𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

Chapter 3

      The walk back to the barn felt like forever, but you didn't wear a watch or have your phone with you so you couldn't really tell. As the barn came into view you started to pick up your pace, eager to get the show up and running.

     As you reached the barn, you opened the wide doors and made your way to the tractor. You climbed up into the seat with minimal effort(since you do this a lot) and put your foot on the brake, only to realize that there was no key in the tractor. Today was just going great for you, no side by side, no key, and you hadn't even had anything to eat! You sighed and were about to put your head down on the top of the steering wheel when a thought occurred in your mind. I have a spare key. You quickly jumped down from the tractor and ran to the front of it. You always kept a spare key for the tractor just under the front bumper. You blindly groped the underside of the bumper. Trying to find the key, you got grease all over your hand and wrists the process, but you got the key! With a triumphant "ah-ha" and wiping your hands on your shirt, you pranced back over to climb up into the seat of the tractor.

You turned the key, and there it was, that beautiful purr that came along with your old, rusted John Deer tractor. You smiled to yourself as you slowly drove the tractor out of the barn. You didn't bother to shut the doors, since you would be back soon anyways.

As you made your way down the dirt road to your broken down vehicle, you took time to enjoy all of the summer scenery. Everything was green, lush, and colorfully full of life. There were bees buzzing around and flowers swaying with the gentle breeze. You were so distracted that you almost drove right past your broken down side by side. You sighed and pulled out in a way that the tractor was horizontal on the vertical small dirt road, close enough to hook the dead weight of the side by side to the tractor. You turned the key of the tractor, shutting it off. You hopped out of the tractor with a small thud and the only thing that could be heard was the crunch of the gravel mixed with dirt, and the clang of chains on chains.

*******

Even though it took you no time to attach the chains, the horses were up and running to you when they heard the tractor, thinking you had something in store for them. You sighed and turned around to look at the four horses lined up by the gate.
"How has y'all's day been?"you asked the horses pointlessly. Storm squealed in reply and you just let out a breath of a laugh and went up to the gate. As soon as you got close, you stuck your hands over the bars and patted Storm on the nose. You repeated this action with the other two of them, except for Comet, he would only sniff your hand, but hey, that's progress.

*******

After you drove the tractor back home and unhooked the side by side, you decided to just leave it for now, you would get to it eventually, but right now, you wanted food. You made your way up to the cabin and made your way inside. As soon as you stepped inside, you took off your boots, not wanting to clean up the trail you would leave behind. You resisted the urge to plop down on your worn down couch and settled to go to the kitchen instead. You picked your phone up form the counter and unplugged it. You checked the phone for any notifications, the only thing was a text from your best friend, Tom. You've known Tom since the fourth grade and you two have been attached at the hip ever since. Opening the text, it read;
'How's everything down at the farm? Mind if I drop by tomorrow to hang out? '
You smiled to yourself and typed out a quick reply, with Tom you could be simple, that's all you ever wanted in a friend.
'Things are a little slow, but with your company it would go faster. I don't mind if you come over, how about 8am?'
You shoved your phone in your right back pocket(all females do this)and opened the fridge. You quickly scanned the items of your fridge and realized that you didn't check the time. You looked over your shoulder and looked at the clock on the stove, it was 2:00pm!!!
"Holy Jesus, I didn't realize it was that late!"
You said to yourself as you grabbed some leftovers of (f/f). You shut the fridge and heated up the leftovers in the microwave above the stove. While the food was heating up, your mind wandered to what you were going to do about your side by side situation.  I could always walk down to the horses. You thought and you leaned up against the countertop. You weighed out your options of walking or trying to fix the side by side. Growing up you never really had the money to go and get simple things like an oil change or to change out a fan belt. So in return, you taught yourself to fix these common problems, which led you to your career, a farm equipment mechanic. You loved your job, helping farmers of big industries and small ones alike, always feeling accomplished when you fixed their problem and allowed them to continue with a season. You had no doubt in your mind that you could fix the side by side, it was just the fact of doing it, you were fine with working on other people's equipment, but when it came to your own, you became a bit sluggish.

The beeping of the microwave jerked you out of your thoughts, and you pushed yourself off of the counter and retrieved your food and an eating utensil. You quickly scarfed down your food and went outside to the barn to fix your ever apparent transportation issue. You popped the hood of the side by side and didn't discover any newfound problem. You looked the side by side up and down and over and out for any kind of problem in any way shape or form. You sighed in frustration and hopped in the seat, turning the key again hoping for a different outcome, but to no avail, the engine sputtered and then shut off. That was when you noticed it.
You were out of gas.