Wrong Turn

Sixty dollars and the price of diesel seemed hardly worth the price to mow her new neighbor’s yard during this one hundred degree heat wave.

 

Thinking she’d be cooler, Janyce wore shorts instead of jeans and spaghetti straps instead of sleeves. Regardless, the sweat dripping down her neck and back burned her cracked, sunburned skin.
 
Janyce thought using the riding lawnmower might alleviate stress on her knees but she forgot her hat and the sun blistered her head,creating vertigo.

 

She had her own system, beginning at the far edge of the yard and followed the fence-line, closing in until the last piece was only a tiny section to finish. Today, she was instructed to mow parallel lines.

 

 Janyce grabbed for her water bottle and took a long drink.

 

The wavy air in front of her made her head swim as if she sat in a boat on high seas.

 

“Hey, lady...”

 

 Janyce barely heard voices behind her with the loud chugging of the machine beneath her.
 
A sharp crunching sound and a thrust of putrid water gushed from the earth soaking her, and stopped the mower.

 

“We tried to warn you. Our new septic system uses a sprinkler head to eliminate waste water instead of lateral lines.”

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

Ooops. That wouldn't be any fun at all. Hitting a sewage line is only slightly more preferable than stirring up a nest of yellow jackets. A good story, Janyce.

[Christina2]

Oh, ick Janyce, what a stinky day that was! I could feel the heat and smell the stench. Good description.