Orlando Trip #3

So, guess what? I got to the airport in Orlando (364 miles away from home) and went to the Itallian Eatery they have set up there in the food court. I ordered and ate baked ziti and a slice of carrot cake. Then I busted out my notebooks and started writing sentances for Highway 9, my follow-up thriller to Solid Mud. I only wrote five sentaces when I heard:

"Paging Erik Kershner, Paging Erik Kershner. Please pick up a Page Phone and dial zero for a message. Paging Erik Kershner...."

So I wandered around until I found one of the so-called "Page Phones." I picked it up and dialed "0"...as instructed. Nothing happened.

"What a load of pucky!" I said.

There was still an hour until Hillary's flight was supposed to land, but I thought maybe she made an earlier one...you know, things change, right? So I went down to baggage claim to scout her out. No Hillary. Hmmm.

Then I heard, "Paging Erik Kershner, paging Erik Kershner...." ALL OVER AGAIN!

"SHEESH!" I exclaimed.

So I found a different Page Phone and dialed "0" once again. But this time: HARK! A ringing... and a connection to an operator. We chatted and she asked, "Do you know a young lady named Hillary?"

"I sure do, Ma'am!" I said.

"She left you a message," she paused, "she left a number for you to call her, do you have anything to write with?"

So and so and so and so, I called the number and a dude answered the phone, "¡Hola! Cangrejo Shack de Ben y lecciones que practican surf, discurso de Ben."

I was stunned. "Hello, Senor," I said (thought that was a nice touch!) "My name is Erik Kershner. Hillary Seeland left a message to call this number."

"Oh, hey, Erik, this is her brother." (weird wild stuff!)

"Oh, hey Ben."

"I'm guessing you haven't talked to Hillary yet."

"No, I haven't. What's up?"

"So you don't know anything yet, do you?"

"No....."

"There was a plane crash on St. Thomas. All flights out were cancelled. Hillary will be flying out tomorrow. She'll be taking a bus from Orlando to Panama City and will arrive there on the 1st at 6a.m."

"Holy cow!"

So I folded myself up, got back into my car, boggied on out of Orlando and on home. Made good time too. So...that was my adventure. How was your night, yall?

Peace and Love,
Erik

PS...did I catch that right? Did Eddie say something about Mind, Body, and Spirit? That was good stuff, bro.