(4 ratings) Rate this Story (5 best) 1 2 3 4 5

SUMMARY: The second in a 14 part serial short story- a new one every week. I wrote this to be recorded as an audio story- you can hear it at www.williamhrdina.com- but I think it holds up as a regular short story as well, and its finished so it won't disappear.

Croucher
Part II- "The Rundown"

Ryan Webb looked up from the trunk at the sound of someone emerging from the Outdoor Adventures offices. A man was walking toward them. He was smiling and called, "Good morning!"
"Good morning." Ryan agreed, shaking the man's hand. His grip was like a vice, which wasn't particularly surprising when you saw the man's appearance, John was a short man, hairy and squat.
"My name's John Legasse." He said.
Ryan introduced himself and his son, Logan.
"Nice to meet you both." John said, and then walked around the car to where Logan was beginning to pile up his gear.
Logan was immediately intimidated a bit by John's appearance. In his early forties- about the same age as his Dad, John was built in a manner similar to your average tank. His short hair was graying a bit, but he had the kind of neck so thick it was almost undistinguishable from his torso. He was short, but his legs were tree trunks. John Legasse looked like the really scary drill sergeants he saw in the movies.
"Son, I saw you accidentally dropped a food wrapper when you got out of your car." John said, bending down and picking up the offending wrapper. "We in these parts would very much appreciate it if you could be so kind as to keep this sort of thing to a minimum. We are very respectful of nature here, and we want it to remain as beautiful for the next guests as you folks find it for yourselves."
John had practiced variations on the speech in front of the mirror many times. He thought he'd done a good job of keeping the contempt out of his voice. His shrink said it was okay to feel contempt, but in a business environment, it was never okay to express outwardly. John thought that was overselling the point a bit, but he understood what she meant.
Logan took the wrapper from John, who was holding it out to him like a gift. He put the wrapper back into the take-out bag and closed the door.
"Thanks buddy!" John said, just a little too enthusiastically.
A second car pulled into the parking area. Dottie and Cliff Angell had arrived. Ryan enjoyed a brief 30 seconds of the Beatles 'Let it Be' before they shut off the engine, leaving only the songs of the birds in the trees and their footsteps on the gravel.
Five minutes later everyone was introduced and they made their way into the offices, where they would sign papers, get their "pre-mission briefing" and prepare to head out for their 10:30 start time.
Everyone was seated around a large table with a pile of maps and paperwork laying in front of them.
John said, "Alright everyone, I'm going to be leading us on our 10 day adventure. Let me give you a brief overview of what we'll be doing. Ten days really means 5, because we're going to need just as long to get back as we do for getting out. We'll have an early day today- we'll leave promptly at 10:30 and we'll hike till about 4- taking a few breaks along the way. At four we'll reach the first cabin- where I'll be cooking you folks up a fantastic meal of Filet Mignon with bleu cheese mashed potatoes and some nice chocolate chip cookies made from scratch for desert.