The sound of the rain beating down upon the earth jolted him awake. Storms are frequent in this part of the country, but not like this. There was something powerful behind this rain storm. Jumping out of bed, he ran over to the window, tripping over the mound of clothes strategically placed around the room. Pulling back the curtain, he strained his eyes to see through the dark. It looked like he was underwater. Never before had he seen rain fall with such power and fury as to completely reduce visibility to nothing. A flash of lightning lit up the night sky, at least what he could see of it anyway, followed quickly by a loud clap of thunder which forced him to cower in fear.
“Man this is some storm,” he thought to himself, trying to shake the sleep off. In a moment of dread he realized he had left his car windows down last night. Without stopping to change out of his sleeping attire, he bolted down the stairs and quickly opened the door. What greeted him next was a sight that won’t soon forget.
Down the street floated what looked like a neighbors deck on it which stood a small jazz band playing the old Louie Armstrong tune ‘What a Wonderful World.’ Dazed, and apparently confused, he took a few steps towards them, drawn in by the peaceful music. It reminded him of his last vacation, a cruise to the Bahamas’. Ah yes, the cool white sand felt luxurious as he strolled across the beach. The crystal clear blue water teemed with animal life captured his attention as he waded in the warm tropical water. A refreshing breeze blew from the east, bringing with it the aroma of the tropical paradise. Certainly he wished he could stay forever.
Taking a few steps closer to the floating band, he found his surroundings drastically changed. No longer was he on his street, he was now on a ship, looking over the edge of the boat, staring into the crystal clear blue waters. What he saw next was utterly disturbing, but incredibly intriguing as well. A giant shark cruised the side of the boat, as if to warn the passengers of the previously mentioned boat that he owned the waters. The shark was massive. It must have easily measured 18 feet in length and seemingly half that in width. Could this be? Might this be? Was his lifelong dream of seeing a Great White Shark coming to fruition? His heart raced as he watched this magnificent creature glide effortlessly through the water.
Suddenly, his elation turned to terror as two crew members cried out, “there he is! There’s the one who is responsible for this calamity brought upon us. Toss him overboard!” Suddenly, he felt the hands of many people grab him from behind. He strained his neck to catch a glimpse of his captors, but their faces escaped his sight as fell to the water and meet his dream face to face.
The force of him meeting the water caused a brief loss in consciousness... Or was he dead? He wasn’t quite sure. Had the Great white shark got the best of him? Was he torn, limb by limb as the shark hungrily devoured his prized feast? He quickly reached for his face, checked his legs, wiggled his fingers, scrunched his toes, yeah, whew, they are all there. Looking around, a bit dazed and apparently confused, he tried to ascertain his current location.
The smell of bacon waffled through the air, with it came the aroma of coffee that seemed to snap him back to attention. Looking around he was sitting in what seemed like a big kitchen, it kind of felt like home. “Are you ready to order now?” questioned the waitress in one of the sweetest country accents he had ever heard. “Why yes ma’am I am. I’ll have a Meat Lovers Omelet with home fries and a sweet tea.” She responded “The food I’ll get for you, your drink, get up and get it yourself.”
He suddenly realized where he was at. Could it really be? Could it really be Home Place Restaurant just around the corner from Deals Gap? He jumped up with excitement and ran out the door, completely forgetting about the breakfast he ordered and jumped on the motorcycle parked in the parking lot. He assumed it was his; after all, there was no one else around. With the excitement of a kid at Christmas, he leaned on the throttle, hardly able to wait to hit the first curve on the Tail of the Dragon. This was one of the dearest places on earth to him. The serenity screamed at him as he rode along the highway, mountains on the left, and a beautiful lake on the right. His palms began to sweat as he made his way up the mountain. Soon he would be engrossed in 318 turns in 11 miles.
“Yes!!” He thought to himself as the first curve appeared ahead. Scanning for hazards, he drifted to the far right outside part of the lane to set himself up for the curve. Leaning the bike as far to the left as he could, sparks flying, heart pounding, he took the blind left turn, straightening the bike up for a second before leaning all the way over to the right to take the next curve.
His eyes grew large with excitement has he spotted the first switchback. Setting up for the turn, he held his breath as he pushed his motorcycle to the limits. Sparking flying from the highway pegs, engine working hard as he snapped his head around to find his line through the end of the switchback. Excitement turned to sheer horror as his eyes locked on to a huge grizzly bear standing in his line. There was nothing he could do, he was going too fast to swerve, and the oncoming car made the bear look much more appealing.
He drew in a deep breath, closed his eyes, rolled back on the throttle, and said a prayer to the Lord as he aimed directly at the bear.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The loud clap of thunder jolted him out of bed. Dazed, and most certainly confused he peered out the window, straining to see through the sheets of rain pouring down. This was by far the worst rainfall he had ever seen. Suddenly, in a moment of panic, he remembered he left his windows down last night.
Fumbling for the door handle and stumbling down the stairs he bolted out the front door only to be greeted with warm sunshine and a gentle breeze……….
