Universal Mass

by Coleinger, Ronnie

  Britney walked into the kitchen and asked if anyone needed anything else before she and Randy headed down to Hillsburg. When everyone was satisfied that they had written their needs on the shopping list, Britney and Randy jumped into the truck and headed down the long driveway out to the main highway. When they arrived at the highway, they found it freshly plowed, but snow covered. Randy put the truck in four-wheel drive and began the descent down the mountain towards the city. As they maneuvered the winding road, they talked about the trip to New York City. Randy had been there twice before, but it had been a number of years earlier, while he was serving in the military. Britney had never been in a large city before and realized that she might never get to visit The Big Apple again in her lifetime. She hoped she could get to see at least part of it during this trip. Randy told Britney that there used to be bus tours of the city, but he did not know if they still were operating.

  When they arrived in Hillsburg, they stopped and filled up the truck and some of the gasoline cans. Once they used up their gasoline ration at the first filling station, they discussed stopping at another station before returning home. Each station had a record of the license plate number of each vehicle that purchased gasoline or diesel fuel. They checked each time someone wanted to make a purchase to see if they had purchased fuel in the last twenty-four hours. Once you had purchased your allotted amount, they shut you off for the next twenty-four hours. The problem with the system was that there was no computer system tracking purchases from station to station. You could in all reality purchase as much fuel as you wanted, simply by visiting different fueling stations.

  Randy parked the truck in the parking lot of the travel agency he had used for many years. When they walked in the front door, the woman who owned the agency looked up and said, “Randy, my friend. I see you have acquired a new mate. You promised me I would be your next lover; I feel jilted.” Randy hugged her when she stepped out from behind the counter and said, “Actually, this beautiful young lady is not my mate. Olivia, this is Britney. She lives with the rest of our clan in the Mountain House.” Olivia shook Britney’s hand and said, “Lucky girl. I always wanted to spend the rest of my days in that Mountain House raising Randy’s babies, but he failed to ask me to marry him.”

  As Randy and Britney explained their plans to visit the hydroponic show in New York City, Olivia began working out their itinerary. Once she had the times worked out for making the train connection in Chicago, she called the train station to make the reservations. She worked out the details with the ticket agent and then worked out the transfer of funds to prepay for the round trip tickets on both trains. When she called the hotel in New York City to book the reservations, they only had one double room left. Everything around the area was booked due to multiple conventions in the area. Randy looked at Britney, laughed and then said, “Not a word will you speak to anyone about this. I will sleep in the hallway if necessary, but don’t you speak one word to any of the clan that we are booked into one room.” Britney giggled and said, “No problem. I will pick up some extra condoms when we stop at the pharmacy.” Olivia began to laugh and choked on her own spit. Once she had calmed her coughing fit, she said, “I like this girl. She has spirit.” Randy rolled his eyes and said, “If Jenna finds out about this, I will need to rent a room to live in, as Jenna will certainly throw me out of the Mountain House.”

  Once Randy paid Olivia for the tickets and her services, Randy hugged her again and escorted Britney back to the truck. Once they had the truck running, Britney said, “I think we should burn the hotel room receipt and plead insanity.” Randy sat staring at the tickets and receipts and said, “Nowhere does it say how many rooms we rented. I suggest we not tell anyone anything. If they ask, we will tell them the hotel management will work out the final arrangements when we arrive.” Randy chuckled and asked, “Have you done this before? You seem well versed in working out proper lies to one’s spouse.” Britney patted Randy on the shoulder and said, “Things will work out just fine. Relax or everyone will discover the lie as soon as we walk into the Mountain House.”

  The trip back up the mountain proved to take almost twice as long as normal. The road crew had graded the snow off the road surface, but then around lunchtime the sun had come out and melted the snow. Later, when the sun went back behind the clouds, the roads froze back over. The truck was well equipped for the slippery roads, but they finally decided to stop at a place where they could pull off the road and put on the chains. That process took them almost thirty minutes. Once the chains were on the truck, they could only drive about twenty-five miles per hour, but at least they had good traction and were able to navigate the worst parts of the icy road in safety. Thankfully, there were no other vehicles on the highway, so they did not have to worry about someone coming down the mountain and sliding into them.

  When they finally arrived at the Mountain House, Britney was driving and she backed the truck up to the garage. By the time they began empting the gasoline cans into the fifty-five gallon drums stored in the garage, some of the others came out to help them. Once they finished transferring the gasoline, removing the tire chains and had hung them up to dry, they began carrying their other purchases inside. They had managed to find everything on the shopping list, and had found six more gallons of lamp oil. Since the power company had stopped producing electricity, lamp oil was again in short supply. The filling station manager had ordered five hundred gallon cans of the stuff. The order came in on the train the day before and they had almost sold out already. The manager had a strict six-gallon limit on the oil, but it simply flew off the shelves. He had placed another order for oil and hoped it would come in within two or three weeks. Everything, it seemed, was in short supply.

