PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

They both stared down into the trunk, which contained nothing other than a few copies of The Hollywood Reporter scattered about. She had retrieved a floppy hat and over-sized long-sleeved white shirt from her truck. He felt oddly envious wondering if it belonged to a husband, boyfriend or lover.

"Sometimes they stick the spare up underneath." She knelt down on a tarp also retrieved from her truck which seemed to magically purvey anything she happened to need. "See there it is", she pointed up under the car. He knelt down beside her and noticed that despite the extreme heat rising off the desert floor she had an air of coolness about her.

"How the hell do we get it out from under there?"

"There'll be an extension tool, probably stored with the jack. Look under the front seats. If not, I've got one." Of course you do, he thought. It was beginning to dawn on him that this woman was saving his life.

His macho pride prodded him to intervene but she was working apace and with ease, assembling the extension tool, shoving it into some concealed orifice and twisting rapidly as the spare descended. "I know who you are. I like your work. Are ya shooting a movie out here?"

"Uh no. I was just passing through."

"Passing through? There's nowhere to pass through to."

"Yeah I kinda get that now."

She handed him a wheel wrench, "Here, start loosening those bolts, just a little bit, before you pump the jack." Thankful she had given him a task, he jumped to it. She rambled on about the movies he had been in, the roles he played, even reciting dialog to him verbatim. The flattery would have been seductive had it not been expounded with the earnest ardor of a serious film buff.

The blown tire was shoved into the trunk, and the spare hefted into place. She threaded the bolts on while he tightened them. "You'd best get a replacement. You're headed for no mans land. Nothing for many many miles. If you turn around and go back about 20 clicks, take the first left you come to, there's a cowtown. You can get a tire there at Grey Tibbits Tire n Tow. And stop at Marcy's for food and drink. You don't look very well provisioned. Be sure to gas up too."

"OK thanks. Do you have a cell phone I could use?"

"No. There's no reception out here. Well you are ready to go. Been a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to seeing your next movie." She extended a dirty hand, which he shook. He felt a subtle pulse of energy travel through her palm into his, up his arm to his heart. There it radiated throughout his whole body. He was rendered immobile for a second until she let go.

"Wow thank you so much for stopping. I would have fried to death if you hadn't shown up."

"Happy to serve!" She climbed into her pickup, the engine coughing a bit before turning over, then pulled up alongside him, "Tell Tibbits I sent you and Marcy I said hi."

He nodded his head then startled, "Hey what's your name?"

"Dakini" she yelled out the window as she drove away.