Saturday, March 11, 2017

It's a Mystery

These last years, I thought I’d be sipping iced drinks with friends or lounging on a porch; my life’s been interesting, challenging, and fun, but never much of a mystery, so why now?
        Google is gone from my computer; the only way to get back on is through MSN, which won’t let me enter my email account unless I allow them to organize my life. Why do I feel as if someone were trying to control me?
          For a person who took things at face value, I’m suddenly seeing conspiracies and alternate motives. Did I awake from a dream where life was hard but fair into a world where no one can be trusted?
Do I sound paranoid; I feel a tad paranoid today. Yesterday, on the way home from the gym a tree blocked the road forcing me to detour on a new road with colorful flowers gracing the yards of lovely homes, so I was enjoying myself without a worry.
Between the mogotes (steep hills) roads twist and turn so frequently I’m not sure of which way to go with lesser roads seldom marked it’s a crap shoot because signals don’t enter steep ravines, so you’re on your own. Suddenly I’ve gone from la-la-la-la to oh, hell, where am I?  Rock walls so steep I can no longer see the light of day depress me; I don’t want to be here. The road I came in on is blocked by a tree and now I haven’t a clue of where I’ll end up.
Some of the houses on this road are jaw dropping beautiful, so I calm down a bit to look. Flower beds and landscaping I admire so I’m starting to think of this as a happy little island adventure and I’m confident I’ll work my way home before long. A house with a pool and cabana in the yard of my dreams gets a full stop and gawk; I couldn’t help myself, but I see movement in the house and don’t wish to be rude, so I move along.
The setting sun darkens the chasm; I notice to my right a ten-foot chain link fence with razor wire on the top on a road that suddenly feels like it's going nowhere. Times like this I don’t do myself any favors; this fence with razor wire has me thinking about the book set on an island where scientists splice humans and animals together.
Calm down you’re freaking yourself out; take some deep breaths. This f’ing fence seems like it’s going on forever just like the ravine. I know I’m letting my imagination run wild and laugh at myself. I see nothing but vegetation behind the fence; why are my palms sweaty? I poke around for something to eat; maybe, my blood sugar is low.
There’s a clearing on the right; oh, wow, I’ll get to see why the expensive fence in the middle of the last place on earth. I catch a glimpse of a road going through a clearing and then I’m blinded by an unforgiving light. Holy shit, I shield my eyes with my hand and speed up; the intense light disorients me. I almost drive into a ditch, but manage to continue. I can’t wait to get the hell out of here; walls of green on either side of the narrow road turn to black. Good heaven how much farther can it be; I should be getting to the road going out the other side, where I can GPS and route my way home. What in hell was that place with those blinding lights; that’s crazy?
Calle sin salida read the sign at the end of the road. A road without exit  with the sign at the end of the road; no one needed to tell me that now, the wall at the end of the road gave me a clue. My head felt as if it would explode; this long ass road had a no exit sign at the end. F’ing great! The urge to cry quickly overcome by get the hell out of here now spurred my U-turn; how would I get past the entrance to the hidden installation I’d stumbled on to?
Headlights shining on limbs reaching over the road reminded me of a dozen horror movies I’d seen growing up. I prayed not see anyone pop out of the dark. I had to pee as it was. As I approached the entrance to the camp now on my left I covered the window with a clipboard and kept trucking.
My rapid pulse slowed when the fence ended and nice houses appeared again. Extremely nice houses on a dead end road hidden near a fresh water lake on a tropical island, I pondered that when I saw head lights behind me. I had a quarter tank of gas left, so I decided to drive as fast as I could to the most public place I could find and get gas when I ended up where the tree had been across the road. I was on my road home; the saints be praised!
The lights pulled into the gas station behind me. Calm down; it’s nothing until it’s something, I told myself. I grabbed a candy bar while in line to pay for my gas. In walked a fit, attractive older man. His face barely registered any reaction when he took his place in line behind me and I burst into laughter. The scene reminded me of some many stories I had to laugh, the nervous guffaw of one realizing this might not be a romantic comedy, but the terminator.
Quickly, I sped into the night taking the long way around the lake home until I no longer saw a light in my rear view mirror. This morning I greeted the dawn glad to be alive.
Do you see what I mean?
 

No comments:

Post a Comment