Jasper Lilla and The Wolves of Banner Elk by Thompson C.S

Author:Thompson, C.S. [Thompson, C.S.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: James One Institiue
Published: 2015-02-15T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Seven

Martha’s Story

The phone rang, and for a brief moment Martha almost regretted her decision. “It’s easy,” the Lexus salesman had told her. “You can control almost everything, even your iPhone, from the steering wheel.”Easy for my grandson, she remembered thinking. Just after the third ring went quiet, she found the phone button and pushed it with her thumb.

“Hello, Mary,” greeted Martha before her daughter could speak.

“Well . . . how is it?” asked Mary.

“How is what?” replied Martha, knowing full well what she was being asked.

“Your graduation present.”That’s what Mary called Martha’s new car. It was really a retirement present, but since she was retiring after thirty-five years as a school librarian, itwas a graduation from school in a way. It was also the first and only extravagance Mary had ever seen her mother indulge herself with. Mary’s father had abandoned them when she was a child, leaving Martha with a newborn baby and a load of debt.

“It’s too fancy for me,” declared Martha. “I’m thinking of taking it back.” She wasn’t thinking of returning the Lexus at all. Although she was still disoriented with all the gadgets it was equipped with, the driving was exquisite. The seat fit her perfectly, the steering wheel moved effortlessly, and the gas pedal worked like it was an extension of her foot. She drove it off the lot and got it up to ninety-five miles an hour before getting scared. She had no idea how fast it would go, but clearly it would go faster than she would.

“You’re such a Martha,” said Mary.

“You’re no Mary,” came the familiar banter. It was a ritual they began just after Mary’s adolescence when they became as much friends as mother and daughter. Truly, each, in her own way, was more Martha than Mary. Both were independent, responsible, hardworking, and maternal.

“Where are you anyway?” asked Mary.

Martha looked around at the winding road with thick woods on either side. “I don’t know for sure,” she said. “Somewhere between Elk Park and Banner Elk.”

Mary laughed. “Well, have a good time, Mom. Don’t forget about your doctor’s appointment.”

“Yes, Mom,” said Martha as she hung up.

Accelerating through the next turn made her giggle, but then something caught her eye and made her jam on the brakes. Her tires squealed, and the rear end wobbled as she screeched to a stop.

Parked on the side of the road was an old red pickup truck with the rear passenger side up on a jack. A man lay face down next to the jack.

Martha pulled her car behind the pickup and jumped out. “Are you okay,” she said, rushing forward.

The man didn’t move as she knelt down next to him. She knew immediately that something was strange when she touched him. There was no warmth in his body, but he felt more like a stuffed animal than dead. Her hand recoiled. A sick feeling in her stomach swelled as she slowly retreated from the body, only then noticing the absence of exposed skin and the unnatural curve to the elbows.

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