subrosa: the adventures of bill chase chapter_08

Chapter 8


No sensation. The soothing sounds of leaves rustling in the wind accompanied by the harmonies of insects and birds filtered through into my ears. I could smell the moist baking of grass and weeds in the heat. When I opened my eyes I saw that I was under a tree which was backed by an endless blue. But I could not feel my body.

Curiosity turned to panic. With a force of will, I managed to roll onto my side. Opening and closing my hands forced feeling to start gradually in them. They tingled as if small explosions were going off under my skin. Once I could feel my hands, it was not long before I had my arms working. Almost half of my body had functioning nerves.

I took a few minutes out from my rebirth to notice that I had fallen asleep with a rock as my pillow. It must have cut off my nerves. It was the strangest feeling to be without feeling. It was almost painful to recover.

Although it was awkward, I resolved to get my legs to work. I fell down a few times before I managed to co-ordinate my balance. My legs felt foreign. They trembled. I shook each leg in turn until I exhausted the small explosions and was satisfied the I was capable of commanding my limbs.

The procedure was amusing.

Beads of sweat rolled down my face.

I sat down, rocked back and forth and tried to understand where I was and what would be my reason for my next action. Reason did not inspire me. But the need to urinate and the craving for water inspired me. I accepted the banal motivation to continue in my pursuit.

As my mind raced in circles trying to determine what it was exactly I was trying to think, I released the pressure in my bladder.

My next goal was water. I had a little more trouble trying to solve that problem. I stumbled back to the road. Immediately I noticed cars. They were one of the sounds in my head. None of them stopped. Maybe they had nothing to teach me.

I stood transfixed. I could not comprehend. I had a frightening feeling of isolation and insignificance.

"What the hell are you doing out here?"

That was the question. But what was hell? Where did I learn that word? I started to wonder if the first question came from a part of my consciousness that I was not familiar with.

"It’s going to pour down rain soon. I’ll give you a lift up the road."

It was another man. He had walked up to me without my noticing him. He carried a bright container that had a smell I immediately remembered from the night before.

"My truck's just up a piece. Like the damn fool I am, I ran out of gas again. My gauge broke long time ago. I keep thinking I can go another day. You know what I mean? I hate putting so much money in the tank. I didn’t see you here when I walked by the other way. Did you just come down off the mountain?"

He seemed friendlier than the man I had met earlier. Although I did not understand most of what he said, his talking did comfort me. I walked with him to his truck and watched as he put the contents of the container in a hole at the side of his truck. A truck looked quite like a car, except for its shape.

The man was not at all like the other man. I wondered if that was why he had a truck instead of a car. He was not urgent about giving lessons as he talked in all directions.

The walk made me remember how much my foot hurt. The pain made me a bit dizzy.

"My name's Dave. I guess your's is Bill."

Dave smiled and shook my hand. That was something new. I liked it much better than poking.

"You're looking a bit rough. Are you okay?"

Dave looked at me for a few seconds before shaking his head and getting into the truck. I followed him to the door. I watched him turn and push a few things before the truck choked and hacked, then settled down to a constant rumble. It must have been something in the procedure that gave the truck its magic.

"Don’t just stand there if you want a ride, Bill. Go on and get in."

Dave motioned for me to go around to the other side of the truck. When I got there he leaned over to open the door so that I could get in.

"Well shut the door so you don’t fall out. You not feeling well or something?"

I figured out how to pull the door shut. Dave shook his head. With a sudden heave forward, we were gliding down the road. What a fascinating, fantastic event!

"Someone broke into the gas station last night and made a bit of a mess. Apparently, they didn’t think to steal anything. Probably some drunk kids," Dave said. "Do you speak English? Or are you from Quebec?"

I smiled at Dave. Although he confused me, I felt at ease with him. He was doing all the talking, but I could not find anything useful to say. I was content to listen and stare out the window.

Eventually, we turned off the smooth road onto a gravel road. I turned around to have one last look at the great smooth path and remembered the strange events that had met me there.

The truck was leaving a trail of dust that slowly drifted from the road to the open field of plants lined in rows. Somehow it was the most natural thing I had seen. Dave said it was his cornfield.

"There's my house," Dave said. "You better come in, get cleaned up and have something to eat. You're in no condition for hiking, Especially in the rain."

I was not certain how he thought rain would come from the blue sky but the thought of food did excite me.

Dave stopped his truck in front of the house and got out. I had difficulty figuring how to get out, but finally pulled the right lever to escape from the road monster. I followed Dave to the house. I was startled with what stood at the door.

"Is this your new hired hand?"

"No. I don’t know. Hadn’t thought about it. He was hiking on the road and looked like he needed a hot bath, some tending to and some food," Dave said looking me up and down. "I suppose he'd do if he was interested."

"You are a woman."

"Aren’t you charming. That's surely the nicest thing anyone's said to me today."

"Bill, this is my wife, Betty."

I did not know the difference between a wife and a woman but I thought I better not bother them with what were likely ignorant questions. I thought it better to watch and learn until I was comfortable with my situation.

"Pleased to meet you, Bill."

I smiled.

"You look a little rough, were you lost in the woods or something?"

"Yes."

I examined myself, wondering how I must appear to others. Betty moved some of my hair to look at my head. She appeared concerned. Dave took a look at my head as well.

"I hadn’t noticed that," Dave said.

"Maybe we should take him to see Doctor Bob."

"I’ll ask him over for supper and he can have a look at Bill. In the mean time, maybe you could run him a bath so he can soak off some dirt and feel a little fresher."

Another door sounded and a boy came into the room. He was lean and appeared fit. Full of energy.

They talked about me and wondered about my condition. I felt like I was outside of them and they were another species that had happened upon a stranger they were not certain if they should help or lock up. But it was not long before I was sitting in the bath with the boy talking to me and asking me questions. I tried answering some of them, I tried answering Doctor Bob's inquiries, I tried to focus on their conversation at the evening meal. When I finally was presented with their spare room, I wasted little time taking off my new borrowed clothes and boring under clean sheets to find the most comfortable and refreshing sleep I could recall.



by Joanne B. Washington

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