Bottomed Out on the Roadside

With a mix of nearly equal parts frustration and hopelessness I stared at the mechanical conundrum that was my car’s engine. I’d been stuck here with my hood up hoping to get some kind of help for hours. Despite my dad’s frequent efforts to teach me, I just didn’t have mechanical skills. The local terrain made my cell phone useless and since the point of my trip was to hike from a very remote and isolated trailhead, I had yet to see a passing car. I was only equipped for a day hike so spending the night here wouldn’t be pleasant and might even have been dangerous. I had to do SOMETHING but what? The nearest town was about twenty miles away!

Finally, exhausted and in total despair I just sat my smooth, small-framed, almost nineteen year old bod down on the road and buried my face in my hands. How could I get out of this mess?

Then I thought I heard something. During brief pauses in the warm summer breeze I thought I heard an approaching vehicle. Maybe it was merely my desperate imagination. Then I heard it again and it was still louder! A vehicle was approaching! I just hoped they could help me.

I waited anxiously as the engine sound grew closer and finally the vehicle rounded the bend and came into view. Trailing a big cloud of dust, an old pickup truck with a camper rolled towards me as I frantically waved my arms for it to stop. Much to my relief, it did.

The rig was probably from the 70s or early 80s and bore the scars of years of heavy use. The driver’s side door creaked open and slammed closed with a reverberating clunk. Then I got my first glimpse of the driver. He was a big, husky, well -built man in his late forties. He wore ragged blue jeans and a sweat-stained T-shirt, along with ample facial hair. His unbridled masculinity contrasted strongly with my annoyingly still boyish frame.

“What can I do for ya?” boomed his deep base voice. I explained my situation and showed him my perplexing engine. “Yeah, I can help ya. Got my tools with me and can help get ya goin again. Just a minute.” he said. He went to his camper, rummaged about for a while and emerged with a very well-used toolbox that seemed quite complete when he showed me its contents.