Billy's Farmer's Market was deserted this autumn Wednesday, excepting for Billy Jr. He had a small bottle of an experimental drug he had stolen a few weeks ago. One drop made you utterly obedient to any spoken word and unable to remember afterward. He and his 3 buddies tried it a few weeks ago on a middle-aged Chinese woman who had stopped at the vegetable stand. It worked beyond their wildest expectations. All 4 had managed to fuck her without any resistance. When they finished they told her to come back the next Wednesday but she hadn't. The drug's effects didn't last that long.
Ying Li, 43, a very conservative and proper mother, had recently come from Shanghai to help her 19 yr. old daughter in her first few months at university in Iowa. She felt very jittery this Wednesday as she had every Wednesday for the last few weeks, sensing she needed to go somewhere.
Ying started housecleaning to calm her nerves and, while tossing out some newspapers, came across an ad for "Billy's Farmer's Market". Suddenly she felt an intense need to go there. She quickly dressed in a dark, green cotton knee-length skirt and a light green silky blouse together with green, mid-calf socks and black slip-on shoes. Underneath she wore a simple front-fastening white push-up bra and white cotton panties. She always wore proper, modest clothing.
Hopping into her daughter's car she drove to Billy's Farmer's Market. Ying found, to her surprise, that she somehow knew exactly how to get there. Driving down the dirt road, off the highway, she reached the weathered market stand.
A young man lounged behind the counter ignoring her as she selected a few veggies. He looked up as she brought the veggies to the counter. Billy Jr. was stunned! The Chinese woman had returned! She didn't seem to recognize him. Could he do it again?
"Morning ma'am. Would you like a cup of hot apple cider? We give a free cup of hot apple cider to all of our customers." He asked, crossing his fingers.
"Yes, thank you." The cool autumn breeze had made Ying shiver slightly so she agreed.
Billy Jr. turned to get the apple cider and slipped a drop or two of the drug into the drink before handing it to Ying Li. He couldn't wait for the drug to take effect again. She would unquestioningly do anything he told her!
The phone rang as Ying sipped the warm cider. Billy Jr. answered, leaving the drug bottle on the counter. Ying noticed it had a simple handwritten label: "Medicine, One drop only. Wednesday". Billy Jr. had written Wednesday on it to remind him of the day he first used it.
"Hello." Billy Jr. said into the phone with an irritated tone. It was his half-wit cousin, obviously off his medicine again.
Ying heard the young man arguing with someone.
Finally, Billy Jr. shouted, "Just take the medicine! You've already taken it? Good. Now take a hike and get lost, okay? Bye!"
Slamming the phone down, he turned. The woman was gone!? The bottle with his precious drug had vanished!!
Ying Li drove back to the highway. Beside her sat the bottle of medicine. She couldn't remember what the medicine was but did remember that she had already taken her dose today. She felt a pressing need to go for a hike. Her mind kept repeating, "Take hike and get lost." Upon reaching the highway she saw a sign, 'State Park 10 miles'.
The park rangers gave her a map of the easy trail on the east side of the park warning her that the west trail was difficult, easy to get lost on and had wolves. If she took the west trail and heard or saw any wolves she should just stay very still. Lying down and playing dead might be a good idea. In any case, she shouldn't move no matter what. Further, they warned, there were no people on that trail so any noise she heard must certainly be wolves. The rangers didn't know anything about wolves since there were none in the park but they did enjoy scaring people.
Driving toward the easy trail, Ying's mind kept repeating, "Get Lost". Soon she found that, somehow, she had actually driven to the difficult western trail. She walked along the trail for about an hour nervously listening for wolves before stopping beside a quiet beaver dam to rest. She hadn't noticed when the trail petered out and wasn't sure which way to go back. But the beaver dam was peaceful so she lay on the grass under a big tree and closed her eyes.
The rangers were annoyed when the 3 college boys showed up again. They were always heckling other visitors, especially the ladies. Knowing that no one had gone up the western trail that day, they told the boys that the eastern trail was closed for the day and that they would have to take the western one.
Jack carried the all-important beer back-pack while Tom brought the sandwiches and Chris hauled a rifle and ammo for target practice.
Ying heard indistinct sounds as she dozed. Her eyes opened as the sounds came closer. Wolves?? No, human voices. But the rangers said anything she heard would be wolves. Wolves!! What to do? Lie down. Be still. Be quiet. Maybe they wouldn't spot her! Her heart pounded as she lay on the grass, as still as she could. The vicious wolves must hear her heart thumping! Be still! Be quiet! If they found her, maybe they would just sniff and leave.
The sounds came closer. The wolf howls sounded strangely very human. Her mind was playing tricks! The rangers said wolves. It must be wolves. She willed herself to complete stillness as fear drained the blood from her face. The drug worked in new ways. The rangers had said stay very still and play dead. The drug caused her to go completely limp.
The boys reached the top of a hill and stopped to have yet another beer. Tom, looking down, said, "Hey, there's someone sleeping down by the beaver dam."
Jack replied, "Let's go down and give them a good scare."
Chris, "About time we had some fun."
They turned off the trail and headed toward the slumbering figure by the beaver dam. It was a middle-aged woman dressed in green with shoulder-length black hair completely unaware of their approach. They yelled to make her jump.
Nothing.
