…things got really tense
.
Life On The Magic Bus
Chapter 9, Part 7: Across America At Random
Paths cross
Sasha makes a friend
8/14/2014
It was 4:45 in the morning when the Magic Bus left the Shambala Buddhist Center via County Road 68C. The only two people awake were Doc and Spike, although “awake” may have not exactly been the proper word. They were functional on a basic level as the drank their morning tea.
“So,” Doc said, “Here we are on yet another twisty gravel road, way the hell out in the boonies.”
“True,” Spike replied, “but this time, we’re in the mountain boonies. I like them way better than the desert boonies.”
Doc had to agree with that, even though the gravel road was keeping their speed down to about 45 miles an hour.
“We’ll see how we all like being in the corn/soybean/hog boonies in a few hours.”
Spike nodded and turned on his attention to his laptop.
A couple of hours later, the Bus was stopped for pictures in Wellington, Colorado, at a convenience store right off Highway 25. They had just finished the picture taking and soda buying when a blue Camry came screeching to a halt next to the Bus. Doc recognized Paul Chung & his two sons, Tony & Mike.
“Doc?” Paul looked as surprised as Doc felt.
Doc shook his hand. “Where have they been sending you?”
In the ensuing conversation, Paul explained that he and the boys had spent their first night outside La Pine, Oregon. Their second night was “at an intersection miles outside of Missoula, Montana. Last night, they had been in Ajax, South Dakota. Today they were heading for someplace called Sylvan Grove, Kansas. He said they were enjoying the trip, but wouldn’t mind stopping in a town with more than one stop sign. Doc agreed with that.
After talking with Paul and the boys, our band of merry travelers got back on the bus and proceeded through the remainder of Colorado and into Nebraska. While they were stopped at a wildlife refuge making a video, Sasha met an otter.
“Hello, Friend Otter. My name is Sasha.”
The otter looked at her, surprised that he understood her. “How you talk otter?,” he asked.
Sasha showed him the Universal Translator on her collar.
“This let’s me talk to anybody.”
The otter seemed impressed. “Even two legs?”
“Oh yes, even two legs, which we call humans.”
“Hoomans? Okay. You want play?”
And so, Sasha and the otter, whose name was Skeekee, played a rousing game of tag for a good 15 minutes before Grace came looking for the dog.
“HOOMAN!” Skeekee backed up closer to the water.
“It’s okay. That’s my mother.” Sasha turned to Grace. “Mom, this is Skeekee. He’s my friend.”
Grace, who at this point in her life was unfazeable, touched her own Universal Translator, bent over, and said, “Hello, Skeekee.”
The otter blinked at her before saying, “Hello, hooman mom.”
Sasha walked up face to face with Skeekee. “I have to go now, Skeekee. It was fun playing with you.” Then she touched noses with him.
“Goodbye, Sasha. It was fun playing with you, too.” Then he turned and slipped into the water.
It would be hours before Sasha realized that his speech had improved quite a lot.
For another five hours, the Bus made it’s way from one tiny village or massive farm, until finally they pulled into Winner, South Dakota. It was the biggest human habitation they had stayed in yet.
After dinner, games and chatting, everyone went to bed.
At 2:00 in the morning, Doc’s phone beeped and he woke up long enough to read tomorrow’s destination. He was putting the phone back on the nightstand when Grace, in a drowsy voice, said “Well?”
“Mediapolis, Iowa,” Doc said as he fell asleep
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