Somewhere on 101

[Fairlane500 8]

You had to know Alex Winslow, or maybe not.

Few knew much about him. It’s not that he wasn’t friendly, easy to talk to, or personable, but he was the kind that one would meet, and have little to no recollection of the next day. Alex pretty much referred to himself as “an enigma.” He was an aeronautical engineer, generally accepted as quite intelligent, and at six foot three, literally a notch above.

Alex, however, was starting to feel his life was gaining repetitiveness, so he decided it was time to use up a significant amount of the vacation he had had managed to accrue, and set off on a road trip. Packing just about all the clothes, and other stuff he deemed necessary into his car’s trunk, he got in, and pulled away from his two-story, housing development-typical home in Bellevue, and set out for a journey down the coast, just him, and what was closest to him, his 1940 Chevrolet roadster.

After looping up the Olympic Peninsula, Alex descended into Oregon state, and had gone a significant way down the state's coast, through Astoria, Cannon Beach, and Tilamook.

It was approximately 8:15 PM, Pacific Standard Time, on that day, May 23^rd, when Alex decided the next town he came to, hotel or not, he was stopping, and sleeping, as it was about to get dark.

Several more miles of thick, lush Pacific Coast forest passed by him, and the railroad tracks beside, before the trees began to thin, and Alex emerged into a perfectly normal roadside hamlet.

"Congress," the typical green sign beside the road read. Alex didn't recognize the name, but he figured "it's a tiny town, it might not even be on my road map."

Alex continued through, seeing a larger town across the river ahead, and crossed the bridge into the community, just as the blinding sun on the horizon obscured the welcome sign just beyond the bridge's end, and cast the entire community in a brilliant, otherworldly, golden light.

Not sure where he was, and not finding any form of motel, but tired, and not wanting to head farther in the dark, Alex decided to pull into a dirt lot near the riverbank, and take his night's sleep there, finding out where he was in the morning.

Little did he know that his awakening would bring about much more than he ever expected to encounter on his journey.

[jacqulina 162]

great start and intro.wonderfull work and pics

[octaves 4]

Nice, I like the pics, but whats goin' on with all those smileys in the middle of the text?

[pickled_pig 7]

Very well written first update - you've left us hanging on that proverbial cliff very well.

-aaron

[hamsterTK 93]

I wonder if its like Hotel California?

[mayormommy 8]

Originally posted by: hamsterTK I wonder if its like Hotel California?quote>

I would guess more like Brigadoon, but we'll just have to see. Cute little towns.

[woodb3kmaster 342]

Excellent writing! I look forward to reading more.

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Interesting start to your cj. Look forward to the next update.

[jacqulina 162]

looking forward to more

[SpecialEddie 3]

An empty motel by a roadside...a warm shower...a knife through your back.

[Blazerhawk 162]

Knockout start! This is especially well written. Can't wait for more.

[thatmonkeysim 8]

interesting start!

i wonder if he stopped in my town ... [lives right off the 101]

[Fairlane500 8]

Replies:

Jacky: Thank you, and nice to see you showing up as a patron for this CJ, too.

Brad-MacD: Thank you for the bit of info, I think I managed to fix what was wrong from my perspective, something with using commas and placenames.

pickled_pig: My goal exactly, to leave all the readers yearning for more, and hopefully you'll get another taste soon.

hamsterTK: Actually, I had never thought of my plot in that way, but there may be a similarity or two, but I guess you'll have to wait and see.

mayormommy: As I said above, my idea may have some similarities, but it'll be my own story. And thanks, I mostly enjoy constructing the smaller communities.

woodb3kmaster: I try to keep my writing as entertaining as I can muster, glad to see it's appreciated.

Mike the Mayor: Nice to know you like my inaguration, hope you continue to enjoy this journal.

SpecialEddie: Sounds a bit like something from Psycho there, though, i don't think a Hitch***** perspective is exactly what I'm going for...

crushedcar: Glad to hear some praise for my wwriting. I've never really done that much with writing, but when I get a good idea, I like to express it as best I can.