  The owners of the factories and refineries had converted them for the resized population, but it was hard work working with machinery designed for full size humans when the present population only stood sixteen or so inches tall. It seemed that every piece of machinery a human needed to operate required modification. Many factories simply could not continue to operate after the resizing and simply closed up. The owners of many factories were simply turning their machines into scrap metal. Thousands of factories were abandoned and rotting where they stood. The homeless and less fortunate turned the gutted out buildings into shelters and took up residence. The same thing was happening to large apartment buildings around the cities. No one wanted to live on the cold drafty upper levels and the buildings had begun to crumble. Government buildings sat empty and unused, much of the abandoned furniture and office machinery remained just as it had before the resizing. Without electricity, no one needed the world’s computers and infrastructure. It too was now nothing more than fancy expensive junk. The owners of many smaller buildings around the cities converted them into apartments for the resized population. A family of four could easily live in an apartment of only one thousand square feet. Since cities had to use generators to run the large pumps that pulled fresh water from deep beneath the surface, each apartment’s shower would only run for six minutes before the water would turn off. Most heated water for bathing came from centralized steam boilers within each apartment complex. Heated water for each apartment was on a rotating schedule, which the managers posted in each apartment. If you missed your allotted time, you missed the chance for a warm shower on that particular day. As Earth’s resized population adapted to living on a plant once inhabited by full sized humans, given enough time, things should improve. Many strongly believed that within another five years, humans would have the power grids back online and the second computer age would make life a whole lot easier.

  Once everything was inside the Mountain House and the clan settled in for the evening meal, they began to ask questions about Randy and Britney’s trip. As the discussion advanced, Randy looked into Britney’s eyes for a moment. She smiled and said, “Yes.” Randy nodded and then said, “There is one hitch to our plans that has yet to be worked out. It is possible that Britney and I will have
to take turns sleeping in the hallway once we arrive in New York and check into the hotel room. All of the rooms, except for one, are booked up. Britney and I will work on other arrangements when we arrive, but for now, I hope my lovely wife will not hate me or mistrust me.” As he looked into Jenna’s eyes, she began to smile. Then she said, “It appears you both have done your best to deal with the situation. I am confident you two adults can work out other arrangements or sleep in the same room without destroying your reputations or your friendship.”

  When the conversation returned to the travel itinerary, Randy got up and poured each of the adults another cup of coffee. When he put the coffee pot back on the stove, Jenna moved over and made room for her husband to sit beside her. Once he was comfortable, she leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Randy got a big smile on his face and looked down at his cup of coffee. Bonnie patted Jenna’s hand that rested on the table and said, “Jenna, I will wash up Timothy and Melanie and tuck them into bed tonight if you have things that need attending to this evening.” Jenna turned to look at Bonnie and then said, “Thank you, Bonnie. I can put the quiet time to good use. I think Randy and I can care for the animals tonight. We should not need any assistance from our friends until morning.” Britney got up and began cleaning up the dishes. Kathy spoke up and said, “Britney, if you have clothes to wash and packing to do, I will take care of the supper dishes.”

  As each clan member went their separate ways, Jenna and Randy moved into the sleeping area. Randy found his clothes washed and folded on his bed and his backpack lying beside his clothes. Once he packed what he needed, he put his backpack under his bed. Jenna had a stack of clean clothes and towels in her arms as she stepped up beside her husband. She raised the top towel and exposed a shiny silver package stored there. Randy chuckled and said, “I am most ready for that.” As they headed down the tunnel towards the barn, Jenna said, “I hoped you would get home early tonight. I think a wash in the tub and a night in the hay will put what ails us to rest.”

  When Randy woke, he smelled the aroma of cooked bacon and fresh perked coffee. He rolled over on his bed of straw and found Jenna missing. Within a minute or so, Jenna returned carrying two cups of hot coffee. She sat the coffee on the table and then crawled back under the warm blankets. She passed one of the cups of coffee to Randy when he sat up, and then picked up her own coffee cup. As they sipped their coffee for a few minutes, Jenna said, “Bonnie and I talked for a long time yesterday. She made me realize that my persistent jealousy over Britney is unwarranted, and that it is insulting to my husband. I had not thought of it that way, but now I realize that feeling jealous dishonors the man I dearly love. I do trust you and I do love you. I cannot promise that I will never feel jealous when Britney is near you or looks at you, but I promise never again to treat her like a villain when she has done nothing to warrant my anger. Instead, I will simply take you aside and make love to you until I am satisfied my feelings of jealousy have subsided.” Jenna sat their cups of coffee on a bale of hay and then rolled over on top of her man. Then she opened another shiny tin foil package she retrieved from under her pillow. As her breathing began to slow, she realized how deeply she loved this man, the man who so easily satisfied her deepest needs.

  The weatherman was predicting the weather to make a turn for the worse in the mountains. Rodney said, “I think we should call the hotel in Hillsburg and see if you two can spend the night. Then you will be within walking distance of the train station on Thursday morning. I fear we will not be able to get you to the city once this front moves in. Besides, I do not want to try to navigate the icy roads once the snow begins to fall.” Randy looked into Britney’s eyes and said, “I will call the hotel and see if they have rooms for us tonight. I would hate to cancel the entire trip to New York because of a mountain snowstorm. I also appreciate the ride down to the city and would not want anyone to have to climb the mountains once the roads ice up.”

