Woot! Chapter two! So...I actually live where most of the story will take place. I live in one of the tiny towns. Yes they are real towns. I'm using the place I live in because I know what it looks like and...stuff.

When they got off the plane at the smallest airport they'd ever seen, the first thing they noticed was the weather. It was so different compared to what they were used to.

"It's so dry!" Abigail squirted some lotion into her hands and rubbed it in thoroughly.

"Looks like it might rain though," Riley covered his eyes from the tiny bit of light seeping through the cracks in the gray mass overhead.

Caw! Caw!

Riley jumped at the sound and quickly spotted the source. Perched on top of the building was a giant black crow, staring at him with beady eyes. Soon others joined it, watching the people unload from the plane.

"Freaky," Riley murmured and jogged ahead to catch up with his friends.

"Feels better in here," Abigail said as she and Riley walked into the very small airport building and waited for the guys to finish loading the suitcases onto the luggage cart.

Riley spotted his suitcase on the bottom shelf. It was bright yellow with two black stripes, and had an Autobot insignia in one of its corners. After the cart halted, he pulled it from the rack, grabbed the handle, and wheeled it over to where Ben was getting their rental car.

"Thanks very much," Ben turned around and jingled the set of keys in his hands. "You guys ready to go?"

"Pssh, yeah," Riley leaned on his suitcase, making sure that the wheels didn't decide to start rolling. Last time that happened he turned bright red with embarrassment. "All I've seen of Colorado so far is brown dirt, sagebrush, and a couple of creepy crows."

"Alright, so where's the car?" Abigail passed Ben's suitcase off to him and pulled her own behind her.

"Right there," Ben pointed to a silver Toyota Corolla.

"Alright! Let's pop the trunk and get a move one!" Riley tapped the trunk, acting like he was going to make it magically pop open. Which it did, after Abigail had opened the driver's side door and pulled the lever.

They got out of the airport and onto Highway 491 without a hitch. It was still pretty brown but trees were becoming more frequent. Cortez seemed small enough but the guy at the rental counter told Ben you could get lost if you didn't know the area. Luckily, they had paid a little extra for a GPS, at the urging of a certain techie that didn't want to get lost out west.

"I'm starved! Can we stop somewhere Ben? Please!" Riley leaned forward in between the driver and passenger seats. "Oh, hey, look! An Arby's!"

"Alright, alright, I'm hungry too," Ben pulled into the parking lot and up to the drive through. "What do you two want?"

"I want a regular one with cheese on it," Riley answered. "And curly fries and a Coke."

Riley turned to look out the window and was stunned at what he saw. There was another giant black crow standing on the pavement and then there was a fat guinea pig. No, wait. Ben said they're called prairie dogs, not guinea pigs. Prairie dogs had tails and could stand up on their hind legs. This one was doing exactly that, having a faceoff with the crow over a curly fry lying on the ground.

"Hey Abigail, look at that," Riley pointed towards the two creatures as he rolled down his window.

"Aw, that prairie dog is so cute!" Abigail cooed as the fat rodent scared the crow off and stole the fry.

The crow stood farther off. It turned its head and stared at them with beady eyes. The black feathers shimmered purple as the bird ruffled them and started to preen them.

Riley hadn't even noticed they'd moved forward and that Abigail was passing him a brown bag. He took it, not taking his eyes off the crow. The bird stared at him again. It seemed to be trying to get a subliminal message to him.

Give me the curly fry.

The young techie shook his head at his own imagination. But, the crow did seem to be acting like that's what it wanted. Riley took out a fry and chucked it through his open window. The crow didn't think twice before swiping it off the ground before a sparrow or another prairie dog could.

The part of town they passed through was fairly small. They saw a Sonic, a high school football field, a Napa Auto Parts store, a small diner called The Ute Café, and a Burger King. Very few people were on the road, seeing as it was mid afternoon and the lunch rush had already passed.

"You know what guys? Every car I've seen go by has been a truck," Riley announced as he slouched in the back seat. "I even saw a big red tractor-thingy."

"It's called a swather, Riley," Abigail glanced out her window, seeing a field of sagebrush go by along with a few houses.

"That is one small school," Riley pointed to the classic brick elementary school with two playgrounds and a sloped field. Bet that makes it hard to play football. Riley shook his head. How would he know? He never played football. He played on the swings or got picked on by kids on the football team.

"So how much farther?" Abigail leaned in to look at the GPS.

"Turn right in three hundred yards," the GPS ordered.

The road they turned down was paved and lead alongside a fairly large lake, filled to the brim with dark blue water. There was a small dirt road that lead down to a beach-ish shoreline and a boat ramp. A sign there read 'Neraquinup Lake'.

"What kind of name is that?" Riley questioned.

"Well, it's derived from…" Ben started to tell a long story behind the name.

Riley hunkered down, wishing he hadn't asked. Lots of pine and cedar trees zipped by his window. He even saw two does and a buck white tailed deer standing on the side of the road. They aren't too afraid of people here, Riley thought as they watched the car go by.

They got to a spot on the road that was high enough that they could see a huge lake in the bottom of the canyon. Soon they were at the top of a hill and drove down into the canyon. There was a brown-green river that flowed under a bridge and into the lake.

"This is Dolores?" Riley asked, breaking Ben's story.

"You know, there's an interesting back story on why it's called Dolores," Ben said and got death glares from both his wife and best friend.

"Maybe some other time, okay honey?" Abigail replied and looked out her window at the small buildings.

"Turn right in one hundred yards," the GPS broke the momentary silence.

"The Flying Pig? What in the world is that?" Riley glanced at a building before they turned to go over another bridge, but a smaller one that was hidden amongst huge trees.

Now they were on a dirt road. It did a steady climb up the side of the hill. They couldn't see the town down below because of huge poplar, oak, cedar, pine, and cotton wood trees.

"Turn left in two hundred yards," the GPS guided and became quiet again.

On their left was a narrow dirt road that started to lead back down the hill. They took it upon request of the GPS. It lead down a little ways then stopped. At its end was a two story cabin made of logs. It looked very kept up. The yard in front was mowed and there wasn't a single weed in the flower beds.

"This is the place," Ben shut the engine off and stepped out onto the gravel driveway.

Riley and Abigail followed behind him. As they walked up the stone path to the front door they began to notice the wood and stone statues of lions, tigers, and bears.

"Oh my," Abigail whispered.

When they were on the front steps Riley looked at the vines covering the porch. A frog sitting on them turned a looked at him sleepily. It turned away and jumped off, heading for the decorative pond in the front yard. Riley jumped when something brushed against his legs. He looked down, seeing a long haired black cat.

"Hey kitty, kitty," Riley kneeled down to pet it. The cat warmly accepted the love and purred.

From underneath the porch another long haired black cat emerged. A short haired black cat came dashing across the yard. Another short haired black cat came out from a cat house sitting on the porch.

"This dude has a thing for cats," Riley sat on the steps while the cats all rubbed up against him.

Ben shook his head and pushed a doorbell with an interesting carving around it. The bell inside sounded more like a gong rather than a bell. A dog started barking wildly. They heard someone hush the dog and come down the stairs. Right before the person answered the door, they all seemed to hold their breath for some reason.

"May I help you?" a woman asked.

Please remember to R&R! It makes me happy! :)

P.S. I don't know how to spell Neraquinup so I just took an educated guess.