TMS: Hmmm, maybe he did, I can't be sure though. Howver, it's great to see an encouraging remark from one of the greats of ST jornals.

Info.:

Well, I'm still working at finishing up where I'm going to go with the next bit of the story, but it should be coming soon. Howver, in the meantime, as you have probably seen, i did some work on creating a banner. Let me know what you think.

[Fairlane500 8]

The Story (cont.):

Alex got a decent night's rest, the wide seat of the old Chevy provided a relatively comfy bed, and he drempt, an odd dream, but not a bad one, of an somewhat normal life, with a family, and a white picket fence, standard American dream, pun not intended.

However, what peace he was provided with within his mind during the night, was shattered once was arisen from his grogginess by a patrol officer knocking on his car's window. He rolled it doen to hear the comment "Just making sure everyone's alive in there, I can see you are now." with that the officer got back in his car, and drove away.  Alex was a bit of a car buff, but hid didn't recognize the make or model by the auto's shape. Even odder, the department name printed on the side, "Mercury Bay Police Department" intrigued him. 

Alex couldn't recognize the name Mercury Bay from his prior consultations of his map, so he decided to check it once more. However hard he looked, he couldn't find Mercury Bay anywhere on the map, not even in northern California. "This is really weird," he thought to himself.

So, perplexed, Alex decided to explore the community. Starting his car, he began to drive about, first investigating where he currently was, an average coastal port.

Out of the variety of ships, Alex could see two sporting the Japanese flag, normal for lumber vessels on the Pacific coast. The third freighter, however, was an enigma, it had a flag, but Alex couldn't place it. He let it pass his mind, assuming it was probably from some smaller country, such as Brunei.

Alex then turned around, and headed back for Highway 101. Turning right, he he progressed towards the center of town.

Mercury Bay wasn't very lively, and Alex only encountered one oncoming car, a perfectly normal Nissan Altima, but he did come accross one sign that people actually did get out in the community,  its theater was still open and maintained.

Turning off the highway to get a good look at the neat old theater, Alex didn't recognize the one movie being screened. That he attributed to being a local production, which too seemed quite plausible to him.

He continued uphill from the river on 101, again encountering little in the way of activity, it was just a sleepy little Oregon lumber port, anyways. Everything seemed to fit the typical layout of where he should be, even down to the water tower on the hill above. An oncoming car, again, oddly, alex couldn't place the type, didn't bear a front license plate, not an Oregon trademark, but there are planty of tourists on 101, so it seemed normal. Alex couldn't get a glance at the rear plate, his `40 Chev didn't have outside mirrors.

Then, Alex entered the downtown...

To the Readers:

So, how do you think it's going? I feel I'm beginning to like the plot I'm cooking up.

[Silur 3,300]

I like your CJ. Beautiful pictures - fine work !

I'm waiting more ...

[Menotyou 0]

Great sounding story! It intrigues.

[waway625 72]

This is an ineresting and intriguing read ill definetely follow this CJ;;two thumbs up!

[football_fever 6]

I like it a lot so far. Part of me is glad I found this story this early so I wouldn't have to read through 6 pages of story...the other part of me is upset that this is as far as I can read...and wants to read 6 more pages...Very nice!

[pickled_pig 7]

Yes, you are doing a good job building up the suspense and the curiosity in the reader. Very good second update - the city could use more parking lots overall, but that's mostly a minor complaint.

-aaron

[Fairlane500 8]

Replies:

Silur: Thank you, i'm glad you happen to be enjoying the sceney, and waiting to see more of it.

Menotyou: It's nice to hear that you are enjoying my style of writing. I'm glad to say that creating an intriguing story is one previously-unknown skill that has surfaced recently.

waway625: Well then, I hope to see you coming on back for more, and thanks for the encouragement.

football_fever: I'll say I have to agree with you. i sort of wish there were six pages of stuff, so that I'd know I had a good story i'd gone through, but then, coming up with the plot to fill up six pages is half the fun.

