Hello All:
What sort of vehicle does my fictional character, Daren, from the Mapleview series of novels drive? Now if you've read the Tree Goddess and Sex Magick, then you might answer that he actually has two vehicles. (Shhhh... don't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read these books.)
Okay, so you can quickly identify one of Daren's vehicles; but he does have a main vehicle used for business, and driving around town with his wife in the passenger seat. Might you know what sort of vehicle this is?
The truth is, I have never described this second vehicle, until now. In writing the upcoming Mapleview novel, House of Witches, it's disclosed that Daren drives a black Lexus IS250 with license plate that reads A554073. I'm not too familiar with the Lexus brand of vehicles. It's just that when asking myself what sort of car Daren would drive, I immediately answered a Lexus, of course. I guess characters come to life for a writer, and supply the writer with necessary information.
This morning I was commuting to work, and stopped at a red light. And right in front of me was a Lexus IS250. "Whoa!" I exclaimed. "It's a Lexus IS250! That's the sort of car that Daren drives!" It was an interesting moment for me because up until then I had never paid attention to the Lexus IS250.
So now you know.
***
Today's featured writing as an old, old story of mine that had been written a number of years ago. Are you fearful of being alone at public storage facilities?
Terror at the Public Storage FacilityIt was just what newly weds, Andy and Trish, needed who moved to the beautiful and semi-rural town that seemed so isolated from the hustle and bustle. Andy had accepted a promotion which resulted in transferring out of state. In the new environment, Andy's work was now 45 minutes from the country-like setting, making it nice to come home to tranquility and after a stressful day. The only problem was the builders had yet to complete their new home! There was about a month left to go which forced Andy and Trish to live out of a hotel. Good thing the company covered job transfer expenses.
Living out of a hotel, it felt as though they were on vacation. Dining out every night and attending the various sources of entertainment in town, Andy and Trish took full advantage of their 100% covered living expenses while waiting for the home to finish. They simply kept all their furniture and other belongings at a public storage facility located on the outskirts of town. But this did present a small problem because they were inconvenienced with the need to get something at the garage from time-to-time.
And this is what led to their suspenseful moments late one Friday afternoon at the public storage facility. It was a strange place for a business to be located; making it necessary for Andy and Trish to drive about 15 minutes in wide, open, cornfield highway.
Suddenly it’s there, out in the middle of the open. The business was a state-of-the-art facility as it offered keyless entry, environmentally controlled garages and security cameras—not to mention the fact that everything was brand-new and well maintained.
Andy was a bit annoyed that he had to rush out to pick up a few odds and ends with his wife after a long day of work. "You couldn't drive out here today and pick this stuff up?"
But Trish was not easy with going alone. “Andy, I told you I'm not comfortable with these places, not after what happened to Lori years ago."
When Trish was younger, her best friend had been abducted. Her body was found with many others in a garage at a public storage facility. The tragic event caused Trish to pay attention to the many crimes that took place at remote businesses, and she learned to never trust them.
Andy sighed and maintained his patience. “Alright, fine; the house is almost done and soon we won't have to come here.” He realized it was a small inconvenience to put up with, and his wife's safety should have been a concern. Besides, the possibility remained that someone could, in fact, find his wife alone as a perfect opportunity to attack Trish.
“Awe jeez… I’m almost out of gas!” exclaimed Andy as they finally pulled in to the parking lot. The next opportunity to fuel up was 10 minutes away.
"Why don't you get yourself something more economical?" challenged Trish. "You drive 45 minutes to work each day and you do it in an oversized, gas-guzzling pickup truck!"
There wasn’t a soul in sight. The only thing that could be heard was the gentle wind blowing through the cornfield next door as they got their needed items from the rented storage garage. Andy locked up and made his way for the exit. But what they saw next was a bit alarming.
There was a very, large, dark SUV blocking the exit gate and parked at a diagonal as if not to let someone in or out of the gated premise. As Andy and Trish examined the situation more, they realized that the only way out was through the electronically, controlled gate which was now blocked by the large SUV. It was easy to conclude that whoever parked the truck there was making sure no one could escape.
"I thought they allow 24 hour access here?" Andy was searching for a rational explanation as to why the entrance was blocked.
Trish shrugged her shoulders and hoped, too, that there was some rational explanation for the exit being blocked.
But soon a rugged man who wore nothing more than suspendered-coveralls approached their pickup truck. He was nearly bald with a dirty, messy, red beard. We are often instructed in life not to judge a book by its cover; but in an isolated situation like this, Andy and Trish felt obligated to be fearful and mistrusting.
Trish begged her husband, "Andy, get away! Get away!"
Andy immediately put the pickup truck in reverse, and backed through the alley of storage garages until able to turn 180 degrees and go forward. “Call the Police!” He shouted at his wife as he realized this was a seriously, dangerous situation. He didn't care what explanation there was to block the entrance; this guy had no business locking them in the gated facility.
