Travels of Tracy - Summer

Good Morning Friday Fiction Fans,
It sure feels like I just posted. But perhaps that's because my week was so crazy and busy. You want to hear about it? Well, okay, here is the brief look at my week.

Saturday— We had a wedding to go to that afternoon and didn't get home until evening.
Sunday— A nice quiet day. Church and fellowship over lunch. We got home before 2:00 which almost never happens. A relaxing day.
Monday— Mom, S and I packed and headed up to my grandparents in the morning. After lunch there we all went over to help my aunt work on packing, sorting and cleaning her house as she wants to move later on to a smaller place.
Tuesday— Spent the day helping my aunt again. We carried boxed up from the basement, outside, inside, up the stairs to get sorted and then out to vehicles.
Wednesday— More work at my aunt's again. Only this time I spent several hours weeding a flower bed out front which hadn't been weeded for a few years.
Thursday— Worked on cleaning in the morning at my aunt's and then ate lunch and drove three hours home.
It was fun helping my aunt, but we were tired. So tired in fact, that Grandpa and I didn't play a singe game of ping-pong. That's tired!

And no, I didn't get much writing done at all! I was able to finish part 5 of TCR on Saturday, but that was it. Maybe I'll be able to write tonight.

I couldn't decide what to post today so I thought I'd just give you Tracy again. If you haven't read the rest of Tracy's travels and troubles, visit the Short Stories page at the top and take a look. I was going to give you all a picture to go with this story, but I don't have one. Sorry.

Travels of Tracey—Summer

    The hot summer sun shone down on the small, blue Road Runner which was near a wire fence. The windows were rolled down to catch what breeze was blowing over the sparsely vegetated land where the only signs of life were two curious horses. The only occupant of the car to be seen was a young woman whose tawny curls were pulled back in a loose ponytail by a yellow ribbon.
    “Oh, dear,” came a sigh as Tracy Linnet lifted her head from a map she had been poring over and stared about her. “Where on earth are we, Lyn?”
    There was no answer and Tracy looked at the seat beside her where her constant companion, a long-haired, yellow tabby usually rode. But the seat was empty.
    “Madalyn?”
    A light paw batted at her ear and Tracy twisted around to find her cat perched on the back of her seat. Pulling her down into her arms, she gently stroked the fur of her little friend saying, “Oh, Lyn, what are we to do now? I have no idea where we are, and I can’t drive a car that is out of gas, now can I, Lyn?
    A contented purr was the only answer, and Lyn blinked in the warm sunshine.
    “Well, we can’t just sit around here all day waiting for those horses to tell someone about us.” And Tracy tried to glare at the animals in question, but her sweet face wasn’t made for glaring and the most she could manage was a puckered frown. Picking up her purse and snatching her light straw hat from the floor of the car, Tracy opened her door and stepped outside. The glare of the sun was blinding and, after coaxing her cat to her shoulder, Tracy dug through her purse until she found her sunglasses. It was easier to see with them on, and eagerly Tracy peered about hoping to see a house or another car. It was no use. There wasn’t a house or car or other living being there except herself, her cat and the two horses on the other side of the fence.
    Tracy squared her shoulders and gave a nod of her head. “Well, Lyn, we’ll just have to go find someone. But where should we go?”
    Stepping around from one shoulder to the other, the cat’s tail swept over Tracy’s face and she uttered a loud “Meow,” in her ear.
    “If you had told me which direction to go before we got lost,” Tracy scolded as her cat leapt to her arms, “we wouldn’t be lost right now. You never were good at reading maps, Lyn. What will Tad say when I don’t arrive at his uncle’s by four o’clock?”
    Lyn blinked and yawned.
    “Oh, you’re no help. Maybe I’ll get better answers from the horses.” And Tracy timidly stepped near the fence. She had never been on a horse before and the only time she had been this close to one was when she was six.
    “Where do you horses live?” she asked politely, wishing that horses could talk. “I do wish you could take a message to your owner and tell him that a girl is stranded here without gas and helplessly lost. Would you be so kind as to do that?”
    The light colored horses pushed his nose over the fence and gave a half snort.
    “Oh dear, I was afraid you would say that.” Tracy’s shoulders slumped and she moaned, “I wish I were back at home or at college. At least I never ran out of gas there. Or got lost,” she added.
    Feeling the need to do something, she began to think and analyze her situation. If there were horses in a pasture, then somewhere there must be a house. Perhaps if she just followed the fence she would soon find a house and get the help she needed to set her on her way again. Quickly deciding which way looked more appealing, she was about to set off when a sudden movement off in the far distance caught her eye.
    “Is that another horse?” she mused. “Why, I do believe it is and there is a rider on it! Oh delightful! Now if only I could get his attention. Yoo hoo!” she called, but her voice couldn’t cover that length of space.
    “Lyn, we’ll just have to go and ask for help.” Making her careful way to an opening between two posts which would admit her if she slipped in sideways and ducked her head, she hesitated. Looking at the distant rider she was unable to tell which direction he was going. “I just have to reach him,” she decided.
    The horses moved aside as Tracy, after setting her cat carefully down, managed to squeeze through the fence. Calling to her cat, Tracy started off, but much to her dismay, the horses decided to come along. Fearful that her beloved cat might get stepped on, Tracy scooped Lyn up in her arms and began walking quickly.
    So fearful was Tracy over the closeness of the horses and afraid that the rider would disappear before she could get his attention, that she didn’t think to watch where she was stepping. Recoiling suddenly, Tracy closed her eyes and stopped short. Through the open toes of her new wicker boots, she could feel something. She wrinkled her nose and moaned, “Oh dear, not these shoes!” Through flat soles of the boots she noticed for the first time that she could feel each rock and clump of dirt. But this wasn’t dirt, there was no mud in this dry place and this was a pasture! Shuddering, she gingerly stepped forward, trying not to think of what she had just been standing in. She had to get help.
    “Hello!” the sound of a deep voice brought Tracy’s head up so quickly that her hat fell off and one of the horses stepped on it.
    “Hello!” Never had Tracy been so glad to see anyone. “My car is lost and I’ve run out of gas,” she blurted quickly.
    A deep chuckle made Tracy blush as the older man swung down off his horse, but he only said, “Got lost did you? And you’re out of gas? I think I can help. Got a truck just over the rise and there’s a can of gas in the back. Care to ride over with me?”
    Staring in panic at the horse, Tracy drew back, “I think I’d rather walk, thank you. I . . . I have my cat. She doesn’t like horses.”
    The man seemed to understand, for he said he’d take the horses back with him and then would meet her at her car. For this Tracy was grateful and turned to walk back, being very careful of where she stepped this time.
    The man in the truck arrived at the fence at the same time Tracy did and soon her car had enough gas to get her to a nearby town. She also had a very carefully drawn map and written directions from the man. “I hope the rest of your journey is uneventful, Miss,” he said, touching his hat as Tracy started her car.
    “Thank you,” she sighed. Carefully Tracy turned the car around and drove off down the dusty road. “Lyn,” she remarked when at last paved road was under her tires once more, “It’s nearly four! I do hope Tad hasn’t started looking for me yet. And I wish I could change my shoes! Do you think they’ll ever come clean?”

Did you like it?

Did you feel sorry for Tracy or just laugh at her?

And what do you think Tad said?