A deer in the road

A Deer In The Road

By

Neil M. Turner

They entered the parking lot of her school. Of course there was a line of other parents doing the same; dropping off their kids. Maybe they had found a reason to drive their kids to school, or maybe it was an everyday thing for some. Nevertheless, the two had to wait in line to get to the school entrance.

Before they got too close to the debarkation point, her father leaned over and said goodbye and waited for is kiss. He knew she would not bless him with a kiss if they were too close, so he timed it so they could do it early. She looked shocked and pulled away. He did not want to make a big deal of it, so he told her to learn well and have a good day. It always hurt a little when she did this, yet he remembered when he did the very same thing to his mother.

His little sunshine stepped out of the truck and ran off to another day of school. He stifled the urge to call her back and claim his kiss. Sighing he put the truck into drive and maneuvered around all of the other parents doing the same thing.

Now back to his routine, stop and get some gas, then find a coffee shop. Drink some coffee, get a little caught up with paper work, surf a little and maybe write a little in his journal. And so the work day begins. His job consisted of driving around assessing various real-estate for a prominent broker in the area.

The job was very interesting for him and he got to see some of the nicer developments in the region.  Sometimes he had to walk, or hike on some pretty rough terrain, other times the views were open and looked over vast undeveloped lands filled with rivers and lakes. On occasion, a deer would walk into a clearing he was scoping out.  He even saw a black bear scratching its back against the rough bark of a pine upon occasion.

He considered himself a fairly good driver and had confidence in the pickup he drove. It was heavy and solid with good tires. Though he enjoyed driving curvy roads, he did not push his luck very often. This particular day, the day when his daughter was too big to kiss her daddy, he had to go to a particularly remote site. The location was twenty miles out of town and up ten or so miles of dirt roads.

Getting out of the truck, he was amazed at the view of the mountains. The stream, small river really, gurgled nicely. He wished he had his fly fishing pole gear. There was a little pool in the middle of the site and it looked very inviting. The location was on a slope in places, but where he would have put the house, if he had the money to buy the place, was flat with a little swimming hole nearby. The view showed no houses or other manmade structures. If he looked carefully he could see the scaring of roads on the distant ridges, or maybe they were streams running off the winters' rain and snow.

Finishing off the assessment, he got into the truck and wrote up his notes. When he had finished, he dialed the company he worked for to let them know he had completed his assignment. There was no signal. Stupid phone, he wanted to get a new carrier, but his contract had over a year to go.

"O well," he thought, "I'll call when I get closer to home."

Well, you know where this going. He considered himself a safe driver, but on occasion he would drive too fast and slide the truck into turns and spin the tires going out of them. Today he felt like playing a little, the road was deserted and dry with only a few puddles here and there. The truck was powerful and fun to drive in these conditions. He let loose and slid into and out of the curves. A smile of elation spread across his face as he flew through that dusty and deserted road. When he came to puddles he swerved into them and splashed water all over his windshield and watched the spray as it hit trees or splash into the river running along the side of the road.

He remembered one puddle about half way back that was going to be perfect and knew it was coming soon. Around a turn---there it was! O YEAH! He gunned it, and felt the power of his truck.

O NO! A deer had come into the road. He didn't have time to do anything but turn away from it. Without even thinking, he yanked the wheel to the left and jammed on the brakes. He felt the anti-lock brakes shutter, but also felt the rear end brake free and due to his momentum it swung around dragging the heavier front end whipping it around.

He didn't know it, but both the wheels left the ground. He was lucky because the other wheels were sliding through the mud allowing the wheels to slide and not grab. The truck did not flip, but when it came to a rest, the front had settled against a rock and was turned in an awkward way. He scratched his head, it was bleeding a little and he knew there would be a nasty bump in a few minutes, and thought to himself, "the truck will not be moving on its own today." He watched as the deer bounded away, never looking back.

Trying his cell phone, he found there was no service yet. It was getting to be time for his daughter to get on the bus to go home. "Good thing I made arrangements with the neighbor to take care of her after school," he thought. "I don't know when I'll be able to get this mess cleared up."

The door creaked open and he stepped out. Walking around the truck he saw the mud splattered on the side. When he walked around to the passenger's side he saw the wheel, and knew for a fact the truck would not be going anywhere without a tow truck. "Good thing I have the AAA towing package."

Again he tried the cell phone, but knew the results even before it squawked its inability to do anything. He tried texting the office, in the off chance it could get through. The cut on his head was still bleeding, but he did not feel dizzy.

He opened the first aid kit he kept in the truck dabbed at the cut on his forehead. He looked in the mirror and said to himself, "It could be worse." He put some ointment on the wound and a band aid to help stop the bleeding. There was aspirin in the kit so he took a couple, just in case. He put the kit into his backpack, made sure there was water in it too. He also put his sweater in it in case it got cold while he was walking, and set off to find a signal for the phone.

Walking down the road, he had time to think a little. This happened so little he had almost forgotten what it was like not to be distracted by music or radioheads talking or TV, or any of the plethora of distractions in modern life. Listening to the birds and wind and even the river running next to him helped to make him more relaxed. Yea, it is a real pain in the backside, this accident, but at least he was not really hurt, or even dead.

"Oh my god, what if I really did die because of that? What would happen to her? And she didn't even give me a kiss today." These thoughts gushed from him, and scared him. "Would it bother her, if I did not get home? Yea it would, she loves me. But would it bother her to know she didn't kiss me one last time? Would she even remember this morning?"

"Naw, kids don't understand these things. Daddy always comes home." This thought comforted him a little knowing she knew he would be home. Though maybe he should try and get her to understand how important it is to let her daddy kiss her before school, or even in front of her friends. "O! The horror," he chuckled at that.

His mind wondered a little. Then his foot stumbled on a rock and he fell. His head was beginning to ache a little, but he did not think much about it and kept walking. "Boy what if I hit my head just now?" he wondered. He began to feel a little dizzy and sat down. He had been walking for awhile and thought the road was getting pretty close. However a feeling of weariness started to intrude. I need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

He stood up, took a sip from a bottle of water and continued walking. A little while later, he saw the intersection of the main road and felt a little relief. Now he could try to flag down a car and get a tow truck out here.

There was a house a little way down the road and he walked up the driveway and knocked on the door. The people in the house were friendly and let him use their phone.

"Yea, I don't even have a cell phone out here. The signal never seems to work," said the owner. He called AAA and asked for a tow. It would be here in about 45 minutes. Then he called his neighbor and told them what had happened. They said no problem; they would watch his little angel until he got home.

"Hey, my little sweet princess! I'm gonna be a little late coming home tonight."

"What? But daddy..."

"I had a little accident today and the truck needs to be towed"

"Are you Ok, daddy?"

"Yea. I love you princess"