The rain fell in angry sheets now in vertical waves. Laura's windshield wipers could scarcely keep up with it all. Her headlights didn't cast much useful light as she sped down this back road to who knows where. None of this mattered much as she continued faster than she should have.
Her mind was leafing back through the pages of her lonely life as tears clouded her view even further. "Dumpy ol' Laura," she thought to herself. From first grade on she was the target for hecklers, male and female. Homely facial features, long flat black hair in the style of fundamentalists, and a very shy persona all added to the problems she now recalled.
The other kids always found a way to make fun of her; in groups, large and small and even individually sometimes. She was the class ugly duckling; the one the boys used to tease each other about being in love with.
Her parents, both dead now, probably loved her and did the best they could. They just couldn't express love very well. Anger and discipline always seemed to come out instead.
As she grew older, things didn't improve the way her mother said they would. Her adult acquaintances were almost as heartless as her childhood peers were. They were more tactful, but often she caught them mid-sentence in some negative comment regarding some aspect of her being and they would stop talking and exchange knowing looks.
She hardly noticed the headlights behind her. They didn't matter either. Nothing mattered anymore. At thirty-one she had had enough. No more bullshit about things will change. Your dreams will come. Your prince will arrive." Bullshit! All bullshit!" her inner voice screamed.
Her foot pressed down even harder now on the accelerator. She couldn't see the speedometer needle through her tears, but she knew she was flying now. The wipers seemed to just give up the struggle too. Letting go of the wheel, she almost smiled as she closed her eyes and pushed her foot all the way to the floor.
Ken could see the red glow of the taillights ahead, and was using them as a clue to any upcoming curves in the road. He thought this route home would be better than the interstate on a night like this. Now he wondered, as the rain began to change over to snow. Winter sometimes came early to this part of the country. This he knew all to well.
At first he thought it was a trick his eyes were playing on him in the blur of the snow/rain mix. The lights ahead suddenly began to move in small circles one above the other in a kind of slow motion dance. Then, the red lights vanished and were replaced momentarily by bright white lights. This exchange continued as he drew closer to the event and slowed down, coming finally to a stop with the now still light show to his right and down in the deep ravine below. "Damn!" he thought, "That guy sure paid a price for going so fast on these slippery roads!"
Ken pulled as far as he dared off the road, put his flashers on and slipped into his heavy winter coat as he exited the car. The slope was steep and slippery and he half ran, half slid down the side toward the twisted vehicle below, dodging trees, large and small, throughout his descent. Arriving at the driver's door he looked in through the window opening.
Laura was unconscious and sprawled across the front seats with her head hanging down toward the passenger side floor. Blood flowed generously from a two-inch gash just above her right eye. From Ken's position at the window it was very clear that this "guy" was, indeed, a woman. Her cotton dress, already soaked from the rain and snow coming in through the missing windshield, was up around her hips, exposing a scene that looked like a Victoria's Secret display.
In spite of the crisis at present, Ken felt the surge of his rapidly pumping blood begin to move to his pubic area. Laura's legs were bare at mid-thigh. She wore pastel stockings and matching garter belt, and he could just make out the damp crescent of her light blue panties in the dash board lights. She was not fat, but had a chubbiness to her that he found attractive. Forcefully he pushed the images out of his mind and proceeded to check for a pulse.
She still had a strong heartbeat, and he could hear her breathing as he placed his ear close to her nose and lips. He quickly pulled a clean bandana handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it firmly against the bleeding over her eye. The cold was getting more pronounced as he paused to contemplate his next move.
Ken was uncertain about moving her for fear of spinal injury. In near desperation he took a key and raked it from her heel to her toes on both feet. Both feet reacted to the stimulus. Carefully he felt her legs from toes to crotch looking for any broken bones. He found none. He continued his exploration until he was satisfied there were no broken bones to deal with, and he gently pulled her back up to a seated position next to him on the seat.
Ken grew more concerned about the possibility of head trauma as he reached for the cell phone clipped on his belt. Punching in 9-1-1 he was treated to that all to familiar sound of static and no dial tone. "Shit!" He cursed as he clipped the useless traitor back onto his belt.
The snow was beginning to add up now. One inch, maybe two was already covering the path he had taken down to her car. She started to shiver. He thought it was a combination of shock and the growing cold. She was soaking wet by now. Quickly he peeled off his coat and covered Laura's soft wet form, holding her close to his own warmer body.
There were no signs of traffic on the road above them. The storm was growing in intensity and he expected no one to be coming along this road anymore tonight. His thoughts raced. There was no emergency medical facility anywhere nearby. He checked the ID in her purse and found she was from out of state, ruling out taking her home to her place.
Left with these realities he opted to take her to his house, only a few minutes from here. He could use the landline phone to call for help for her and she would be in a warmer dryer place.
The journey back to the top of the ravine was like a trip up Mt. Everest in the driving snow. Ken was concerned about dropping Laura or causing further injury with the movements. Now as he placed her in the reclining passenger seat of his waiting car, he gasped for breath. Laura began to shiver again as they headed onto the highway toward Ken's place. The bleeding above her eye had slowed, but it didn't stop.
No one ran to greet them as they left the vehicle and entered the log house Ken had built on this 2 acre wooded lot nestled in next to the state park lands that surrounded him in all directions. He lived alone now. His wife left years ago to seek her fortune with an acquaintance of theirs. The warmth of his house was greeting enough for him right now.
He carried Laura to his bedroom carefully placing her there, then stopping to catch his breath a moment. She was soaked through to the bone and shivering like a frightened kitten. Going to the bathroom closet, Ken grabbed an armload of bath towels and quickly threw them in the dryer and turned it on. The sound of the blower joined the concert of pelting snow against his window, filling the room with sleepy white noise.
