a
story hmm
ok i will tell you the true story
of cathy martin and the tunnel of fire
ok when i was about 9 yrs old my best friend was cathy martin
and she came over and we went up the hill past the cotton field thru the woods past the abandoned house to the pond
to pick blackberries.
the dog came with us. the dog's name was Ticketty.
so we waded to the blackberry island and picked berries and skipped rocks and counted tadpoles in the sun.
then the dog comes blazing over the hill YIPE YIPE YIPE
we're like, ok dog whatever.
YIPE YIPE!
YIPE!
she is all like DAMMIT I SAID YIPE!
so we follow her back up the hill
past the abandoned house
over the crest of the hill
which is where we see the tunnel of fire.
we are 9 years old
and there is fire everywhere.
um WHAT THE FUCK?
we would have said, but we were 9.
it was a drought
it might have been a cigarette thrown out on the highway a mile away
or just the sun
but the dry fallow cotton field was basically full of nothing but tinder
and it caught
and spread to the woods
which trees overhung the road
hence, tunnel of fire.
YIPE YIPE YIPE means Your world is ablaze and you should follow me cause there is no other option.
so we did.
Dog led us down the tunnel of fire which seemed nuts but with our 9 yr old logic
we figured a dog would not lead us into mortal danger
so we ran through the tunnel of fire
blackberries and pots long dropped and scattered
ran through trying to hold our breath
coughing brown sour smoke
to the other end, fresh air and light, out of the falling blaze branches we were safe and we ran all the way home choking
and gave the dog a hamburger.
The end!