Rachel was glad she had splurged on getting a cart with a roof and windshield as she motored through the park. The morning air was still very cool and the shield provided some protection. Pat had provided the basic instruction on the operation of the cart and had filled the tank with gas and waved her off. Rachel was instantly hooked. It was like driving a miniature car and it was definitely the mode of transportation for a place like this. Not having had much time or opportunity to the see the park, Rachel drove along, the winding roads, getting lost, backtracking and getting lost again. She came across a dirt trail and feeling very adventuresome, she pulled onto the dirt track. Soon the trail started to get a little rocky and the ruts were a little deeper. The trail closed in on the cart as it motored along the dappled sunlit path. The fern lined trek took a sharp banking left turn that took Rachel by surprise and she had to hang on as the steering wheel tried to jerk from her grasp as the cart followed the deep plowed ruts. At one point, she held her breath, thinking that surely the cart would tip over as it inched it’s way forward at what seemed to her to be an almost 90 degree angle. at the same time. Then, it was down a steep embankment and she had to hit the brakes. The trail had taken her to the low point park’s riverside. It was here that she stopped the cart’s motor and looked out at the slowly moving water. When Petey had taken her on their sunrise jaunt, they had been higher above the river looking down. Now she was at river level and could see up close the powerful and hypnotic slow motion of the waterway. There was something so compelling and so soothing sitting there and watching the water flow by. This was the shot that she had seen on the website, the one that captured the essence of the Park as she so aimlessly surfed than fateful night. Just as she had that night when she clicked the cursor on Labinky Park and this view of the river loaded onto her screen, she was simply captivated by the view, by the simplicity of the moving water, of foliage that framed it so perfectly. The water reflected and sparkled under the morning sun. Everything else just faded away, there were no horns blaring, or clocks ticking, or deadlines to meet , no mindless madness, just the rent in nature’s fabric and the wonderfully slow moving, soul soothing currents that passed before Rachel’s gaze. “Why did I come here?” she whispered to the river. And though there was not an audible answer from the soft lapping water, she instinctively knew that there was something here. She had come a long way, her soul was searching for peace. This was the place, already she could feel some changes happening within. She had taken off her watch the day she packed the truck and hitched the trailer. She had turned off her cell phone and Blackberry as soon as she left the Texas state border. This was not just a vacation for Rachel. She was on a quest. To find herself. After her pilgrimage to the water’s edge Rachel reluctantly backtracked and found herself again on the main road and headed the cart back down to the trailer to check to see if Dory had re-entered the land of the living. As she pulled the cart in beside the truck, she noted that the neighbors beside them were unpacking their mini-van and moving boxes. The two women waved a greeting to Rachel and walked over to where she had parked. "Hi there," the woman sporting an Indian's ball cap called out. "Good morning'" Rachel greeted them warmly as she stepped out of the cart. “I’m Rita, and this is my partner Sara. We are doing our yearly spring moving," she smiled good- naturedly as she waved a hand toward the pile of boxes outside the minivan. “I’m Rachel, and my better half is snoring inside as we speak" Rachel nodded her head toward her camper. “Are you here for the whole season?" the quiet-mannered Sara asked. “For at least two weeks, then I have to go back to the real world." Rachel said with a little grin. “We’re lucky, we live about a half hour away and we come here every weekend." Sara sighed with contentment. "It's like having a mini vacation every week." Rita put a protective arm around Sara and drew her close. It was then that Rachel noticed how pale and drawn Sara looked compared to the very robust and tanned Rita. Sara's hands trembled slightly as she adjusted the big floppy hat that shaded her face. Rachel could see the lines of weariness that were deeply etched around Sara's sparkling blue eyes. Just as she was about to ask if the two of them would join her by the picnic table, Sara pecked Rita on the cheek and laughed. “Hon, I think I'll go lay down for a bit so I can help you with the rest of the unpacking chores.” " Okay babe, you