I Take a Tumble

Going to college is never easy. Going to college when you live two hours from the campus sucks. But three times a week I would make the trek. Get up at five in the morning, leave the house at seven and get to Fullerton for my classes. Yes, I could have gone to San Bernardino and the drive would only be half an hour, but the longer drive meant more time out of the house and away from my parents. I loved them, but they were a bit overbearing. Okay, so a bit is putting it mildly. They were always pushing me to do my best, to take advantage of the opportunities that they never had when they were my age. Neither of my parents had graduated from college and they wanted to make sure that I did. They wanted to make sure that I didn't make the same mistakes that they had. They wanted me to have a steady career, not various jobs at fast food joints.

But one thing that they didn't prepare me for was how to change a tire. I knew how to change the oil on my car, but not a flat tire. So when I heard the flat tire pounding against the pavement, I couldn't help but groan. Towing was going to suck. I was up in the mountains now, at nine o'clock at night, and it was misting. Thankfully not raining, just misting. So far at least. If it had been winter I would have cried. Pulling the car over onto the small bit of dirt to the side of the road before it turn into a steep downward slope, I put the car into park and turned the engine off. I grabbed my purse off the passenger seat and began rifling through it, looking for my cell phone.

Finally after a few moments of searching I pulled out my iPhone. "No reception. Seriously?"

I felt like banging my head against a wall. Yeah, once you got into the mountains the reception was poor but there was still typically at least one bar. And now all the sudden there were none. What. The. Hell. I tossed the phone back into my purse. It looked like I would get my first experience changing a tire. Letting out a breath, I unbuckled my seatbelt, grabbed the keys and climbed out of my little Aveo, slamming the door closed behind me. And there was the front left tire, deflated and looking rather pathetic.

The air wasn't cold, but the mist sure made it feel colder. I pushed the button on the key fob and the trunk popped open just before I reached it. I then put my keys into my pocket before pushing the trunk lid up. Some papers lay scattered in the trunk along with a bottle of oil just in case I ever needed it. Oh, there was my nice beach towel. I had been wondering where that had been. But no sign on the spare tire that I knew should be in there.

"What the hell?" I muttered. Where was my spare? Did my mom or dad borrow my car recently without me knowing and gotten a flat? I would have to ask them when I got home, whenever that was. No spare tire. "Great. This is just…peachy."

I would have to walk the rest of way into town. It was still probably about twenty minutes to town from here, though that was in good weather while driving. This weather while walking? This was gonna suck. I could hear my parents now. 'Kendra Diana Burr, where have you been?' 'Oh, just stuck walking home in the rain since someone used my freaking spare.' Yeah, that would go over well. Hmm, maybe walking wouldn't be so bad if it meant putting that conversation off.

Slamming the trunk door shut, I walked back around to the driver's door and opened it. I pulled my keys out of my pocket as I leaned in to get my purse, putting them inside it and trying my phone once again. Still no reception. I heaved a heavy sigh as I shoved my phone back into my purse and then zipped it up. This was going to be oh so much fun. And of all the days I hadn't thrown a jacket into the backseat of the car.

I locked the car as I swung my purse onto my shoulder and closed the driver side door, checking to make sure it was locked before I started walking up the road on the small shoulder. The road was narrow, like most mountain roads are. About three feet of shoulder and then everything went downward, and not gradually either. The slope was steep, though at least it wasn't straight down like it was in some areas that I had thankfully already passed before the tire decided to give up the ghost. And hey, maybe my phone would get reception again while I was walking. Maybe. Hopefully.

Ten minutes later I was soaked and shivering, still no reception. If I didn't end up sick from this, I would be shocked. I heard a vehicle approaching from behind me and turned to see a white Ford truck slowing down beside me, the passenger window rolled down. The driver was a man in his late thirties, early forties that had light brown hair and a scruffy beard. "Need a ride, young lady?"

I inwardly scoffed. Yeah, like I was going to get into some strange man's truck. He may have been sincere in his trying to help me, but these days you just never know and I was not about to risk it. I shook my head. "No thanks, I'm good."

"Come on," he said. "At this rate you'll make it to town sometime in the morning. And this is no weather to be walking in."

"I said, no thanks," I replied firmly, keeping my gaze on the direction I was walking. My heart rate picked up as he continued to drive slowly alongside me. He was really determined to give me a 'ride.'

"Get in the truck."

His friendly tone was gone and a glanced at the truck out of the corner of my eye. He was putting it in park. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shitty, shit, shit. I started running and heard the driver door creak open. I didn't chance looking back. I simply ran as fast as I could along the shoulder of the road. If I got out of this alive, I was investing in a bottle of pepper spray. Maybe some steel toe boots too.

I ignored the growing stitch in my side and kept running. I could hear him thundering along behind me. And then my foot caught a rock and I was sent flying. Up was down and down was up as I tumbled down the side of the road. The ground was above me and the sky below me. I screamed. And then everything went dark and I knew no more.