Aaron: I may have to take the parking lot suggestion into consideration with my future development. But  anyways, thanks, and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the experience so far.

My Progress:

I do have the next update pretty close to being ready, you should see it within the next couple of days. until then, keep the great comments coming.

[lolebagels 0]

Awesome. Short and sweet, and the pictures match up well with the story. I'm getting hooked!

[Fairlane500 8]

Replies:

lolebagels: Thanks, nice to hear that my story is just that intruiging.

On with the story:

Alex found nothing that at first seemed out of the ordinary upon reaching Mercury bay's downtown core, it again just looked like any other small lumber port's core, built at the right along the highway.

However, still confounded by his situation, he decided to park, and wander around the business district to see what he could glean. The parking lot he chose, was filed with an assortment of normal imports. but oddly, nothing American, or weird for that matter

So, his first destination, he decided, the local used-car dealership. He needed a closer look at those unusual automobiles...

[jacqulina 162]

hi my friend i sure do like the plot,and i think its coming on great,i love the story and the pics are excellent,you have done well with the building

[SpecialEddie 3]

Nice rural town, though there's that common inconsistency with the intersections. Hmm...can't wait to see the dealership. Zombie cars? Hmm, maybe not.

[Fischbob 9]

Mercury Bay. . . sounds oddly familliar. . .

This Journal's off to a good start, I think. Interesting story, and some well-done pictures. I look forward to the next installment. 

[socomseal45 0]

very interesting

[Fairlane500 8]

Well, can you say "RLS taking hold"? Yeah, i was away from this project for a bit more than I thought I would be...but anyways:

The Replies:

Jacky: I am really glad you find the story entertaining, enjoying the city itself is just a plus.

SpecialEddie: Now that would be a twist, wouldn't it? Something out of "Christine" or the sort...hmm, interesting.

Fischbob: Nice to see you here. Yeah, you can tell that I'm developing a region for a bit of a dual purpose here, eh? Glad you're enjoying it, though.

socomseal: Glad you like what you see.

And back to the story...

With the first car on the lot, Alex got the answer he was looking for. or, was it an answer at all?

He was right, he had never seen this type of car before, nor had he even ever heard of the company. The badge on its shiny, stylized chrome grille read "Heller." Alex had never even heard of a Heller before, let alone seen one.

Confused still, he went on, passing an old diesel Mercedes and a Camry, before reaching another perplexing automobile. "An Oregon? Never heard of an Oregon before" he said to himself, gaining the attention of the nearby salesman.

The guy was a typical salesman, short, wearing a plaid shirt and a fedora, and clutching the stub of a cigar in his teeth, shadowed by a bristly mustache. Apropriately enough, the nametag on his breast pocket stated his name as "Guy."

"How've you enver heard of an Oregon before?" he asked, "it's only the number two automaker in the nation. And this is a prime example, only 25,000 miles, owned by a little old lady who only drove it to pinochle and back..." Alex interrupted saying he had never encountered any car named after any state in the US.

Guy gave him an empty stare. "What? 'States,' what are you talking about?" Alex told him he didn't know, and escaped from the confounding situation. He decided he needed to find a library, as he definitely wasn't where he thought he was. 

Alex got back to his car, but after roaming several streets through the town, could not find any semblance of a library.

With the failure of locating any conveinient source of information, Aex made the choice to head or a bigger town, whatever it was. There had to be a library there.

[Zipme17 18]

I was wondering what had happened to this CJ, glad it is back

[Silur 3,300]

I'm glad to see your CJ again ....

[lucky7 73]

Very well written, very descriptive, congrats!!! You are truly gifted in story- writing. Personally, it sounds kinda entering an alternate present to me... I am REALLY looking forward to hearing- and seeing, as well- more of your outstanding story