Travels of Tracy - Spring

Good Morning Friday Fiction Fans!
Ah, the lovely morning sun is shining in my window. At least right now it is mostly blocked by a tree, but soon it will be making it difficult to see my screen because my eyes will be squinting. :) But I'm glad the sun is out. We had several days already this week were it was cloudy and gloomy. We even had the tornado siren going off, but thankfully nothing happened here.

A quick look at my week:
Friday we cleaned house! It really needed it!
Saturday morning I spent working out in the yard weeding a gravel walkway. I didn't get it done, but I did get a good start on it. The rest of the day I read and got some other things done.
Sunday was church and visiting with friends. Then spending the rest of the day relaxing at home.
Monday brought dark clouds and gloomy weather. I did get reading and some knitting done.
Tuesday was more dark, gloomy, rainy weather and more of the same things done.
Wednesday was different. The sun came out and it was lovely. Late afternoon Brother and Sis-in-law brought the 4 oldest kids over and another friend brought her 3 kids over. We were glad it was nice outside because we spent the entire time outside. Mom & Dad went out so it was just S and me with the seven kiddos. Oh, we had fun. They played on the swings, dressed up in the Policeman outfit we had just gotten, collected "food" from the yard, and then we ate supper on the porch. After supper, Mom and Dad came home and we all headed up to the parking lot across the ally to ride bikes. We stayed out there until it was dark and the parents came. Sweetpea learned how to ride a bike and Pickle Puss learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels! They were both pretty excited. :)
Thursday, I guess that was yesterday, some friends came over for Library.
Today we'll clean house and then Best Friend and I are going over to visit another friend for a couple hours.

Writing Update:
I have been writing. I got two parts of Triple Creek Ranch written since I posted last and a short story. This story is not my favorite, but I'll post it anyway. :) I'm still trying to find the end of TCR, but it hasn't happened yet. I do need to get some other short stories written so I have some to post. If I could just come up with the ends for the short stories I have on NEO, I'd have quite a few. Problem is, I can't seem to get an ending for any of them. *sigh* Hmm, I guess I could post the beginning of a story and let you all write an ending and send them to me. Does that sound like fun? Let me know if it does and I might do it.

Now, here is the fiction for this week. I hope you enjoy it at least a little. Oh, and if for some reason the reaction button won't work for you, leave me a comment and say what you wanted to click and I'll see if I can get it to work. It seems to be rather temperamental right now. Not sure why.

Travels of Tracy - Spring

    The rain came down in torrents and Tracy, in her small, blue Road Runner, could hardly see. It didn’t help matters any that Madalyn, her long-haired, yellow tabby had decided to comfort herself from the sound of so much water by walking all over Tracy’s lap.
    “Lyn,” Tracy begged, “please stay on your side of the car until we stop.” The pleading did no good, for Lyn’s long, bushy tail swept up and brushed Tracy’s face and the cat, evidently not liking the noise the rain and bits of hail were making on the roof of the car, meowed loudly.
    “I know, Lyn,” Tracy said, attempting to see where the road was. “I wish we weren’t driving during this too. But we have to get home and how was I to know there were storms in the area?”
    There was no reply from her four legged companion save another meow and the feeling of a few sharp little claws dug into her arm.
    The rain continued to pour from the dark sky in buckets, and now and then a jagged flash of lightning would illumine the countryside, but after it was gone everything seemed darker than before. Suddenly, without any warning, Tracy felt the car move in a strange way. She tried putting the brakes on but it made no difference.
    “Oh, Lyn,” she shivered, “I think we might be floating.” Reaching up, she pushed a tawny curl from her face and then gathered her beloved cat into her arms. “Oh, dear,” she sighed, “where are we going?”
    A gentle jar shook the small car and then the motion stopped.
    “Lyn, do you think we’ve reached an island? This is when we need Tad’s fishing boat.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I wonder what he would do?” As the rain drummed on the roof of the car, she thought about her special friend who would probably be home from college already since he lived closer. She was glad to be ending her next to last year of college. Tad had graduated this spring and Tracy would next year.
    “Meow.”
    The voice of her companion brought Tracy back from her daydream to reality. The rain had slacked off and it was beginning to grow lighter. Wind was still blowing, but wind didn’t worry Tracy like the water had. Peering out the windows, she discovered that the road had been flooded and she had been swept off to the side where the car had become situated on a rise of ground near a white rail fence.
    Noticing it was only a light rain falling, Tracy decided to get out and investigate to see if she might get the car back on the road and continue her way home.
    “Now Lyn,” she admonished, setting the cat on Tad’s old high school letter jacket which now served as her traveling bed, “you stay in the car until I get back.” Then reaching back and rummaging around for a moment, Tracy pulled out an umbrella,  “I won’t be long, but you don’t like water.”
    A contented purr was the answer and a moment later Tracy had stepped from the car. The first sensation she had as she shut the car door was that of water rushing into her new white oxfords. As she took a hesitant step forward, she felt mud oozing through the small holes in her shoes and she shuddered.
    “Oh dear,” she sighed aloud, “How will I ever get the car back onto the road again? I suppose I’ll have to sit here until someone finds me.”
    Looking around, she noticed for the first time that the fence her car was beside was part of a  horse pasture and in the dim light she could see what looked like a stable on the far side. Squelching her way around the car and cringing at each new feel of mud, her dress now soaked from the blowing rain clinging to her knees, she gazed around trying to see a house.
    Suddenly the sun broke through the clouds behind her and Tracy gasped at the sight of a rainbow.
    “There’s probably a house right where that rainbow ends,” she remarked, tapping on the car window and trying to get Lyn to look at it, but Lyn was too busy cleaning her paws to notice.
    When Tracy turned again, she gave a cry of alarm for suddenly a white, swirling funnel dropped from the dark clouds and began to snake and dance its way across the treetops, turning grey as it picked things up. It was with thankfulness that she saw the tornado moving away from her.
    She never could be certain how long she stood there watching. It wasn’t until she heard a deep voice that she turned and saw a patrol car pulled to the side of the road.
    “Hey Miss,” the officer called, climbing out of his car. “Are you all right? Do you need some help?”
    “Oh dear, yes,” Tracy cried. “I don’t know how I’m to get my car back to the road. It was raining so hard and I couldn’t see and I was carried right over here by some water.”
    “You should have pulled over if you couldn’t see,” remarked the officer, making his way towards her in his tall boots.
    “I suppose I should have, but it never crossed my mind; I was so busy thinking about getting home and letting Tad know I arrived.”
    “Well, Miss, you might not make it home if you can’t see the road.”
    “I’ll remember that in the future, Sir,” Tracy assured. “Now please don’t scare my cat. She doesn’t like water.” This Tracy added as the officer got in the driver’s seat and started the engine.
    A few minutes later, the little blue Road Runner was back on the road and Tracy, after thanking the patrol officer again for his help, pulled a blanket out of the back to sit on, for she was rather wet, and settled herself to drive the rest of the way home.
    “Oh, Lyn, this dress will dry, but I’m afraid these shoes are ruined forever!” she sighed as she pulled one mud covered shoe off her almost equally muddy foot. “And I did so like these shoes.”

Comments?

Did you feel sorry for Tracy?