THE ROADS THEY CHOSE

A Story by Willys Watson

They both grew up in small towns and wanted to experience life beyond the world they grew up in. They both enlisted around the same time, in part for the experiences, in part because doing so would help pay for their educations. They both went to tech school, then spent a tour of duty overseas and were both reassigned to the same stateside base.

They met while taking on-base college classes and started dating. And, although they both had their personal quirks and likes and dislikes, they were well suited for each other. And they got married four months before their enlistments were over. During their free time, while off duty, they researched the areas where they would most likely find well paying jobs while they could continue their educations. She suggested, with their tech training and job experience, central California had those jobs. He liked the idea, adding there was so much to see and explore in the state. After their discharge, he shipped his Jeep to his Uncle, who in lived Fresno, loaded up her SUV for the trip and headed West from Dallas.

Staying off the Interstate when they could, they took their time driving so they could absorb as much as they could, stopping when they wanted, to study and photograph whatever interested them. On Route 80, just after they crossed the Arizona state line, there was a small rest stop area. It included a filling station, a convenience store, public restrooms and a tiny park, it you could call it that, with two picnic tables shaded by several trees. While sitting at a picnic table they ate a light supper and watched the traffic passing by.

Suddenly, she focused on a post, perhaps thirty yards West, placed on the shoulder of the road near a crossroads. She gently patted his arm, pointed, and he did the same. The post held the names of two towns. One town was named Yesterday and it’s sign arrow pointed South. The other sign arrow pointed North and the name of the town was Tomorrow. Then they looked at each other and both nodded yes. After they had finished eating, he gathered the trash and took it to the wastebasket in front of the store, then went into the store. While he was doing this she used her cell phone to do some research.

With them both sitting at the picnic table they looked at each other a moment, then grinned.

“Well, what did you learn, Honey?” he asked her.

“They both show up on a Map Search, both about four miles from here, going South or North. But it doesn’t mention the population of either town. That’s all I could find out,” she replied, then asked,“ What did you learn in the store ?”

“The employees don’t live around here, but the clerk says most people never bother to turn off the main road to drive up those gravel roads. And he heard from a few people in town that one of those little towns is mostly a ghost town now, but can’t remember which one is supposed to be.”

“Well?

“Honey, I’ll take either, but we’ve got maybe ninety minutes of daylight left and we’ve got to rent a motel room for the night,” he told her. “I don’t think we have time to visit both today.”

“Not likely, but how close is the nearest motel?” She wondered.

“In good traffic, I figure maybe a thirty minute drive nearly due West of here.”

“And he didn’t remember which one was the ghost town?” she asked, and when he shook his head, she pulled a Quarter from her purse and smiled at him.

“I’m flipping the Quarter this time, because you always seem to win,“ he told her, and she laughed after he flipped it and it landed on it’s edge and slipped between the wooden boards of the table top.

“So, when will we have time to visit both, Mr. Lucky?” she teasingly asked him as they climbed into her SUV.

“Tomorrow will let us know,”

“A normal tomorrow or a Twilight Zone type tomorrow?” she jokingly teased him.

“We both survived a tour of duty in a war zone, so a little fictional suspense should be easy to deal with if you’re thinking about that ghost town.”

“We’ll be back Tomorrow and Yesterday,” she called out to the signs as they passed them on the way to the motel.

Based on their tech training and experience they both found well paying jobs fairly quickly. Then they rented a house and settled in until they found one they could afford to buy. When they both had a week off together they headed to the towns of Yesterday and Tomorrow, taking his Jeep because it was better suited to drive on gravel roads.

With the Jeep parked on the shoulder near the crossroads, the young couple stood outside wondering which road to take first. Finally, he grinned and pulled three coins from his pocket and told her to call heads or tails as he flipped then in the air. She called heads and all three of them landed on heads. She grinned and pointed South towards Yesterday. And he really didn’t care which road it was because they were going on another adventure together. She took the driver’s seat as they climbed into Jeep and headed South.

The road gradually rose until the road stopped at the base of a high cliff. And as they surveyed the small town it was mostly a ghost town. Of the twenty or so structures only one of them was in any condition to use, the live in, and it was a remodeled two or three bedroom house. Next to the house was a carport with an older Ford truck sitting under it and the front yard was maintained with care. She parked the Jeep on the paved driveway and they stepped out of the Jeep. He noticed the house had electrical and telephone lines running to it. She studied the sign mounted on the wall by the door that read ‘Local History Lectures and Tours.’ Under this was a small sign that read ‘Cold Drinks For Sale.’

As they were about to knock on the door an older man came around the side of the house and walked up to them.

“Welcome, and I’m happy you nice young folks are here. I’m Johnny and my wife is Joanne and we were just relaxing in the back yard after spending the morning in town buying groceries,”

“Nice to met you, Johnny,” the younger woman warmly told him.

“Thank you. Now, we’ve got a nice, shaded picnic table where we can talk. Are we could all go inside to talk.”

“After spending three hours on the road, sitting outside in the shade would be a nice change,” the younger man told him and they followed Johnny into the back yard,

When they were all seated Joanne smiled warmly at the young couple.

“We don’t get very many visitors here. Perhaps forty a year, not counting the Tribal locals who live on the Reservation on the other side of the mountain who stop by to visit sometimes. So, we’re just s bit curious about your visit,” she told them.

“You don’t look like typical tourists to us.” Johnny added.

