For anyone who noticed, you did not receive a “Tomes and Topics” edition last week because I had a small family emergency that took me away from home both physically and mentally. My father had a minor heart attack and ended up in the hospital for a couple days where he went through the procedure to insert a catheter into his heart to check for the cause of his problems. They found two blockages in a smaller artery and put in two stents. He’s doing fine and starts his 12 weeks of cardio rehab today.
However, as anyone who’s ever had any type of family crisis knows, when something like this happens, it shoves everything else to the side. Your only concern is your loved one, and even when you can’t be with them, your mind swirls with worry and doesn’t let you focus on what you’d normally be focusing on.
While this was going on with my father, my daughter was waiting to hear from a museum that was planning to give her an official offer to work there. She received that offer at virtually the same time that my father was being released from the hospital, and she texted to let me know that she had the job, which will be her first (post-graduate) in what will be an illustrious paleontological career for her.
Thus, I had a moment in which I swung from concern and worry about my father to utter joy and elation for my daughter, all within seconds of each other.
Seeing my father in the hospital, though, was another wake-up call for me and another reminder of how short life is and how we just never know what it’s going to deal us next. I left teaching almost two years ago so that I could finally focus on writing, and I left before most people expected I would because I’d seen over and over again that I needed to take the time NOW to go after my dreams and not wait a minute more because you just never know. In two days, it will be the four-year anniversary of the death of my boyfriend’s son, and in September it will be five years since the death of my best friend and in December it will be five years since the death of my co-worker and dear friend and in October it will be three years since the death of my beloved uncle Paul and I could go on and on.
I have been working on my sixth book, and I shared the beginning of it here a few weeks ago, so if you haven’t read that yet, you might want to go back and do so before you read more below.
Since then, though, I did write the first draft of a Prologue for it, and I’m going to share that here first:
A New Ride Tammy Marshall Prologue The cop pulled up behind the motorcycle, toggled his mic, and said, “This is Officer Encino. I’ve got a 10-62, possible motorcycle broken down along the side of Road ______ just off Highway ______. No driver in sight. Over.” He didn’t wait for confirmation from dispatch. The area was isolated, and the bike seemed abandoned. Placing his Nebraska State Patrol hat snuggly on his head, he exited his cruiser and approached the motorcycle. He walked around the bike, studying it and the rock-covered shoulder where it was parked. The bike was a newer model and still in pristine condition. It appeared that its driver had abandoned it, though. He reached out a gloved hand, unscrewed the gas cap, and nudged the bike just enough to cause the gas to slosh against the side of the tank. He shone his penlight into the tank and saw that there was plenty of gas in it. Next he squatted and eyeballed each tire. They were fully inflated. He carefully studied all the connecting wires that were visible, but everything seemed intact and as it should be. He opened the pouch that was mounted behind the windshield; it only contained a tube of chapstick and a couple bandannas. Next, he opened the saddlebags, and he was in the process of probing their contents when another cruiser pulled up alongside him. He turned away from the bike and nodded at the other officer as he rolled down his window. “What you got here?” the cop asked him. Officer Encino glanced at the young man’s badge and saw that his name was Jurgens. He shrugged. “Seems to be an abandoned bike.” Officer Jurgens craned his neck to see around Encino. “Looks like a nice one. Maybe the owner wandered off to take a whiz or a nap. Did you check behind those trees over there?” He nodded toward a copse of fir trees that served as a windbreak in the corner of a nearby pasture. Encino shook his head. “Not yet. I haven’t been here long. Figured that if the owner were nearby, he’d have shown himself by now.” “I’ll help you look.” Jurgens began to ease his car toward the opposite shoulder. “You really don’t have to,” Encino called after him. “I’m sure it’s just an abandoned bike. I’ll call for a tow.” Jurgens had already parked his cruiser. He stepped out of it and called over its top, “It’s no bother. We’ll scour the nearby area, and if we don’t find anyone, then you can call for that tow.” “All right.” Officer Encino pointed his chin toward the south. “You check both sides of the road that way, and I’ll look up this way.” He swung his chin in the opposite direction. Jurgens nodded and headed toward the ditch behind Encino’s cruiser. Encino walked back to the bike and made another quick search of the saddlebags before closing and relatching them. Then he walked toward the fir trees that Jurgens had indicated, studying the ground around him as he went. There were no noticeable tracks, but the ground was hard from the lack of moisture. He circled each tree as best he could and yelled a few times, “Anyone here?” Only some nearby cattle replied with some gentle lowing as they munched on a bundle of hay. He stepped away from the trees and called to Jurgens, “No one’s here. I’ll call for that tow, and we’ll get a registration on the bike. Should be able to track down the owner from that.” He began to walk toward his cruiser, and Jurgens stopped and waited for him next to it. Jurgens nodded ahead of the bike. “I’ll drive on ahead a bit and see if I come across anyone walking for help.” “Suit yourself,” Encino replied. “I don’t see anything wrong with the bike, so I don’t know why the rider would go for help.” “Could be a medical thing,” Jurgens said. Encino eyed the other man. “Don’t you think he’d still be around here if he had a medical emergency? Or that he would have called for help?” Jurgens squinted into the sun for a moment. “Cell signal is really weak around here.” He moved toward his cruiser. “I’ll let you know if I see anyone. You call for that tow.” Encino nodded and watched Jurgens get into his car. Then his gaze fell upon the bike again and he studied it from behind. Nothing seemed out of place or wrong with it. He was about to look it over once more when he noticed the brake lights come on in Jurgens’ cruiser. He watched the younger man step out of his car, walk around the front of it, and peer into the deep ditch that ran alongside the road. His vest radio crackled to life, and Jurgens said, “Found your rider. Almost drove past him, but the sunlight reflected off his helmet that’s lying nearby. Looks to be deceased. Better call it in.” Encino replied, “Copy that.” He scanned the bike once more and then opened the door to his vehicle. As he pulled forward to assist Officer Jurgens, he placed a call for a coroner and a tow truck to take the bike to the impound lot.
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Tammy Marshall
Continuation of rough draft of novel tentatively titled “A New Ride:”
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