Hungry were we.
All three of us.
But here and now, only 2 of the 3 sat in the car just
outside of the Little Chef restaurant, pondering on the choice of offerings to
be presented to us.
It intensified their pains.
"I can't survive much longer" whimpers McCheeze
who is slumped across the back seats, he's hands clasped to his stomach.
"It will not be long my friend" offers Dan, his
mighty jaw line seemingly cut from granite and looking like a poster campaign
for a new aftershave branded 'Fister'.
McCheeze moans a little more at the thought of enduring any
further torment.
The passenger door bursts open. The rain that up to this
point hadn't been mentioned, lashes down, on the windows and now with the door
open sounds even more torrential.
"I found 47p in gutters" blurts a saturated and
shivering Henchman as he jumps into the warmth of the car.
McCheeze offers his own torrent of rain in the form of
tears. Hen reaches back and strokes McCheeze's weeping head and soothes him
"It's okay Squeezy, I'm sure something good will come of this.
A flash of lightning ignites the sky like a blitzing from
the Russian military.
Thunder, full of anger bellows instantly, rocking the car
with its ferocious roar.
The windscreen wipers fight a losing battle against the onslaught
of rain.
Suddenly a gentle knocking startles the occupants.
Outside a figure is swaying in the wind.
"Don't let them in, they could be organ harvesters from
Eastern Europe" whispers Hen.
"What the fu....." replies Dan, his mighty jaw and
intense stare now pivoting towards the entity that had tapped into the window
of the world of these three gentle'folk.
Dan reaches for the button to roll down the window. As it
inches down the rain rushes into the car, striking his handsome face and making
him even more crushingly attractive.
"We're doomed" squeaks the prone McCheeze"
The window is now fully open, but with the relentless rain
they still can’t see this stranger fully.
Suddenly a gust of wind blasts across the rain swept car
park, it lifts the outside stranger up and into the car via the now open
window.
The Henchman screams with all the velocity of an Exocet
missile as this new and strange person lands across his and Dan's lap.
This new person does not speak. She merely lays across Dan
and The Henchman's; seemingly oblivious or drunk to the melee and confusion she
has just caused.
On her back a note: "My name is Angie, follow me to
food" Around her ankle is a length
of string.
"Oh God, it's a trap" screams The Henchman, his
hysteria reaching a new height as he pulls at his own hair in nervous anxiety.
"I.......I.......I don't think we have a choice"
speaks Dan in a calm manner that could settle the nerves of a death row inmate
that is seconds from being fried alive.
The Henchman looks at Dan with saucer eyes; he then looks
back to McCheeze who is seemingly slipping in and out of a coma.
The Henchman gulps. "Ok, I trust your judgement"
he says to Dan.
Dan's head moves slowly and purposefully, his face
expression never changing from the look of intensity that he has primed on his
face- even when he sleeps.
"It's been an honour serving with you" speaks Dan.
A small smile appears on Dan's face, only for a split second before it is gone.
They exit the car. The rain beats a tattoo onto their
bodies. McCheeze is assisted by The Henchman.
Dan holds the string around Angies ankle tight in his hand
and then pulls Angie from the car.
The wind whips across the car park and Angie's is yanked
from Dan's hand.
Like a kite that has an afterburner, she heads in the direction of
the Little Chef. With the string quickly running out of slack Dan quickly
realises what is about to happen.
"Oh shhhhhiii..." he yells in a manly and cool way
before being dragged off as if having been tethered to the payload end of an
RPG. He is dragged across the car park as Angie rushes ever onward with the
wind.
The Henchman carries McCheeze with all the speed he can
muster in the direction that Dan has been dragged to.
--
With his jeans now torn in all the right places and his
hair, even though wet, still perfect, Dan rises from the floor carefully,
noticing that he is no longer outside.
At a table in front of him sits Angie. Her face offering an
expression of revelation. Dan breathes
heavily and takes in the surroundings. He is in the Little Chef.
The entrance door bursts open, the outside wind and rain
howling momentarily before the door settles back to its closed position.
"Dan, what did she do to you?" screams a
breathless Henchman, McCheeze slumped across his shoulder.
"It's ok; I think.......I think this was fate, all of
this"
And with that, the camera pans out, McCheeze suddenly comes
round, the subtle odours of the restaurant pulling him from his hunger related
coma....
With his eyes glaze over McCheeze looks at the interior of
this motorway restaurant whispers "It's beautiful"
The three men look at the prone Angie, she has said nothing.
Asked for nothing. Yet she has saved these lone warriors in a time of need.
In front of Angie is a laptop computer, Dan nods an
appreciation to Angie and then joins her at the table, he looks at the computer,
his eyes scanning the screen. He looks up with dignity.
"Boys......I think we have our drummer".
The camera pans out further. A plate each with a full
English breakfast for the three weary but now humbled men arrives in unison.
They eat in silence, with only the occasional look to Angie who says nothing.
She just watches. Unflinchingly. Unquestionably.
Soon with the food finished and each member looking
positively revived, Dan stands up with a look of importance. The diner goes
silent.
The other patrons stop chewing their food and look over with
anxious apprehension.
"From this day on.........we are.........The Shotgun
Junkies"
And with this announcement the entire diner erupts into
rapturous applause. The band stand together for the first time as a new unit.
They high five and then embrace in a manly way.
Then they turn and hoist up Angie onto their shoulders, the
cheering from the diner patrons reaches a new level as she is proudly displayed
for all to see.
The camera pans out further before freeze framing on the
band, their faces of elation.
The theme to Rocky blasts in.
A new chapter is written. And this crowd of four are writing
every page.