go take five and I'll piddle round a bit with the boxes…I swear I think they all mated on the way over here and made more. I be damned if I remember packing all this stuff.” Sara laughed and lightly punched Rita's arm “You say that every spring…" she said as she carefully walked back toward their camper. “Is she going to be alright?" Rachel asked with concerned as she watched Sara gingerly maneuvered her way around the boxes and crates in the small yard. Rita's eyes never wavered as she followed Sara's every movement. When Sara was safely on the porch and had opened up the door to the camper and disappeared inside, Rita turned back to Rachel, "Today is a good day for her…." she said simply. "And we enjoy those days now that Sara is out of remission.” "Oh my God…." Rachel exclaimed. "I am ….so sorry……. for you both.” " Ovarian cancer…we have done the chemo and radiation…and for a while we thought she had beaten the odds….then bout a month ago…she started with headaches and blurry vision…to make an ugly story short….the cancer has spread …" Rachel could see Rita struggle to contain the emotions that played across her face and she reached out a hand to her new neighbor. Rita took a deep ragged breath and closed her eyes for a moment, "There is no next course of treatment…" Rita said as she doffed off her ball cap and brushed back her dark hair. “She is tired…and she has suffered enough….we…she…decided not to continue chemo or radiation. Rita shrugged her shoulders and calmed herself down. She flashed a tired smile, “I didn't mean to blab like this…and she would kill me if she knew that I was talking about this right now. Nothing like meetin your neighbor…Hi…we are your new neighbors…one healthy and one dying….” “I won't say a word unless she brings it up" Rachel promised. "I just wish there was something that I could do….I can't imagine going through what you two are going through.” “Neither could I….neither could I" Rita said softly. “I’m gonna go and check on her and try to get these boxes under the porch before the noon sun comes out and fries me.” “I’m not doing anything; let me give you a hand…." Rachel offered. “Thanks….I'd appreciate that." Rita smiled gratefully at the offer. Dory moved ever so slowly in he bed to limit any jarring of her body in the least way possible. Her head felt like it had expanded to four times its normal size. She raised her head up off the pillow and broke out in a sweat from the effort. This did not bode well. She blinked her eyes and felt a repercussional explosion from some synapse in her hung-over brain cells. She groaned and then grimaced when the noise set off a series of thunderclaps within her ears. It was then she got a whiff of the ode to barfrume that had permeated the camper. In a manner of nano seconds she was out of bed and once again paying homage to the porcelain goddess. Once her body was satisfied that there was nothing left within it to offer the goddess, the spasms subsided and the room stopped spinning around like a merry- go-wheel. Dory then managed to pull herself up to the wash basin and ran some cold water in the bowl to rinse her mouth and wash her face. She looked in the mirror and saw a gaunt make-up smeared face looking back at her. “Damn….I look as bad as I feel" she whispered hoarsely. She put the lid down on the toilet to sit down and held her head in her hands. The next task was going to be taking a shower and she needed to rest for a moment before she moved on to that painful endeavor. In her post-alcoholic haze she tried to remember the details of the night before. They were fuzzy and incomplete fragments and images. Too much for the state that she was in at the moment. As she sat there in the bathroom, Dory wondered where Rachel was and why she wasn’t here when she needed her. But that thought evoked too much pain and she needed to conserve her strength to tackle the shower. There is no such thing as a long shower in an RV, a fact that had escaped Dory when she was well into shampooing the remnants of vomit out of her hair and the hot water that had felt so good began to cool down rapidly. The six minute rule that Rachel had babbled so much about somehow resurfaced to the correct area of her brain as she stood in the icy water trying to get the soap out of her eyes and her long hair. By the end of the shower the water felt like ice pelting her body. She emerged and grabbed a towel and sat on the toilet and shivered as she tried to dry off. “ Ra….ch..ch…el “ her teeth clattered “Wh…ree….in ….the …..fuckkk…didddddd …..youuuuu…..brrrriiinngg … uusss…… tooooo………..” Click On The River To Continue To Chapter 23 © Labinky Park 2008 Labinky Enterprises 2008 |
Chapter 22
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