Teresa, the Haunted Wordsmith, tagged Fandango to write part 2 of her latest Finish The Story challenge, titled “The Open Road.” Then Fandango tagged me to write part 3!
Here’s how Teresa started the story, Fandango continued it and I followed on.
Part one by Teresa
It was Spring 1962. Mick, Harry, and Jefferson just graduated from Lincoln High School. The VW bus was stocked with a few changes of clothes, and enough food and 8-track tapes to last for days. It was just them, their future, and the open road.
“Man, this will be great,” Mick said, leaning back in the driver’s seat. He pulled his draft card from his shirt pocket and threw it out the window.
Harry and Jefferson laughed. They burned theirs the night before. No one was going to tell them where they were going to die, or that they had to kill others in the process.
“Nevada, Colorado, then Canada,” Jefferson said, sweeping his long, stringy blond hair out of his eyes.
Harry looked at him through his light brown vail and laughed. “Failed geography, huh.”
Mick laughed. “So did you.”
“Ah, who cares!”
As they drove down the highway past the redwoods and toward the open desert, the Beach Boys blared through the open windows, and the wind blew their concerns away with it.
After a few hours of driving, they saw a little red car pulled off to the side of the road with a very distressed young woman standing near it.
“What do we know about cars?” Harry asked as Mick pulled over.
“Less than we know about pretty girls,” Mick quipped.
“Need some help?” Harry asked through the passenger window.
Part two by Fandango
Sally was trouble. She knew it and she used it. Her long, dirty-blonde hair, her large blue eyes, and her extraordinary body were her tools that enabled her to get pretty much anything she wanted.
She was standing there by the side of the road, next to her stranded, somewhat beat-up MG-TD roadster. Wearing a loose halter top, tight bell-bottom jeans, leather sandals, and a dazzling smile, she was like an apparition to these three eighteen-year-old boys.
“Oh thank God,” she responded to Harry’s question. “Stupid me, I ran out of gas out here in the desert, of all places. I was beginning to lose hope and then you boys came along to save me.” Sally batted her eyelashes and said, “I’m so terribly thirsty.”
Jefferson, carrying a canteen of water, was the first out of the old VW bus. He handed it to her and was joined shortly by Mick and Harry. “What’s your name and where are you headed?” Mick asked.
“Sally,” she said, “and I am hoping to get to San Francisco.”
Jefferson looked at his two companions and then back at the girl. “You are in luck, young lady,” he said. “My friends and I are heading to Canada by way of San Francisco.”
Harry started to object, but Mick poked him in his side with his elbow.
Part three by keithsramblings
Sally climbed aboard and settled into a seat at the back of the bus. As they pulled away she glanced over her shoulder and watched as the red car she’d ‘borrowed’ from her roommate disappeared into the distance. She discreetly dropped the keys from the open window.
“Where are you from?” asked Mick.
“Lincoln” she muttered.
“I don’t remember seeing you at High School,” said Jefferson.
She said nothing, just stared out of the window as the bushes rushed by. Harry watched as she tightened her grip on the canvas bag on her lap. Gone was the smile. She looked nervous. Something didn’t seem right.
“Look,” said Mick, “there’s something ahead blocking the road, what is it?”. ‘God only knows’ sang the Beach Boys.
A Jeep stood at an angle across the highway. As they approached it two men climbed out. Sally reached inside her bag.
To continue this journey into the great wide open, I am tagging Iain Kelly. I hope he’ll pick it up and run with it.
Rules–
-
- Copy the story as it appears when you receive it (and the rules please)
- Add to the story in whichever style and length you choose
- Be sure to pingback or comment on the original post (here) please
- Tag only 1 person to continue the story
- Have fun!
Post 1735
Keith's Ramblings 
Great addition! Thanks for contributing 🙂
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My pleasure, I really enjoyed taking part.
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Huh? Draft dodgers in 1962? Don’t think so. More like 1964 and later. 8-track tapes? Thought they were invented later than this too. And cell phones? This is fantasy, right? Sorry. I am a bit of a nit-picker today.
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This is the problem when several people contribute to one story! I only wrote part 3. The cell phone was my error though – I forgot about the year! It’s now been deleted.
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I noticed the same anachronisms as Denise. I’m sure no one wore halter tops in 1962 and I suspect bell bottom jeans came later, too, after ’65. Nevertheless the tale is spinning out well, with enough suspense coming in that I want to hear how it ends. 🙂
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As I pointed out to Denise, my bit of the story is only part three, so not guilty your honour! As for the draft dodgers, I don’t know much about American history being this side of the pond so I didn’t notice!
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Yes, I knew the anachronisms weren’t yours. And I guess Iain is obliged to carry on with the tale verbatim. Oh, well. Your addition was quite well done. 😉
Re: draft dodgers. We were quite familiar with them here in Canada when they started coming across after LBJ upped US involvement in Vietnam. Some DDs have stayed, preferring Canada; most went home after Nixon pardoned the lot of them some years after the war ended.
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Living here in Detroit and going to University in the mid-60’s, I met several young men who crossed easily into Windsor and never came back.
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First, good addition, Keith. Thanks for participating. Second, I was in high school in 1962 and girls did, indeed, wear halter tops and bell-bottoms, although not at school. And there was a military draft in 1962, although it didn’t really get big until a few years later. Perhaps Teresa should have had the guys graduate in 1966 rather than 1962.
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My apologies. We never saw anything like halter tops in Canada until the 70s. And I believe there’s almost always been a draft in the US so that part doesn’t surprise me.
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No apology necessary. I can’t say for sure when halter tops really became popular, but I do remember some of the girls in my high school…those who could…wearing halter tops on weekends and at night during the summer months.
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It is certainly getting exciting, i wonder what she did, who she is running from and why.
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Me too! Cheers Mimi
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Thanks for tagging me Keith, looking forward to continuing the plot…
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That’s great – can’t wait to see what you come up with!
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Nice addition to the tale, Keith, which left scope for Iain and then me to follow on. Looking forward to seeing how CE takes the story forward (or closes it).
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The plot thickens! We’ll see……
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