Story #3

Veronica made a noise that was a mixture of, “Gaw.” And,  “Nuuuh.” Snatching up the satchel, she made a flying leap out of the wreck. She shimmied down the rope, and fell on top of him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled with all her strength, pulling him on top of her, but it did get his head out of the water. He was really out cold, the water didn’t wake him, and neither did the fall. She sat still, terrified she’d find that his heart had stopped, but her palm over his heart pulsed with a weak throbbing. She breathed a sigh of relief, glancing downstream. She stood, pushing him off of her. He lay on his back, draped over a few rocks that poked out of the water. She took his hands, and pulled with all the strength she had left. When he was upright, she turned around and put his arms over her shoulders. It could have been a kind of piggy-back ride had he been conscious. His feet trailed in the water, but the majority of his huge weight was on top of and being dragged by Veronica. She didn’t know how she got him downstream, but before she knew it, she collapsed on a boulder with his still unconscious form beside her. She was gasping, but he breathed easily. She rolled onto her back,

“How can a human WEIGH that much?!” She laid on the bank for a few minutes, arm crooked over her eyes to shade them from the sun. She was soaking wet, exhausted and dehydrated. She stood shakily and untied a canteen from the saddle.
“Hey there buddy, did ya miss me?” She stroked Shad’s neck as she took a drink of water. He bent his head back, smelling her hand to see if she’d brought anything for him, but upon finding nothing, returned to his long eared state of grumpiness. She slapped him on the shoulder.

“Hope you’ve got your strength up. This guy is a rock.” She moaned. “How on earth am I supposed to get your stupid, mysterious, backside up there?” He didn’t respond. Shad snorted.

“Thanks buddy.”

She walked back onto the boulder where she’d left him, and glared down at him, hands on hips. Standing up on the rock, her feet would be level with the saddle, but it was difficult to get Shad to stand still when trying to tie a load on him. She jumped down and pushed his rump over, if she could do it fast enough, she might be able to get him up there. He stamped his foot impatiently.

“Good. Now--Stay.” He shook his ears.

Veronica wriggled her throbbing toes inside her boots and pushed on the bony elbow digging into her back. She’d gotten him onto the mule, but when she’d drug him by the waist onto Shad’s rump, it overbalanced the beast and he stepped on her foot. She didn’t think they were broken, but they hurt in the pointed toe of her boot. The boy lay sprawled behind the saddle, still unconscious. Every now and then she’d feel him slipping and catch him by the belt. Together, they weighed around four hundred and fifty pounds, and Shad walked slowly. Veronica made straight for the neighbors’ farm, they were the only person short of town with a phone, and everyone made their way there when they needed to make a call. She couldn’t tell if the green eyed boy was hurt or not, but there was a doctor in town, and as long as he was unconscious she very much wanted a doctor to see him. If he’d just wake up, she’d feel better about him, but so far he’d slept through being dropped in a river, being dragged a quarter of a mile down river on the rather bony back of a girl he didn’t know, being thrown on the back of an even bonier mule, and riding with head dangling for two miles. She was beginning to get even more concerned. The farmhouse was in sight now, but she couldn’t see the truck that belonged to the family.

When they rode into the barnyard, a goose loudly announced their presence with much wing flapping as he disappeared around the corner of the barn. She jumped off of Shad and limped over to the porch of the farm house, dangling the reins over the rail. It was a nice little house, it was white, with blue shutters at the windows, and a porch with a two person swing that creaked in the evening breeze. She knocked on the door, and peered in through the window. She could see the phone in the hall. Nobody answered the door. Veronica glanced back at the form of the boy, head dangling, and opened the door. Even though she’d been told to use the phone whenever she needed, she felt guilty entering someone else’s home when they were away. She crept in, leaving the door ajar. Picking up the small hand written phone book, she flipped through the pages, searching for the doctor’s number. She picked up the phone, and began to dial. Just as she put the phone to her ear, the door burst open and she whirled around. The boy clung to the doorframe, his green eyes wide. He shook his head desperately and pointed to the phone.

“Tila! Tila! Bora vi care. Tila!” She took a step back, entirely uncertain how to react, when just then the doctor picked up. She began to speak rapidly, with her eyes still on the boy. He straightened, and she saw a look of resignation in his eyes, he turned his head away and held out his hand, palm outward. Her words faltered, and she heard part of the question the doctor was asking, before a blue arc of electricity shot from the phone. Veronica screamed, and fell to the floor, covering her head with her hands. The phone kept shooting sparks for about five seconds, but it seemed infinitely longer. The noise was deafening. When it finally stopped, she felt a hand on her shoulder, she gasped and stood, flailing her arms. She felt strong hands on her arms, pinning them to her sides. She stopped struggling, and found concerned green eyes staring at her. She jerked herself out of his grasp and backed up, she bumped into a wall, and a china plate went crashing to the wood floor. She looked at in dismay, then her eyes jerked back to the boy. Her chest was heaving with fear. How had he done that? He took a cautious step towards her, brows furrowed. A million questions made a blizzard in Veronica’s head. He said something to her in his language, and she felt like screaming.

“I can’t understand you, why can’t you see that?!” When he saw her pressing herself into the wall, he stopped walking towards her. Looking into his eyes, he was just as confused as she was. But then, why shouldn’t he be? Pass out in a wreck, wake up on some yard on the back of an animal you don’t know? She’d be confused to. They stayed like that for about a minute, before he tried speaking again. She shook her head at him,

I don’t understand. He nodded, thought for a moment, and began signing to her. Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you? She didn’t know how to answer. But did her best to tell him. She began signing back. I tried to call for help, i didn’t know if you were hurt. At this his eyes widened and he shook his head viciously. Don’t. She cocked her head, furrowing her brow, but couldn’t think of a way to sign the question. She shrugged, relaxing a little from the wall. She signed to him,

I want to take you home. Back to my farm. Will you come? He looked hesitant, and didn’t answer. He looked at the floor, thinking. She signed to him,

Where else will you go? He thought, and then nodded.

I’ll come.

…..

Because I'm funny