Val Thevictorian: Crime Stopper or Fun Sucker?

On my way to town Saturday around noon, I decided to stop and pick up the mail. I park on the edge of our gravel road, and walk across the county road to get to EmBee. As I drove along the creek, I saw four young people frolicking in the creek. You may be surprised to hear that I did not begrudge them this pleasure!

It was 88 degrees, and there was a newer-model gray crew cab truck parked on the bridge. I was actually about to give them mental props, for NOT parking on our privately maintained private gravel road. The kids looked to be mid- to late-teens. Three girls and a boy. One girl was bigger, perhaps 16 or 18, with two thinner girls about the same age. The boy wasn't all muscled, so I'm guessing he was maybe 12-13 years old. They weren't in proper swimwear. Just cut-off shorts. Maybe tank tops or bikini tops for the girls. I didn't pay that much attention. Only noticed a group of older kids jumping and splashing in the knee-deep water, and noted that they looked dressed for playing in the water, yet not like they had set out for a day at the beach.

I parked T-Hoe and started to open my door to get the mail...and the GRAY TRUCK DROVE OFF! What in the Not-Heaven??? That was a strange turn of events. I had barely even glanced at that truck, wondering if someone was in it, waiting on the splashing kids.

Then I saw a small black car parked on another private road across the bridge, which had been blocked from my view by that gray truck. I guess that black car was what the creek-splashers had arrived in. It slowly dawned on me that whoever was in that gray truck was CREEPY AS EFF! Why would they be parked right on the bridge, where they could look right up the creek, and watch a group of frolicking adolescents which were 3/4 girls?

Had I interrupted some ne'er-do-well(s) who might have had unsavory intentions towards these young people? I don't know what was going on behind those tinted windows. Nobody parks there to get their mail. Why would they leave when they saw me stop and open T-Hoe's door? I sure wish I had gotten a picture of that truck. But I had assumed it was legitimately with the creek kids.

As I started to pull out onto the county road after getting the mail, I saw headlights through the foliage, so I held back, lest I pull out in front of an oncoming car. It's a shady section of the road, and T-Hoe's daytime running lights also come on there, too. I waited. Waited. Huh. Was I mistaken? I was sure I had seen a vehicle coming. I inched out onto the blacktop, and saw that a small red car had parked itself along the road before it got to the bridge or the creek kids' car.

What in the Not-Heaven times two! I can't keep up with these people. Maybe they were just out to have some fun on the holiday weekend. I'm happy they didn't park on our road. I don't mean to suck the fun out of every situation. Yet I'm puzzled (and a bit concerned) about their intentions.

When I came home about 2:00, the red car was still parked there. Here's the view as I came down the hill by Mailbox Row.

My gravel road is there on the left. The bridge (where the gray truck had been parked) is straight ahead. The little road where the creek kids' car had been is on the right just past the bridge. And the red car is still there.

No idea why that red car would park there. If it's out of gas, it could have coasted to a better out-of-the way place to park, while the driver took a 4-mile walk to town. Obviously, it's nobody who belongs here, stopping to pick up mail. You'd think drinkers or druggers could find a safer spot to revel in their vices.

I don't know what's going on around here. But by golly, I'm either a hero for thwarting a possible abduction or a wanking episode...or I ruined somebody's holiday weekend.