"Cross sea of burning desert sands, tumbling tumble weeds assuage harsh lands."
"You need to assuage up on the metaphors, Ted." Khaki clad Tess rolled eyes, shifted sore butt, held on to hat. "One hundred twenty-one dust bump miles in an open air, circa WWII, faded army green, four wheel drive! What could possibly go wrong in no end desert?"
Steam erupted from under hood. Dust caked wheels slowed.
"Well the bright side, no more holding on to my hat." Thinly clad, Tess concern morphed dire.
"Come on, come on Old Mule." Ted gripped hard, pushed hard the steering wheel.
Near death, antiquated motor lurched and jerked Old Mule along, along in the heat of no end desert, where all that walked or crawled, all that drew breath tread, near death.
In that unforgiving wilderness, Tess looked to that in the distance, prayed, "I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come..." Her eyes grew wide. A wall of rain lay live ahead. Straight like a fence, rain divided sand and cactus on the one side, from knee high prairie grass on the other. And as they entered wet wall the sputtering motor cooled, began to purr. And as their desert rat hats ran with rain, Tess and Ted squealed laughter of children.
Once thru the wall of rain, loomed the foot, then... the mountain.
Laughter turned awe, awe pierced by Tess a squeal, "Antelope!"
"Pronghorns, hundreds of them!" Ted a joy grinned.
"A thousand, even more!" Tess squealed again.
Pronghorn antelope raced ahead of Old Mule. Abruptly the horde of herd turned, every doe, buck and fawn of them bent on running and leaping cross road. On inky asphalt Old Mule tires followed lead of motor, deceased turning. But rapt in joy Tess and Ted lost concept of time, gained ageless spirit, even to the end, the end of the line slowpoke pronghorn stragglers easing on by and by.
Standing up, hands on top of windshield, Tess let flow, "Wow, amazing, awesome, totally wild! Thank you Jesus!" Smiling a bliss, she sat, turned eyes to husband, who now white knuckled Old Mule steering wheel.
"Ted, what's wrong?"
Ted unlocked eyes from rear view mirror, rolled them in gesture to back seat, whispered, "We have a passenger. Do - not - turn - around."
Of wifely course, Tess turned around...
Yellow green eyes locked into hers. Deep thunder rolled from chest and throat of passenger.
A tad moist tongue licked Tess freckled nose. Tess giggled, like a child reached out, caressed golden fur twixt black tipped ears. "Aww, he's purring. I think he likes me." Tess giggled again.
Ted turned too. "What is he? Too big and long legged to be domestic, yet unlike any native wildlife I've ever seen or read about. What is he?"
Friendly," Tess matter of facted, "and such a cute wittle brown nose amid dark stripes and gold." Tess rubbed noses with feline enigma. She ruffled the dark spotted golden fur of his sides and belly. "But look his spotted body has those long striped legs, and like wow, look at the size of those paws."
"Well at least he hasn't eaten us yet." Ted relaxed, restarted Old Mule motor.
"So, we are taking him with us?" Tess grinned.
"How are we going to remove a forty pound cat out of that back seat?" Ted grinned right back, put Old Mule in gear, rolled toward foot of mountain.
"Well," Tess surmised, "Lynx sounds like a good name."
"Except unlike the lynx, he has a long striped tail." Ted observed.
"Black tipped with a cross rising from it... kind a like the cross on the back and shoulders of a certain donkey," Tess biblically awondered.
Old Mule, Ted at wheel, began winding up foot to ever steeper spiraling path of 6,791 foot Mt. Locke. Near the top Old Mule began, "Bucking like a crow-hopping bronc." Tess unabashedly squealed.
"Hope we make it." Ted was not sure.
"With all the signs awonder, we will make it, for our keeper neither slumbers nor sleeps," Tess rang faith, from the knee high, to lofty sky.
And from back seat rolled purr of thunder; and the newly named Lynx laid head on Tess shoulder.
