Monday, March 5, 2012

Four batteries


 . 
   
After finishing her morning route,  
the driver stops at the bus garage 
to fuel the bus.
Three miles from home,
the bus waterpump breaks,
the engine overheats,
sprays anti-freeze on the alternator,
battery discharge alarm sounds, 
so she must return to bus garage.


She is assigned an older,
mechanically suspect substitute bus
for her evening route.

As forecasted the afternoon weather
becomes stormy
with lightening,
and strong thunderstorms.

On her radio she hears that tornado warnings have been issued
to areas just south of the afternoon route, so she keeps an eye on the sky.


The skies are filled with fast moving, green grey clouds.


As she moves through a small town the tornado siren blares,
the school garage radio reports a tornado is sighted
about five miles south of her location.
She is advised that she may have
to park the bus
and evacuate her passengers.

Conditions appear to be improving
so she continues driving  east.


She turns south at the state line,
As he leaves the bus, a very competent,
observant high school freshman.
 tells of seeing cloud rotation from a rear window.

Now, the danger has passed,
the rapidly moving thunderstorms are to the east
Turning north, then west, at the state line,
she sees the sun break  through the clouds
like a spotlight.



She stops, with lights flashing, then sees a old white buick rapidly approaching, and skidding on the wet road, behind the bus. The car slides into the deep ditch to the right side of the bus, slams into two buried concrete culverts, stopping just short of the opened bus passenger door.

Waiting grandparents come to the bus, the sheriff is called.

Her cell-phone battery dies
.
But the car driver was not injured,
 but his old car may be totally wrecked underneath.


Late to her second job, where, because it is friday-evening, it is short staffed,
After closing the store after 9 pm.
she drives to visit her mother at the nursing home.
Returning to her car, to drive home, the ignition is locked,
she thinks it is because the steer tires were turned.

But, it is because her car battery is dead.

So, wearing a light jacket in 30 mph cold front winds behind,
she walks a mile to the ancestral home,
to borrow her mother's handicap mini-van.

The mini-van battery is dead, won't crank the engine,

She finds the battery charger in the garage,
and extension cords, which she strings to the van, to recharge the battery.

Four batteries- cell phone, school bus, her car and now, the van.

Tired,
her adrenaline is depleted,
she finally arrives home .

All her batteries will recharge, as she sleeps.