Shelly paced back and forth outside the gas station. It was now 10:41am and the mechanic had promised her car would be ready by 9am that morning. Already, she was going to be horrendously late for her cousin's bachelorette party in Vegas. Here it was, the day of the event, and she was still in Utah with some grease-monkey under the hood of her car.
"Maybe you should check out some of the town," the mechanic had stated before sliding back under her car.
What town was there to see? There was just the one park and the museum was only open from nine to one, Tuesday to Thursday. At least the park afforded the attraction of getting her away from the burning sun of the American desert. The park, appropriately named Ravine Park contained a small natural stream and a cluster of vegetation along the banks. Thanks to the ravine's steepness, enough shelted from direct sun was provided for small meadows to occupy the rest of it.
Once out of the sun, Shelly began to appreciate the place's tranquility. She tried to remember her breathing exercises from her yoga class as she strolled along the too-short path.
This tranquility, however, began to wear off as she found the path climbing back out of the small ravine; this wasn't a walk so much as pacing. A couple more trips back and forth along the path and Shelly sat down on one of the picnic tables that occupied the meadow. It was then that she noticed the tree.
Fri Apr 12 09:59:40 2002