  When Randy returned, he asked, “Britney, are you packed and ready to travel?” Britney looked at him and asked, “Right now?” Randy said, “The hotel clerk says the snow is moving in sooner than the weatherman predicted. He has two rooms available for tonight if I call him back within ten minutes.” Britney downed the last two sips of coffee in her cup and stood up. She said, “I can be ready to travel within fifteen minutes.” Randy headed back to the living area to contact the hotel clerk and secure the rooms for the night. When he returned, he stepped up to Jenna and hugged her. He said, “I will miss you more than you can ever imagine during this trip. I will call you once we arrive.” Jenna giggled and kissed him hard on the lips. When she stepped back, she said, “Get your ass ready to travel. I don’t want you and Britney moping around the Mountain House for the next two weeks because you missed the train to New York.”

  Within a few minutes, Rodney and Robert had the truck ready in the driveway. Once Randy and Britney loaded their backpacks into the truck, they began the trip down to Hillsburg. The driveway out to the main road was snow packed, but the main highway was in fair shape. As they traveled, they could see the winter snowstorm moving into the mountains off in the west. Rodney said, “I intend to drop you two off, fill up the truck with gas and head right back up the mountain before this snow begins to fall. I have no desire to drive in a whiteout or on icy roads.”

  When they spotted the hotel, Rodney turned into the parking lot and turned off the engine. Britney and Randy slung their backpacks over their shoulders and all four of them went inside.

  Once the two travelers had their luggage stowed in their rooms, Rodney and Robert hugged the two and climbed into the truck. As they drove out of the parking lot, Robert looked out the back window of the truck. Britney and Randy looked like two lost children, hoping their parents would turn back around and take them back home. Both men began to laugh over the site behind them.

  Once the truck was full of gasoline, the guys made a beeline for the main highway. Rodney was driving and Robert sat looking over the top of the mountain to their west. Robert finally said, “I think it is snowing higher up in the mountains, possibly at the Mountain House.” When a lumber truck passed them going down the mountain, it had five or six inches of heavy wet snow covering the flatbed. Robert laughed and said, “I will drive if you want. I know how bad you hate driving in the snow. Rodney looked at Robert and said, “I will deal with it. We only have another five miles to go before the turnoff to the Mountain House.”

  By the time they turned off the highway and began traveling down the gravel road towards the house, they realized there was about three feet of fresh snow on the road. Rodney put the plow blade into a V-shape and lowered it into the snow. The truck’s engine began to labor under the load of the heavy wet snow, but the tires managed to keep traction and push the snow to both sides. As they got closer to the house, they suddenly ran out of the heavy snow. Someone had plowed the road with the tractor. Robert laughed and said, “I wonder which of the girls did the deed. Was it Kathy or was it Jenna?” Rodney said, “I would bet on Jenna. She is probably in a fitful mood now that Randy and Britney have left the Mountain House together. I suspect the next two weeks will be rather stressful at the Mountain House.”

  Once the guys had parked the truck in the garage, they headed into the house. As they opened the front door, Timothy greeted them. He looked a little shaken. Robert put his hand on Timothy’s shoulder and asked, “Is everything alright?” Timothy said, “Everything is not okay. Mother and Bonnie forced me to help clean out the firebox on the steam engines. I had homework to do and I certainly did not appreciate being given work that is not part of….” Robert’s hand circled the boy’s arm and he lifted the insulant child’s feet up off the floor. Timothy said, “That hurts. Stop and put me down immediately. You will pay dearly for hurting me when father returns.” Robert carried the child through the living area, down the hallway and into the bedroom where the underground storage room was located. When he released his grip on the boy and let his feet touch t
he floor, he closed and locked the door. Timothy scurried into the corner and sat down. Then he began spewing out threats all over again. Robert sat down on the edge of the bed and simply stared at the boy. After a few minutes, Timothy began to cry. Robert simply let him cry. When Timothy finally got his emotions under control, he said, “I am ashamed.” Robert thought a moment and then asked, “Why do you feel ashamed? You have a right to express your anger if you wish. You have the right to treat the women of this clan as if they are your servants, which you obviously believe. Why did you not simply bitch slap them and make them leave you alone. You are a young male and are surely stronger than two women.”

  Timothy sat quietly in the corner for a few more minutes. It was then that Jenna began knocking on the bedroom door. Robert simply ignored her knocking and her requests to speak to her son. Finally, Timothy asked, “Aren’t you going to let mother in to talk to me?” Robert said, “No. I am not ready yet, besides, she is just a woman. You have made me understand that we males don’t have to do anything women tell us, we can simply ignore them.” Timothy said, “I love my mother. I am going to let her in.” Robert said, “Suit yourself. It is just like you to upset your mother and then run to her when things get tough. I guess you are just a little sissy.” Timothy stood up and doubled up his fists. Robert stood up and said, “If you are going to punch me, step up like a man and do it. Personally, I think you are just a spoiled brat who is looking for attention. I am guessing your father would not be pleased if you had pulled this little stunt while he was home.”