Lot Lizards Read Online Free
Author: Ray Garton
light.
Larry flinched. The man's skin was the color of dry bone and his eyes were so deep in their sockets that they were hidden in circles of blackness.
"I lost my buddy a ways back and I was wondering if he'd been through here."
"Your buddy?" Larry suddenly felt even colder and folded his arms tightly across his broad chest. Something was wrong with this man. He wassickor...on drugs, maybe? "Well...what's he driving?" The steam that puffed from Larry's mouth as he spoke obscured the man for a moment, making him look even worse.
"A black Peterbilt? Extended hood? A white trailer that says Carsey Brothers Trucking on the side?"
The skin on the back of Larry's neck shriveled. Something wasn't right here, something was... missing ...
"Um... yeah. Yeah, as a matter of fact he did come through here. About an hour ago, hour and a half. It's been slow, so I remember him, yeah. Probably would've remembered him anyway. He was hauling—" Larry's throat was suddenly dry and scratchy and he stopped to swallow. "—caskets. Had a load of caskets. Uhh... hell of a thing to be hauling at Christmas time, huh?" he laughed nervously.
The man nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Yeah...caskets...yeah, that's him."
Larry frowned. The man seemed to be thinking it over, digesting the information, as if it were news to him that the Peterbilt had been hauling caskets, as if it were important. And something else... something that made Larry's scrotum whither like a walnut...
When the man spoke, no vapor appeared in the cold air before his face.
"You must've lost him a while back if he's that far ahead of you," Larry said.
"Yeah, well...we got separated. How far to the next truck stop, do you know?"
Larry cocked his head, amazed: no steam, no airy white whisps from the man's mouth. "Truck stop? Uuhh...sixty miles. Seventy. Maybe more. Hey, um, aren't you cold, fella?"
He shrugged. "Had the heater blasting in the truck."
"Uh-huh. You know...you don't look well, if you don't mind my saying. I think it might be a good idea if you took a break, stayed off the road a while. I got some coffee here in the—"
"No. I've gotta go. But thanks." He started to turn.
"No, really. I'm serious." He tried to sound authoritative, but couldn't find any authority in himself at the moment. His stomach was fluttering nervously. "I don't think you should be driving."
The man faced Larry, took a step toward him...another step...still another, until the light peeled away the darkness hiding his eyes and Larry could see them. His own eyes widened, even watered a little as he stared into those...pits. When the man spoke, his voice was soft as melting snow:
"I'm fine, really."
The voice echoed in Larry's head as if in a yawning canyon: I'm fine, really, fine, really, fine, fine, really, really ...
"You don't have to give me a second thought."
... ive me a second thought, give me a, you don't have to, a second thought, second thought really ... "I'll be going now."
... going now' going, I'll be, now, going now, going ...
"You go back to your paper."
... paper, go back to, you go back, paper, back to your paper ...
The man stepped back. His eyes disappeared. He gave Larry a closed-mouth smile and nodded his head, saying, in a normal voice, "Well, I'd better head out if I'm gonna catch up with him. You stay warm."
Hands trembling, Larry nodded jerkily, smacking his dry, felty lips, trying to muster enough saliva to speak. Before he could, the man was climbing into his cab...revving the engine...driving away...
Thirty seconds later, Larry was seated in the shack again, sipping coffee as he read a story about extraterrestrials that abducted cheerleaders, chuckling and thinking about what a slow night it was...
CHAPTER 1
"Well, it's about time ," Doug Purcell said as the traffic on northbound Interstate 5 began to move. There had still been some light in the steel grey sky when they'd come to a
Larry flinched. The man's skin was the color of dry bone and his eyes were so deep in their sockets that they were hidden in circles of blackness.
"I lost my buddy a ways back and I was wondering if he'd been through here."
"Your buddy?" Larry suddenly felt even colder and folded his arms tightly across his broad chest. Something was wrong with this man. He wassickor...on drugs, maybe? "Well...what's he driving?" The steam that puffed from Larry's mouth as he spoke obscured the man for a moment, making him look even worse.
"A black Peterbilt? Extended hood? A white trailer that says Carsey Brothers Trucking on the side?"
The skin on the back of Larry's neck shriveled. Something wasn't right here, something was... missing ...
"Um... yeah. Yeah, as a matter of fact he did come through here. About an hour ago, hour and a half. It's been slow, so I remember him, yeah. Probably would've remembered him anyway. He was hauling—" Larry's throat was suddenly dry and scratchy and he stopped to swallow. "—caskets. Had a load of caskets. Uhh... hell of a thing to be hauling at Christmas time, huh?" he laughed nervously.
The man nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Yeah...caskets...yeah, that's him."
Larry frowned. The man seemed to be thinking it over, digesting the information, as if it were news to him that the Peterbilt had been hauling caskets, as if it were important. And something else... something that made Larry's scrotum whither like a walnut...
When the man spoke, no vapor appeared in the cold air before his face.
"You must've lost him a while back if he's that far ahead of you," Larry said.
"Yeah, well...we got separated. How far to the next truck stop, do you know?"
Larry cocked his head, amazed: no steam, no airy white whisps from the man's mouth. "Truck stop? Uuhh...sixty miles. Seventy. Maybe more. Hey, um, aren't you cold, fella?"
He shrugged. "Had the heater blasting in the truck."
"Uh-huh. You know...you don't look well, if you don't mind my saying. I think it might be a good idea if you took a break, stayed off the road a while. I got some coffee here in the—"
"No. I've gotta go. But thanks." He started to turn.
"No, really. I'm serious." He tried to sound authoritative, but couldn't find any authority in himself at the moment. His stomach was fluttering nervously. "I don't think you should be driving."
The man faced Larry, took a step toward him...another step...still another, until the light peeled away the darkness hiding his eyes and Larry could see them. His own eyes widened, even watered a little as he stared into those...pits. When the man spoke, his voice was soft as melting snow:
"I'm fine, really."
The voice echoed in Larry's head as if in a yawning canyon: I'm fine, really, fine, really, fine, fine, really, really ...
"You don't have to give me a second thought."
... ive me a second thought, give me a, you don't have to, a second thought, second thought really ... "I'll be going now."
... going now' going, I'll be, now, going now, going ...
"You go back to your paper."
... paper, go back to, you go back, paper, back to your paper ...
The man stepped back. His eyes disappeared. He gave Larry a closed-mouth smile and nodded his head, saying, in a normal voice, "Well, I'd better head out if I'm gonna catch up with him. You stay warm."
Hands trembling, Larry nodded jerkily, smacking his dry, felty lips, trying to muster enough saliva to speak. Before he could, the man was climbing into his cab...revving the engine...driving away...
Thirty seconds later, Larry was seated in the shack again, sipping coffee as he read a story about extraterrestrials that abducted cheerleaders, chuckling and thinking about what a slow night it was...
CHAPTER 1
"Well, it's about time ," Doug Purcell said as the traffic on northbound Interstate 5 began to move. There had still been some light in the steel grey sky when they'd come to a
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