Andy made it to the main roadway of the property and could see the diagonally parked SUV at the entrance about a 1/4 block away. They were now as deep into the facility as one could go. Imagine pulling through the gated entrance and driving until reaching the other end of the property. This is where Andy and Trish sat parked, and the only thing behind them was a fence. For some reason Andy felt safe being able to see everything as his wife tried to call the police.
Trish began to cry. "Andy... there is no service out here! I can't get a signal!"
He yanked his own cell phone out and gave it to Trish. "What do you mean no signal? Try mine; not that piece of crap you own! We have to get the police here!" Andy was too busy to worry about silly, technical glitches as he needed to watch for their captor.
Trish grew increasingly hysterical with uncontrollable crying. “Yours doesn’t work, either! No Signal!”
He yanked the phone from his delirious wife who was obviously unable to work it properly. Those years of fear towards isolated businesses were having a serious impact on Trish. It was best that Andy remove her from the current situation as quickly as possible. But then Andy verified for himself that his own cell phone did not work, finally concluding they were in an area with no signal. He looked up and saw the creepy guy in suspendered-coveralls running up to them.
When Trish was younger, her best friend had been abducted. Her body was found with many others in a garage at a public storage facility. The tragic event caused Trish to pay attention to the many crimes that took place at remote businesses, and she learned to never trust them.
Andy sighed and maintained his patience. “Alright, fine; the house is almost done and soon we won't have to come here.” He realized it was a small inconvenience to put up with, and his wife's safety should have been a concern. Besides, the possibility remained that someone could, in fact, find his wife alone as a perfect opportunity to attack Trish.
“Awe jeez… I’m almost out of gas!” exclaimed Andy as they finally pulled in to the parking lot. The next opportunity to fuel up was 10 minutes away.
"Why don't you get yourself something more economical?" challenged Trish. "You drive 45 minutes to work each day and you do it in an oversized, gas-guzzling pickup truck!"
There wasn’t a soul in sight. The only thing that could be heard was the gentle wind blowing through the cornfield next door as they got their needed items from the rented storage garage. Andy locked up and made his way for the exit. But what they saw next was a bit alarming.
There was a very, large, dark SUV blocking the exit gate and parked at a diagonal as if not to let someone in or out of the gated premise. As Andy and Trish examined the situation more, they realized that the only way out was through the electronically, controlled gate which was now blocked by the large SUV. It was easy to conclude that whoever parked the truck there was making sure no one could escape.
"I thought they allow 24 hour access here?" Andy was searching for a rational explanation as to why the entrance was blocked.
Trish shrugged her shoulders and hoped, too, that there was some rational explanation for the exit being blocked.
But soon a rugged man who wore nothing more than suspendered-coveralls approached their pickup truck. He was nearly bald with a dirty, messy, red beard. We are often instructed in life not to judge a book by its cover; but in an isolated situation like this, Andy and Trish felt obligated to be fearful and mistrusting.
Trish begged her husband, "Andy, get away! Get away!"
Andy immediately put the pickup truck in reverse, and backed through the alley of storage garages until able to turn 180 degrees and go forward. “Call the Police!” He shouted at his wife as he realized this was a seriously, dangerous situation. He didn't care what explanation there was to block the entrance; this guy had no business locking them in the gated facility.
Andy made it to the main roadway of the property and could see the diagonally parked SUV at the entrance about a 1/4 block away. They were now as deep into the facility as one could go. Imagine pulling through the gated entrance and driving until reaching the other end of the property. This is where Andy and Trish sat parked, and the only thing behind them was a fence. For some reason Andy felt safe being able to see everything as his wife tried to call the police.
Trish began to cry. "Andy... there is no service out here! I can't get a signal!"
He yanked his own cell phone out and gave it to Trish. "What do you mean no signal? Try mine; not that piece of crap you own! We have to get the police here!" Andy was too busy to worry about silly, technical glitches as he needed to watch for their captor.
Trish grew increasingly hysterical with uncontrollable crying. “Yours doesn’t work, either! No Signal!”
He yanked the phone from his delirious wife who was obviously unable to work it properly. Those years of fear towards isolated businesses were having a serious impact on Trish. It was best that Andy remove her from the current situation as quickly as possible. But then Andy verified for himself that his own cell phone did not work, finally concluding they were in an area with no signal. He looked up and saw the creepy guy in suspendered-coveralls running up to them.
"Alright, we need to let this guy know we mean business." Andy floored the pickup truck and headed towards their captor, showing intent to run him over.
The man simply ducked in one of the walkways to avoid getting hit.
Andy hoped that the frightening-looking man received the message, and would move his SUV. He drove around the garages until back where he started, keeping watchful eye on the entire roadway and SUV blocking the entrance.
But moments later, the man in suspendered-coveralls emerged with a brick in one hand and a baseball bat in another. Andy had no items that could be used as a weapon in the truck which was seriously low on gas. Could he fight this man hand-to-hand? In his late-teens and early 20s, Andy studied the art of Jiu-Jitsu which offered some means of self defense. And perhaps if he was still 20 years old he would jump out of the truck and do some moves as Andy felt invincible back then. But there was something frightening about the captor, almost as if he had a strength that could out-smart and overpower the frightened couple. Aside from that, Andy was wiser and older than in his early 20’s. He decided that staying in the truck was much safer.
