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Poooof!

Yup, Pooooooof!

Sigh.......

Whatever happened to friends staying to help when you find yourself in a town full of dead zombies? I might have to rethink my friends! Was the thought that came to me after seeing my friend, @deaconlee, go Poof right before my eyes.

Okay, back to the story that I found myself thrown into. I'm thinking that's why a few people clicked on this post. You know, to see how things turn out for me while I was left alone again in a village full of dead zombies.

I could be wrong. It's been known to happen. Not very often and never to be spoken of out loud.

Anywho.........

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My mind was grinding away taking in all that was around me, while rustling through my ski jacket pocket, mumbling words that are not meant to be heard by readers that don't think I swear.

Finally reaching the bottom of the very deep, now sweaty pocket, I heard the familiar crinkling. My heart calmed down a tad. Hanging on with thumb and forefinger, I used the rest of my fingers to search once again the bottom of the jacket pocket. Slowly this time, making sure I covered every inch.

My heart started racing a bit after the first pass. I had not felt anything else down there. Trying hard not to think beyond what was going to happen if my hand came out empty, I took a slow calming breath, searching the pocket again. This time, using every part of my being, making sure I searched the whole pocket once again.

There!

I stopped. My fingers feeling it. Yes, it was there. Using the rest of my three fingers, I pulled the package and lighter from my coat pocket. My heartbeat and breathing now slowly going back to normal.

Glancing around at the devastation, I made my way into the hut right behind me.

Taking the first step into the hut I came to a dead stop. My head went back, laughter clogging my throat. Eyes now streaming tears from the laughter I could not yet release were dropping to the floor of the hut. Finally breath, once again, filled my lungs. I tried to hold it in but it was not meant to be. In the quiet of the dead zombie camp out came the loudest laugh I had ever had. It came in waves and kept building until I had no more breath in me. I was hunched over grabbing my sides that had started to burn from laughing so hard. Darn, that man @deaconlee can even make me laugh when he's not here, I thought.

Sitting down in the wonderful comfy but funny looking chair, how DID they take a slab of wood and make it feel like a down-filled chair? A question I still have to this day after sitting in one of these fabulous chairs after my cousin brought one home from her trip to Africa.

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I digress.

While sitting in the chair I slowly opened the box using my thumb. Glancing in, I did the mental count, one always does, to see how long I had.

Thirteen. I had thirteen cigarettes before all hell broke loose and I became a screaming, cussing, crazy ass women going through withdrawals. Yeah, now THAT was NOT going to happen again.

I did that once for three long years. Nice years where you didn't have to worry about running out of cigarettes but now was NOT the time to start all that again. It's going to be bad enough I didn't have any diet coke or great Columbian coffee! Let's just leave well enough alone with taking any more away from me, shall we?

Now, back to laughing......because I was, then I got sidetracked with comfy chairs, counting cigarettes and hmmm, if you're still here that means you should know better then me what I was doing.

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Lighting a cigarette, now knowing I was down to twelve, I enjoyed the first puff so very much.

Crap! laughing, yes, I was laughing. Why? What was so funny in that hut that I broke out in the deepest belly laugh you have ever heard? With tears running down my face. Let's see if I can stay on track to explain.

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On the wall of the hut hung two pants legs. Just the legs of the pants on some wooden hooks. The funny part was the American looking wallet and keys that were hanging out of the bottom of the pocket of those pant legs. Dangling really, by a thread.

It made me wonder if @deaconlee realized when he sawed those pant legs off with a blunt knife he didn't realize he had hacked right through both pockets ends leaving his keys and wallet on the wrong end.

Giggling once again, I sent him the friendliest of thoughts.

I hoped he had found himself alone and very far from home so he had to walk all the way back home. When finally there, all covered in mosquito bites, explain to his Wife why he was in a Madiba shirt, very badly cut off shorts, and no money or truck keys.

Lighting another cigarette, number 12. I had fun imaging how that conversation was going to go. Yup, Lee was not going to be going on any more trips for a while when his Wife got done hearing his side of the story! Unless it was to the looney bin.

Snuffing out number 12, I realized with only eleven more cigarettes, I had better start seeing how I was going to get home!

Taking stock of all the stuff around me in the hut, I grabbed the ski's, ripped off pant legs, some really great rope hanging off a hook way in the back, and made a travois.

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I then went about the rest of the hut looking for anything that I thought might be of use. Using more swine, I then set about packing the travois full. Making sure both cigarette pack and lighter were within easy reach but very secure. I grabbed the top and backed out of the hut.

Out in the open, I had more room to maneuver. Turning around to secure my new contraption to my back I saw one of the dead zombies move. Well Crap!

