Previously:

When they got outside and started walking toward the car, Tommy said, "Wait up." He went to his car and grabbed a couple of napkins and a Bic pen.

"Here we go," Liz mumbled, It's just as we predicted. Should we tell him right off or let him realize on his own?"

Linda used one of her favorite sayings. "Let's play it by ear."

************


Tommy waited to see if Wolf was going to come right out. When he pictured in his wild imagination, the nervous fellow messing around with the burnt-down coffee carafe, he figured it was safe enough to call them over to his hood, where he was drawing the directions for them to get home. As he was explaining certain turns and landmarks to look for, he spied their blank faces. "This isn't going to work, is it?"

"'Fraid not. We'd never find our way, even with Linda navigating. That's putting a lot of stress on her. We'd be having to stop to examine and debate what some of the lines meant."

"Okay, I'll take you out of here to a road that leads directly to the highway you need to be on."

Everyone got in their respective vehicles. Tommy's felt hollow. It was too quiet. There was no quiet happening in the other Honda, the Fit with Vermont plates reading, 'AYL139'.

Tommy sat alone in his Montana Honda Accord. He glanced back at the treasured magic blanket, handmade by his Aunt and cousin, who had vanished too many years ago. It was empty.

He gave them a moment to be together for the first time in days, seated in their own automobile. He could see them cheering and touching parts of the car. Liz appeared to be embracing the steering wheel. Linda swept her hand across the long-reaching-forward, spaceship-like dashboard.

He recalled her saying, the dashboard was one of her favorite parts of Liz's car. He would remember a lot of things they had said. Tommy knew he'd never think of ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder people in the same way.

Those ladies were so funny, sometimes a little too much, but beautiful. They had told him, friends often tease ADD people by saying, "You must have seen a shiny object," if they became distracted.

And he would always be grateful to them for seeing that shiny object, the lightbulb on the house where his sister and her friends were being held hostage.

Liz pulled the metal bar up to move the seat back, and looking in the rearview mirror, put the car in reverse. It felt good to be behind the wheel again, backing her car out from its sheltered spot.

She offered Linda the opportunity to pilot the Fit. Since she wasn't having to be navigator, she happily accepted Liz's invitation.

As they got out to switch, Tommy zipped the window down, to make a funny comment. "So, is Linda commandeering the spaceship behind me?"

Linda raised her arm, shaking her fist. "You bet, Tommy."

"And I love having her chauffeur me." Liz twirled, sweeping her arms through the air.

Linda was already in the car, adjusting the seat and rearview mirror.

Liz knew this was it. It was the last time they and the wonderful gentleman who had fed them and let them rest upon his aunt's gift to him would be cracking a joke.

She wiped away a few tears as she climbed into the passenger's side.

Tommy led and Linda followed.

Since Liz wasn't driving, she got to notice the landscape more freely.

"Oh, my goodness. Honk the horn, get his attention. We've got to stop."

"Why? What's wrong? I thought everything was okay."

"It is, everything's okay. Just get his attention, so he'll pull over."

Linda layed on the horn. Liz was waving her arms out the window, motioning for Tommy to pull over.

Wondering what the ladies were up to this time, he signaled that he was slowing and turning off.

Jumping out of the car, the concerned, curious fellow, quickly reached the driver's side. He bent down to look into the opened window. "What's the matter?"

Linda put both hands out and shook her head. "I don't know." Also confused, Linda gestured toward Liz. "She just asked me to honk to get your attention."

Looking toward Liz, Tommy said, "So tell us what's going on in your head."

"Look at those trees over there." They both looked toward several strange-looking trees as Liz explained how she'd never noticed them before. "We've driven by them, walked by them, but I've never noticed them before."

Tommy squinted, then opened his eyes wide. "Are those what I think they are?"

"I think so, pretty sure, anyway."

Linda was clearly feeling left out. "What? What's special about them? They do have unusual shapes. What do you both know about them?"