As Old Mule brayed in protest over Mt. Locke ridge, two massive domes greeted eyes of Tess and Ted.
"Now those are what I call t-e-l-e-scopes!" Ted arched brow.
"Tellers of celestial tales," Tess quipped.
Deep thunder vibrated Tess shoulder to cheek.
"That tickles." Tess squinched neck.
Soon Tess got tickled again, "Here we are, rolling up in front of the Star Date Cafe at the McDonalds, Mcdonalds Observatory that is, hee-hee."
"Gee sweetie, you just pegged out on the pun groan-o-meter. Bet the cafe staff never heard that one before." Ted hopped out Old Mule, walked round, opened door for one semi-simmering Tess. Soon as her feet hit the ground, Lynx hopped out beside her.
Holding hubby arm up the steps to cafe, Tess grumbled, "Ted, if ever there was a sport to spoil, you'd spoil it. But yeah, they probably do get a bit tired of hearing the same puns day after day. Thank you Professor Censordom. I will control my precocious temperament."
"At a girl," Ted hugged Tess to him, opened door, Lynx snook in beside them, twitching long tail all the way up to cafe counter.
"What will you fine folks have today?" asked Big Mac, as read the name tag.
"Sooo," the flicker of Ted's resistance was short, "forgive my observation but ta, now taking our order is Big Mac at the Mcdonalds, McDonalds Observatory that is." Ted chuckle exploded to full blown cackling.
Tess punched Ted arm, "That was mine! You devious pun McSwiper." Tess snickered.
One stoic and truly big Big Mac stared down, stifling Tess and Ted laughter with uneven brow. Dry as the desert wind he spoke, "You do know pets are not allowed, especially pets big enough to eat fellow diners."
"Not our pet." Ted shrugged.
"Who says!" Tess stooped, hugged over sized kitty.
Like left out over night coagulated cheese and macaroni, the face of Big Mac remained disapproval stuck. Yet, the sight of Tess in kitty a hug, remelted Big Mac's cheesy heart, "Actually, the cat is one of our regulars. We call him The Lynx," Mac grew smile, "even though his tail is long."
Eyes wide open Tess near cried, "Yet another sign of wonder."
...At dusk, after scrumptious meal of sweet tea, maze chips and jalapeno chili, well, well Tess and Ted burped. They burped all the way walking to the Rebecca Gale Telescope Park for visitors. And there so were they blessed, so did they wonder, so did Tess and Ted enter worlds of the light, our outer solar system planets and moons, the Milky Way stars, even novae and galaxies a spin far... far away...
Later under cover of cool desert night, as Old Mule transported hand holding couple... "I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth," Tess softly sang awonder.
And in rear view mirror, Ted beheld upon Tess shoulder the reflection of celestial stars alight in the eyes of the passenger... heard deep rolling thunder from chest and throat...
So it is for knee high children of light, thru sand of desert, thru wall of rain, thru grass of prairie, to the foot, to the mountain, to the stars, to the galaxies, to home... the journey just begun...
Postscript: To understand this little tale please read Psalm 121 KJV
We become +children of the light+ +the children of God+ +thru Jesus+: John 8:12 & 12:36; Ephesians 5:8 & Galatians 3:26; 1st John 1:5 & Revelations 21:23 KJV
SPECIAL NOTE: The LYNX: Returning home down country road after fire works July 4th 2018, God blessed the wife and I with a 'gift'. As we passed over the canal bridge near our home, truck headlights flashed on a little kitten with long legs and long long tail. In front of our house we exited the truck to see those long legs propelling that kitten full tilt down the road toward us and into my arms. We immediately named him Lynx and became his Momma and Pa Pa that night. At less than a year old he is growing exponentially and already larger than our adult cats. So now you know who the cat in the story is named after. But what you don't know is that during the writing of this story and at story completion a still small voice kept repeating, "What does Lynx mean?" So I opened the dictionary: Lynx - from the Greek leukos - white light... So does our little Lynx point to his Maker...
