A Day Late And A Dollar Short

A Day Late And A Dollar Short

Part One

"Oh, no," Josh, the pudgy, freckle-faced ten year old boy said, knowing that it was already too late. "Why didn't I just stay there yesterday, like I was ordered to do?"

He reached into the back pocket and counted out some change. "Only one dollar and fifty one cents left," he said sadly.

"Not only that, I am a dollar short too. Now I cannot even catch a bus back to the evacuation center. Even if I had another dollar, the bus fare is at least two dollars and fifty cents. That would leave me with one penny."

He shook his head and laughed at the thought of having just one penny to his name.

"I don't even know if there is going to be a bus that I can catch, although there were still buses running when we left the evacuation center yesterday."

Josh looked around. "I guess I am in really big trouble. I am all alone. I am not only a day late, I am a dollar short too. Well, ninety nine cents. 'Ninety nine bottles of pop on the wall'..." The melody of one of the songs that they had sung at camp went through his head.

"I never should have listened to those other guys. Why did I give them my pop money on the way home? I know you told me not to waste my money, mom. I am so sorry. But it was so hot on the bus. I felt sorry for those other guys. Besides that, they told me that that if I gave them money, they would be my friends. What am I going to do now?"

Being an only child, Josh had learned to talk to his mother even when he knew she wasn't there, as he had been taught that his mother would always be with him no matter what happened. So any time he felt lost and alone, he just talked to his mother, just like she was right there with him and could hear every word that he said.

Josh frowned and looked down the long road ahead of him. "I am really, really tired and I don't want to walk all that way by myself," he decided and sat down on the grass beside the bus stop, hoping to flag down a passing car. He was on the verge of tears. It had been a very long walk and a really long night too. He was still in a state of shock because of all that they seen earlier that day.

"Nothing left." he said. "And here's me with one dollar and fifty one cents to my name."

"Mom, I know you always warned me not to hitch-hike, but this is a real emergency. I know you would understand," he said quietly, hoping against hope that his mother was still alive. "The likelihood of any cars coming along this road is very slim but if one comes, I am hitch hiking."

When the boys had arrived at the evacuation center in the devastated city after their school camping trip, even though they had been ordered to remain there and to wait to be taken to another area the next day, Josh had left with several other boys from his school, in order to search for their missing parents and other family members. They were determined to find out for certain if their homes had been destroyed by the hurricane and there was no doubt about it.

There was virtually nothing left in the area of their homes, other than a lot of debris floating in approximately six feet of murky water. Tree branches had been broken off every tree, even the ones that they had climbed so often. The telephone poles were snapped off and wires dangled everywhere.

Josh knew that he was totally alone in the world, at least for the time being, having been so senselessly separated from his family. He had no idea if anyone in his family was still alive. No one really knew who had survived the hurricane or who might have been evacuated to other areas in time to save their lives. His mother's name was not on the list of those who had to taken elsewhere to be hospitalized either.

When they had returned, a chaplain at the evacuation center told the boys that the hurricane that ravaged the area so suddenly, had wiped out the majority of the population in the small city and that not many people would be found alive. He said that he would keep them and their families in his prayers but did not offer anyone a lot of hope. They were all stunned.

Several days earlier, while they were still at camp, it had been announced that they would have to stay over for a few extra days, because of the severe storm that was heading towards their city. When he had called home to tell his mom that there would be a delay because of bad weather, no one had any idea how severe the weather was actually going to be.

Nor did they realize that all of the homes and the businesses in their area of the city would be gone when they returned. Even their school had been wiped out. There was nothing left and now the boys had seen it for themselves. Josh was shocked. If the other boys were equally devastated, it was not apparent as they put up a brave front.

"Sissy," they had yelled at him when he had started to cry. They had all laughed at him. "Cry baby, cry baby, cry baby, cry. Poke a finger in your eye, cry baby cry."

The other boys immediately decided that they were going 'treasure hunting' and took off, leaving

Josh standing there all alone. He knew that their intention was to find homes or businesses that were vacated and to steal whatever they could find, as that is what they had talked about during the night. Josh decided that he could not stop them but did not want to join them in their looting either.

"I'm going back to the evacuation center," he said to himself. "With friends like that, who needs enemies."

"Scaredy cat, scaredy cat," they had hollered at him as they left. Josh just looked away and did not say a word.

"I just want to find my mom," he said wistfully as he watched them all disappearing over the hill."

Part Two

"Mom, I know that when I was at camp, I should have said a proper goodbye to you," Josh chided himself. "I was in such a rush to go to that campfire, that I just dropped the phone and ran to be with the other guys. How was I to know that that was going to be the last time that I could ever talk to you? And look at them now. They have all taken off and left me all alone."

Josh sat on the ground, quietly resting and waiting for the bus.He was deep in thought, pondering what he should do next. He gazed at the dark storm clouds hovering on the horizon.

"I'd better find some shelter soon," he decided. "But where can I go?" he wondered.

"Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink." Josh spoke aloud. "Not even any trees left....no buildings....everything just gone. How can it be, God?"

Almost every direction Josh looked, he could see water and more water. Parts of the road were flooded too and from the looks of it, there was probably not going to be a single bus, truck or a car on the road. Not one had passed by while he waited. As a matter of fact, he suddenly realized that they had not seen one all day. "It looks like I have to walk. Ok, so that is what I am going to do, even if it takes me forever. Better than staying here."

Josh got up and looked around. "I still have a few hours before it gets dark, so I had better find a safe place to go for the night. I really don't have a lot of choice, it seems."

"God, show me where to spend the night." In the distance, Josh could hear the faint rumble of thunder. "Oh no, another storm. I am really scared of lightning."