“Oh, no! We had just gotten out of the service and were headed to new jobs waiting for us in California,” the young man informed them.

“We passed by here three months ago, liked the unique name of this town, but didn’t have time to stop and promised ourselves we would return when we had time,” the young woman added.

“Okay, and my hunch is you’re not into Local History Lectures, right? Johnny asked.

“Not directly.” the young woman said.

“My hunch is you’ve already done research about the local history, right?” Joanne asked.

“I’m not surprised, woman! You do research on your damn computer all the time,” Johnny teased his wife.

“Yes, we’ve done a little research because we wanted to come here, but we’re more interested in your personal history, if it’s not too personal, on why you live here and stay here,” the younger man explained.

“We’ll do what we can,” Johnny assured him, then looked at the younger woman, “But before we began, will you all excuse me for about ten minutes as I hurry into the house to grab something?”

They nodded yes and waited. When Johnny returned to the back yard he was carrying a printed out photograph. He sat down next to Joanne and showed it to her first. After she stared at it a moment, he showed it to the young couple.

“The young woman in the photo looks a lot like you, young lady, So, by chance, did you know a Captain Greenleaf?”

“Oh, yes, I’m that Joy and I was a load master on the cargo plane he flew,” she told them, then asked, “But where did you get a copy of this photo?”

“We know his family and they visit us from time to time. And I’m sure you knew about the plane crash, even though you were back in the states,” Joanne gently told Joy.

“Yes, I was informed and it broke my heart to hear he didn’t survive the crash. He was an honest, fair and decent C.O. and I was proud to be on his crew.”

“I’m sure it still hurts and it will for awhile,” Joanne lovingly told her, then added, “But his sister came to visit several weeks after the accident and let us copy some of the photographs they have of him.”

“That was very kind, thoughtful of her,” Joy told Joanne.

“Yes, and we consider them our friends. And it’s not surprising to me you two showed up here,” Johnny told the young couple. “You two may have been attracted to the town’s odd name, but I think that’s just part of it. Something more than that brought you back here. You may find this a bit hard to believe, but there are spirits, good, protective spirits hanging around these hills, and the mountain behind us. You can’t see them but, if you’re willing to accept them, you can feel their presence.”

“And you think one of then is Captain Greenleaf’s spirit,” the young husband asked.

“I can’t see why a spirit wouldn’t want to visit the places where he or she was born and raised, can you? We feel his spirit visits us from time to time because he was born on that Reservation,” Joanne told the young couple.

“It’s very possible,” Joy replied.

“Okay, if you’re not really interested in local history lectures, let’s all walk around and Johnny and I will tell you about why we moved here and stay here,” Joanne offered the young couple.

“We would love that, but we insist on paying you the same price as your Local History Lecture,” the younger man told them, then added, “I’m Raymond, but my friends call me Ray.”

“Thank you, Ray, but the only thing we charge for is the cold drinks,” Johnny told him, then he asked, “What does your wife call you?”

“That depends on his mood, my mood, the time of the day, week and month,” Joy said jokingly, then added, “But when we’re alone I call him Honey.”

“And I’m not sure you want to hear what I call Joy in private,” Ray told them and Joy playfully slugged his arm.

“Good natured humor goes a long was towards keeping a couple together,” Joanne sincerely said.

As the four of them walked towards a deserted barn an Eagle flew down and perched of it’s roof.

“That may be Jack Greenleaf’s spirit saying hello,” Joanne told Joy.

“But how would he know we are here?”

“If it is him, we don’t need to know how he knows. He wouldn’t know your husband, but he would probably have felt your presence. The thing about protective spirits is, even if we don’t believe they exist, they still do,” Johnny answered sincerely.

“And you both really believe this,” Ray asked them.

“Johnny and I are retired clinical researchers and I was a natural cynic and we wouldn’t let ourselves accept the unexplained until we moved here,” Joanne told the young couple.

“I believe you, but your reason for moving out here to begin with?” Joy asked.

“Actually, by accident, if you want to accept that. After we retired we were just driving around and saw the sign and drove up here. First thing we noticed was a sign saying the whole town was for sale, and we talked about it and decided, it the price was right, we would buy it,” Joanne told Joy and Ray.

“It wasn’t just the price, it was mainly for privacy. Joanne is a born researcher and will never stop being one, That’s why she has internet service when we don’t even have a television.” then he added, “I always wanted to write serious poetry and am learning how,” Johnny informed us. “We’ve lived here nearly fifteen years and it was the right decision for us.”

“That you both for taking to time to talk to us,” Ray told them. “We’ll be leaving with a lot to think about.”

“Sometimes adventures of the mind are just as rewarding as physical adventures,” Joanne told the young couple, then gently kissed Joy on the cheek.

After buying six cold soft drinks from them, Joy and Ray climbed into the Jeep.

“We’ll visit again,” she called back to assure them as they drove down the gravel road.

As the Jeep sat at the crossroads Ray gave Joy a puzzled look.

“Sweety, what do you think about all that? The spirits and everything?”

“I could be willing to accept the spirits part because it’s possible, but for now, enjoy first, analyze late,” she told him and he nodded in agreement.

“While true, are you still in the mood to visit Tomorrow?

“Dear Ray, we’re creating our own tomorrow right now. Let’s enjoy the coming experiences.”

After they kissed she pulled the Jeep onto Route 80 and they headed back to their new home.