Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 2

Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 2

Farce- (noun) -a comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations.

Glistening- (verb) gerund or present participle: glistening (of something wet or greasy) shine; glitter.

 Lucky- (adjective)- having, bringing, or resulting from good luck.

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. 

The Gravel Pits-Part 2

     Riding on their bikes down the highway seemed like it would be fun but the sun beat down hard and the trucks and cars that came down the highway scared the living daylights out of Kathleen. Some of them even honked and waved like they didn't mind the bicycles on the road but the truth was it was all a farce the trucks and cars hated them on the road. After one such idiot honked too close to Kathleen, she lost her balance on the gravel ending up in the grass.

     Great now she had skinned knees that wouldn’t look good with her bikini. Kathleen picked herself up and began cycling just when she thought they were almost to the sulphur spring turn off, Kathleen turned and realized that Karl and Terri had stopped. Riding back a short distance, Kathleen found Terri eating glistening, juicy, wild raspberries while Karl urged her to hurry up. They were soon on their way past farm land and turning onto the highway towards the sulphur springs stopping in front of the Sulphur Springs fountain. Cupping their hands Karl and Terri drank their fill of the water. Kathleen tried to do the same but the water tasted and smelt like rotten eggs. How could they drink it? Kathleen wondered. She was so thirsty that she held her breath and swallowed some. Luckily the awful taste and smell didn’t linger. She decided to drink some more.

    “Don’t drink too much Kathleen, or you’ll be looking for a washroom,” Karl cautioned.

   Kathleen blushed but stopped drinking. An older man with short black cropped hair standing up against a nearby tree winked at her. He had a military stance and he appeared to be in his early twenties. Kathleen was overjoyed that an older man noticed her and she flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder, struck a pose and smiled provocatively at him. The man laughed but then smiled back and started as if to come over. Karl noticed and pulled Kathleen closer to him placing himself between the two girls protectively. The man made a motion like next time

   “You shouldn’t encourage strangers Kathleen. You're damn lucky I'm here to protect you. Even smiling at some men is an invitation. You need to safeguard yourself, Kathleen. I can’t always be here to keep you safe and your actions can affect Terri, too.

    At the moment Kathleen hated Karl. He had scared away a harmless cute guy and then treated Kathleen like a naïve fool.   Kathleen reluctantly got on her bicycle and peddled to the gravel pits. Arriving there she was gratified to see Tommy Gunderson and his friends Kyle, Paul, George and Fred. Tommy saw Kathleen and motioned her over. Kathleen stripped off her shorts and tee-shirt to reveal her yellow polka dot bikini. She expected catcalls and maybe whistles but the sound of silence deafening. Did she look that bad in her bikini? Sure she was as well-endowed as Terri but she expected some appreciation. Was that wrong?

   Tommy looked over and smiled at Kathleen and her heart turned over. He really did like her!

  “So be careful Kathleen over there. It’s really deep, stay to the edge her see,” Karl directed, “Because over there it’s dangerous, unless you’re a really good swimmer. Understand?”

  “Understood, Karl.”

  “Go play with your friend but if you get into trouble call me. Okay?” Karl insisted, “I’m responsible for you two dolts so don’t do anything stupid.”

Kathleen was just about to enter the water when there were shouts some girl had gone out to far and sunk.

  “Call for help,” Karl yelled.

  Karl then jumped in and his wide strokes flowed through the water like butter. He was soon in the area that the other people said the girl had gone down. Like a shot he dove his feet straight up in the air and repeated it searching for the girl time after time. Finally he popped up with the girl and dragged her to shore. On the shoreline he placed his ear next to the person's mouth and nose and then checked to see if her chest moved. He then checked her pulse and placed her on her back. Placing the heel of one hand on the center of the chest at the nipple line and pushing with one hand on top of the other he began compressing her chest. He varied this after not seeing the chest rising with tilting the head back and lifting the chin and beginning mouth to mouth compressions. 

   Seconds later his reward? The victim coughing up water and breathing on her own, but she was still unconscious. An ambulance had arrived by that time, but the day was marred. At this point Kathleen just wanted to go home and so did Terri.

  Karl saw the woman to the ambulance and then he agreed with them that he would escort them home.  Kathleen began to think this Delaware was not only dullsville but cursed if you wanted to have fun. Cycling home uneventful and frankly boring Kathleen was happy to arrive home. Entering the house and she went into her bedroom, quickly changing out of her clothes and into fresh ones. The phone rang then and she went to answer.  Tommy wanted to invite her to a concert in London. He had tickets to see Purple Haze at Treasure Island Gardens, Great-Aunt Frieda would never let her go. She have to lie and she would go to go a sleep over at Terri’s and when she was done she could actually stay at Terri’s.Yes, that would work. She answered quickly, yes of course she would go. Maybe this day wasn’t so bad she would go to a real live concert in London. So she had to lie what could go wrong?

To be continued next week