Josh was wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, but he had been smart enough to bring his back pack with him, when he and the other boys had left the center after dark. There had been no hydro and no lights, so it had been easy to sneak away unseen. None of the other boys had taken their backpacks with them and they had all laughed at him for carrying all his 'baggage'.

"It'll be too obvious," one of them had said. "You will just slow us down and we are not going to carry it for you."

"I did not ask you to carry it, and I am not going without it," Josh had added firmly. As far as he knew, that was all he had left in the entire world.

"It looks like you guys were the baggage that I didn't need," he decided as he watched them depart. He was fed up with them always picking on him because of his weight. "So I am heavier than you guys...I can't help the way I was born. Don't you dumb guys know anything about genes?" he had replied to them.

"Let's see," he said, dumping the contents of his back pack on the ground. "My jean jacket....a flashlight and a water bottle....a pair of shorts, some dirty socks, one shirt, my pjs and my pen knife..... and part of a chocolate bar. So much for survival," he concluded after taking a mental inventory. "I may have to make that last," he decided, taking one very small bite from the chocolate bar. "Dark chocolate...tastes good. I am so hungry."

He began to stuff everything back into his packsack. "Mom," he said gratefully. "You did a great job of helping me get my gear together for camp. I am always going to be so grateful for having you as my mother. I know I did not tell you that because I thought you would always be there when I got home. I really love you too."

"Mom, this road only goes two ways. One way is downhill and the other way is uphill. I may be a day late and a dollar short.....and it may be up hill all the way, but I am going to make you proud of me." Josh grabbed his packsack and slung it up over his back.

"I've got to keep my feet as dry as I can," he decided as he started to walk towards the hill.

"Otherwise I will have cold feet and I only have one change of dry socks. I am going to have to wash my own socks from now on. Gee, I hate washing socks." He could feel that his feet were already damp inside his shoes.

Part Three

"There was no food at the evacuation center when we got there," Josh reminded himself. "And the place was awful." The huge arena had begun to smell very bad because there were just too many people there and most of them had been there for several days before the boys arrived.

"There was not a lot of sense waiting there, and who knows where they would have sent us?"

Josh continued to talk to himself and to his mother, as he walked on and on.

There was not a soul to be seen, mile after mile. The area all looked the same, like some place that a bomb had hit. Everything looked strangely familiar but so different. "No cars....no people....no homes." He could not help wondering how the other boys had fared, but at least they were together. They had gone through this area many times, but it had never looked like this.

"This is really horrible." he said.

"Maybe when I get over that next hill," Josh said aloud and kept on walking, one step after another. He kept glancing at the sky. The sky was getting darker but the thunder seemed to have died down for the moment. "I have to find someplace to go." An occasional streak of white lightning flashed along the horizon.

Suddenly, as Josh approached the top of the hill, he heard a very faint whimpering sound. It sounded like some kind of an animal that was in pain. He stopped for a moment and listened carefully.

"Nothing," he said to himself. "I must be imagining it."

He started walking again and suddenly he heard a yelp, that seemed to be coming from across the other side of a ditch, filled with murky black water.

"A dog?" he wondered. "Here boy," he called. "Come on boy," he called a little louder. He heard another yelp. "That has to be a dog."

As he looked closer, he saw a very young, dirty white terrier standing on the other side of a ditch beside an old tree branch. "You are just a little pup," he said in utter amazement.

"Come on boy," he called again. "Come on. It's ok. I won't hurt you." The dog did not budge an inch.

"Ok, I am coming to get you," he told the pup, who was just standing there shivering. Josh did not know who was more frightened, him or the dog. As he surveyed the area quickly, he soon found another tree with large branches that had been broken off by the fury of the hurricane.

"That log is more than long enough for me to use to get across that water," he said aloud, grabbing one of the branches that was about a three quarters of a foot in diameter and towing it towards the ditch. It was really quite heavy.

Josh stopped and rested for a moment. He pulled off his back pack and tossed it on the ground.

Then he took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his jeans. "I might fall in," he explained to the pup who watched him closely. "Besides that, I have no idea how deep that water is. No point in getting everything wet," he said to the dog.

"What is your name?" The dog simply whimpered and gazed at him with big brown eyes. "You are kind of dirty and very wet," he said as he bent over and continued to pull the branch of the tree towards the ditch. "Just wait. I am coming to get you. Ok, so I get to walk the plank."

The dog yelped again, as if he understood every word Josh had said. As Josh got closer to him, the dog got braver and started to run towards him on the slippery log. "Just stay there," Josh said again. "You might fall in. We are both going to get wet if I lose my balance." He laughed and bent over to pick up the dog. "This is some kind of a balancing act. Now all we have to do is get back to the other side." He turned around and headed back the other way with the frightened dog in his arms.

The young pup immediately licked his face. "Hey," said Josh. "Don't get me all wet and dirty too."

A few moments later, they were both on the other side of the ditch. "At least we didn't fall in the ditch. You got me awful wet and dirty though," said Josh, grabbing his blue jean jacket out of his packsack. "Here, this will keep you warm," he told the grateful pup, as he carefully wrapped him in the jacket and held him close.

"Hey Mom, I have found a new friend," he hollered. "So what if it's a dog? I always wanted a dog and you told me I would have one someday. Now I really have one."

"Hey pup, you are my new friend, aren't you?" Josh asked the shivering pup. "When you've got a real friend, neither time or money really matters."

Again the pup simply licked his face. "You are going to be my family, as well as my best friend.

Good thing I found you when I did. I really needed a new friend today." Josh slung his backpack over his shoulder and carrying the pup in his arms, started walking again. "This is going to be a long walk," he explained to the grateful dog.

But no one could have prepared either one of them for what they were to find next.