Dust Devil Dimensions

Chapter 7 – Back to Reality

I looked at the road ahead. It seemed to be mile after mile of the same horse path, winding along. The car was objecting to the rocks that I was doing my best to avoid. There was no sign of the dust devil that had gotten us into this. It was up to it to get us out and hopefully put us on the right road to our son Billy and his wife, Joanne's, house. I could see no sign of the dust devil.

“Hey, where the heck are you, dust devil!”

“Don't you start calling devils, Harry. It is not good to do that. One may answer you.”

“Well, I hope the dust devil is listening because we are already a day late because of it.”

It had obviously heard my call because there it was suddenly in front of us out of nowhere. The road obscured as the whirling, dusty wind picked the car up and flung us up in the air where air currents carried us farther aloft.

“Now look at what you've done, Harry. I warned you not to call that devil. No good ever comes of doing that.”

Shirley was anxiously looking around, though this high up there was not much to see. To either side of the car, it was kind of blurry. Quite probably the clouds around us had something to do with that.

Then I could feel us dropping and the car settled back onto a nice, empty highway. It did not look familiar.

“Oh, well. At least it is a normal highway. Let’s see where it takes us.”

“Don’t you go and get us lost again. We are already two days late.”

“I’m sure Billy and Joanne must be wondering what the heck happened to us. I thought I would have several messages on my phone but I don’t. None at all. I find that strange. Check you phone, Shirl.”

“I did already. I don’t have any messages either. Why don’t I give them a call. You are driving otherwise I’d let you call them.”

Shirley dialed their son’s number.”

“Hi Billy. It’s Mom. Listen, we’re sorry we’re a couple of days late. Your father got us lost and we ended up, well never mind. I’ll tell you all about it when we get there.”

“What do you mean late? Lunch is not for another hour or so at least. Where are you anyway?”

“I don’t know. A sign I saw a ways back said we are on Highway 31.”

“Okay, good. So you are almost here then. Follow it to the turnoff for Mercyville. That is the next town before Creston. In Mercyville, you will see the sign for Creston. You should be here in about 30 minutes. Right on time.”

“Okay, Billy. We’ll see you soon. Boy, Do we have a story to tell you and Joanne. The kids may like it, too. Bye now!”

Shirley turned to me. “Billy says we’re not late. We’re right on time. I don’t understand that. We should be two days late. Did you take a shortcut or something? Maybe I fell asleep while you did that, huh. Did I fall asleep, Harry?”

“No, Shirl. You did not fall asleep. My right ear can attest to that.”

“Your right ear? What does that mean? Are you saying I talk too much?”

I changed the subject. “Well we must have been in a time warp these past two days and come back to our normal time when we went through the dust devil this last time. I don’t understand it either, Hon. Don’t worry about it.”

“Billy said to take the turnoff for Mercyville. It is the town before Creston. There should be a sign for Creston and that we should be there in about 30 minutes. He said we are right on time. Did we cross a time zone or something?”

“Yeah, I think we did but we appear to be back now.”

“Well thank goodness for that. I’m getting hungry and I need to go...you know. I guess I can hang on for 30 minutes.”

The kids were watching out the window when we pulled into the drive.

Billy and Jo came out and over to the car.

“Dad, why is your car all covered with dust? Did you drive through the desert or something? No, that would have taken you miles out of your way.”

“Believe me, we went way farther afield than a few miles. Try a few centuries. No, Joanne, I haven’t been drinking.”

Joanne turned red in the face and said, “I didn’t say anything.”

“No but you were thinking it. Hey, that means my new power is working, Wonderful!”

“What new power is that, Dad?” They looked at each other as the both asked me.

“Thanks to the Jinek the Wizard, I can now hear what people are saying no matter what language they say it in and I now what they are thinking, too.”

“Really?”

“No, Joanne, I am not doing drugs either.” She put her hand up to her face as it started to turn red again.

“I’m going inside to check on lunch.” She hurried inside, shaking her head.

“Oh this power is going to be so much fun. I need to think of all kinds of ways that I can make money with it. Kids, we have a true but unbelievable, story to tell you over lunch. But first, your mom has to go to the bathroom, don’t you, Shirley?”

*******

Hey, thanks for reading my story!

©May 2021 Robert W. F. Taylor

This story is scheduled to appear in a book of short stories I am writing called ‘Wonderfully Weird Stories’. Watch for it on Amazon in the summer!