The five of them hurried down yet another bank and up the next. Each time they topped a ridge they looked back for a glimpse of their pursuers.
“Hurry, hurry,” Fred urged Wilma.
“Ahn-dah-lay! Ahn-dah-lay!” urged the young natives.
Rocks skittered down as their feet scurried up slopes. Their chests heaved and they grabbed each other’s arms to help get up and down the slopes. Wilma’s blue and orange Nike’s, hanging over her shoulder by the laces, slid off her arms. “My shoes!“ she yelled, but kept running.
Soon they were on the last rise and hurrying down toward the uhaul camper. The band of men chasing them topped the rise only a dozen yards behind them, yelling with triumph. They paused to watch the small group run across the rocky flat toward the strange shiny box of the camper.
Fred and Wilma, leading the small group now, raced around the uhaul-camper as the men on the hill let out whoops and charged toward them. Fred ground to a halt and Wilma ran into him. They stared in shock at a hummer parked next to the uhaulhe. The back door was open and piles of clothes, camping gear, and Cabelas bags were hanging out.
The whooping of the natives was drowned out by a loud “wop wop wop” that filled the air, and military helicopters rose into view from the river bottom and hovered next to the fin of land the uhaul was parked on. Ground troops in battle gear climbed over the top and stared into the eyes of dozens of primitive natives with spears.
Wilma fainted.
EPILOGUE:
Fred and Wilma sat in the uhaul. They were glad to be home, parked in their own driveway. They hadn’t yet unpacked the uhaul from their winter of snowbird camping in southern Nevada, but the kids and grandkids had come for a cook-out to welcome them home. Stuffed with burgers and cokes, they were sitting in the uhaul listening to Fred and Wilma’s tales.
“Wow, Mom, you and Dad sure had some wild dreams. Maybe you should go somewhere else next winter!” said one of their daughters. She got up and idly walked around the uhaul, looking in the cabinets.
Fred laughed and said “Well, it was mostly Wilma. I don’t really dream.”
“Oh, so those were both MY dreams? You talk like you were there, like you saw it all, too!” Wilma poked him indignantly. She still felt funny, like she didn’t really grasp what was a dream or what was real, but she was playing along with the reality thing. “Come on, I have chocolate cream and lemon meringue pies!” She rose and led the way toward the house. A couple of the kids dawdled behind, not wanting to be in the mad rush for pie.
Fred put his hands in his pockets as he walked along. “Anyone seen my pocket knife? I can’t find it.”
In the uhaul one of the daughters looked in a shopping bag and said to her sister, “Wow, they must have spent a fortune at Cabelas! Look at all this stuff!”
“That’s nothing, you should see this picture on Mom’s camera! They must have gone to some serious Indian re-enactments!” said another.
One of the grandsons appeared in the doorway with a stone-tipped spear. “Look at this really cool spear I found behind the seat! And…” he said mysteriously as he pulled his other hand from behind his back, “look at THIS!” He held up a Kevlar combat helmet.
“Mom!” the two women yelled as they ran toward the house.
Far away in time and distance, three young Paiutes sat in a shady canyon. One played with a shiny metal knife, and another played with a small palm-tree shaped metal pendant. The third one walked around awkwardly in bright-colored shoes that no longer had laces. Finally one of them pointed at the setting sun, and all three reluctantly put their treasures back in their hiding places. With a sigh they headed toward the wisps of smoke in the valley on the river bank.
THE END
Enjoy other books by Susan Gregersen:
The Long Ride Home
The Rally Point
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Take-over
A Funny Thing Happened When We Took Back America
Poverty Prepping: How to Stock Up For Tomorrow When You Can't Afford To Eat Today
Food Self-Sufficiency: Reality Check
Table of Contents
Copyright
Introduction
A Tale of Two Preppers
Over The River And Through The Woods
Back Across The Pond
Twilight In The Desert
Prepper Fiction Collection: Four Books in One Page 28
