Untitled chapter 1
SN*WFLAKE
Express:
LAST RIDE
By:
Debra smith
And
Kay Starr
CHAPTER: 01
Parked beneath a large red Maple tree was a Peterbilt. The rig was a powder-blue long-nose sleeper cab. The chrome on the truck shone when the sun touched it. On the truck’s doors was a snowflake with the words Snowflake Express. A snowflake replaced the o in the word snowflake. The truck was waiting for its next adventure on the open road.
I stood in front of the rig. I placed my hand on the hood. The rig belonged to my mom, Penny Morgan. She drove the rig from the East Coast to the West Coast and everywhere in between, seeing the country. The thirteen-speed Peterbilt was one of my mom’s favorite rigs. Mom named the rig Blue. Mom’s second favorite rig was a long-nose sleeper cab Kenworth, and it was red. The other rig was a flat-nosed Mack. It was my mom’s least favorite rig. She would only use it when the other two rigs were being serviced.
Next, I walked to the driver’s door. As I read the name on the door, I started to trace the letters with my finger. My heart was breaking as tears filled my eyes. Mom was coming home for her last ride. She was dying from respiratory failure. Her lungs became partially paralyzed from the stroke and a mild heart attack. The fluid in her lungs made it difficult to breathe. It didn’t stop Mom from wanting her last ride. I agreed to fulfill her last wish.
I opened the driver’s door to climb up inside. As I sat down in the driver’s seat, I was flooded with thousands of memories by simply touching the large steering wheel. I began to remember the summer when I turned sixteen, and I went with my mom. The stories my mom told me about her life and how she was reunited with my dad at the county fair were the main conversations we discussed. I enjoyed listening to her as the miles flew past us. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Alice, the dispatcher for my mom’s company, was holding Angel, a Yorkie mix. She brought Angel to the truck. Angel always rode in the rig with my mom. I opened the door. Alice gave Angel to me. I gently released Angel to the sleeper department. Alice shut the door. I watched Alice walk away, wiping her eyes with a hankie. She was taking the news about Mom hard.
Angel let out a bark as I gave her a pat on the head and scratched her behind the ear. Mom found Angel at a truck stop during a West Coast run about 14 years ago. I remembered the story.
Penny stopped at a truck stop on a busy highway to get a bite and fill the truck’s diesel tanks. She found a parking space under a tree. After Penny locked the truck, she walked into the restaurant to eat dinner. Feeling tired from the drive, she sat down in a booth. A waitress took her order of a hamburger and fries with a soda to wash it down. When she finished eating, she started to walk out the door. Penny took a few steps away from the door and heard a whimper. She paused for a moment to listen. Carefully following the whimpering, she discovered a half-starved puppy among the trash in the dumpster. Penny gently removed the puppy from the dumpster. The puppy started to shake with fear. She softly told the puppy that everything was going to be okay. Penny could feel the puppy’s bones as she held it in her arms. She quickly carried the puppy to the truck. Once inside the truck, Penny grabbed a towel to wrap the puppy in. She placed the puppy on the bed to get food. The cook gave Penny scraps after she explained to him about the puppy. Upon returning to the truck, she started to feed the puppy. The name Angel came to Penny’s mind. She decided to keep it and take it to a vet in the next town. From that day forward, Angel remained with Penny. The other truck drivers took a liking to Angel. The CB handle for Angel was Peanut, and everyone enjoyed talking to her on the radio. Peanut would bark in the mike, making their day extra special.
We lived on a 1,500-acre ranch. Horses, chickens, goats, and ducks were the livestock. Roaring Springs was the ranch’s name. A small waterfall flowed into a spring connected to the river. My great-grandfather passed the ranch to my Dad.
When I started the rig, Angel became excited. She knew she was going for a ride. Angel plopped herself onto the passenger seat and started to look out the door window by standing on her back paws with her front paws on the door. I started the long drive to the hospital. I eased the rig from the ranch’s entrance onto the road leading toward town. It became the longest thirty-eight miles I ever drove.