I reached for number 11 and lite that sucker up right quick while peering at what I hoped was a heat illusion.

Nope, it wasn't. sigh.

It, yes, we are just going with it. Why? hmmm... well, because it is a zombie and let's face facts, this one has now been dead two times, at the very least, that I know of. It's also been laying out in the 100-degree heat for lord only knows how long. Let's just say, without going into all the gory details, with all its pieces and parts falling off its body, your guess is as good as mine, whether they had started out as a man or women before it became a zombie.

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I then did what anyone else would do in the situation I found myself.

I took the last drag of number 11, crushing it under my barefoot, looked that at the zombie and with a smile on my face said, " Hi!!! How are you today?"

The zombie now looked a bit startled, which made me smile, and wonder how it was going to answer with most of its mouth hanging off the side of its face like it was.

To my surprise, it came back in a deep and winded sounding voice, asking me what I thought I was doing taking all the stuff from the hut. Good question I thought. Followed by the thought of what would be the best way to answer this question and still come out alive.

Unfortunately, I don't have a filter from my brain to my mouth. What came out was, "I thought you were dead! That being the case I really didn't think you would mind me taking a few things with me for my trek home."

Now, this next part got a bit dicey. You see @deaconlee had cut up this zombie's favorite pair of pants. Yup. He did. Again I was in a mess because of my friend. I really need to start looking for some new friends, I thought once again.

I told the zombie that I was so very sorry that some person cut up his pants but they were like that when I got here. How I really did need them to hold my travois together.

They still were not happy and not moving an inch. I grabbed number 10 and lite it.

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What happened next, even I would not have believed it, if it had not just happened to me. The Zombie fell to what was left of their knees and begged me for a cigarette. Sigh.....

I went on to calmly explain my current situation to them while enjoying number 10.

I brought up how I had been on this wonderful skiing trip, saw the weird shimmer, ended up very far from home in 100-degree heat, wearing a full blown ski suit, almost passing out from the heat, almost being chopped to pieces by a very dull machete from my dear friend, left alone, once again, when he poofed away to lord only knows where, had to make a travois that I had only seen in old black and white movies, and now with only NINE cigarettes left, you want me, ME, to give you one? I might have been shouting a bit by the end.

The Zombie got a very strange look on its face. Uhmm, stranger than a normal, twice dead, mouth hanging off zombie's face look. You would know it if you ever happen to see it. I think it mostly comes across in the eyes. You will have to trust me on this one.

Now really wanting another cigarette but not wanting to call attention to them once again, I got a little snippy and said, "WHAT?"

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They turned around slowly looking over the dead village. Taking in all the devastation before them. Slowly turning back to me, still that strange look in its eyes, what they said next.......well, I'll let you read it and you can come to your own conclusions.

"I was dead twice, you are correct, and it took me a while to figure out why I, out of all of us in the village, is the only one to come back to life again. Then it dawned on me that from where I laid, I was the only one closest to the hut you were in. When I was being pulled back into this world I had heard something I could not quite place. Something that has been missing here for centuries. I finally figured it out. The sound that brought me back to life was laughter. Your laughter. Not many stumbling into this village would find anything to laugh about but you did. You laughed so hard you woke the dead and for that, I am very grateful."

I was a bit speechless and teary-eyed by this point.

They went on, "For that alone, I will take you to where I know a shimmer rests so you might safely make your journey home."

With my eyes now streaming tears of sadness and joy, I very quietly said, "Thank you."

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• The first part of this story started here: The Shimmer

• @deaconlee, in the way he has for spinning a tale, pick the story up and wrote this post: Freewrite "The Shimmer" - Ski Part 2, my notes from the event.

• What you just read was Part 3 - Pooof

• Part 4, written by @deaconlee can be found here: "The Shimmer" - Ski Part 4 - Simgirl Saves the Day

Which cracked me up to the point I'm very sure I disturb a few dead people! Thank You Deaconlee for making me always laugh! as you will see by the comment I left him on his post.

I then went in search of a freewrite prompt I have not used yet to get me out of the Zombie Village.

For many reasons, I had never used the prompt: cigarettes, found while looking through the Weekend Freewrite - Single Prompt Option post.

It gave me a direction from which to work from.

This Freewrite was written in a LOT more than 5 minutes!

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What happened today with these three posts has made a great day already, one that I will never forget.

Through the Freewriters group, laughter on a daily bases is now a normal occurrence in my life.

Something I find priceless.

If you made it all the way to the end of my story, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I hope, I too, could share a bit of laughter into your life with my story.

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Snook

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