| CHALLENGE PART 1 _________________________________________________________________________________________ I awoke to a pounding in my head. I slowly opened my eyes only to find I couldn’t see a thing. I searched frantically with my eyes and saw the moon hanging heavy and half way to full in the night sky. Ok, so I wasn’t blind. I tried to remember how I had gotten outside and on the ground. Then it occurred to me I didn’t remember going outside, couldn’t remember much of anything for that matter. I tried the simple things first: day of the week – nope, year – nope, president – uuh nope (strangely I did remember that I hated politics), name – oh shit! At least I remembered how to cuss. Thank……of damn there’s another one……for small miracles. Everything else though seemed to be drawing a blank. I started thinking of possible ways I could have gotten into my current situation. The only thing that made sense to me, being out far enough to see the sky so clearly, was driving. I sat up slowly and looked around. About 100yds away I could make out the outline if a car. Hmmm, the probability of it being my car was very high. I stood up and brushed myself off, noticing a pain in my left arm – probably hurt it when I fell. Well, at least I think I fell. I made my way back to the car – a small black compact car – nice, I thought. There was no one in the car; things were looking up. I tried the driver’s side door and it opened. I stuck my head in a saw keys hanging from the ignition. I got in, closed the door, and turned on the interior light, and sat staring at my left arm. There was a deep gash on my forearm. Ah, nothing like blood loss to keep one feeling lightheaded. I looked in the back seat for something to tie my arm up with and came out with a black dress shirt and a purse. I put the purse in the passenger seat while I tied the shirt around my arm. When I had that secured tightly, I picked up the purse and opened it. With luck there was a wallet inside. I pulled out the driver’s silence and looked at it – “Freak” I thought looking at the girl with the black hair, black shirt, and wild make-up job. Uh-oh! I pulled the rearview mirror over so I could look at myself, and the girl from the picture stared back. Well, learn something new every day – though in my current state I think I was going to have to exceed that limit. I checked the name on the silence….Rachel. Hmmm, I didn’t feel like a Rachel. Guess I would have to live with it, I mean I had been living with it for ….I looked at the license and went to calculate, and remembered I didn’t know what year it was. Damn. The scream of an animal cut through the night and made my pulse quicken. That’s a bit too close for comfort, I thought and started the car. I had decided to drive in the direction that the car was facing; it was the most logical thing to do since I had no idea where I had come from. I took one last glance at the license as I pulled onto the road. New Orleans, Louisiana. Oooh, that’s exciting. North, South, East, or West, I didn’t know which way I was headed. Here’s to new adventures. A few minutes later I was approaching a road sign. I slowed down a bit so I wouldn’t have any trouble reading it. “St.Louis – 15 miles” I read aloud. St.Louis? That’s in Missouri right? I was beginning to feel lightheaded again. I touched my right hand to the shirt tied around my arm and came away with blood. Should probably get to a hospital as soon as possible, I would definitely need stitches. Twenty minutes later I had located a hospital and was staggering to the emergency entrance. I spotted the nurses station as black dots danced across my vision. _________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 2 INDEX |