Dark Days, Susan Cunningham [best value ebook reader TXT] 📗

"Well this sucks." It was 2:10p.m. and Jolene Devlin was in a hurry. She should have already been on her way to work but she couldn't find
her car keys. She felt like she had already looked everywhere, and was feeling something close to panic now.
Think! You can't be late again. Sure you didn't leave 'em in the car? She had done that before. Jolene ran out to her car and surely enough there they were, hanging in the ignition.
The day was beautiful. A few small clouds in a perfect blue sky. Jolene was starting to feel a little better.
Just take a few deep breaths of this fresh air and chill she told herself.
That worked for all of about two minutes. The car wouldn't start.
"No,no,no!" Jolene was on the verge of tears now. First she had spent way too much time tryin' to find her keys, now the car won't start. Time was still just moving right along though, time waits for no man(or woman). To Jolene the time actually seemed to be going faster than it should be. Most likely because she was in a hurry and not going anywhere.
Jolene said a little prayer and tried to start the car again. This time it started. She said another little prayer and got going before the
car had a chance to die again. What Jolene Devlin did not know, was that her bad day was only going to get worse.
Coshocton, a small town with more bars than churches(according to some), is not a place of opportunity. A bowling alley and a movie theater are really the only two places of family entertainment. Once there were job opportunities, but a lot of those places have left and moved on to better or bigger cities. Jolene had every intention of doing the same. Having lived here for a little over a year, she saw what this boring little town could do to people. A lot of young teenage girls in this area are mothers, others are pregnant. Jolene had also dated a few of the men. They had all drank more than she preferred. Once in a while is fine, but everyday was just not cool. Jolene wanted to head south and start a new life. Maybe find a good man. She had lived in Ohio all of her life and she was ready for some change.
Jolene looked at the clock on her dash and saw that it was 2:37p.m. She was just passing Lake Park, which is on the outskirts of Coshocton. She still had quite a drive to go, and only twenty-three minutes until she was officially late, again.
Shit! I'm gonna be late. She was close to tears again. Jolene had been late for work three times last week. Two of those times her boss had sent her home. It was the stupid car. It needed a new starter and it had also taken to over-heating lately. She felt like she was stuck in a vicious cycle. How would she be able to fix the car if she didn't get any hours? How was she going to get any hours if she didn't get the car fixed? Also, more importantly, how would she ever be able to leave this stinkin' little town without money? Jolene was so deep in her thoughts, that she did not notice the temperature gauge was steadily rising to dangerous degrees. She was thinking that it really sucked to have to drive to Millersburg to work. If not there, then Newcomerstown, or New Philly. None of those were within walking distance. If she didn't have the worry of her car breaking down, it might not be so bad. Jolene glanced at the clock and saw that she had ten minutes left and she thought just maybe she wouldn't be late. She still hadn't noticed the temperature gauge and it was almost as high as it could go. 652
Whatever shred of hope Jolene had of making it to work on time, was instantly vaporized when she saw a 'ROAD CLOSED AHEAD' sign.
What the fuck?! Man, what the fuck? This just can't be fuckin' happening. Why can't you give me just a little break God?
Jolene saw a detour sign up ahead. She saw with no real surprise that it pointed down a gravel road. There seemed to be no shortage of
gravel roads in Ohio. As she turned onto the gravel road, she looked down the closed road for signs of why it was closed in the first place. She saw
a green truck sitting along the side of the road, but she didn't see anybody around it. Then she was headed down the gravel road with no more
thought about it. She had enough other things to worry about, like getting fired, finding another job, getting her car fixed, and getting out of this
state. Jolene was wishing she had a cigarette when the car decided to take up smoking. That quickly brought her back to reallity and she finally noticed the gauge. Too late.
"Oh no, please don't die on me. Please, please, please don't die!" Of course cars do not listen, and Jolene's pleas did not stop the car from doing just that. It didn't die all of a sudden, but it still died too soon. Anytime was too soon. She managed to get off to the side of the road, and out of the way of other vehicles that might come this way. That was when the tears that had been close, let loose in a river. Jolene let it run its course, then she looked around. She could see one house from her car, and it wasn't that close.
Well you can't just sit here and wait. She hadn't seen any cars go by so far and she had been sitting here for about thirty minutes.
She got out and was still debating on whether or not to lock the doors, when a dark blue truck went past. Although the driver was wearing a
baseball cap, and she had only gotten a quick glimpse, Jolene was pretty sure he was a good-looking man.
Your car is broke down and you probably don't have a job anymore, and you're checkin' out a man? She told herself that was not the
case, and anyway she would probably never see him again. She had seen many good-looking guys on the drive-by during her life and never had
she met even one of them. This one surely would be no different.
Jolene walked to the house that she had seen from her car. The closer she got though, the more sure she was that nobody lived in it.
Being a bit of an optimist , she knocked on the door. She waited for what she thought was a full minute, and knocked again. While she waited for
another minute she looked around. The grass looked like it had not been visited by a lawn-mower for quite some time. From the porch she could
see a little wooden shack with broken windows. Looking at it gave her the creeps, and she realized how alone she was at this moment. This felt
too much like a setting for a horror movie. She ran back to her car not caring if she was being irrational or not.
By the time she got to her car, her left side was aching and she was gasping for air. Jolene was a smoker trying to quit. In that area of her life she was doing o.k., but she had been smoking for about 15 years and had only recently chose to quit. Not cold turkey though. She had cut back dramatically, trying to ween herself from them. Jolene got in the car so she could sit down and catch her breath. When she thought about
how she must have looked, running like a mad-man was after her, she started laughing. She laughed until she was crying again. Even though her
side still ached a little, it sure felt good to laugh. Jolene turned the key back so that she could listen to music while she waited for a kind soul to
offer a lady in distress some assistance.

Jolene woke with a start, and she didn't know where she was at first. Then she remembered that her car had died and she had been sitting here listening to a Godsmack c.d. She must have fallen asleep. She tried to see what time it was but the car battery was dead. She had left the key turned to listen to music. Jolene didn't have a clue how long she had slept or what time it was now. She wondered briefly why nobody had stopped to check on her. Then she realized she was lying across the whole front seat, and that a person driving by probably couldn't see her. They would assume that the car was empty. The sun was almost a memory, which meant it was probably about 8p.m. Then it occurred to her to wonder what had woken her up so suddenly.
She noticed that both of her front windows were down. Of course they were. It had been a beautiful day. Jolene was still lying down, when she heard a car door shut. For a moment she was frozen with fear.
Now stop it! Yeah so it's almost dark, and yeah this seems like the middle of nowhere, not to mention you're all alone, but this is not
a Stephen King book. It's more likely someone that's just curious about an empty car sittin' on the side of the road with it's windows down.
Now she could hear someone walking up to the car. It sounded like they were wearing boots. Whoever it