The creepy guy in suspendered-coveralls was in a furious psychosis while yelling out, "You son-of-a-bitch!" He hurled a brick which landed on the hood of Andy's pickup truck and cracked the windshield. That was Andy’s cue to floor the pickup truck and chase the man to a crossroad. The man desperately turned left to avoid the assailing vehicle, but Andy spun around in a donut maneuver which caused their captor to reverse direction. Andy’s defensive attack in the pickup truck looked like a mad bull chasing someone in circles.
And then out of the corner of his eye, Andy saw a child in one of the roadways, crying. He stopped and could hear the child screaming, “Daddy!”
Now Andy was confused as he watched the man in suspendered-coveralls run towards the crying child, scoop him up and hide in one of the walkways. Andy slowly pulled up to the walkway, but was still in battle mode and ready for another possible assault from their captor.
Andy yelled out his window, "What are you trying to do? Get your freakin' SUV out of the entrance so we can leave!"
The creepy guy in suspendered-coveralls held his crying child behind him and was prepared to spring out in attack. "You son-of-a-bitch; I have my kids here riding their go-carts around. You're going to run them over!"
It was a small misunderstanding that could have easily turned into a tragedy of errors as this man had brought his children to the public storage to ride their go-carts. Apparently he parked his SUV to block the entrance and monitor who was coming in, thereby preventing his kids from being run over by vehicles.
It was a very awkward 10 minutes. Andy exited the pickup truck while hearing the irate man cuss and yell. And through this, he attempted to explain the series of misunderstandings which led to the potentially, tragic event. Andy found out that their perceived captor in suspendered-coveralls was the actual owner of the public storage facility! He usually parked his SUV diagonally at the entrance every Friday afternoon so his children could cruise around the gated parking lot with their go-carts. His business was usually a ghost-town Friday afternoons; but today, Andy and Trish were there.
After the apologies were given and accepted, Andy drove to the nearest gas station while yelling at his wife for causing so much trouble!
Andy hoped that the frightening-looking man received the message, and would move his SUV. He drove around the garages until back where he started, keeping watchful eye on the entire roadway and SUV blocking the entrance.
But moments later, the man in suspendered-coveralls emerged with a brick in one hand and a baseball bat in another. Andy had no items that could be used as a weapon in the truck which was seriously low on gas. Could he fight this man hand-to-hand? In his late-teens and early 20s, Andy studied the art of Jiu-Jitsu which offered some means of self defense. And perhaps if he was still 20 years old he would jump out of the truck and do some moves as Andy felt invincible back then. But there was something frightening about the captor, almost as if he had a strength that could out-smart and overpower the frightened couple. Aside from that, Andy was wiser and older than in his early 20’s. He decided that staying in the truck was much safer.
The creepy guy in suspendered-coveralls was in a furious psychosis while yelling out, "You son-of-a-bitch!" He hurled a brick which landed on the hood of Andy's pickup truck and cracked the windshield. That was Andy’s cue to floor the pickup truck and chase the man to a crossroad. The man desperately turned left to avoid the assailing vehicle, but Andy spun around in a donut maneuver which caused their captor to reverse direction. Andy’s defensive attack in the pickup truck looked like a mad bull chasing someone in circles.
And then out of the corner of his eye, Andy saw a child in one of the roadways, crying. He stopped and could hear the child screaming, “Daddy!”
Now Andy was confused as he watched the man in suspendered-coveralls run towards the crying child, scoop him up and hide in one of the walkways. Andy slowly pulled up to the walkway, but was still in battle mode and ready for another possible assault from their captor.
Andy yelled out his window, "What are you trying to do? Get your freakin' SUV out of the entrance so we can leave!"
The creepy guy in suspendered-coveralls held his crying child behind him and was prepared to spring out in attack. "You son-of-a-bitch; I have my kids here riding their go-carts around. You're going to run them over!"
It was a small misunderstanding that could have easily turned into a tragedy of errors as this man had brought his children to the public storage to ride their go-carts. Apparently he parked his SUV to block the entrance and monitor who was coming in, thereby preventing his kids from being run over by vehicles.
It was a very awkward 10 minutes. Andy exited the pickup truck while hearing the irate man cuss and yell. And through this, he attempted to explain the series of misunderstandings which led to the potentially, tragic event. Andy found out that their perceived captor in suspendered-coveralls was the actual owner of the public storage facility! He usually parked his SUV diagonally at the entrance every Friday afternoon so his children could cruise around the gated parking lot with their go-carts. His business was usually a ghost-town Friday afternoons; but today, Andy and Trish were there.
After the apologies were given and accepted, Andy drove to the nearest gas station while yelling at his wife for causing so much trouble!
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