Within the Woods

You wind your car along the narrow forest trail, swearing under your breath. It's already past six, with most of the afternoon wasted taking wrong turns and navigating a network of sprawling trails in order to bypass a ruined bridge.

"Way up in the mountains," you repeat Dale's words over the thunderous sound of the car being buffeted by the low-hanging branches encroaching on either side of the trail.

Four hours earlier, your Sunday afternoon malaise was disturbed by a call from Dale down at the hardware store. Reluctantly picking up after the tenth ring, you half-listened as Dale explained that a customer of his owns a rental way up in the mountains. The owner pays Dale to give it a quick tidy up in preparation for the next guests, but as luck would have it, Dale busted his elbow during Friday night's bowling practice. Is his old stockroom employee willing to drive up there instead and make sure the place is vacated, clean, and secure? You were hanging up the phone when Dale said: "Five hundred bucks, half upfront!"

Twenty minutes later, you were on the road.