Exponential

by JM Addison

  *

  Ross remained quiet for the most part and the ride out to Fiddler’s Rock was mainly conducted in this awkward silence. She knew little about him and only could think to comment on the weather. He seemed in his early 20’s and not bad looking although he had the hands of a worker, permanently scarred and a bit stained.

  The ride gave her a little time to think, but before she knew it, they were rounding the familiar bend in the road where they needed to pull off.

  Overall, things looked pretty much the same, except now there was a stone driveway that could take a car or truck from the main road up the steep grade and through a bit of woods to the steeper and more rocky terrain beyond. Ross pulled into the end of the drive and was prevented from taking her any further by a gate and chain lock. She thanked him very much for the lift and got out of the car. She watched as he backed out onto the main road and pulled away, heading in the same direction they had come from.

  She looked up and just beyond the trees she could make out the outline of the new mobile phone transmitting tower with its’ customary blinking aircraft warning lights. Since it was no doubt operated by some utility company, it was not surprising that access would be limited by the gate at the beginning of the drive.

  She walked around the post that anchored the gate and began a brisk walk up the drive. She had to be about 30 or 40 minutes early and the walk, while mostly uphill, would be pretty short. She was grateful that the steeper hill further ahead of her at least provided some shelter from the wind gusts. She worried a little about what it would be like as she approached the top. She remembered that from The Rock you could turn and look out over the lower fields and see the town in the distance. She hoped it had not changed too much, it would be nice to see things as she remembered.

  Since there was no cars evident at the start of the driveway, she felt pretty confident that she would be the first one here. However, she also had an unpleasant nagging thought that she would be the only one to show. That this was all for nothing. She had a million questions: What if Chris did write the message in all sincerity and then find that he was just not able to come? Or was the message from Chris at all? Hopefully someone would show and she would finally get to the end of this incredible escapade.

  She came over the last crest and the sight was breathtaking. She still had an unobstructed view of the town in the distance. The faint glow of diffuse light from the town was enough to illuminate the dark, fast moving clouds that seemed just beyond her reach. The sharp wind tugged fiercely at her short cropped blond hair. The combination was a sensory feast, although a bit of a scary one. She hunkered down in her jacket and hoped that it would not begin to rain.

  Fiddler’s Rock was still pretty much the same as she remembered. The driveway construction has actually filled in much of the spring fed little pool of water, but there was still a pool there and yes, the rock still reminded her of an old fiddler. Just beyond the rock was a small, gray steel building enclosed in chain link fence with a bunch of thick, black cabling that let up the hill a little ways further and eventually up the side of the transmitting tower to the final destination of the triangular antenna candelabra on top. A few low power lights on the building itself served as a meek attempt to improve security and added enough ambient light to make out most details of her surroundings.

  She couldn’t help but pause for a moment and stare into the pool for awhile and reflect on the past couple of weeks. She found herself digging through her pockets and purse until she found a coin – a quarter – and making a quick wish of seeing her brother and that things would turn out OK, she closed her eyes and flipped it into the water. She heard the satisfying “plink” of the coin hitting the pool and stood there for a moment with her eyes tightly closed. Even closed, she couldn’t help but let some of the tears of the past few anxious days squeeze through and find their way down her cheeks.

  She was jolted out of her quiet trance by a familiar voice that asked: “What did you wish for?”