit temperatures predicted for the next several weeks. He would definitely need to go clothes shopping as soon as he arrived at his new home; he definitely wasn’t going to need his winter parka or his snow pants or his heavy wool trench coat anytime soon!

An hour later, Gil was situating himself in his new house and getting acclimated to the differences. Instead of lush green woods, there was sandy brown earth and cacti. Instead of a chilly breeze there was a hot wind. And instead of a heater thawing the chill from the air and making everything cozy, he blasted the air conditioner for the first time in his life and luxuriated in the feel of the cold air reducing the temperature of his stuffy house.

Gil made two resolutions that day. First, that he would give this his best effort. He was still up for a change, after all, even if the location wasn’t quite what he expected. And, second, that the next time his bosses offered him the chance to transfer, he would do a little more research on where they wanted to send him!


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Words: 638
Written for: "The Writer's Cramp"  and "I Write in 2019" 
Prompt: "It’s sweltering hot in Australia right now, yet freezing cold in the US. Write about someone who must move from one of those climates to the other."