Group Writing Project #2
A Night in the Fog
by bethlorr
"Dang it, Fred! I’ve done it to us again!" exclaimed Trixie, slapping the steering wheel of her broken down car. "We’re stranded in the middle of nowhere."
A foggy nowhere, Fred thought, but decided to keep it to himself and gazed unblinkingly at Trixie.
"It was for times like this that made me buy that cell phone." Still mumbling to herself Trixie reached into her bag and pulled out an assortment of things including her camera and finally her cell phone.
Fred looked with interest at the black object in Trixie’s hand, Good, we won’t be here all night. Now as long as she remembered to…
"Idiot! I am such an idiot!" Trixie threw the phone to the floor. She had turned it on only to be greeted by a prolonged beep and the words LOW BATTERY upon which it had shut itself off. She had been meaning to recharge the phone, but as usual, she had forgotten.
"Well, Fred, I guess we hang out here until the fog clears." Then she began to twist and turn in her seat, trying to reach something behind her. Fred watched her in silence, hardly believing that her body could move in such a fashion…he could hardly do that himself. He began to fear that she would overturn their small car with her movements.
With a cry of success, Trixie returned to her forward-facing position. "I knew that these were in here somewhere – at least we won’t starve."
Speak for yourself, Fred thought as he eyed the Cheez-its being offered him. He sniffed at them and then turned his head to look out the window. He liked cheese better than most, but not in this form.
"Okay, go hungry!" Trixie dumped the extra crackers back into the box. "You’re awfully quiet tonight, Fred. Why don’t you say something?"
Fred turned back from the window and gave her a hard look.
"Alright, never mind. From that look I don’t think I want to know what you are thinking."
As Fred turned back to stare out into the fog again, Trixie began to fiddle with the radio. Amazingly it still worked, even though no other part of the car functioned.
"Static, static, static, and more static! Why do I always get stuck where reception is bad?" Suddenly some music cut through the static.
"Slaw burger, fries and a bottle of ‘skey. Bring it all down for my baby and me."
Trixie smiled to herself as she reclined in the driver’s seat and closed her eyes. The Bob-Whites had teased her for liking the Kentucky Headhunters for years. It wasn’t so much their music that she liked; it was their quirky name.
With the chorus of "Dumas Walker" echoing in her mind, Trixie drifted off to sleep.
The ringing of the phone woke her. Fumbling around she managed to answer it. "Hello? Hello?"
There was no response, just heavy breathing. With shaking hands she hung up the phone and shook her head to clear the last vestiges of sleep from her mind.
When she opened her eyes, again she found herself wandering around in the orchard at Crabapple Farm. She was walking towards a small clearing that held something mounted on a tall stick.
Am I walking in a swamp? Trixie wondered and looked down at her feet that felt suprisingly wet. She was mystified to see that she was wearing a single muddy boot. That’s odd, she thought. Before she could dwell on her foot attire much longer, she found herself face to face with the stick and what it held.
She gasped in horror to see what was atop the stick. It was Mart’s head! But it was shrunken to the size of a doll’s head.
With no warning its lips began to move and in a resounding voice proclaimed,
"Golden curls and azure orbs have brought upon you a mighty curse;
Forever getting into situations that could find you riding in a hearse.
But men adore you and fight over you too.
And forsaking them and their desires,
You bestow all affection on a feline with eyes of fire."Trixie stepped away from the stick and its hideous ornament only to have it somehow move closer to her. "No! No! Go away!"
As she stepped back she stumbled and she felt herself falling.
When she opened her eyes, she found that she was back in her car. They were still enclosed by fog and Fred was eyeing her curiously from the passenger seat.
"Hoo boy! What a weird dream that was! Must have been the Cheez-its. Men fighting over me and a feline with eyes of fire? Too weird." The thought of Mart’s head on a stick was strangely appealing at times though.
Jumping slightly as something brushed her arm, she looked once again at Fred. He stared back at her expectantly and rubbed her arm again.
Feeling herself fall under the trance of his odd golden eyes, Trixie’s hand moved to Fred’s long slender body. Slowly she stroked his back and gently moved her hand towards his shoulders.
Fred relaxed and his lids lowered over the golden eyes, quenching the fire there. Yes, she was under his power. Now if she just would stash decent food in the car.
Soon the only sound to be heard was Fred’s even purring and the dripping of the fog on the roof of the car.
The End