As I drove down the road, I turned on the radio and CB. I was hoping for some chatter to distract me from my thoughts. But the music and mindless chatter from the CB didn’t help. My mind drifted to a story my mom told me.
She and my dad reunited at the county fair. Penny and her co-driver, Patricia, were taking a break from a delivery when they decided to go to the fair. Cody arrived at the fair to repair the cattle barn. A 2,000-pound bull became loose from its owner and did damage to several stalls before getting the bull into a stronger stall. Cody and his brothers owned a construction company. They could fix anything. After they made the repairs to the stalls, Cody decided to have his supper at one of the sandwich stands that offered hot sausage and fries. Penny and Patricia were waiting in line for their sandwiches when Cody noticed Penny. He was attracted to her long curly blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Cody stood in line behind them. Penny glanced at Cody and then realized she knew him from her birthday party.
“Didn’t you come to my sixteenth birthday party with your brother? It’s Cody, isn’t it?” Penny quizzically asked.
Smiling bashfully, “Yeah, my name is Cody. My brother, Trent, was the one you invited, and I tagged along,” Cody answered.
Penny remembered she was attracted to Cody from the moment they first met. Trent introduced them. They smiled at each other. Penny didn’t get the chance to talk to Cody. Family and friends began to arrive with birthday greetings. The house was filled with guests dancing and chattering.
When they met again for her sister’s graduation party, she was nineteen. Cody and Penny had their first slow dance, and she fell in love with Cody. Penny looked into his soft brown eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. Cody held Penny gently as they swayed to the music.
Whispering in Penny’s ear, “My pretty little snowflake,” Cody softly said.
“Snowflake?” Penny asked, looking quizzically at Cody.
“I remembered your birthday is in February, and it was snowing on the day we met. My first thought was you were a pretty snowflake,” Cody replied with a smile.
They danced and talked. Cody told Penny he was moving to another state to help his brothers and Uncle build houses that were destroyed by a storm. Penny understood. She told him she was thinking of going to nursing school. They departed at the end of the party with a kiss goodbye. Penny didn’t tell Cody her feelings for him. In her heart, she believed if they were meant to be together, God would reunite them when it was time.
Penny and Patricia started working at the local truck stop as waitresses to make money for nursing school. Patricia was busy wiping the counter after the breakfast rush when her dad walked in for coffee and apple pie. Clint removed his blue denim ball cap, revealing his thinning gray hair, as he sat down on the stool facing the counter. Patricia approached her dad with a menu, but knew he would have pie and coffee. Clint started rambling about the lack of drivers for deliveries and being delayed, and having a day off. Penny overheard the chat between Patricia and Clint. She became interested as Penny did. They gave each other a nod.
“Dad, would I make more as a truck driver than a waitress?” Penny quizzically asked.
“Yes, you would, but it would mean bouncing around in a truck for a week or more. There is a lot of traveling involved, and it’s not as easy as it sounds. The trucks are not like driving a car,” Clint replied.
“I would like to try, Dad. Waiting tables isn’t making enough to pay for nursing school and books,” Patricia responded.
“I would like to try too,” Penny chimed in.
Clint looked at both girls. He knew it wouldn’t be easy for them.
Letting out a sigh, “Are right, you girls come with me on a run and see how you like it. I’ll show you the basics to get the taste of driving a rig,” Clint said.
Penny and Patricia turned in their aprons. They told the manager they were leaving and may not return.
Next, they followed Clint to his rig, a long-nosed Kenworth. Clint opened the driver’s door. He showed them how to climb up inside. The lessons had begun. Penny and Patricia climbed up inside. Clint told Patricia to sit in the driver’s seat. He told them about the gauges, air brakes, and how to shift gears properly. Patricia placed her hands on the large steering wheel. She was feeling nervous.
“Relax, trust the truck, and let it do its job,” Clint said, reassuringly.
After Patricia took a breath, “Start the truck,” Clint said as he gave her the key.
Patricia put the key in the ignition, and with a turn of the key, the diesel engine came to life. Clint told her how to get the truck moving. It wasn’t easy at first. After a few stalling out the engine, they finally started going down the road.
