Based on the positive feedback and emailed requests for more stories, I went back in time a bit to my younger days and will share a "prequel" story from several years back. This is the first of a two-part story. Like my other stories, don't expect explicit sex in the first paragraph, I have to set the scene and paint the picture from my musty old memories.
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It was snowing hard as I left Reno, and by the time I pulled my rig into the chain installation area, I knew I'd never make it all the way to Sacramento by 5pm. Putting on chains is my least favorite part of the job, and it's a pretty common task in winter months on this part of I-80. The snow was really coming down as the long lines of vehicles inched their way up the long winding climb. It took me all day in stop and go traffic at 5 mph traffic to reach Donner Summit, and it was already getting dark.
My relief at making it to the top was quickly deflated by the lack of any more spaces in the truck parking area at Boreal. The radio said the road was expected to close ahead, so rigs were lined up mirror-to-mirror in every available space. The CHP was already turning back some vehicles but I wasn't about to U-turn and drive back down a slippery mountain I had just spent 5 hours climbing. I got out and went over to the flashing CHP cruiser that was blocking the passing lane ahead and asked if I could get in the slow line of vehicles still heading west.
The cop rolled down his window and shouted back at me "We're holding everybody at Highway 89 now, we're not letting anyone else up the hill. We're turning around the trucks as they get up here but we're still letting some 4-WD SUVs through, and I'm not sure how much longer we're gonna do that."
I pleaded with him to let me try to get to the brake check area a couple of miles ahead and he finally relented. I kept it slow β 10 - 15 mph in low gear all the way, but the 4-Wheel Drive SUVs whizzed on by me and drove out of sight at 55 or 60 as if the road was dry. Fools, I thought. Soon, I noticed no more cars were behind me and none was visible ahead. I had the road to myself. On the radio I heard the Interstate was now closed and even the recently-plowed right lane had collected two inches of fresh snow and the blizzard winds made visibility drop even further. I was glad to see the sign: Brake Check Area 1 mile.
It was pitch dark when I pulled off and parked. With headlights off, and all my marker lights on, I bundled up in my winter jacket, and stepped outside for a quick piss. It was dark and no one was in sight so I stood near the bumper of my rig and made some yellow snow. I was just zipping up when I noticed the soft reddish glow emanating from a snowbank about ΒΌ mile head. It took me a second to realize it was car taillights and I began hustling up there as fast as I could in my dry-weather work shoes.
Only the rear hatchback and bumper were visible, and even that part had a heavy coating of fresh snow. The rest of the white Subaru was buried so deep in that six-foot-tall snowbank, I couldn't approach the driver's door. I wiped then knocked on the fogged-up rear window.
"Help! Help Us" a woman screamed back.
I shouted: "Are you all right?"
"Yes, yes, We're okay, -- just cold and shaken up a bit."
"Wait there lady," I shouted as I began to try to dig my way forward with nothing but my ungloved hands. It was hopeless, so I knocked on the back window again.
"Pop open the hatch, you gotta climb out this way."
I heard the pop and swung up the lift gate. A mom with two young kids were huddling in the front seat. I waved them toward me. "Climb over the seats!" I shouted.
The young kids were not dressed for a blizzard, so after I helped all three of them climb out the back, we rushed back to my rig. I carried the 3-year old girl and the lady took her son's hand and slip-slided their way to my warm haven.
Once inside the cab the kids piled in their mom's lap on the passenger side seat and huddled for warmth as the roaring heater began chasing off the cold air and bringing the temp back up to a toasty 75. I rubbed together my frozen hands in front of the blower outlet.
"Thank you so much, you saved our lives," the mom sobbed. Her eyes were moist with emotion. "We would have died out there. After the engine died, it got so cold...."
"No problem, ma'am. I got plenty of diesel so it'll be nice and warm. There's a sleeping area in back there. You can set up the kids back there for the night and we'll get you some help and a tow truck in the morning."
This time she actually cried openly and thanked me again. I'm Chloe. This is Randy, she's gonna be three next week, and this is Ronnie, he's four."
"Four and a half!" the kid interrupted. "What's this, mister?" he asked, pointing at the gear shift lever. I pointed out the levers and dials until he got overwhelmed with too much adult info and climbed back up on his mom's lap. Little Randy sat there, looking sleepy and sucking her thumb.
We talked awhile. They'd driven up from Salt Lake City, returning from a visit with relatives. The roads had been clear until she passed Winnemucca. The pavement got slick and slippery after the first few inches of snowfall, and she had almost decided to stay overnight at a motel in Reno. Now she wished she had. But money was tight and she felt like she was almost all the way home -- she lived just another 10 or 15 miles farther up the highway in Kingvale. She cursed herself for pressing on and ending up in a snowbank, but was glad to be alive. She said it had been a tough year with the divorce and all, and it was tough making ends meet as a single mom. Her deadbeat ex rarely sent the child support on time.
I looked at her pretty face and the beautiful children and wondered how any man could walk away from them. Chloe looked to be about 30 with a thin build (as best I could see under her winter jacket and the two children on her lap). Her short pulled-back hair and eyeglasses made her look doughtier than her pretty face deserved. Her facial features were so fine and delicate, she could have been a beauty queen or cheerleader.
The little girl seemed tired, so Chloe and I squeezed around in the cramped cab and eventually got the kids settled down on my sleeping couch in the back. The kids complained they had to share the small space, and their mom had to tell her son to settle down a few times, but eventually there was a welcome silence and peace of sleeping children. Chloe and I leaned back the seatbacks and chatted some more. It was 10pm and I was tired but Chloe seemed to get a second wind and needed to "talk off" her nervous energy. I got a detailed account of how she had slid off the road, and then a detailed account of her life β the ex, the divorce, the happy days before the divorce, the birth of the kids, etc. By 1 am, she was tired and we both reclined as much as we could and tried to get some sleep.
Around 4 am, a passing snowplow woke me up. Chloe too.
"Good sign," I said quietly. "Maybe they'll be able to get ahead of it and clear a path so we can get out of here in the morning."
"I hope so. I want to get home and get a shower and some sleep. I'm exhausted."