Rectified

An old, rusted Chevy station wagon turned east onto a deserted highway in north central Texas. The driver looked down at his gas gauge to make sure he had enough gas to make it to the all-night gas station on Old Canyon Road. It is 3:20am and he has about twenty-five miles to go. Turning the knob on the radio, he hears a heavy metal band he hadn’t heard in several years. Hands tapping, head bobbing, synchronized to the beat of a familiar tune by the rock group, Def Leppard, the chorus begins and the driver starts singing “Pour some sugar on me; in the name of love…” and continues singing until he can’t remember the next verse. When the chorus begins again, he reaches down and turns up the volume. As his attention returns to the road, something ahead catches his eye; a rustling of the brush in the field off to the right. Reducing speed, the driver watches the movement of the brush expecting a good size dog or horse to come bursting out of the field into the path of his car. Before long the weeds parted and the old Chevy’s headlights shine directly onto a creature; and as quickly as the creature appeared, it disappeared again, back into the brush. Although he had only gotten a quick glimpse, the vision was clear in his mind; a cave woman, dirty, matted hair, a distorted face with one wild eye. The driver pulls to the side of the road and as the car stops so does the movement. Turning the radio off, the driver rolled down the window and waited for signs of movement to begin again. Everything was still. Leaning over the front seat, he reached in the back searching for a flashlight. Finding it, he scanned the field of overgrown weeds in a long forgotten cornfield. Not letting his eyes leave the brush he reached deep into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his Swiss army knife. His fingers finding the keys, the driver shut off the engine and opened the door putting only one foot on the pavement while his eyes searched for movement of the brush. Reluctantly the driver got out and crossed in front of the vehicle to the edge of the highway. Standing on the rocky shoulder he slowly let the beam of his flashlight scan the field once more. Suddenly there was movement and a sound. The driver jerked to the left and the beam of light followed. Walking several yards down the shoulder of the road the driver jumped the small ditch that ran along the highway and headed towards the edge of the cornfield. “Hello? Is anybody there?” he asked and paused to listen. Although he did not get a response he thought he heard something; chanting. “You need any help?” The young man hesitated and glanced back at the car as if he needed assurance that it was still there before entering the cornfield. Swiss army knife in one hand, flashlight in the other, he headed toward the sound. The rustling of his jeans against the dried cornstalks and thicket made it impossible to hear where the sound was coming from so after taking several steps he would stop to listen before continuing his pursuit slowly. Panning the flashlight slowly over the area in front of him something caught his eye. There she was, squatting close to the ground, face buried in hands, mumbling something he did not understand. A few more steps closer to the creature he realized she was not mumbling or chanting but softly reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Shining the light directly on her he could see that she was naked and bloody. “Oh God, are you all right?” he asked. The woman fell silent. He folded his Swiss army knife by raking it against the leg of his jeans and shoved it in his pocket. Taking another few steps toward the cowering woman he extended his hand. “It’s ok. Here, let me help you” he said. The young woman looked up but could only see brightness of the light that was blinding her. As soon as she saw a hand reaching toward her, she stood up, screamed and started running. “Hey, wait!” he shouted to the fleeing woman. Chasing after her, dried cornstalks and thorny brush cut his face, arms and hands like razorblades as he ran through the field. The woman looked back and saw that he was gaining on her. She let out a desperate scream but continued to run. Within a few seconds her leg caught something which sent her flying a few feet. The driver had almost caught up to her when he saw an old rusted piece of farm equipment. Instinctively, he jumped over it and almost landed on top of her lifeless body. Kneeling beside her he checked for a pulse; she was alive. He stuck the end of the flashlight into his mouth and gently turned her over. She appeared to be unconscious. The driver checked her head. Her hair was matted; full of dirt, straw and blood but he didn’t see any major cuts. The right side of her face was badly bruised and swollen; her right eye swollen shut; her lips dry and cracked. The young woman’s entire body was riddled with the same razor-sharp cuts he experienced running through the cornfield; blood trickling out of all of them. There were several stages of bruising all over her body and small slivers of what looked like metal embedded in her skin from her knees to her neck. She had a gash on her left leg with part of a bone sticking through the skin. Wedging the flashlight between her arm and body, to serve as a beacon, the driver headed back to the car. Reaching the clearing he called 911 from his cell phone and gave them quick details of the incident and the location of his car. He told them he would be in the field southeast of his vehicle and asked them to use their sirens so he could save on flashlight batteries; he would signal them when they were close. The driver searched the car for a bottle of water and a blanket. Having neither, he took the Big Gulp soft drink out of the cup holder in the front seat, collected a few newspapers and headed back towards the beam of light. Squatting next to the unconscious woman, he stuck the straw far down into the cup and placed his finger over its opening. When he put the straw to her parted lips he released his finger and a small amount of liquid dripped into her mouth. Afterwards, he opened newspapers and laid them gently over her body to cover her nakedness. He sat on the ground next to her. The top of the newspaper displayed the date Wednesday, April 15, 2008. He leaned over and gently removed the flashlight, turned it off and waited in total darkness for the sound of sirens.